tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26086473315464535272024-03-10T20:23:21.883-07:00benchsiteArt Design Travel Culture Stories Poems JokesSeashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.comBlogger216125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-17283620791665779772024-03-05T04:00:00.000-08:002024-03-05T04:01:22.386-08:00Green Benches for St Patrick's Day<p> Top o' the mornin' to you! It's that time of year when the green benches are out.</p><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU_IbFnRGLjixaxt1SXIHyt56pnjmbd2YGYXjV9fR_lh_K_EJAhy_UHmoQcxt2Jy4EtWTU2vPRmxzEA7qIGGz-5zEI3TdCS0GzF4uAS3duZfJFJpDCgANH9W0qOtCe2_QcIOKByOxanox-/s640/don.harrison.966.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="640" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU_IbFnRGLjixaxt1SXIHyt56pnjmbd2YGYXjV9fR_lh_K_EJAhy_UHmoQcxt2Jy4EtWTU2vPRmxzEA7qIGGz-5zEI3TdCS0GzF4uAS3duZfJFJpDCgANH9W0qOtCe2_QcIOKByOxanox-/w400-h260/don.harrison.966.fkcc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">American vintage postcard 1910</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;">My imaginary friend Miggy: We don't want to just see green benches though; we want FUN!</span><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQTD6qcxzp6GNN5RA49_H0q153CFpDZ0AoTSX0ngm3M3ddLC8akd8KqWxBK5VBIR0xHMiYyEaEkKbFzBLC4ytciMqOnQjNZ6CePqEgyxCSavbK_OwdcDXL2AesGctJ8k6JcUMfsWcSCuDK/s1600/AG00404_.GIF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQTD6qcxzp6GNN5RA49_H0q153CFpDZ0AoTSX0ngm3M3ddLC8akd8KqWxBK5VBIR0xHMiYyEaEkKbFzBLC4ytciMqOnQjNZ6CePqEgyxCSavbK_OwdcDXL2AesGctJ8k6JcUMfsWcSCuDK/s1600/AG00404_.GIF" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency, one of my husbands: Did someone mention St. Patrick's Day?</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nxohzF84F6PnFyzaLraHWgLx6vGVp3y1dAMsskLM45naba05WjGxRVBPbtQVkOoXf9HlYLWAGO2Co_Hjp-3tBu9RZ3edl6jWxUnM00b0gbp6bk1t4QZjdxC2QM25LoJIoEOyieUGSCIY/s1600/lewishamdreamer.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nxohzF84F6PnFyzaLraHWgLx6vGVp3y1dAMsskLM45naba05WjGxRVBPbtQVkOoXf9HlYLWAGO2Co_Hjp-3tBu9RZ3edl6jWxUnM00b0gbp6bk1t4QZjdxC2QM25LoJIoEOyieUGSCIY/s1600/lewishamdreamer.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewishamdreamer/111654151">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewishamdreamer/111654151</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, of course they did! It's March 17th, the day our hearts rejoice.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0NTPL5C_Ve6UGSWU11_t3WCDeLWKZX3RsNxOySkXvNkGq1zy89LbeKloVlD58NUHs6Xsa5E086tWWzJMUgqyvzA2iwb0ie2MCwu9ZukDnrzG2FCZ_R1A8nBdd0wtm2ExqWk9EsOq62KXM/s1600/bluebells2008.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0NTPL5C_Ve6UGSWU11_t3WCDeLWKZX3RsNxOySkXvNkGq1zy89LbeKloVlD58NUHs6Xsa5E086tWWzJMUgqyvzA2iwb0ie2MCwu9ZukDnrzG2FCZ_R1A8nBdd0wtm2ExqWk9EsOq62KXM/s1600/bluebells2008.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluebells2008/6844386286/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluebells2008/6844386286/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">His Excellency: I hope you're not going to </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">get bogged down in green kitsch and silly nostalgia. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Don't worry, this will be a modern, trendy blog about The Emerald Isle. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo, my imaginary husband: I hope no one will say <i>Top o' the mornin'</i> to you. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwG9QPsmOB1CnmjMbHUjnXk0Lzr2eFsbWyDYL6rSvC3qfMOqkTOJx0y6FQwZvDcrXSFmPuJgHPfZn7xC2vGbHq-xCex-9Zw2Ha82t6qPssnPjCnDs5XR23FD-1LyGif6bO5L42i3YPb0Rz/s1600/don.harrison.012.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwG9QPsmOB1CnmjMbHUjnXk0Lzr2eFsbWyDYL6rSvC3qfMOqkTOJx0y6FQwZvDcrXSFmPuJgHPfZn7xC2vGbHq-xCex-9Zw2Ha82t6qPssnPjCnDs5XR23FD-1LyGif6bO5L42i3YPb0Rz/s1600/don.harrison.012.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I guarantee it, Mungo. No road will rise up to meet you.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: And no one will wear a tee shirt saying <i>Kiss Me I'm Irish</i>. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: Or <i>Kiss Me I'm Drunk</i>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin, my sweet little neighbour: I <i>love</i> someone to kiss me when I'm drunk!</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I promise, there will be no cozy cottages with peat burning on the fire.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasLgKCN52QJF0i8eVjJ23ati_xr7gyrCiim6jIfLuaF-e70Jh_F7I9yi_2Pof_d2FNsNy_A9pJuvUUPo3rE6D99JXa85iKwPUWfbmvk4QvXWQ_MgQqI4xXS9LqTuFcKDaH2hm6J8e9GI_/s1600/stacy.ramblingtraveller.fkc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasLgKCN52QJF0i8eVjJ23ati_xr7gyrCiim6jIfLuaF-e70Jh_F7I9yi_2Pof_d2FNsNy_A9pJuvUUPo3rE6D99JXa85iKwPUWfbmvk4QvXWQ_MgQqI4xXS9LqTuFcKDaH2hm6J8e9GI_/s1600/stacy.ramblingtraveller.fkc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Stacy Cashman at RamblingTraveler.com</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">My imaginary best friend Miggy: I was hoping for a certain amount of green though.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqgfkN_WoBMcdet42kQnK_WL584zobr91ZXvSa2kGnqFSFr2NtXP0UpUuMeBvu6pBUskRR4Z0u5kc2FsuY_usCOeGqVI0Aiv1eTawZIEpL6FCLIwKeVvZG6l59VgK6-OX44juOWi_Px02J/s1600/outbackinthebarn2.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqgfkN_WoBMcdet42kQnK_WL584zobr91ZXvSa2kGnqFSFr2NtXP0UpUuMeBvu6pBUskRR4Z0u5kc2FsuY_usCOeGqVI0Aiv1eTawZIEpL6FCLIwKeVvZG6l59VgK6-OX44juOWi_Px02J/s1600/outbackinthebarn2.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: I was looking forward to some green beer. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Even if it's being drunk by a green dude in an ultra-cool pub?</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_Q_Ungl3YE19_dAqozsxSiEhkKslGK1JHAMTXN99ahQ3uM45fOfb9y0hRiTMISgzeshHpu7WSCVZcNAdEL886khtSTtoL7Soq_dEJHy8QHAZjkFsTBQ7e32fMVqf8e3kEN3KskEm9egX/s1600/daniel.voyanger.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_Q_Ungl3YE19_dAqozsxSiEhkKslGK1JHAMTXN99ahQ3uM45fOfb9y0hRiTMISgzeshHpu7WSCVZcNAdEL886khtSTtoL7Soq_dEJHy8QHAZjkFsTBQ7e32fMVqf8e3kEN3KskEm9egX/s1600/daniel.voyanger.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielvoyager/4440792488" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielvoyager/4440792488</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: No green beer. And most importantly, no Irish eyes should be smiling.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDNkdvw6vX4zHgxHejVn1BwDODGl0CsuPWU_Tro5uYxre2jWY1QJM-PCc-dcQFclld6i3b85_1gOhxfdrtAemPzWt3UVpMD9TVHiBmp_LEgziLxMrZB262I8cYYP5McfkBq29Ba-x3TnT/s1600/rosshawkes.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDNkdvw6vX4zHgxHejVn1BwDODGl0CsuPWU_Tro5uYxre2jWY1QJM-PCc-dcQFclld6i3b85_1gOhxfdrtAemPzWt3UVpMD9TVHiBmp_LEgziLxMrZB262I8cYYP5McfkBq29Ba-x3TnT/s1600/rosshawkes.fkcc.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosshawkes/5280571927" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosshawkes/5280571927</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: Oh, so <i>that's</i> what Irish eyes look like! I grew up in Ireland and I never knew that.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hey, everyone, just to remind you that as this is a blog called Benchsite, I must keep Irish benches in the frame.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapi9C9e_icBqYPqEAWraZ8FPawlPLLzkCZ80xYQbcLc1BmaKsY8bG3mS_fZBXaqox76NEHB0PwyMDfMJAddGlhoan6dD8K_lLqV2ktAJJHTqOGaoZYiAWHv1s0QmMHkhNZNLKlzVc5Agm/s1600/mastababa.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapi9C9e_icBqYPqEAWraZ8FPawlPLLzkCZ80xYQbcLc1BmaKsY8bG3mS_fZBXaqox76NEHB0PwyMDfMJAddGlhoan6dD8K_lLqV2ktAJJHTqOGaoZYiAWHv1s0QmMHkhNZNLKlzVc5Agm/s1600/mastababa.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastababa/2505333817/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastababa/2505333817/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: They don't all have to be green, do they?</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVxQsBP7R7pyDv0W79arqm8zXt3ZvTtjUdfSUFNh7zUEMFODHeN0etLk9BDGYD4ddq-eXFM16wiM7VVCkCUQVzDFpLyMhknt8wS8gmOCmzYJQRkcwt2EzFpS9Rw_fEbL7-abto1vnCYQX/s1600/73man.eoin.omahony.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVxQsBP7R7pyDv0W79arqm8zXt3ZvTtjUdfSUFNh7zUEMFODHeN0etLk9BDGYD4ddq-eXFM16wiM7VVCkCUQVzDFpLyMhknt8wS8gmOCmzYJQRkcwt2EzFpS9Rw_fEbL7-abto1vnCYQX/s1600/73man.eoin.omahony.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/73man/7507658424" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/73man/7507658424</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: A tasteful celtic cross bench will do nicely.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWAfODW6A5fGzwrOVWXbj55eeSoL12EPxg9bACfRo2rYMC_5Jc1MnlPC9yK__ViUGwSytDUvJWb0GoVhcBfR9OnF5KEU6vt95g4NVQV3m2Kz-lCh5eCCaus0AGoUXxPnWhuQw8NjGcK-JI/s1600/dissonancefalling.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWAfODW6A5fGzwrOVWXbj55eeSoL12EPxg9bACfRo2rYMC_5Jc1MnlPC9yK__ViUGwSytDUvJWb0GoVhcBfR9OnF5KEU6vt95g4NVQV3m2Kz-lCh5eCCaus0AGoUXxPnWhuQw8NjGcK-JI/s1600/dissonancefalling.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dissonancefalling/8023739925">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dissonancefalling/8023739925</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: This all sounds a bit boring. I have fond memories of St. Patrick's Day.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRns-2wcKCDzBb1dvTZwwjdQ0qzDB2ubwMlYTfD0-ykiO7WlpYu860thOBGXRz-QueOCXu4Fh5Wd415LtzApJ7lI6QJC-XsI8a1Mm-uGKTBHJI6I6Gn1-Imr8zEZUZ402q8R5c0Uc7zIQT/s1600/don.harrison.758fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRns-2wcKCDzBb1dvTZwwjdQ0qzDB2ubwMlYTfD0-ykiO7WlpYu860thOBGXRz-QueOCXu4Fh5Wd415LtzApJ7lI6QJC-XsI8a1Mm-uGKTBHJI6I6Gn1-Imr8zEZUZ402q8R5c0Uc7zIQT/s1600/don.harrison.758fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/2302196758" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/2302196758</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But I still have to show some green benches.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDIdD-olCZl9Q4lJNPZzgJh6aiR5455P01Z1Gf90hKhicNqT1Zp-sjd1nyRWZaLgbK4GQN53JgrRDHeb86kckRQEIJqCI49ZSrTd9O9ppBJkKmVk0Vi8UOr0dJikQ2xXVTdjx0FlTfCZj2/s1600/100_5748.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDIdD-olCZl9Q4lJNPZzgJh6aiR5455P01Z1Gf90hKhicNqT1Zp-sjd1nyRWZaLgbK4GQN53JgrRDHeb86kckRQEIJqCI49ZSrTd9O9ppBJkKmVk0Vi8UOr0dJikQ2xXVTdjx0FlTfCZj2/s320/100_5748.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My photo, Somerset</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I happen to know this bench. It's not in Ireland.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you're a regular reader of Benchsite, you'll know what I'm like.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4jnS-cumCqRw-nBXgogYNUCKCnDSv1ipGg6pt08Uu1sxA_pKCOSzpZ6OnlMQc1Y3kM-CLZuV43zDFzMhhG8Kn39KDXa7F7-llW_mHrWBAbZZV8n0e1U16Ze8uG_DVUIxnhjc0MfGJn27/s1600/tuckersmercantile.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4jnS-cumCqRw-nBXgogYNUCKCnDSv1ipGg6pt08Uu1sxA_pKCOSzpZ6OnlMQc1Y3kM-CLZuV43zDFzMhhG8Kn39KDXa7F7-llW_mHrWBAbZZV8n0e1U16Ze8uG_DVUIxnhjc0MfGJn27/s1600/tuckersmercantile.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/tuckersmercantile" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/tuckersmercantile</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: I hope you're not relying on the luck o' the Irish.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Quite right, Migs. I have invited two little people called Sean and Seamus to help me </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">liven things up for St. Patrick's Day.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfhgAPszLt5Ak3OLU5ZrgrVx_ksQDAoMvPlNL0Zuk0Y5gw6N-wxyNR9x_2RfbV77dxLFsuquXKOMldEK173tpNZtiSM0eTjLmY44uIdTNDWFR2tzOLwHh5nkEAvXqjyuI_m89rM_NERl1/s1600/sean&seamus.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfhgAPszLt5Ak3OLU5ZrgrVx_ksQDAoMvPlNL0Zuk0Y5gw6N-wxyNR9x_2RfbV77dxLFsuquXKOMldEK173tpNZtiSM0eTjLmY44uIdTNDWFR2tzOLwHh5nkEAvXqjyuI_m89rM_NERl1/s1600/sean&seamus.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: Sean and Seamus are sooooo cute! They look just like my brothers.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They <i>are</i> your brothers, Tamsin.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvnpW6pJxVchm1Ez1A6Dz9f_4nLaAmLAggZssnS3R8VRkgpYfzbQgW1V60EwgwjzYw5jHI8ytwyzo8kZu_RanX7g9nTL4tZ2qm7GAhzOm3n1IcT9jIGLXqTLLfzZoNsmdSah_hgeCfGtGA/s1600/Tamsin.stpats.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvnpW6pJxVchm1Ez1A6Dz9f_4nLaAmLAggZssnS3R8VRkgpYfzbQgW1V60EwgwjzYw5jHI8ytwyzo8kZu_RanX7g9nTL4tZ2qm7GAhzOm3n1IcT9jIGLXqTLLfzZoNsmdSah_hgeCfGtGA/s1600/Tamsin.stpats.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Tamsin and Sean and Seamus come from the land where the shamrock grows.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7LmjIhGeIKnTgEUA9UV5i45vIWSmck7DYMmqVGunk0WQTZHuAt_Kyt6k31tOXnE7Ccb-k1ixN4BSZzym35jqycBYxPQX7HzxeeED8OZFfNrV6rxS-EvnQsgKPbpYFJZytuZmTjB9kTtCr/s1600/don.harrison.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7LmjIhGeIKnTgEUA9UV5i45vIWSmck7DYMmqVGunk0WQTZHuAt_Kyt6k31tOXnE7Ccb-k1ixN4BSZzym35jqycBYxPQX7HzxeeED8OZFfNrV6rxS-EvnQsgKPbpYFJZytuZmTjB9kTtCr/s1600/don.harrison.fkcc.jpg" width="201" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3300218851">https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3300218851</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">T</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">hey grew up in a pretty cottage in County Offhand.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivd34I566RxfNZE9auutthn5JvCjGiH9MV5B4aqwUTAYeO92TkMjDMRVA6o7hlx6gnJ4bIA2S4ktl4dnW7HtN_nf0Bu4DUjLI9HDEqU15fyfygxwuggY6jaklYE_PcdZWu1a1GzkqsTzDD/s1600/irish+cottage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivd34I566RxfNZE9auutthn5JvCjGiH9MV5B4aqwUTAYeO92TkMjDMRVA6o7hlx6gnJ4bIA2S4ktl4dnW7HtN_nf0Bu4DUjLI9HDEqU15fyfygxwuggY6jaklYE_PcdZWu1a1GzkqsTzDD/s320/irish+cottage.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: This looks like a cookie jar.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">S</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">orry, guys, it <i>is</i> a cookie jar.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: Yeah, but it's really cute though!</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Like many Irish people, Sean and Seamus have the gift of the gab</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Some call it Irish Diplomacy.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIrSD7NpdNM8ZH3Djpz7Tk7HYTTCeuPoDmGkib70XwHl15G_oJUoE9G5DJBIAwiC1264lLRRgoynwuFgVjrHW5YJ7_Vf_d4vqIzTMO3w-WtwpL4QaZcIR7Nscp0Yg7961-Xwe15XJ0U2p/s1600/dorindaart.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIrSD7NpdNM8ZH3Djpz7Tk7HYTTCeuPoDmGkib70XwHl15G_oJUoE9G5DJBIAwiC1264lLRRgoynwuFgVjrHW5YJ7_Vf_d4vqIzTMO3w-WtwpL4QaZcIR7Nscp0Yg7961-Xwe15XJ0U2p/s1600/dorindaart.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dorindart" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/dorindaart</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: some just call it blarney.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWDrahmFjafNugBZdwjvQ68WoRL0uFAug374bsWV4CVgi7xwE_2ss9QzBCJM3v_yxCd4qTc2q4ooKnC0pc7UI7H84HvuHB0WqJJ9OZUWMMthj1eAqyB0Sa2XTmwXhIyVboww_pQMmDVaP/s1600/10040187875_9410e6df88_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWDrahmFjafNugBZdwjvQ68WoRL0uFAug374bsWV4CVgi7xwE_2ss9QzBCJM3v_yxCd4qTc2q4ooKnC0pc7UI7H84HvuHB0WqJJ9OZUWMMthj1eAqyB0Sa2XTmwXhIyVboww_pQMmDVaP/s1600/10040187875_9410e6df88_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/10040187875" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/10040187875</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But Irish people don't let the grass grow under their <strike>feet</strike> bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBj5-2CVH20YcjO6NN7eAmmKgaRysEWYDZFVjE4BLP-EDqs8ePVP6aT_Q9HrWaWRb_XM9OgVOD2w0RqdUeuANesLXHUHoqlIYT_4_l22T_VaPYqozd66_dkpS5LNbkt6nRHIeGwNt5uBws/s1600/7pierre.swillens.gloria_victoria.fkcc432481414_6cece581db_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBj5-2CVH20YcjO6NN7eAmmKgaRysEWYDZFVjE4BLP-EDqs8ePVP6aT_Q9HrWaWRb_XM9OgVOD2w0RqdUeuANesLXHUHoqlIYT_4_l22T_VaPYqozd66_dkpS5LNbkt6nRHIeGwNt5uBws/s320/7pierre.swillens.gloria_victoria.fkcc432481414_6cece581db_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gloria_victoria/7432481414/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/gloria_victoria/7432481414/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: This bench is not Irish. I saw it in the Netherlands.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">So you did. I thought it would make a nice little surprise</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: Oh I love surprises! I remember that time Seamus gathered our family together and dropped a bombshell.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9V0WAocgvstYqaIbXAwAJBMXOlQwz6JhrSnDuyMKm67FmSIj6Qr-NU0u5Z1u9K7iEpcpIH0aqq9HZCnffUjVTZxYpmd4X0OCTZNSzvvjt2nrIR9XEnLMemWNLRlMhy9h-ydlxL_9Dv0cI/s1600/The+Freckled+Stitch.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9V0WAocgvstYqaIbXAwAJBMXOlQwz6JhrSnDuyMKm67FmSIj6Qr-NU0u5Z1u9K7iEpcpIH0aqq9HZCnffUjVTZxYpmd4X0OCTZNSzvvjt2nrIR9XEnLMemWNLRlMhy9h-ydlxL_9Dv0cI/s1600/The+Freckled+Stitch.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFreckledStitch">www.etsy.com/shop/TheFreckledStitch</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: They suspected all along.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Now Sean and Seamus have suggested we all go down to the pub for a pint. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: In Ireland they call it a bar, whether or not it's on the beach.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgheYYwlHAXTBOm8bmBK2qo6nVdDbmEg-43h84fWvLyR_zvzhlM7j8vuZbdo-EESct3fFygfkFCO1cC0M6t1io71thYB1g-xE_Q0SER8sUU-wk8GH0QYK5KR4BTmdQRKfQu6772j9qr_ANx/s1600/billystewart.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgheYYwlHAXTBOm8bmBK2qo6nVdDbmEg-43h84fWvLyR_zvzhlM7j8vuZbdo-EESct3fFygfkFCO1cC0M6t1io71thYB1g-xE_Q0SER8sUU-wk8GH0QYK5KR4BTmdQRKfQu6772j9qr_ANx/s1600/billystewart.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/billystewart/6545719001" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/billystewart/6545719001</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">My two husbands are very happy about this. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">His Excellency: I am particularly pleased that </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Guinness is good for you.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjwexRJsidTGdVsMuFMSFYnAcbrTgSmKWBLFnGMpSRI-5KxAQhV3CVexFE4HvfsyqMmbhqgfZ332XyA5_zQCHcMipp1fBjsZGXc420kogEy-grkton4abjONh77MQkaeOsaUSfC7v0tHh/s1600/olivier.bacquiet.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjwexRJsidTGdVsMuFMSFYnAcbrTgSmKWBLFnGMpSRI-5KxAQhV3CVexFE4HvfsyqMmbhqgfZ332XyA5_zQCHcMipp1fBjsZGXc420kogEy-grkton4abjONh77MQkaeOsaUSfC7v0tHh/s1600/olivier.bacquiet.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/olibac/14800755808">Photo Olivier Bacquet @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/olibac/14800755808</a><br /><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: My Mum said Guinness was good for us when we were babies too. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And Mungo is in a very good mood since he heard that there are more than 500 pubs serving craft beers in Ireland. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: The pubs are likely to be rowdy though. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3BXCDEwWK5fhezVpNc4vRCoLMFUhHz2vRdoTBBx-TGke9miZ6WI82h2uhxkm8wl0c1BTjiLJ8sJoZa88kiN46nuFf9fSSdwRTTy_AZNYKogUpuTTGqY0IAMhAt8v7S3Tm9ZLB8vwn7_hD/s1600/jojo7D.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3BXCDEwWK5fhezVpNc4vRCoLMFUhHz2vRdoTBBx-TGke9miZ6WI82h2uhxkm8wl0c1BTjiLJ8sJoZa88kiN46nuFf9fSSdwRTTy_AZNYKogUpuTTGqY0IAMhAt8v7S3Tm9ZLB8vwn7_hD/s1600/jojo7D.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/65588802@N04/6266106543">https://www.flickr.com/photos/65588802@N04/6266106543</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: There'll be a bit of a craic going on down there for St. Patrick's Day.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGE8FjxgP81uUXQnqn4l_CeJJOIO9-GiM70BPFGQFQlacdB3eZExBiVzQWNspWP6AMw4egzGYGsblMDrC3v0dqoV2r2t4hWO6hXHr4sr52OBbJCQsFGTh4dtFHMrAn23-OxEeUBL0cGIiL/s1600/FishScraps.+Etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGE8FjxgP81uUXQnqn4l_CeJJOIO9-GiM70BPFGQFQlacdB3eZExBiVzQWNspWP6AMw4egzGYGsblMDrC3v0dqoV2r2t4hWO6hXHr4sr52OBbJCQsFGTh4dtFHMrAn23-OxEeUBL0cGIiL/s1600/FishScraps.+Etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/fishscraps" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/fishscraps</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Golly, a lot of this is stuff I've been told to avoid: pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, for instance. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: We used to chase those all the time. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And the wearing o' the green. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8oFDswiFccochqBdUYWGFoY8oOVu79yg4f0MiYoiIAoLOn-O3RFgpGhdiYpTp4_muUTjhmrcWcUcJ2pU-1WLuBDpKHnwMpoiONCIT1HxsgcybIY1mkPuE1v-jmeuDEpenPyea3MPVPbGU/s1600/uneekdolldesigns.etsy+(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8oFDswiFccochqBdUYWGFoY8oOVu79yg4f0MiYoiIAoLOn-O3RFgpGhdiYpTp4_muUTjhmrcWcUcJ2pU-1WLuBDpKHnwMpoiONCIT1HxsgcybIY1mkPuE1v-jmeuDEpenPyea3MPVPbGU/s1600/uneekdolldesigns.etsy+(2).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</span></a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: To quote a well known Irish film critic, what in the name of holy bejaysus and all the suffering saints is this cliched paddywackery? </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sean and Seamus say it's rich folklore, as old as the trees and long embedded in tradition.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CgdKN8-2BZeiRQ9Z1eVMMtdnhxfpCsWiErXjOs1PHVfv3jqYpVr6jQBhEeD2AHRhUI_AwpufqgkBtZnY3nr59iVP0D3N4BXmC4SARRpx_o5A2VQ8vnB1DuPClVb8t2h2K_kAzquetcvS/s1600/William.muprhy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CgdKN8-2BZeiRQ9Z1eVMMtdnhxfpCsWiErXjOs1PHVfv3jqYpVr6jQBhEeD2AHRhUI_AwpufqgkBtZnY3nr59iVP0D3N4BXmC4SARRpx_o5A2VQ8vnB1DuPClVb8t2h2K_kAzquetcvS/s1600/William.muprhy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15851977331">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15851977331</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This reminds me: I need to show another green bench.</span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6WxI8h1l87yMqPBduh4TwaHq-oWhURkhidXjS4wR0t3TxHFn4tS0CbVu2T10AcN-0TR2Fp_J3Dhk3OOABkuS2tHtPuGLGaVhRlp8GZpER4r-_5mrX9_yIkEkjtafS3UMlX85MmTpCOaEN/s640/FB_IMG_1628026415188.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6WxI8h1l87yMqPBduh4TwaHq-oWhURkhidXjS4wR0t3TxHFn4tS0CbVu2T10AcN-0TR2Fp_J3Dhk3OOABkuS2tHtPuGLGaVhRlp8GZpER4r-_5mrX9_yIkEkjtafS3UMlX85MmTpCOaEN/s320/FB_IMG_1628026415188.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Musee d'Orsay exhibition, Paris</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Irish? I don't think so.</span></div><div><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></div><div>Ok, I'll try again. <br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYk7Ga9nJlqYlzoQFnnwSVWR6p5cE272fBXDtgYoNMr9pALc2aesu1wU-kkQJuN3IPf0DO_8iRWXrhwFqbP_ZBbPuSsevib3GrWx77yiT3j9HniKusNKBlWJcMHeVP5V0T7zFxT7AklTNq/s1600/Wells+B.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYk7Ga9nJlqYlzoQFnnwSVWR6p5cE272fBXDtgYoNMr9pALc2aesu1wU-kkQJuN3IPf0DO_8iRWXrhwFqbP_ZBbPuSsevib3GrWx77yiT3j9HniKusNKBlWJcMHeVP5V0T7zFxT7AklTNq/s320/Wells+B.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: This bench has nothing whatsoever to do with Ireland.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;">Mungo: And nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I know. It's in Wells in Somerset. Right behind the cathedral. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: At least it's green though. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's something to celebrate I suppose.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: I actually began my St. Patrick's Day celebrations hours ago. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span><span style="color: #990000;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mungo: You saw </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a man on a bench, didn't you? And you said </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Top o' the mornin' to ye</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span></span><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #990000;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: I did.</span><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What did he say?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: Nothing. So I hitched up my skirts and did a jig for him.</span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQb4uDQWwOKX4LzlKE00NSTp5eJF0tMsAYoCrKr6f7LXM9yWuWLmwECRKaRbsonJDBPs0dfer_wvyvKgLyxsNGFbQg6Wt5emd3vbp__yJpQ7W0TE_E-1fAQYMM94YOvDkdzkEQIsrhMgp/s1600/don.harrison.+012.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQb4uDQWwOKX4LzlKE00NSTp5eJF0tMsAYoCrKr6f7LXM9yWuWLmwECRKaRbsonJDBPs0dfer_wvyvKgLyxsNGFbQg6Wt5emd3vbp__yJpQ7W0TE_E-1fAQYMM94YOvDkdzkEQIsrhMgp/s1600/don.harrison.+012.fkcc.jpg" width="202" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: The man looked alarmed.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-SxxAr88NdvjVDV1qej7JDpE1j7Xhl9e1dzIe_JL7uXs_m4JlYXZncKBTjhnVjMIFhmq1-ZdZ0xV8_RrakTUav4JGavfyvFtvdSidtHY0YT5V1EWwnZF8E64mbanPm7wYme8mZXrhDIA/s1600/williammurphy.brendanbehan.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-SxxAr88NdvjVDV1qej7JDpE1j7Xhl9e1dzIe_JL7uXs_m4JlYXZncKBTjhnVjMIFhmq1-ZdZ0xV8_RrakTUav4JGavfyvFtvdSidtHY0YT5V1EWwnZF8E64mbanPm7wYme8mZXrhDIA/s1600/williammurphy.brendanbehan.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6798486630" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6798486630</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">My two husbands are also well underway on the Guinness. They've been celebrating with Lord Brassica over at Drizzly Manor, where Lord B has constructed a replica Irish pub just for today.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPf2knqIeUe7dWh_c_YrWxjfdaO6kK2GhAN3T8m3Gpd84sGd4mdrQbL8qbxDn6qtDbE7LuMbRDyIEbD9rAnBHA7ub0okOeuk5Kjv4wWtEZ7IRGdjk6xKbPHxzxU6i3_KX6hMYTQhwL9D6/s1600/8705118240_55238bea24_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPf2knqIeUe7dWh_c_YrWxjfdaO6kK2GhAN3T8m3Gpd84sGd4mdrQbL8qbxDn6qtDbE7LuMbRDyIEbD9rAnBHA7ub0okOeuk5Kjv4wWtEZ7IRGdjk6xKbPHxzxU6i3_KX6hMYTQhwL9D6/s1600/8705118240_55238bea24_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/madpoet_one/8705118240%C2%A0" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/madpoet_one/8705118240 </span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;">Mungo: It's called O'Brassica's and it's the real deal.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Though the bouncers are not what you'd expect from Ireland of the Welcomes.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQWMRGzzqKQPVPKbTvSHOA_IHDaB_IZirvaVedG-XWCmsBSM5roMxX1XllFN1zZbBDVrNNWzvO2dfSOttVqiGNvckfZJ92a02VTa_fnTPC7RAxcyPAOrxggg0AVPRXzsjCvfyJdvZIS8D/s1600/joel.sowers.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQWMRGzzqKQPVPKbTvSHOA_IHDaB_IZirvaVedG-XWCmsBSM5roMxX1XllFN1zZbBDVrNNWzvO2dfSOttVqiGNvckfZJ92a02VTa_fnTPC7RAxcyPAOrxggg0AVPRXzsjCvfyJdvZIS8D/s1600/joel.sowers.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sowersnet/5298873434">https://www.flickr.com/photos/sowersnet/5298873434</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: A lot of Paradise Island people are there. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, here's Innocent, wearing a crocheted design from Studio Ballyfrumpy, which just happens to be in County Offhand in Ireland. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRlHQ_rVeZqfBGX2U9hWXs1j4-hPH9VLjE3C3yu49btv1SuBxHYGvVpxRRlmsKkv2KFHcf9TGJcrcAYWHDVnfsB1za0lRaW8mhg1LSNYIaI05l2WBJLGyeaOFpuId3z0j8L334bgSzd0M1/s1600/Innocent.Irishpot.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRlHQ_rVeZqfBGX2U9hWXs1j4-hPH9VLjE3C3yu49btv1SuBxHYGvVpxRRlmsKkv2KFHcf9TGJcrcAYWHDVnfsB1za0lRaW8mhg1LSNYIaI05l2WBJLGyeaOFpuId3z0j8L334bgSzd0M1/s1600/Innocent.Irishpot.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Root Brassica is there too, though he and his mates celebrate pretty much every day of the year anyway.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJG0LqSzAl_sim5OD03fp-ucqmm0RbkxuyCe3PyLauLT8Y2XdEmdJcCvB7W9B8AqWdQ767nwR18OwIilMhXDYy11PZN2DIrGDVXvXSINp27fccJW1gijeeLPVxOtCkakRjOKnSPq9bu7Q8/s1600/stpats.guys.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJG0LqSzAl_sim5OD03fp-ucqmm0RbkxuyCe3PyLauLT8Y2XdEmdJcCvB7W9B8AqWdQ767nwR18OwIilMhXDYy11PZN2DIrGDVXvXSINp27fccJW1gijeeLPVxOtCkakRjOKnSPq9bu7Q8/s1600/stpats.guys.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: Root actually gave up drinking once. It was the worst fifteen minutes of his life.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Right now Root is in such a state that, one way or another, he's going to have to be carried out of O'Brassica's.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfL_2LI-qLWQkp-OMDzWwGLab7eiWmR5-9ETHe5GOnR3sfJ9U263POuUvQm52ozZO6VWFlyLow2rv2-XBASN2LlhNEwkvyBk5aSM3h2W8y-sbV8p0HxMhYUX7yWtwTdxR-dcV2yi9UyOax/s1600/kristinehoeppner.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfL_2LI-qLWQkp-OMDzWwGLab7eiWmR5-9ETHe5GOnR3sfJ9U263POuUvQm52ozZO6VWFlyLow2rv2-XBASN2LlhNEwkvyBk5aSM3h2W8y-sbV8p0HxMhYUX7yWtwTdxR-dcV2yi9UyOax/s1600/kristinehoeppner.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/4nitsirk/3086878704" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/4nitsirk/3086878704</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: Ohhhhh, a wake would be such fun!</span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;">Lord Brassica and his drinking mates are going to feel rough tomorrow.</span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaLXxPH7geV1nN6bLMJgH3mb5VPYXFgQPMJSph0reZnXPkTNCrsPI0sP4EPR0ChNB7NrVh_5f5bNA3QorEop5WRaNEHtop2G4GfTs7-bv1c1KqHhZwIyvkL_BFyu6OOEkuJH8BsSngzGSiwcL5LyGzTmpOt5sRyRZFcX750FEWBjBZOnH8XzvW-LucAA=s1080" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="1080" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaLXxPH7geV1nN6bLMJgH3mb5VPYXFgQPMJSph0reZnXPkTNCrsPI0sP4EPR0ChNB7NrVh_5f5bNA3QorEop5WRaNEHtop2G4GfTs7-bv1c1KqHhZwIyvkL_BFyu6OOEkuJH8BsSngzGSiwcL5LyGzTmpOt5sRyRZFcX750FEWBjBZOnH8XzvW-LucAA=w400-h290" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Next Day</i>, Joseph Fortune Layraud </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">But where is Lady Brassica?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnmsk_uB5ErHc1Gc7CTR0teckLOI9pnM3GDS5C_NeWvDF2Z9qhATj9BvM6uWc9SUuGw-FHROpnsImyCPmN_lQrHW9QBI1JeZajNUF3ni0pVhnhOw-QAEgdwhS5RtkZ3Qrkm7lRKAyG8aM/s1600/LadyB.green.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnmsk_uB5ErHc1Gc7CTR0teckLOI9pnM3GDS5C_NeWvDF2Z9qhATj9BvM6uWc9SUuGw-FHROpnsImyCPmN_lQrHW9QBI1JeZajNUF3ni0pVhnhOw-QAEgdwhS5RtkZ3Qrkm7lRKAyG8aM/s320/LadyB.green.JPG" width="215" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here in Ireland, Sean and Seamus and the rest of us are trying to find the pub. Bear in mind that it can be hard to find your way round in Ireland. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: The signs aren't much help.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9BIjXPMEr6YU4Cs-8c4sRTuzYit1bj1I3qnqr3ccvvrh1XNTfUsTb516-Y7foyRpsQ1bmj4af3mKJlDEc7J_yPszA9ABzfiuS969iMfqihTw4Q6811RwWSBZ-e43GQe5ipvX3WzonWTJM/s1600/359768953_dcf5381b7c_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9BIjXPMEr6YU4Cs-8c4sRTuzYit1bj1I3qnqr3ccvvrh1XNTfUsTb516-Y7foyRpsQ1bmj4af3mKJlDEc7J_yPszA9ABzfiuS969iMfqihTw4Q6811RwWSBZ-e43GQe5ipvX3WzonWTJM/s1600/359768953_dcf5381b7c_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Stacy Cashman at RamblingTraveler.com</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On Suffolk Street in Dublin we pass The Tart with the Cart.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClYESEY2eVwv2NZk6JxX6gdh6VzABdaV3ZJv6Ty_uLDABnpkQ3M3acOdT4I_TxcadO_pQB3j5C_C-K5ukLwsTEyXYKqNtRslCNZgh8VTTgVAT7CnkcUqtJ63kUyl4Ug_0UOL8u08eHpYV/s1600/anselmpallas.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClYESEY2eVwv2NZk6JxX6gdh6VzABdaV3ZJv6Ty_uLDABnpkQ3M3acOdT4I_TxcadO_pQB3j5C_C-K5ukLwsTEyXYKqNtRslCNZgh8VTTgVAT7CnkcUqtJ63kUyl4Ug_0UOL8u08eHpYV/s1600/anselmpallas.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/anselmpallas/15567605953" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/anselmpallas/15567605953</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: <i>Top o' the mornin' to ye, Molly Malone!</i></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sean and Seamus know her by different names: The Dolly with the Trolley; The Dish with the Fish; The Trollop with the Scallops; The Flirt in the Skirt.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;">Mungo: To be sure, the Irish have a way with words.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We pass a very nice book bench, which reminds us of Ireland's great literary tradition.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIz6aJV4Vdyhitu_uVHA8ON49hriGYVEEPM79siMqJpPjko8hPNpAaPI97V_S1gMMpSkUq9ICWwaFjj6sD8w3ahx0DeUqh6NN3QHMJceDunBhlezeIXgfPJrZCXAfocJNO_FCj22Ywgsm/s1600/Irish.typepad.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIz6aJV4Vdyhitu_uVHA8ON49hriGYVEEPM79siMqJpPjko8hPNpAaPI97V_S1gMMpSkUq9ICWwaFjj6sD8w3ahx0DeUqh6NN3QHMJceDunBhlezeIXgfPJrZCXAfocJNO_FCj22Ywgsm/s1600/Irish.typepad.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/irisheyes/321198" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/irisheyes/321198</span></a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I enjoyed A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man when I was a young man. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: Here is your portrait when you were a young man.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5IgmzUvNwv9wuSqkTro7n9JXn96-UUdGZh4GLJkywS13dPdXDMq6tblk-gfY5X35O1GlMyUN7AO4ojI2rsnq9Wl3CyV84RPwo-4mjdhKVGnULOAJhc2CNt0ffu4iT5tlGZI-hW5XfSsF/s1600/blank+box.bmp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5IgmzUvNwv9wuSqkTro7n9JXn96-UUdGZh4GLJkywS13dPdXDMq6tblk-gfY5X35O1GlMyUN7AO4ojI2rsnq9Wl3CyV84RPwo-4mjdhKVGnULOAJhc2CNt0ffu4iT5tlGZI-hW5XfSsF/s1600/blank+box.bmp" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">James Joyce looks on with some degree of bewilderment.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibka2Yl3VzIHunWv_ta3hNw9qPXw41iKaFPDtofvFv8ygwUT0Nmqgo9xjWoVYbTaiFdbEY4_SAYOMv1rfn_hD3FXrhJewa2WcK5oGGt1ROpKM-yMrXyu1Mt2Dr7hYapbAB3kx0bQzrnc-F/s1600/afritzse.jamesjoyce.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibka2Yl3VzIHunWv_ta3hNw9qPXw41iKaFPDtofvFv8ygwUT0Nmqgo9xjWoVYbTaiFdbEY4_SAYOMv1rfn_hD3FXrhJewa2WcK5oGGt1ROpKM-yMrXyu1Mt2Dr7hYapbAB3kx0bQzrnc-F/s1600/afritzse.jamesjoyce.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/afritzse/229927427" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/afritzse/229927427</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: Who is James Joyce?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: How can you be Irish and not know who James Joyce is?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: I don't know everything about Ireland. I'm a Dubliner.</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Don't you ever read books, Tamsin?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Tamsin: No, I'm down on this sort of thing.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDLIZ8jt1UusWKQwq-1prcjn5QXde2GLBlK1wxmNldKJFrRwXptMQlRGLwD6urkTMczKUmX4XUPncFJchLooyS5JwhUcDtusrztA6pGyD_pHNGGND-LBiklZvVTj_JjbkhGmz0eFExSoPI/s1600/Cian.Ginty.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDLIZ8jt1UusWKQwq-1prcjn5QXde2GLBlK1wxmNldKJFrRwXptMQlRGLwD6urkTMczKUmX4XUPncFJchLooyS5JwhUcDtusrztA6pGyD_pHNGGND-LBiklZvVTj_JjbkhGmz0eFExSoPI/s1600/Cian.Ginty.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cianginty/2967031093">https://www.flickr.com/photos/cianginty/2967031093</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In Sligo Street we see someone kneeling before a sheet of cloth. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5u3dbR_1qDuRaveyZnNLxBzYDHxhc7RmVERz2K8ZKebh8EHyGnMefQWSdGyi72M0eIXNIJchJuBe3OhRtThYWFZTOAla63os9XsZOCytyci6qzakuwMjUsJQlnDR-_034KiOvHH0Z3eg6/s1600/theq47.wbyeats.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5u3dbR_1qDuRaveyZnNLxBzYDHxhc7RmVERz2K8ZKebh8EHyGnMefQWSdGyi72M0eIXNIJchJuBe3OhRtThYWFZTOAla63os9XsZOCytyci6qzakuwMjUsJQlnDR-_034KiOvHH0Z3eg6/s1600/theq47.wbyeats.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/theq47/158859961" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/theq47/158859961</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Just to show my literary credentials, I tell him to tread softly, because he treads on my dreams. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: I can't repeat what he replied but I don't think it was Gaelic.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: Remember when we went hitchhiking in Ireland years ago and you tried to memorise The Collected Works of WB Yeats? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Vague memories, nothing but memories.</i></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: <i>Now there is grey in your hair and young men no longer suddenly catch their breath when you are passing</i>. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo:<i> No old gaffer even mutters a blessing.</i></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And speaking of old gaffers, down on the edge of the canal, The Crank on the Bank looks like he disapproves.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5xtyJrlcgQ8i8ty3ep4zQKmCTBSqU0ZM1DtVbslEZKQqXFhebAIydPCjuDeV2yx6mALbH_CAnydZx8MBw_ElTmxcWGVFmf7mgqvCUbbkR3V5L5HuVp0NITDwlyrYa_qnGOqpOqq_MiTl/s1600/williammurphy.patrickavanagh.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5xtyJrlcgQ8i8ty3ep4zQKmCTBSqU0ZM1DtVbslEZKQqXFhebAIydPCjuDeV2yx6mALbH_CAnydZx8MBw_ElTmxcWGVFmf7mgqvCUbbkR3V5L5HuVp0NITDwlyrYa_qnGOqpOqq_MiTl/s1600/williammurphy.patrickavanagh.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15517460788" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15517460788</span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miggy: Perhaps he's just </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">leafy-with-love and the green waters of the canal.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: <i>Banal on the Canal</i>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There is nothing banal about Patrick Kavanagh.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>And malice is only another name for mediocrity</i>.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There is nothing mediocre about Irish poets.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: I didn't say there was.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In an Irishly diplomatic way, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sean suggests we stop for a Choc Ice.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlet7qew891kMMENUY1ZsoHbuVTbgK6dqdua2fsMJI3j2QR0lMv_4UEpEJYdhlcc7PoE6qRwX39YWjXoco035SxKoycuugY1DR9FtsJPih3mD0tOfSkJr2Cs8VJmw93Yc2cSUoHQEuT3vC/s1600/desmondkavanagh.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlet7qew891kMMENUY1ZsoHbuVTbgK6dqdua2fsMJI3j2QR0lMv_4UEpEJYdhlcc7PoE6qRwX39YWjXoco035SxKoycuugY1DR9FtsJPih3mD0tOfSkJr2Cs8VJmw93Yc2cSUoHQEuT3vC/s1600/desmondkavanagh.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/desmondkavanagh/3259119676" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/desmondkavanagh/3259119676</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miggy pours a bottle of Irish Cream over hers.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: Let's go to St. Stephens Green and eat these splendid green cupcakes on a bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxGpKas0AftLlTKmMc24GisZQBeBk7uHOIRZBqSTRTCCiq8Ws1YWvFDY_JLOqdotqc09YS3rN7hPRAA3TjWaUbLspKS23pwmyQ5WuhM-LzA4_QRpY3zSW93-jo4biOs1pHGQxtKamZmcl/s1600/clevercupcakes.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxGpKas0AftLlTKmMc24GisZQBeBk7uHOIRZBqSTRTCCiq8Ws1YWvFDY_JLOqdotqc09YS3rN7hPRAA3TjWaUbLspKS23pwmyQ5WuhM-LzA4_QRpY3zSW93-jo4biOs1pHGQxtKamZmcl/s1600/clevercupcakes.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/clevercupcakes/2333110997" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/clevercupcakes/2333110997</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sean and Seamus see a couple of women they know who've been shopping in Grafton Street. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: The Hags with the Bags.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDDKVOSgG_fnUq1JIaKM2nkbC_rVvL5lojR2qmj6tZ8exiTub5EJNyw9kGPLjGgZs1hdCT_AbNmmPItxj88bgpzCExUYtOlHi0wlHZxqmMUMxbwRrehfPYkjJ7hzOFc0tY0T1bPrMwpf-/s1600/williampurphy.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDDKVOSgG_fnUq1JIaKM2nkbC_rVvL5lojR2qmj6tZ8exiTub5EJNyw9kGPLjGgZs1hdCT_AbNmmPItxj88bgpzCExUYtOlHi0wlHZxqmMUMxbwRrehfPYkjJ7hzOFc0tY0T1bPrMwpf-/s1600/williampurphy.fkcc.jpg" width="289" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7556032216" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7556032216</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy:</span><span style="color: #0b5394;"> Top o' the mornin' to ye!</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Tamsin sees a dog bench and there is a long discussion as to whether it's an Irish Setter bench or an Irish Wolfhound bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8VssS2mbJ3DzWXLwCuHVVygsQ57740xixqeIsFQo2mQZGGYYebLDdM2M-DEt9xuVzZLFNqrLWIFYpSZuN0PU9PJIiMyQy4HyCPj65UI4ODXsTn8SL_xo15GNFJlJtc-iOh7-Zz0Pn5EXk/s1600/katiehumphry.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8VssS2mbJ3DzWXLwCuHVVygsQ57740xixqeIsFQo2mQZGGYYebLDdM2M-DEt9xuVzZLFNqrLWIFYpSZuN0PU9PJIiMyQy4HyCPj65UI4ODXsTn8SL_xo15GNFJlJtc-iOh7-Zz0Pn5EXk/s1600/katiehumphry.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/katiehumphry/7717042736" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/katiehumphry/7717042736</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Speaking of dogs, Sean and Seamus suggest a trip to the dog track. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: The Irish are very keen on a flutter. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Then Mungo spots Father Ted's bench. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqfUQ6Db1DRNPxhFXn7fboj2bIgjMpuFMe_x1GjVagxmM5K5UUx3TnbmDOK08_rnbBjNwdBRUGOxuCojB13uJ_yM4XeqNzuPyOi7r9wZPmI6mibwdKvTeef6E0-2vOVFK0r-rtAV1yRv9/s1600/FatherTed.William.Murphy.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqfUQ6Db1DRNPxhFXn7fboj2bIgjMpuFMe_x1GjVagxmM5K5UUx3TnbmDOK08_rnbBjNwdBRUGOxuCojB13uJ_yM4XeqNzuPyOi7r9wZPmI6mibwdKvTeef6E0-2vOVFK0r-rtAV1yRv9/s1600/FatherTed.William.Murphy.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/4568641753">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/4568641753</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: What are the odds of that happening?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Finally we reach the pub and everyone is there. Our friend Troy has come all the way from Dry Heaves, Minnesota for the celebrations. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: He's wearing an outfit hand-crocheted for him by the good ladies of Ballyfrumpy.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjll8xR3ehdFG-6tfZPiaURqcz0ySQbZjXp5tyzWSxDp_AIwqBGHsLrEFluWEazZxFAfqzkUktihfuP6pm6SD7cTWDA89iYHmrxcvXth22wX1uei53dFoglsl9vMEfcLpgDUBGahKPSGcM/s1600/troy.stpat.beer.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjll8xR3ehdFG-6tfZPiaURqcz0ySQbZjXp5tyzWSxDp_AIwqBGHsLrEFluWEazZxFAfqzkUktihfuP6pm6SD7cTWDA89iYHmrxcvXth22wX1uei53dFoglsl9vMEfcLpgDUBGahKPSGcM/s1600/troy.stpat.beer.JPG" width="249" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And Lady Brassica has flown in on Aer Lingus, stylishly dressed in green.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3c97IDgTmvpImPV5wZ9slEp4PX2z0Te6K_4zGGTY0V7m3gI-2z-_nBxN3ICcwWPsURwgHjTch-k_yy8z0rz_YaHtM7uYJOdO77NSe3wLSXPiRKKPp744pHQZ9hW0HEKdy1-CpymI39HeO/s1600/Ladyb.stpats.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3c97IDgTmvpImPV5wZ9slEp4PX2z0Te6K_4zGGTY0V7m3gI-2z-_nBxN3ICcwWPsURwgHjTch-k_yy8z0rz_YaHtM7uYJOdO77NSe3wLSXPiRKKPp744pHQZ9hW0HEKdy1-CpymI39HeO/s1600/Ladyb.stpats.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: This is unlikely to be a coincidence.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On the flight she met Oscar Wilde who, at Customs, had nothing to declare but his genius. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR__jqSbDDg3tWtVx3iRhFej-BmEvwFPXDwUXTGJlQYxNxhzZHOvh-r-vSVV-NnVEBTwbU2e4-QKV0RZ3YPFDe3X7GYRsu4oXttbS0C53UwJmWLUI4oOlv9DPHqMkxVjzwDPLlrJKs61_4/s1600/2327409109_9ab63d3559_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR__jqSbDDg3tWtVx3iRhFej-BmEvwFPXDwUXTGJlQYxNxhzZHOvh-r-vSVV-NnVEBTwbU2e4-QKV0RZ3YPFDe3X7GYRsu4oXttbS0C53UwJmWLUI4oOlv9DPHqMkxVjzwDPLlrJKs61_4/s1600/2327409109_9ab63d3559_o.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rowan72/2327409109">https://www.flickr.com/photos/rowan72/2327409109</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Outside a pub in O'Connell Street we see Lady B's son Root.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: He seems to be in the gutter.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqyQO3Vq5Ra7SdN8ol9UdnWv_MAGTsDr9N7uvE3-0bTTn_ipOtyg5toZrFuHmOKQKng75rOgpk6jjfCqTdMzO8PhB5utp-d3CtWj5uXLIA7fNufudrMkdNlIcsubf6XEXlih1LvPpnVBo/s1600/root.stpats.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqyQO3Vq5Ra7SdN8ol9UdnWv_MAGTsDr9N7uvE3-0bTTn_ipOtyg5toZrFuHmOKQKng75rOgpk6jjfCqTdMzO8PhB5utp-d3CtWj5uXLIA7fNufudrMkdNlIcsubf6XEXlih1LvPpnVBo/s1600/root.stpats.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: And he isn't looking at the stars.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Once we get to the pub the landlord welcomes us in.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjArWOP1Q6kY0PjjQCyGqb8-SecZU4MerTLAlDzbyU43B314-5mtIhIwcGjGaupgyvxzyUr48MrTRF9-RIeFpMbj7g8ExkjE5uk9N6lXIwbCkAnNI3LuBXBGscNznxAssFdTyM1dGqI4Fh9/s1600/Irish.frog.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjArWOP1Q6kY0PjjQCyGqb8-SecZU4MerTLAlDzbyU43B314-5mtIhIwcGjGaupgyvxzyUr48MrTRF9-RIeFpMbj7g8ExkjE5uk9N6lXIwbCkAnNI3LuBXBGscNznxAssFdTyM1dGqI4Fh9/s1600/Irish.frog.JPG" width="315" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We find that lots of dancing is going on. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>The good are always merry</i>, says the landlord. </span><br /><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></i><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miggy: </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the merry love to dance</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I must say, Innocent does a very seductive Riverdance.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqe16JwFW0UBrEMMybY3ODPcw78wVXWJYcSdZtIbpX20LGKoyGY6QxnkND6aLO5vtUfAnU0YE0v7lIOmdvLjlrz7vqlajkNchizxiPO6btlREqi0L80YkkU093w9BdIME6odoVrHGz4tu/s1600/innocent.stpats.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqe16JwFW0UBrEMMybY3ODPcw78wVXWJYcSdZtIbpX20LGKoyGY6QxnkND6aLO5vtUfAnU0YE0v7lIOmdvLjlrz7vqlajkNchizxiPO6btlREqi0L80YkkU093w9BdIME6odoVrHGz4tu/s1600/innocent.stpats.JPG" width="171" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But Troy goes all out for a raucous jig.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdI50kensWNyvj1xCLrhC05wfPYMFN_6gg-9rz69LbAVa11vTrRDTYx3p8POW6Wpx7FVWJI80iMEXWdWwaNKxHck5uP89Cg35O62SksHuYaQaCYsvE0TkfgCpFv_mHO11yOS9JQyD7rQ6Y/s1600/troy.stpats.jig.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdI50kensWNyvj1xCLrhC05wfPYMFN_6gg-9rz69LbAVa11vTrRDTYx3p8POW6Wpx7FVWJI80iMEXWdWwaNKxHck5uP89Cg35O62SksHuYaQaCYsvE0TkfgCpFv_mHO11yOS9JQyD7rQ6Y/s1600/troy.stpats.jig.JPG" width="224" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy:<i> Dance there upon the shore</i>, Troy! <i>What need have you to care for wind or water's roar?</i></span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Tamsin and friends sing <i>Whiskey in the Jar.</i></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: But then there is a row about what kind of whiskey and what kind of jar.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtxPLQ1Xcqpa4eaRmfC_iejikiaPgSbVS6eSzLBbtF0wuqFaHB_0hZl4_MLofSLKxR-sFJtTGrU8aZ8P2jdmXYJL3As8tD3rEOjFafZf9jgcNqSEDrFywRr_BSi7f6Ey-rr6iwLhMEYilR/s1600/st.pats.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtxPLQ1Xcqpa4eaRmfC_iejikiaPgSbVS6eSzLBbtF0wuqFaHB_0hZl4_MLofSLKxR-sFJtTGrU8aZ8P2jdmXYJL3As8tD3rEOjFafZf9jgcNqSEDrFywRr_BSi7f6Ey-rr6iwLhMEYilR/s1600/st.pats.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Minnaloushe the cat lifts his delicate feet.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?</i> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: <i>Sure and begorrah, 'tis a grand day to be alive! </i></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Shhh! Innocent is singing Danny Boy.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczjwhi9GaDmG-WOrsAI4PkotvyTQYg3dluSIxgVbUyWNJvdYK7qM6CF0Tw9P-80pOvnSqHVxh0rdXkCtmQeBZkiEVB7EihXvsqBzKvTTOhkcOccuyfYu0ev5YkWKXTbl6Z16RMKfZuxRx/s1600/Innocent.Sean.Seamus.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczjwhi9GaDmG-WOrsAI4PkotvyTQYg3dluSIxgVbUyWNJvdYK7qM6CF0Tw9P-80pOvnSqHVxh0rdXkCtmQeBZkiEVB7EihXvsqBzKvTTOhkcOccuyfYu0ev5YkWKXTbl6Z16RMKfZuxRx/s1600/Innocent.Sean.Seamus.JPG" width="268" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Next thing you know, everyone is in tears. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: It's just one of those nostalgia things.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuokxqwXEKEi5HWpXaDFWP46BNZ-_2HeziLtI1l2nMkLlQ4Vs-GEY2hLJmbglzVoxDlor3wALm6cKmHoY18yE4Ps_JyyD0TTD0k8iqolEhJrc5cydMQTOCrVxOuIt9SHlgUQZ_Y9lpg2_/s1600/walkadog.beverly.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuokxqwXEKEi5HWpXaDFWP46BNZ-_2HeziLtI1l2nMkLlQ4Vs-GEY2hLJmbglzVoxDlor3wALm6cKmHoY18yE4Ps_JyyD0TTD0k8iqolEhJrc5cydMQTOCrVxOuIt9SHlgUQZ_Y9lpg2_/s1600/walkadog.beverly.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog/3392921903" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog/3392921903</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Later, Miggy goes missing and we all go out to look for her in Croppies Park, where there is a famous fountain, better known as Viagra Falls. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Mungo: Miggy is in it.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: The Floozie in the Jacuzzi.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1WLc6JaPjX33qMb_3ef1rlZe57eA8XWqwJ-2655ob-IaJbRFzDeJmcbJtUqOSZsAocdYasn4M6MiBvIFpekx5yeKtJqNlvssWhG2tE5gPhGgCaHNEHrRKRcn_uPtxWQ2ksTXbPaBfr_k2/s1600/williammurphy.fkcc.annaliviaplurabelle.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1WLc6JaPjX33qMb_3ef1rlZe57eA8XWqwJ-2655ob-IaJbRFzDeJmcbJtUqOSZsAocdYasn4M6MiBvIFpekx5yeKtJqNlvssWhG2tE5gPhGgCaHNEHrRKRcn_uPtxWQ2ksTXbPaBfr_k2/s1600/williammurphy.fkcc.annaliviaplurabelle.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7552452704" style="text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7552452704</a><span style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: It may have escaped your attention that there are hardly any green benches in this story.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, but what a brilliant day we've had with the Wee Folk Seamus and Sean! </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: St. Patrick's Day is like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I propose a toast.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqpO7lTnDtk79nflDvQNxXo85hivJk58iBN7H52lO_gkUdwKeclvUJ2dWlhcwLmXwnQK2hPM9ruV9UHE-5h_IrCXRNE0SX9gqLrSvVtIUyBr6jX-M94LflCh1tpXtFXtiaHglaukgeN5aA/s1600/irish+saying+joseph.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqpO7lTnDtk79nflDvQNxXo85hivJk58iBN7H52lO_gkUdwKeclvUJ2dWlhcwLmXwnQK2hPM9ruV9UHE-5h_IrCXRNE0SX9gqLrSvVtIUyBr6jX-M94LflCh1tpXtFXtiaHglaukgeN5aA/s400/irish+saying+joseph.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Ah to be sure!</span></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: lime;">H</span><span style="color: #38761d;">a</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">p</span><span style="color: #93c47d;">p</span><span style="color: #274e13;">y</span> <span style="color: lime;">S</span><span style="color: #38761d;">t</span><span style="color: #274e13;">.</span> <span style="color: lime;">P</span><span style="color: #38761d;">a</span><span style="color: #93c47d;">t</span><span style="color: #38761d;">r</span><span style="color: lime;">i</span><span style="color: #274e13;">c</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">k</span><span style="color: lime;">'</span><span style="color: #38761d;">s</span> <span style="color: lime;">D</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">a</span><span style="color: #38761d;">y</span><span style="color: lime;">!</span> </span></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdClF-intAW1iaas0iQY_h0z43uIPabxU28qwIoEkUjSRK4P5KtKCvfUjxeJSnBJyN1Ujuq1GS2NqZ4TdUAAJPHaJPlIOU14bDFeOW085f_L0EF9iidwVsxETF0-TdnL5UyA0HzggviApG/s1600/greenBCyp+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdClF-intAW1iaas0iQY_h0z43uIPabxU28qwIoEkUjSRK4P5KtKCvfUjxeJSnBJyN1Ujuq1GS2NqZ4TdUAAJPHaJPlIOU14bDFeOW085f_L0EF9iidwVsxETF0-TdnL5UyA0HzggviApG/s320/greenBCyp+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Sheila B</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: lime;"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: lime;"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: lime;"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">'What in the name of holy bejaysus and all the suffering saints is this cliched paddywackery?' is a quote from Irish Times film critic Donald Clarke. He has a way with words. And you want to know the film, don't you? It's <i>Wild Mountain Thyme</i> (2020). Maybe go see it and make up your own mind. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The happy Irish fellow with the lucky horseshoe is a vintage American postcard from 1910</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ever meet a pint of Guinness on legs? No? Now you have. Jason comes from London and he's a Lewisham dreamer. His first attempt at selective coloursation was back in 2006. And did anyone mention St Patrick's Day? Well, they should <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewishamdreamer/111654151">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewishamdreamer/111654151</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">March 17th is the day our hearts rejoice, according to the pretty St. Patrick's Day souvenir postcard. It's in the photostream of Bluebells2008, posted for St. Patrick's Day in 2012. Bluebell lives in the UK and her photostream has all kinds of Little People, among other things <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluebells2008/6844386286/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluebells2008/6844386286/</a></span><br /><br /><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">It turns out that Tamsin isn't from Ireland after all. She's from one of the 13 places called Dublin in the USA; she can't remember which one. Tamsin is a sweet local girl who works here in Fribble-under-Par in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy. She has a rather odd perspective on life, as shown in the post she helped me with about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/big-bench-small-bench-cute-and-tiny.html">big and small benches</a>. If you think size doesn't matter, you ought to see it. <span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";">His Excellency is one of my two husbands. He is a philosopher and a man who takes an interest in many subjects, though he's extremely camera shy, which is why his portrait photograph is rather uninteresting. Mungo, my imaginary husband, is my travelling companion and soulmate but he is not a great lover of poetry. He blames this on his schooling, which focused mostly on woodwork. For more about my two husbands and their education see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Their workbenches are quite interesting too</span> <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html</a><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Don Harrison is Up North in Michigan and he's The UpNorth Memories Guy. He's a wannabe philanthropist and collector of delightful Irish American postcards and other great stuff. Some of the photos here are from his UpNorth Memories eBay Postcard Store at</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://stores.ebay.com/UpNorth-Memories-Collection" rel="nofollow">stores.ebay.com/UpNorth-Memories-Collection</a> I found them all on Flickr. For example, the Top of the Mornin' To Ye men <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012">https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012</a> and the lucky horseshoe shamrock guy, who is really cheerful and nothing at all like my husbands <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301053966">https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301053966</a> Then there's the pipe and hat picture with the poem about coming from the land of shamrocks. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3300218851">https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3300218851</a> Finally another dear Irish memory from the Upnorth guy with <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/2302196758">https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/2302196758</a> and the girl with her petticoat showing <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012">https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012</a> No, it's not Miggy, but you already knew that.</span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Stacy Cashman is The Rambling Traveler and in her photostream she has two albums of photographs from Ireland. She photographed the pretty stone cottage with the red door and the blue bench in Mulraney in 2008 and also the multitude of signs on the R477 in County Clare </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramblingtraveler/2848604174">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramblingtraveler/2848604174 </a> and </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramblingtraveler/359768953/in/set-72157594483435446">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramblingtraveler/359768953/in/set-72157594483435446</a> Her website is at <a href="http://www.ramblingtraveler.com/">www.Ramblingtraveler.com</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Happy St. Patrick's Day bench is by Cindy Oppel in Orem, Utah. Her Etsy shop is Out Back in the Barn, where she makes benches with interchangable messages for holidays. Using Velcro on the back of the sign makes changing them easy, so you can buy as many different messages as you like. She also does hand-painted woodcrafts and homemade jam. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn">www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Daniel Voyager from the UK has a very active Second Life. I'm not sure what his First Life is like but he hangs out in some strange pubs. One of them is all green and apparently serves mugs of green beer for St. Patrick's Day. At least they did back in 2010 <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielvoyager/4440792488">https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielvoyager/4440792488</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>When Irish eyes are smiling sure 'tis like a morn in spring</i>. Spring in Birmingham, anyway. The girl with the big green paper eyes was photographed by Ross Hawkes on St. Patrick's Day in 2010. Ross is a university lecturer and journalist from Lichfield in the UK <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosshawkes/5280571927">https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosshawkes/5280571927</a> </span><br /><div><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The picture-framed picnic table was photographed way back in 2001 when the Dynamic Duo went to Ireland. Who are the Dynamic Duo? One of them is </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Babak Fakamzedah, aka Mastababa; the other is Joost. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastababa/2505333817/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastababa/2505333817/</a><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The red bench sitting out in a green field in Donegal was photographed in 2012 by Eoin O'Mahony. Now there's an Irish name for you. Eoin is a researcher from Dublin. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/73man/7507658424">https://www.flickr.com/photos/73man/7507658424</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dissonancefalling is of the <i>spray and pray school of photography</i>. The celtic cross bench was photographed in Tintagel in Cornwall in 2012. That's not Ireland, of course. There are other celtic places around, notably in Scotland. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dissonancefalling/8023739925">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dissonancefalling/8023739925</a> </span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In days past, The Mercantile was the place to find anything. If you didn't see it, you just had to ask. Steve Tucker from Harrisburg, Oregon has created Tuckers Mercantile, where he makes one of a kind handmade gift items. When making signs and woodcrafts, he often uses re-purposed materials to add character and rustic appeal. The sign I love is the one about malarkey and shenanigans but he has many other Irish signs as well. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/tuckersmercantile">www.etsy.com/shop/tuckersmercantile</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sean and Seamus really are Irish. They are visiting me from their home with my friend Kate, who comes from County Antrim. Kate likes a good celebration and, fortunately for me, keeps a little stash of stuff for St. Patrick's Day.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mungo is right: the cottage in County Offhand is a cookie jar. It belongs to Miggy's mum. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dorinda from London has an Etsy shop which sells a variety of printable art to decorate your home or to use as a gift for someone special. One of them is the terrific Irish Diplomacy. All of the prints can be used to print as a canvas wall art or simply frame as a quick and very cost effective way to make wall art. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dorindaart">www.etsy.com/shop/dorindaart</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The green bench is a photograph I took in Lynmouth, Somerset when the tide was out in summer 2012. The other green bench is in Wells, Somerset, on the walk at the back of the cathedral. And the green bench at the very top of the story is also in Wells. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Blarney Castle bench is outside Blarney Castle near Cork in Ireland. You're meant to kiss the blarney stone, which apparently gives you the gift of the gab. I kissed it back in 1977 and I'm still waiting. The photograph is by Matt Brown, editor of Londonist.com and an all-round Londonophile. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/10040187875">https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/10040187875</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The green grass bench was on show at the Netherland's Floriade in 2012. It was photographed by Pierre Swillens, who is retired and lives in Maastricht in the Netherlands. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gloria_victoria/7432481414/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/gloria_victoria/7432481414/</a><br /><div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Amy Karoly runs her Etsy shop The Freckled Stitch from Lancaster, Ohio. She offers professionally designed humourous t-shirts such as <i>Mom, Dad, I'm Gaelic</i>. She also does funny hoodies, inspirational sweatshirts and accessories such as scarves, bags and totes. I'm curious about the Uplifting Tshirts; exactly how far do they lift I wonder? <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFreckledStitch">www.etsy.com/shop/TheFreckledStitch</a></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Billy Stewart is a senior sales consultant with over seven years experience. He's a passionate advocate and practitioner of social media and also a sociable person. He photographed the Beach Bar bench in Easkey, Ireland in 2011. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/billystewart/6545719001">https://www.flickr.com/photos/billystewart/6545719001</a></span><br /><br /><div style="margin: 0cm;"><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The No Drugs or Nuclear Weapons sign was seen by jojo7D at the entrance to the Star Rock Café</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> in Dublin in 2011. From Atlanta to London to Bangkok there are a lot of these signs in Hard Rock cafes around the world. jojo7D lives in Lille in France. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/65588802@N04/6266106543" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/65588802@N04/6266106543</a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Carrie Stephens from Windsor, Ontario deals in fish scraps, by which she means instantly downloadable images of all kinds of brilliant things. FishScraps offers digital clipart, digital papers, clipart images, printable art and photoshop brushes. Original digital graphics, such as the St. Patrick's Day Irish collage in the story, are designed and hand-drawn by Carrie. Other products are available royalty free for commercial use. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/fishscraps">www.etsy.com/shop/fishscraps</a> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The leprechaun doll with his pot of gold is from Debbie Ritter at Uneek Doll Designs. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</a> Debbie makes dolls of all sorts of fictional and real people. She has hundreds of celebrity dolls and figures from throughout history. Debbie's blog about her work as an artist is at <a href="http://uneekmusings.blogspot.co.uk/">http://uneekmusings.blogspot.co.uk</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">When William Murphy from Dublin started his <i>Streets Of Ireland</i> project back in 2005 his aim was to publish 100,000 photographs by the end of 2015 but with no real expectation that he would ever achieve such a target. As it happens, he published photograph number 100,000 on November 22, 2014 and was more than a little bit pleased. I'm pleased too, because photo number 100,000 is the brilliant <i>Hungry Tree, </i>the bench embedded in a tree, which is in Dublin <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15851977331">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15851977331</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">William Murphy also photographed the Brendan Behan bench statue in 2012. It's at the second Lock on the Royal Canal (Dorset Street bridge). Behan (1923-1964) described himself as <i>a drinker with writing problems</i>. For him, <i>one drink is too many and a thousand is not enough</i>. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6798486630">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6798486630</a> </span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Around 13 million pints of Guinness will be consumed around the world on St Patrick's Day.<i> Guinness is good for you</i> is an old advertising slogan and many people still believe it. This sign was photographed by Olivier Bacquet in Bunratty in 2014. Olivier lives near Arras, in Pas-de-Calais, in northern France. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/olibac/14800755808">https://www.flickr.com/photos/olibac/14800755808</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are over seven thousand Irish themed pubs around the world where you can get an Irish breakfast, a pint of Guinness, and an uncomfortable bar stool. O'Brassica's pub is not the one shown in the photograph though. The photograph is Fagan's Bar, which is a real bar in Drumcondra in Dublin. It was photographed by Jay White in 2013. Jay currently lives in Portland, Oregon and enjoys sharing photographs on Flickr. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/madpoet_one/8705118240%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/madpoet_one/8705118240 </a></span><br /><br /><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer here on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Paradise</st1:placename><st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>. He loves his horse Tonks, his dog Pru,and his 1947 Landrover, in that order. He indulges his wife, Lady Jessica Brassica with a replica mall in the basement of Drizzly Manor, a beach hut on the Esplanade, and unlimited amounts of cash for shopping. However, it has emerged that he doesn't know as much as you'd think about farm animal benches, especially<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">cow benches</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">sheep benches</span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";">. He knows a bit more about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/2014-year-of-horse-bench.html"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">horse benches</span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";">, learned from his horse Tonks, and possibly something about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">dog benches</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">from his dog Pru. What he really knows though, is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">picnic benches</span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";">. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Leprechauns are big business in Ireland and there's a National Leprechaun Museum in Dublin. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Killer Leprechaun sign was photographed at the Killeen House, Aghadoe, County Kerry by Joel Sowers in 2010. Joel has a lot of travel albums from the United States and also one from Ireland, including the obligatory one for all travellers to Ireland - someone kissing the blarney stone </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sowersnet/5298873434" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/sowersnet/5298873434</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Innocent</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana";">wears a crocheted wool dress created by Lady Jessica Brassica at her studio in Ballyfrumpy, which is in County Offhand in </span><st1:place style="font-family: Verdana;" w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place><span style="font-family: "verdana";">. If you're a fan of frocks, see what happened at new year by reading all about it in the </span><st1:place style="font-family: Verdana;" w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Paradise</st1:placename><st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html" style="font-family: Verdana;">fashion forums</a><span style="font-family: "verdana";">. </span><br /><br /><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Root is the son of Lord and Lady Brassica of Drizzly.Whilst Lady B is gorgeous and Lord B is wealthy and personable, Root has none of these qualities. In fact, he has no qualities whatsoever, as became apparent in my<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/bus-stop-benches-around-world.html">Bus Stop benches</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>blog last year. </span><o:p></o:p></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Kristina Hoeppner is a prolific traveller and photographer whose photographs have been on Benchsite many times. She captured the coffin-like bench at the Dunquin Blasket Islands centre. She asks whether there is something inside. Well, you know how the Irish love a wake . . . <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/4nitsirk/3086878704">https://www.flickr.com/photos/4nitsirk/3086878704</a> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>The next Day is a painting by French artist Joseph Fortune Layraud (1834-1912). <br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty, I once laid eyes on sweet Molly Malone at the bottom of Grafton Street. She pushed her wheelbarrow through streets long and narrow, crying <i>Cockles and Muscles Alive, Alive-o!</i> Sculpted by James Yorkston, she has done this since 1880. Molly Malone, a ficticious fishmonger, was photographed in 2014 by Anselm Pallas.</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Anselm is a Spanish speaker and interestingly, presents the song in Spanish, where Cockles and Mussels are known as Berberechos y mejillones and Dublin's Fair City is En la Noble Ciudad de Dublín. And yes, she has several nicknames, though not all of them are rude. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/anselmpallas/15567605953">https://www.flickr.com/photos/anselmpallas/15567605953</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Bernie Goldbach, aka Irish Typepad,</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> comes from Lancaster, Pennsylvania but currently teaches</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fefefe; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fefefe;">college courses in media writing, media studies, public relations and multimedia programming in Cashel, Ireland. He</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> photographed the red and green book bench, which was made by members of a Clonmel Youth Group for the Clonmel Junction Festival. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/irisheyes/321198" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/irisheyes/321198</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><a data-rapid_p="57" href="http://irish.typepad.com/" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Irish Typepad by Bernie Goldbach.</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">James Joyce (1881-1941) is sitting with a book in Zurich, Switzerland, where he died in 1941. He is buried in this spot by Zurich Zoo. Joyce's best-known works include <i>The Dubliners</i>, <i>Ulysses</i>, <i>Finnegans Wake</i>, and <i>A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man</i>. The statue was photographed in 2006 by afritzse <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/afritzse/229927427">https://www.flickr.com/photos/afritzse/229927427</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Cian Ginty is a student journalist who is originally from Ballina in County Mayo, though he now lives in Dublin. In October 2008 there was a student protest against higher fees, in which many students came out to show they were Down With This Sort of Thing. Father Ted fans will recognise this point of view. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cianginty/2967031093">https://www.flickr.com/photos/cianginty/2967031093</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Under bare Ben Bulben's head/In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid</i>. William Butler </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yeats (1865-1939) is one of Ireland's most famous poets, which is saying a lot in a place with such a rich literary heritage.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The crouching man is a statue at the poet's grave in Drumcliff in County Sligo. It was photographed by theq47, who lives in Ballymote in County Sligo. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/theq47/158859961" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/theq47/158859961</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> The man crouching before a cloth on the ground refers to one of Yeats's most loved poems, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">: </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>I would spread my cloths under your feet</i></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>But I, being poor, have only my dreams;</i></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>I have spread my dreams under your feet</i></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Tread softly because you tread on my dreams</i>.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are many references to the work of Yeats throughout this story. I'll leave you to find them.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Poetry please! If you're a fan of poetry there are plenty of great poetry benches at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html</a> Though be warned; you will have to put up with a certain amount of nonsense from a couple of annoying non poets. If you like books but poetry's not your thing, there's a great stack of book benches at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-stack-of-book-benches-for-world-book.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-stack-of-book-benches-for-world-book.html</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And should you like a newer book list of library books and militant librarians, there's a whole Dewey System of them at</span> <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/world-book-day-dewey-need-library.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/world-book-day-dewey-need-library.html</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Patrick Kavanagh (1904 – 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist who is not at all Banal on the Canal. He is regarded as one of the foremost poets of the 20th century and known for his depictions of everyday Irish life. His works include the semi-autobiographical novel <i>Tarry Flynn</i> and the poems On Raglan Road and The Great Hunger. His statue sits on a bench along Dublin's Grand Canal and was photographed by William Murphy in 2014. <i>L</i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>eafy-with-love banks and the green waters of the canal</i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> is a line from one of his poems. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15517460788" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15517460788</a><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Desmond Kavanagh is an Irish designer working in Germany. He's interested in documentary and travel photos, including the bright yellow Choc Ice house (or shop?) in Sneem, County Kerry in 2009. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/desmondkavanagh/3259119676" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/desmondkavanagh/3259119676</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> This is the kind of site which makes visitors love Ireland. The cat is a nice touch too, though Desmond describes it as a flea-ridden feline. Oh dear, Meredith my feline editor would not like this. </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Clever Cupcakes in Montreal make THE most beautiful cupcakes - trays and trays of 'em. The shamrock cupcakes were made for St. Patrick's Day in 2008. They are green velvet cupcakes, made with vanilla buttercream and shamrock sprinkles - pretty enough to make most Irish eyes smile. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/clevercupcakes/2333110997">https://www.flickr.com/photos/clevercupcakes/2333110997</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">'What in the name of holy bejaysus and all the suffering saints is this cliched paddywackery?' is a quote from Irish Times film critic Donald Clarke. He has a way with words. And you want to know the film, don't you? It's <i>Wild Mountain Thyme</i> (2020). Maybe go see it and make up your own mind. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">William Murphy photographed Two Women, also known as The Hags with the Bags in 2012. The statue is at the Ha'Penny Bridge in Dublin. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7556032216">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7556032216</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The large bone bench in the garden with a small doghouse were at the Dublin Bloom Festival in 2010. They were photographed by Grevillea, who is from Western Australia but currently lives in the Netherlands. Of course Grevillea is not just sitting there in The Hague doing nothing: she's out all over Europe taking photographs, including benches <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/katiehumphry/7717042736">https://www.flickr.com/photos/katiehumphry/7717042736</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Actor Dermot Morgan (1952-1998) is well known in Britain and Ireland as the feckless priest Father Ted Crilly, star of the comedy sitcom <i>Father Ted</i>. <span class="meta-field photo-title"><i>The Joker's Chair</i> in Merrion Square, Dublin, is a memorial to Dermot Morgan, photographed by William Murphy. </span> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/4568641753">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/4568641753</a></span><br /><br /><br /><div style="margin: 0cm;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Troy</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> 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.<span class="apple-converted-space"> And</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/summer-bench-days-are-here-again.html" style="font-family: Verdana;">last summer</a><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> Troy spent rather a lot of time at Lady Jess's beach hut</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">. </span></div><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Lady Jessica Brassica is married to Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> For many years Lady B modelled for Studio Joop from Overbearing in <st1:city w:st="on">Holland</st1:city> but now has her own fashion house in <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Offhand</st1:placename> in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Just how will the world take to the designs from Studio Ballyfrumpy? If Troy's green crocheted trousers are anything to go by, I don't think Stella McCartney has anything to worry about.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish writer and poet who became one of London's most popular playwrights of the 1900s. His quotes are famous and he really did declare his genius. The other quote referred to is this: <i>We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars</i>. The Oscar Wilde bench statue is in Galway, where Oscar Wilde is seated with the lesser-known Eduard Wilde, a writer from Estonia. The photograph is by Rowan, who has an album with nearly a thousand photographs of Ireland, plus lots of Celtic music festivals. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rowan72/2327409109">https://www.flickr.com/photos/rowan72/2327409109</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Beverly takes a lot of interesting pictures. Her albums include things like politics, rainbows of colour, crafts, and dog rescue. A very striking photograph is Lily of the Valley, a vintage green girl made up of a composite of other photographs in 2009. I know it's not exactly Irish, nor even Irish connected but it's green, it's beautiful, and it needs to be here. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog/3392921903">https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog/3392921903</a> </span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>The Floozie in the Jacuzzi</i> is one of several irreverent Irish nicknames for the monument properly entitled <i>Anna Livia Plurabelle</i>, a personification of the River Liffey, which runs through the city of Dublin. Once located in O'Connell Street beside the Liffey, the statue is now in Croppies Memorial Park. Anna Livia Plurabelle is the name of a character in James Joyce's <i>Finnegans Wake</i>, who also embodies the river. Viagra Falls is another of the names for the monument and it gets worse from there. The sculpture was designed by Eamonn O'Doherty for the Dublin Millennium Celebrations in 1988, and photographed by William Murphy in 2012. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7552452704">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7552452704</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Irish toast at the end of the story was seen at a pub in Joseph, Oregon on St. Patrick's Day 2016. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The final green bench is not in Ireland. It's in Cyprus, photographed by Sheila B, who is an expert in finding Cypriot benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you are feeling bereft of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/recycled-upcycled-repurposed-benches.html">green benches</a>, we already have quite a few on Benchsite. Slightly different meaning of green though . . . </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If Ireland doesn't warm the cockles of your heart there are plenty of benches from other countries here on Benchsite. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html">Japan</a>, for example, and <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/troys-thanksgiving-turkey-benches.html">Turkey</a>. And a whole <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">fiesta of benches from Mexico</a>. There's a whole <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/an-alphabet-of-dutch-benches.html">alphabet of Dutch benches</a> and a <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/united-in-diversity-28-benches-for.html">bench from each of the countries of Europe</a>. Every summer Miggy and Mungo and I go on a mission to find benches so see how we <strike>ate our way through</strike> found <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html">the tasty benches of Italy</a>. We <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html">got high on benches in the Alps</a> but <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/greek-bench-mission-impossible.html">Greece was a mission impossible</a>. And then there are the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html">benches of St. Helier</a>, and the benches of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gambling-on-love-in-las-vegas.html">Las Vegas</a>, where Mungo and I gambled on love. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-42010841566597164962023-12-31T10:01:00.000-08:002024-02-10T02:54:49.811-08:00The Year of the Dragon Bench<p> It's The Year of the Dragon so what better time to look at dragon benches? </p><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjJ7Cw6GGndsQJNFLFz3suNLE6zn8RgrA4upUjYO3GLITZGsvmNDGEVURUNfvNiDq5jVlBZmPJ2847GuYOsEOBqmjnmVVdqoWiA2HPnIKP6E4AjdPLpkPvxE0KQknziuRKD_zgXCIni8j-OAn7nJUsZ2WLZd1poNSiIFM2pOQ_RWXn7rIrW8nCaOTPuZV/s2560/Dragon_Bench_-_panoramio.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="2560" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjJ7Cw6GGndsQJNFLFz3suNLE6zn8RgrA4upUjYO3GLITZGsvmNDGEVURUNfvNiDq5jVlBZmPJ2847GuYOsEOBqmjnmVVdqoWiA2HPnIKP6E4AjdPLpkPvxE0KQknziuRKD_zgXCIni8j-OAn7nJUsZ2WLZd1poNSiIFM2pOQ_RWXn7rIrW8nCaOTPuZV/s320/Dragon_Bench_-_panoramio.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ekeidar Creative Commons license</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>From February 10, 2024 to January 28, 2025 it's the year of the Wood Dragon.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>People who make things with wood and chainsaws are particularly fond of dragon benches. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQRKtJfR3mZGJNdQef0QktUfgk61yqgLRlIrAhC_L0J3La0Dl79AbdKIfaU3OzlJFhFGU0_YqnPm5zRJ9GIRstZ19qcCuZ7nBZ4VVO2DqaZp_t5Cfia6i2zU1PTUx7hA6QUMvvKpbWt2ON5svKj0se20x9SzBM20PYPcit5HwwZICmV6y7COkiV8jijVq/s2048/ztg0tv6hkbo21.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQRKtJfR3mZGJNdQef0QktUfgk61yqgLRlIrAhC_L0J3La0Dl79AbdKIfaU3OzlJFhFGU0_YqnPm5zRJ9GIRstZ19qcCuZ7nBZ4VVO2DqaZp_t5Cfia6i2zU1PTUx7hA6QUMvvKpbWt2ON5svKj0se20x9SzBM20PYPcit5HwwZICmV6y7COkiV8jijVq/s320/ztg0tv6hkbo21.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinas Emrys, Wales</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>And Game of Thrones-type benches. </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BYjxkwsITZtdo8r11PGBd4-pmxeSEMMpjCJfhQZY3uJLo1f9_iWbyiBEEqE7EkOa1Lv7oEURrjWp5ZbfgwQ3JTwG76VPh3TlEaUG9oJwnmjVj83Y7580y5v2zOJQCvZGsOqp4GdKZLuChAQrjEGvn2PTTezgW4_WujkB8ZNOybl4VrlDKJ0Lih_K7JID/s880/wood-chainsaw-carve-dragon-bench-igor-loskutow-11-59a69ca3cb8f0__880.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="880" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BYjxkwsITZtdo8r11PGBd4-pmxeSEMMpjCJfhQZY3uJLo1f9_iWbyiBEEqE7EkOa1Lv7oEURrjWp5ZbfgwQ3JTwG76VPh3TlEaUG9oJwnmjVj83Y7580y5v2zOJQCvZGsOqp4GdKZLuChAQrjEGvn2PTTezgW4_WujkB8ZNOybl4VrlDKJ0Lih_K7JID/s320/wood-chainsaw-carve-dragon-bench-igor-loskutow-11-59a69ca3cb8f0__880.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dragon Bench by Igor Loskutow</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie, my Inner Editor: </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">This is not a good start. You promised to get a primate photo in at the start.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Welcome back, Eddie, you have been away for a while.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie: Away? You fired me. I've been on garden leave.</span><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">True. But under pressure from many readers and the good people of Fribble-under-Par, I have asked Eddie back to edit this important Year of the Dragon post. He came back, under certain conditions. </span><br /><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: A picture of me. Or else.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So here is a picture of Eddie </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQZM9czD1baZMu6GYtNhEJUSpw-3kDZGNvrMwgOe8BXFrO-Is9V9NupqEkBxgLoE_dGrVC7onGJvGUU-duYmn0xYEC3ef69Jv1duBpvTe-s8HbbN4B5b3CaufjOivCNGs7fEyhhbiYZem/s1600/Eddie.writing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQZM9czD1baZMu6GYtNhEJUSpw-3kDZGNvrMwgOe8BXFrO-Is9V9NupqEkBxgLoE_dGrVC7onGJvGUU-duYmn0xYEC3ef69Jv1duBpvTe-s8HbbN4B5b3CaufjOivCNGs7fEyhhbiYZem/s1600/Eddie.writing.jpg" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">It's very small. I'm not sure it captures my true character. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It does. Dragon people have little willpower and do not like to admit that they make mistakes.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: And now for my bad points.</span> </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, since you ask, people born in the Year of the Dragon are also confident, resolute, ambitious, and full of energy. </span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie: I'm a Monkey. </span>In astrology Monkeys are the best match for Dragons. That's because Dragons are attracted to cheerful, enthusiastic and intelligent Monkey Benches such as myself.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or Rooster Benches . . .</span></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5BgnmsZPmvyyUF8FHaPcsmZHXnSrgmopFtfDgY31B3vHziPiTEpMCAxmiEvtyKbbnv-6R3ajzWqqxgiDxukpBI4Y_tRn9Zu8DOSZXKyVsh-2TOZ6u36DZudZCZ-BnyXtCJO_4jQNv9oSFfoQnsek9U7dDpPyAkT8UDwZHMmj9-vzIOdpzpwf0WXeQe1Q/s640/michiel2005.FK.3288878800_4a1a46e51b_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="640" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5BgnmsZPmvyyUF8FHaPcsmZHXnSrgmopFtfDgY31B3vHziPiTEpMCAxmiEvtyKbbnv-6R3ajzWqqxgiDxukpBI4Y_tRn9Zu8DOSZXKyVsh-2TOZ6u36DZudZCZ-BnyXtCJO_4jQNv9oSFfoQnsek9U7dDpPyAkT8UDwZHMmj9-vzIOdpzpwf0WXeQe1Q/s320/michiel2005.FK.3288878800_4a1a46e51b_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">michiel2005.FK.3288878800_4a1a46e51b_z</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>. . . or Rat Benches.</div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvn06hFq6BYxdcrC9wzv4VY9zEdLKrGMl2utAxYmZ2lYopSnC6D1zeUU-C_NhBgI5XxbuUspu_UM69UoWjEcYErvbEmiuemH_Cj5BWLiS7FThhtUdx7m7iR84mscOnzneAF0gNJpTlGWAbzW-OyXFsLHQsvmHOgmz8HpeTt2-8C_5TCsfClJHv8bK7oy7/s2892/20200115_151233%20Year%20of%20Rat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2818" data-original-width="2892" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvn06hFq6BYxdcrC9wzv4VY9zEdLKrGMl2utAxYmZ2lYopSnC6D1zeUU-C_NhBgI5XxbuUspu_UM69UoWjEcYErvbEmiuemH_Cj5BWLiS7FThhtUdx7m7iR84mscOnzneAF0gNJpTlGWAbzW-OyXFsLHQsvmHOgmz8HpeTt2-8C_5TCsfClJHv8bK7oy7/s320/20200115_151233%20Year%20of%20Rat.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benchsite 2020, The Year of the Rat</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Call me fussy, but I would not want a romantic relationship with a rat.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sadly, 2024 is not a lucky year for Dragons to be in love. And it's also unlucky for health, career, and finances.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmt8MmgivDrjs8hpXvQykjcDccdWgxC5wWYEThEy7vm6TGAlk8SGhvsIj9FDHWp4BmjpnG3b9N5jzvdQlM4XIgSFwbnL8eTyCtbk_wL1XeYULQYDq2uuvXOHKGW5SZCCvQAPmSvve1l9n29zxNaBt6Oltdf0Zm9v46g4Z4GaHrPo2IAQO0VtFxe0daCif/s400/kimsmith.FKCC.moneyB%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmt8MmgivDrjs8hpXvQykjcDccdWgxC5wWYEThEy7vm6TGAlk8SGhvsIj9FDHWp4BmjpnG3b9N5jzvdQlM4XIgSFwbnL8eTyCtbk_wL1XeYULQYDq2uuvXOHKGW5SZCCvQAPmSvve1l9n29zxNaBt6Oltdf0Zm9v46g4Z4GaHrPo2IAQO0VtFxe0daCif/s320/kimsmith.FKCC.moneyB%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kim Smith, Flickr</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: It sounds like a bad year for Dragons. They might as well give up now.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's bad advice, Eddie. People born in the Year of the Dragon give up too easily. They need encouragement. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: I encourage you to give up this story and go get a cup of tea.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaeRO60KLZ2tjqZxIZdNmFuib3IFdjUkbbgw5H6IoyF6-S2-1up5Nlg6dS0CDvq-Ipu8bfK-Dgh0tHBolelLUpQNIW8jXoh0Yyo_4BiZIRyiQ_NejZB4EcRcvoAsjsu8jQhUcZ5M69HubUYeWE1gHXmls_LfoVexDjlKovfv1iEi1v6_yTyfTSAgpkD0G/s100/PhotoFunia-1593531311.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="100" data-original-width="100" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaeRO60KLZ2tjqZxIZdNmFuib3IFdjUkbbgw5H6IoyF6-S2-1up5Nlg6dS0CDvq-Ipu8bfK-Dgh0tHBolelLUpQNIW8jXoh0Yyo_4BiZIRyiQ_NejZB4EcRcvoAsjsu8jQhUcZ5M69HubUYeWE1gHXmls_LfoVexDjlKovfv1iEi1v6_yTyfTSAgpkD0G/w200-h200/PhotoFunia-1593531311.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, I'm going to be like a Dragon: full of charisma and strength and fighting spirit.</span> Readers have been promised dragon benches in celebration of the Dragon zodiac sign.</div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie: One dragon, one primate. That's what we agreed. So</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> here's a very interesting monkey bench from Chinatown in San Francisco.</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhn1qpcHSTG7zErQZtx50o6Ngr3GrSktaURB0TfGHbDq83HOXKOi45xJCJu7czB-KazZJfKQHsKT82zaogtxQPIzVRD00qipovrv23jXvhZt8BlkbPki-9B3vlZvoxP7_L_Ar0IIzVv0o/s1600/lone+monk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhn1qpcHSTG7zErQZtx50o6Ngr3GrSktaURB0TfGHbDq83HOXKOi45xJCJu7czB-KazZJfKQHsKT82zaogtxQPIzVRD00qipovrv23jXvhZt8BlkbPki-9B3vlZvoxP7_L_Ar0IIzVv0o/s320/lone+monk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.karenlaw.ca/">www.karenlaw.ca</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie, you've already put two primates in and I haven't got going with my dragon benches yet. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">OK then, out of the goodness of my heart, you can do two dragons in a row.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Great! So here are two beautiful dragon-inspired benches. First,</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> this gorgeous rosewood bench, painstakingly restored by Master Craftsman Eric Saperstein, who is one of the Artisans of the Valley in New Jersey. </span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLOrsnU4V8SrPJM6aXeP7x4pN-Ffn1aOlOWQI3vY1dS3TQZd3HVpMgYoNkJvwshlm3jS2M_Tda_zzReS9Ezm417OGd287BF7gIC2M1lg-FO-smdkqOhphY_pb6hI7PEZsa_QtaSRmuz4/s1600/rosewood+dragon.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLOrsnU4V8SrPJM6aXeP7x4pN-Ffn1aOlOWQI3vY1dS3TQZd3HVpMgYoNkJvwshlm3jS2M_Tda_zzReS9Ezm417OGd287BF7gIC2M1lg-FO-smdkqOhphY_pb6hI7PEZsa_QtaSRmuz4/s320/rosewood+dragon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.artisansofthevalley.com/">www.artisansofthevalley.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">And here is a cheerful monkey on a very small bench.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Yu7HykDFDeEdmDp9kM2cOGxO_65yFppp0ozJ2Z3qfdTV8SUXonU8-WLtAQj9fjfdstU1qnYOBYqBx1NjwHnjoC3PbslAzugWFthX8waZpzUGBAQ30Dv-OTLPWfolbooqmqjjthF78tU/s1600/plastic+monk.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Yu7HykDFDeEdmDp9kM2cOGxO_65yFppp0ozJ2Z3qfdTV8SUXonU8-WLtAQj9fjfdstU1qnYOBYqBx1NjwHnjoC3PbslAzugWFthX8waZpzUGBAQ30Dv-OTLPWfolbooqmqjjthF78tU/s1600/plastic+monk.bmp" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.playgroundinfo.com/">www.playgroundinfo.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">I think the monkey adds value by making the bench photo more interesting, as the art critics would say.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzHloxlIsoh4J-Tq75EqelOMaXwalofvGW8dq4PstXpEyd6XZH-7n0LfxrRmfucbgMs9HiLc-KoRdT8tgkZKj6HdCG4OXZOzbDQ8jSa7oS3tOR31NBNwo_gT748daWv9r8b2kRfSSYTgnqTuc9CtX7J8GDtmRQ4dsGasL8H4Ra48Ul7mm4bY8wivz2g/s1100/FB_IMG_1677925564329.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1100" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzHloxlIsoh4J-Tq75EqelOMaXwalofvGW8dq4PstXpEyd6XZH-7n0LfxrRmfucbgMs9HiLc-KoRdT8tgkZKj6HdCG4OXZOzbDQ8jSa7oS3tOR31NBNwo_gT748daWv9r8b2kRfSSYTgnqTuc9CtX7J8GDtmRQ4dsGasL8H4Ra48Ul7mm4bY8wivz2g/s320/FB_IMG_1677925564329.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Monkeys as Art Judges</i> 1889, Gabriel von Max</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Do you notice that I only got to show one of the two dragons benches you promised me? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Sorry, but it's not my day to care. </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Here are some very nice</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> people on a bench in an art gallery. </span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuor6DA31g6z577GAV-MgfuFJQcnp6dUHHkVwoW3Tf-zROl64_xKdBo5yD7feeWV0A9XmhINyJRg93GGDV-bEoY13CYjqOtBEJgzJYISpW74IjKlyWwVIfZh9hTFRKXxVEcaSniUfjmnf/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569525253.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="700" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuor6DA31g6z577GAV-MgfuFJQcnp6dUHHkVwoW3Tf-zROl64_xKdBo5yD7feeWV0A9XmhINyJRg93GGDV-bEoY13CYjqOtBEJgzJYISpW74IjKlyWwVIfZh9hTFRKXxVEcaSniUfjmnf/s320/PhotoFunia-1569525253.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie, that's you!</span><br /><div style="clear: both;"><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Yes, I was an attractive baby. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmigwxHeYl2kAvWKS0bhKqK4Oes-vbYoQm054Mk2PghvlBJKSFr8jHb6u-xBofKC6CJOnIx0eIWF7tg-WQ1FFQN_TvzuOlWUWLrbx4SzCosfkmr3vu_Zos9w443EyNcfOwXTmiHdx8zzk/s1600/Eddie.baby2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmigwxHeYl2kAvWKS0bhKqK4Oes-vbYoQm054Mk2PghvlBJKSFr8jHb6u-xBofKC6CJOnIx0eIWF7tg-WQ1FFQN_TvzuOlWUWLrbx4SzCosfkmr3vu_Zos9w443EyNcfOwXTmiHdx8zzk/s320/Eddie.baby2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">And quite a photogenic adult as well.</span></div><div style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Bu-GfxY25gV7mPO4lHrhnm2U9b3o4wm3JwEaFdc3e5fAhOLovYxOHHKkdVsEJnlXIlF7mwE0RNU3_748hpqv2h3Uz6vNgv5Qwd3crFb6rycBcl1xsUqzvSEceE9cMPmvAv9GwD8IkBkCJgRSH6GqJL0BTzX_Ux5uuNTqJZKyiBlceNIrlLPJTrTn_qcR/s670/uNaturalInspiration.etsy.chimp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="570" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Bu-GfxY25gV7mPO4lHrhnm2U9b3o4wm3JwEaFdc3e5fAhOLovYxOHHKkdVsEJnlXIlF7mwE0RNU3_748hpqv2h3Uz6vNgv5Qwd3crFb6rycBcl1xsUqzvSEceE9cMPmvAv9GwD8IkBkCJgRSH6GqJL0BTzX_Ux5uuNTqJZKyiBlceNIrlLPJTrTn_qcR/s320/uNaturalInspiration.etsy.chimp.jpg" width="272" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">uNatural, etsy</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div style="clear: both;">You look like a card shark. Are you still gambling, Eddie? </div><div style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: No comment.</span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well if you are, you need to avoid the numbers nine, eight and three this year. They're unlucky. Your lucky numbers are one, six, and seven. </span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Thanks for the tip. Is there any chance of seeing a dragon bench before The Year of the Dragon runs out?</span></span></div><div style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I like this unusual cedar dragon by Preston Manganaro at the Outside In gallery in Piermont, New York. </span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6g5Cd1dtkPewnQWeSyswdyEDfc2r8TlsSSKq7IHHux1FHpU0IR6eSFqq_LAnugdjqbJl7aVEERc5pV2inU9WiCzi1yizZTITkd29iyUYiJp4Vlzd-Ds_z9iSnp3z807DmvnwburZ_apoy/s1600/dragonlogB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6g5Cd1dtkPewnQWeSyswdyEDfc2r8TlsSSKq7IHHux1FHpU0IR6eSFqq_LAnugdjqbJl7aVEERc5pV2inU9WiCzi1yizZTITkd29iyUYiJp4Vlzd-Ds_z9iSnp3z807DmvnwburZ_apoy/s320/dragonlogB.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://outsideinpiermont.webs.com/">http://outsideinpiermont.webs.com/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I have another very good dragon bench made by chainsaw artist Paul Sivell on the Isle of Wight.</span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQVxhWMDp_4I1vWU_xldALft4pjPzmT46fmiLnSV8oVwhv8c5-sYJhL3_RIhwMVuIvzx1rTlu7YQKFv7joNP7fbjWttb1MTbLqFcanSv3ln9z-ZLMDpPKw3SYXvX0S82cu6eAFYt9JAc/s1600/DragonBench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQVxhWMDp_4I1vWU_xldALft4pjPzmT46fmiLnSV8oVwhv8c5-sYJhL3_RIhwMVuIvzx1rTlu7YQKFv7joNP7fbjWttb1MTbLqFcanSv3ln9z-ZLMDpPKw3SYXvX0S82cu6eAFYt9JAc/s400/DragonBench.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/">http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And then a bench-style sofa seat that's colourful and comfy.</span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3fjERothSfSGVOJlci1loAxpxh8d0BmCCJTCs0BJV_ve7CgaxPiBxBm8w9_Ycty83Y2gXZF8pjkXOlTygMm12LE9ioZiq8DWB0RZjHFYhNv0nfkd7owg5t0OGQzymZ53nnlE2Gp0AINVM2QLu961HS9fdOqk5C57ao4n14A1Cdu7uTDb4Yz8w0dd2N7q/s3000/il_fullxfull.5176893746_7abh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="2250" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3fjERothSfSGVOJlci1loAxpxh8d0BmCCJTCs0BJV_ve7CgaxPiBxBm8w9_Ycty83Y2gXZF8pjkXOlTygMm12LE9ioZiq8DWB0RZjHFYhNv0nfkd7owg5t0OGQzymZ53nnlE2Gp0AINVM2QLu961HS9fdOqk5C57ao4n14A1Cdu7uTDb4Yz8w0dd2N7q/w300-h400/il_fullxfull.5176893746_7abh.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NowPleaseTakeASeat, Etsy</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Enough dragons. Sock monkeys are excellent value I find.</span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">This is Eli and Sirus at their wedding. Or Civil Partnership as we say in the UK. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDWGopGt3DrMmj7IvHVB4y1u5oyRzo6MbYhFBjAl0bsoNpSbeQqJspG_wOUb64NVyfnmeABKOUzGa5XYIZCaPf3JJsoGtqa3V-Z8JH7x-kvBznyiX9saBOshgeP_TnGauclbJitjMkBg/s1600/sockmonk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDWGopGt3DrMmj7IvHVB4y1u5oyRzo6MbYhFBjAl0bsoNpSbeQqJspG_wOUb64NVyfnmeABKOUzGa5XYIZCaPf3JJsoGtqa3V-Z8JH7x-kvBznyiX9saBOshgeP_TnGauclbJitjMkBg/s320/sockmonk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.themonkeyville.com/">www.themonkeyville.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Eddie, you are sneaking in extra pictures again. And this is TWO sock monkeys, so that counts for two for you. No more sock monkeys!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I'm going to do my dragons now. This is a pretty sea dragon bench from Lost Art, who restore historic garden furniture.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibc_yhsb0lvIi3zMWvEgjFI_5lhH8qf034YSzFU1kl_ixS63N7jK1h5eIo635K-9WGF8PmRmjmrtFERQnF2YX6jj9oeDoHdZyNa71snyq1e-zwFJuE_Unkw-krEdg2sqZ_nLicM1kUCnU/s1600/Seadragon250.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibc_yhsb0lvIi3zMWvEgjFI_5lhH8qf034YSzFU1kl_ixS63N7jK1h5eIo635K-9WGF8PmRmjmrtFERQnF2YX6jj9oeDoHdZyNa71snyq1e-zwFJuE_Unkw-krEdg2sqZ_nLicM1kUCnU/s400/Seadragon250.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.lostart.co.uk/">www.lostart.co.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The only thing is, green is an unlucky colour in The Year of the Dragon. Which is unfortunate, because dragons are often green. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I6uydOe7I7_aR4zhUgJVhcYxHYvCXW0uOsnk-SU4JC34gkruaNToh5ZmW0wuLmmHGFXUjaHaDX18gmGpbeJobySl_UoyN3SAkHVJB3YuqdxOXJKcz8mo5DnuDjMNLkfslccd-DwOkMw9JyasuDl8BnwHIBxe4Z7RrvO_oOwijTp5ug2XiBgvRfTdjJ03/s421/sleeping_dragon-421x300.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="421" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I6uydOe7I7_aR4zhUgJVhcYxHYvCXW0uOsnk-SU4JC34gkruaNToh5ZmW0wuLmmHGFXUjaHaDX18gmGpbeJobySl_UoyN3SAkHVJB3YuqdxOXJKcz8mo5DnuDjMNLkfslccd-DwOkMw9JyasuDl8BnwHIBxe4Z7RrvO_oOwijTp5ug2XiBgvRfTdjJ03/s320/sleeping_dragon-421x300.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sleeping Dragon Bench</i>, www.mcvaysculpture.com</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Red, purple and black are also unlucky.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Looks like 2024 is not going to be very colourful.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div>A lucky colour this year would be gold. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSSfGDuf7DCzhSQtRQn7PKBxnzU5oSG193LuRqw8K2EXt5Q6mbq8vkD9aIzELScC5nQsweoJ8B9eL9rX5imZA3Jw_8c0se57UPUea3dc1Ye7F7M_d1s-39VcsnYbLNhUFgqsHxiXYj91qBAzrHhqaHLq9CQtGIS48z7cO18cqcAulVeHuXhwDPwfQVDE_/s800/Gold_bench_-_Zlat%C3%A1_N%C4%9Bha_byl_Luk%C3%A1%C5%A1_Rittstein_in_Liberec.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSSfGDuf7DCzhSQtRQn7PKBxnzU5oSG193LuRqw8K2EXt5Q6mbq8vkD9aIzELScC5nQsweoJ8B9eL9rX5imZA3Jw_8c0se57UPUea3dc1Ye7F7M_d1s-39VcsnYbLNhUFgqsHxiXYj91qBAzrHhqaHLq9CQtGIS48z7cO18cqcAulVeHuXhwDPwfQVDE_/s320/Gold_bench_-_Zlat%C3%A1_N%C4%9Bha_byl_Luk%C3%A1%C5%A1_Rittstein_in_Liberec.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zlata Neha by Lukas Rittstein, wikimedia</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or silver.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDejeq_-oLVCWFWsdwSIE8d2kFah6_SGxxFA6Vi6uahdZJV1QiEjPyxLGPkwq3-iBmhalh1mVAyJOIXc0J8IrvD4LKO7Fw8J7RRCA5N25AxrCq47DOHhHMNFiNwgVLAnkoEKibDFFFPBk7_ylMsxtTYQK4DJSo8ahDTDE-GgP3FAZj99Ksk97EDvvyapS8/s1280/JLS-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1280" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDejeq_-oLVCWFWsdwSIE8d2kFah6_SGxxFA6Vi6uahdZJV1QiEjPyxLGPkwq3-iBmhalh1mVAyJOIXc0J8IrvD4LKO7Fw8J7RRCA5N25AxrCq47DOHhHMNFiNwgVLAnkoEKibDFFFPBk7_ylMsxtTYQK4DJSo8ahDTDE-GgP3FAZj99Ksk97EDvvyapS8/s320/JLS-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MX3D Oregon Dragon Bench</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Are you telling me this is a Dragon Bench?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, it's 3D printed advanced technology at the Nike Center in Oregon. It's called The Oregon Bench. And it's silver for good luck! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Oregon? That's a bit far north for dragons.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">North is a lucky direction this year. So is West. But we have to go south to see </span>a real komodo dragon on Komodo Island.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0mfDBFfJF32bQfIVAQ-VybKpynvxQOTACP6XqxrTtaokoIFhLCTJYxHQBkqhaE4tjfVzUX959iWDuAm8JlLnYIImd6YhgC4npIAd3hcjE6jCkge8lL32qEhDFH-6UZPH7uIlUaMsLbQ/s1600/IMG_2729.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0mfDBFfJF32bQfIVAQ-VybKpynvxQOTACP6XqxrTtaokoIFhLCTJYxHQBkqhaE4tjfVzUX959iWDuAm8JlLnYIImd6YhgC4npIAd3hcjE6jCkge8lL32qEhDFH-6UZPH7uIlUaMsLbQ/w320-h213/IMG_2729.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Toby McAlister</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's a dragon but it's not a bench. You can't sit on this dragon, can you? This blog is called B</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">-e-n-c-h-s-i-t-e. Do you see the word </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bench</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> in there? Does that give you a hint as to what this blog is about? </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I do, but it's my blog and I love the real dragon. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">I'm sure readers are more interested in primates than dragons. People didn't descend from dragons, did they?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMD5SMa5mECevN8hq9NXtadByrTTzV1W6Kg4f61P_M1Ckr-YgWDZU8Rk2PBBSfDvj8btFtqS2MV9nOC4kNLp_eOKvw8pYvWfGM08SrewVa8KGTfcmIkDWDUov0PSlEa0adgcPKgO1LryhAP1G6fUT1PVnlzu-rACvQz5oqABLGfnn6q_gjsK90YhWxOpK0/s927/FB_IMG_1690489159727.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="714" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMD5SMa5mECevN8hq9NXtadByrTTzV1W6Kg4f61P_M1Ckr-YgWDZU8Rk2PBBSfDvj8btFtqS2MV9nOC4kNLp_eOKvw8pYvWfGM08SrewVa8KGTfcmIkDWDUov0PSlEa0adgcPKgO1LryhAP1G6fUT1PVnlzu-rACvQz5oqABLGfnn6q_gjsK90YhWxOpK0/s320/FB_IMG_1690489159727.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Monkey with Skull</i>, 1893, Hugo Rheingold</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm not going to discuss evolution. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm going to show Dragon Hall, a medieval trading hall in Norfolk. It has a very nice sign and some lovely benches. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJLOLyZ-_C47DVHJeEW10tpoEdGH2taFpst1Gb-pk9b3WWdcvPs8XjqSL52KKWnB-b_q9E1CeH5GW4zJGwsY7xLZc8NGp9FO_kHncuKEljYyLmp7H_do4D2gV5rLyA4yZcHaBfUMx86o/s1600/DragonHall+sign2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJLOLyZ-_C47DVHJeEW10tpoEdGH2taFpst1Gb-pk9b3WWdcvPs8XjqSL52KKWnB-b_q9E1CeH5GW4zJGwsY7xLZc8NGp9FO_kHncuKEljYyLmp7H_do4D2gV5rLyA4yZcHaBfUMx86o/s320/DragonHall+sign2.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Chris McAlister</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7mFbbuUmU1wKCqWvLyf0QRRaa_r4-dCPyLBNk9onxesdi2hxAha334W7Ez8AUmvCPBSg06jBY4OHZJOV6al49sLCsMis8NmftjzysVAPkjNPWxk0APUPh_KDFfRz8Zaw79OwZZNG6YQ/s1600/Dragon+Hall,+Norfolk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7mFbbuUmU1wKCqWvLyf0QRRaa_r4-dCPyLBNk9onxesdi2hxAha334W7Ez8AUmvCPBSg06jBY4OHZJOV6al49sLCsMis8NmftjzysVAPkjNPWxk0APUPh_KDFfRz8Zaw79OwZZNG6YQ/s320/Dragon+Hall,+Norfolk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Chris McAlister</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I've picked up on your tricks: notice how I slipped two dragon pictures in? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Didn't notice. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Two can play this game you know.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">I'm ignoring you.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And just to make the point, here's a dragon bench from Poland.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmiGlQ_TeIRJrjKa6pEjwoE_i3aJwIqiv_eV5sQbh1ZMyYxIG4-OBEosv4pDla2xDFReeXvs0K2xAW90233T03IQAsByrFMpWWaabUJyI2gS7ggIVR6pMzGrC_wSX8G3oPZxt3YqR-3Ta/s772/dragon.Poland.WK.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmiGlQ_TeIRJrjKa6pEjwoE_i3aJwIqiv_eV5sQbh1ZMyYxIG4-OBEosv4pDla2xDFReeXvs0K2xAW90233T03IQAsByrFMpWWaabUJyI2gS7ggIVR6pMzGrC_wSX8G3oPZxt3YqR-3Ta/s320/dragon.Poland.WK.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedysta:Wojtekskaiski">http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedysta:Wojtekskaiski</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And another one from Wales. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLfBryfO9QZ1U5zt-OXqlexKcYJmiL06ew-_YxwqUqD9R5UdztZX6jxUQ3Mb5mvOHvnhyphenhyphenzlqvryXBtXCycP-boSqYYDAIF1nslZzxyGLIg6XJ1yyphn9FeEyQ0dnMM2OHRFl4PeF2GjqF/s1600/nh53.wales.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLfBryfO9QZ1U5zt-OXqlexKcYJmiL06ew-_YxwqUqD9R5UdztZX6jxUQ3Mb5mvOHvnhyphenhyphenzlqvryXBtXCycP-boSqYYDAIF1nslZzxyGLIg6XJ1yyphn9FeEyQ0dnMM2OHRFl4PeF2GjqF/s320/nh53.wales.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nh53/9560337181">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nh53/95603371</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Welsh dragon is a big thing in Wales.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIa09IXDxGdz-Qb7fSstPJqslpXnrNVl25uC1V7ElLJWrKnfre3l5RbvYTBXY34nXOTVxDEKtYBXLIiSBdRHGcXwHXHNNyvYSBMIeZ8fSyhxsOaF4n9RxUTTIKLVdkpWKpDzB4x7_xwOA1w4mhh-LOhsIkcqCdXb_Ja8kn8l0tcUj_vE7IY0FIKAruxNq/s1000/the_welsh_dragon_black_park_bench_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIa09IXDxGdz-Qb7fSstPJqslpXnrNVl25uC1V7ElLJWrKnfre3l5RbvYTBXY34nXOTVxDEKtYBXLIiSBdRHGcXwHXHNNyvYSBMIeZ8fSyhxsOaF4n9RxUTTIKLVdkpWKpDzB4x7_xwOA1w4mhh-LOhsIkcqCdXb_Ja8kn8l0tcUj_vE7IY0FIKAruxNq/w320-h400/the_welsh_dragon_black_park_bench_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The British Ironwork Centre</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">This monkey has fallen off his bench. He is Macaco Gordo (Fat Monkey), by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. He was made in a park in Sao Paulo in Brazil in 2010. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7h20mJOX6rLdh9wruh60YLVoS56JD_I-GEIh0mnG2Gkj0lzaWUUB23Z_YT0YrlJ2jIU5kXU7uCjeV3woVZoAD1h9HNXdX_XhFuIKmV4mzcTBUJ1tYy6TREAlFqnTORvoCQ2LKWOgK2nY/s1600/monkey01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7h20mJOX6rLdh9wruh60YLVoS56JD_I-GEIh0mnG2Gkj0lzaWUUB23Z_YT0YrlJ2jIU5kXU7uCjeV3woVZoAD1h9HNXdX_XhFuIKmV4mzcTBUJ1tYy6TREAlFqnTORvoCQ2LKWOgK2nY/s400/monkey01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">images courtesy of Florentijn Hofman at <a href="http://www.florentijnhofman.nl/">http://www.florentijnhofman.nl</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Fat Monkey is made from 10,000 flipflops sewn together. No kidding. Here they are up close.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWmlPy3f2hYFNwyozlFcf97ThDxqZmjnCf6b5m8qzi1HAZ9XghnDUfieXAzSbwYQeSGJbU0cUGTMfJkE8IszmwdZQ195R0ETidPHbvXQVglo6-wXySxYgY-4g5C7ArwH_p5DN-xn-J-N8/s1600/monkeyflipflops.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWmlPy3f2hYFNwyozlFcf97ThDxqZmjnCf6b5m8qzi1HAZ9XghnDUfieXAzSbwYQeSGJbU0cUGTMfJkE8IszmwdZQ195R0ETidPHbvXQVglo6-wXySxYgY-4g5C7ArwH_p5DN-xn-J-N8/s320/monkeyflipflops.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I couldn't have imagined that in a month of Sundays.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Speaking of sundaes, here's an ice cream monkey bench for you.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03jaPJ-bApHz309r6eDn5UxI9_7xMdpShDSOGp7cnr4mzVINXg7DpPaPtCUX9B7ACO9wDWakKogHdI0XM0fDTzZwzpYvzywT3rYMimFsccV-6cA6WgyEADSe70T_S09iTl8Skfqv9hN4/s1600/monkeyicecream.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03jaPJ-bApHz309r6eDn5UxI9_7xMdpShDSOGp7cnr4mzVINXg7DpPaPtCUX9B7ACO9wDWakKogHdI0XM0fDTzZwzpYvzywT3rYMimFsccV-6cA6WgyEADSe70T_S09iTl8Skfqv9hN4/s320/monkeyicecream.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/">www.asianreplicas.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This isn't really a monkey bench though, is it? It's a monkey <b>on</b> a bench. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And don't think I didn't notice how you slipped another one in.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a Victorian dragon bench from Lost Arts. Aren't the blue ends beautiful?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7sSqscg7Oxz3N8JmdR52-mBU1zsJPO78XpMfK9lTX9xmc3iWUj9b8P3M00hcGK8J0COuDwJgsqC0qFIFz-qvYOJuJh3WscGRGABmRRmlBLOe1nSBfHt19tpvqfGR5gmHdWd87dZcO-M/s1600/blue+Victorian.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7sSqscg7Oxz3N8JmdR52-mBU1zsJPO78XpMfK9lTX9xmc3iWUj9b8P3M00hcGK8J0COuDwJgsqC0qFIFz-qvYOJuJh3WscGRGABmRRmlBLOe1nSBfHt19tpvqfGR5gmHdWd87dZcO-M/s320/blue+Victorian.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.lostart.co.uk/">www.lostart.co.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Yes, but look at this garden monkey bench from the Singapore Japanese Gardens. Look how minimalist and serene it is.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FhXkuDTyfEj6bjPafbl3B3Rhb_eblDytq0uQIHty_l_xvxs0gTr9pvge5ZQc0kPH3uok9uxwpFrGnqBAzfqlf7o4SIghyphenhyphenp8Zv3bl76zPdKWqnwox-Y-8DFcijpKi9Zama2xyy6FsaYo/s1600/monkey+ends.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FhXkuDTyfEj6bjPafbl3B3Rhb_eblDytq0uQIHty_l_xvxs0gTr9pvge5ZQc0kPH3uok9uxwpFrGnqBAzfqlf7o4SIghyphenhyphenp8Zv3bl76zPdKWqnwox-Y-8DFcijpKi9Zama2xyy6FsaYo/s1600/monkey+ends.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.everydayminimalist.com/">www.everydayminimalist.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, that's true. But this is TWO monkeys again, Eddie. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Did you count both blue dragons on the Victorian bench?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, maybe not. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about this dragonfly bench then? It's a sort of dragon.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uW8QNWnpgilMkoQGTuIphfCKeA4MgpKwbKBrrAn4EMrXbuHJ7qu1urlJxgLdzoE87wwzq7tdaddgEAjWxBs1tus7yDGzyBs1B6-hLKEvHt7NIR7u7-iCxnaDlx-hbEUw5w9i-hZH7g8/s1600/houzzdragonfly.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uW8QNWnpgilMkoQGTuIphfCKeA4MgpKwbKBrrAn4EMrXbuHJ7qu1urlJxgLdzoE87wwzq7tdaddgEAjWxBs1tus7yDGzyBs1B6-hLKEvHt7NIR7u7-iCxnaDlx-hbEUw5w9i-hZH7g8/s1600/houzzdragonfly.bmp" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.cottageandbungalow.com/">www.cottageandbungalow.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie? I know you hate insects, but it's a beautiful bench. Why are you covering your eyes?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxIYtylP2AaNRkwEJwMDbJQTany1eJncypMsQKMtf2pJkZQWLlG6z_DMPucOws7XAOjDF48o8d8Y8_T86r827HOtQmObTZjVkj1OEkE2RhKkhh2Zmabm55ZaquloSlmhBLU3Fw8q0BFw/s1600/3evils.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxIYtylP2AaNRkwEJwMDbJQTany1eJncypMsQKMtf2pJkZQWLlG6z_DMPucOws7XAOjDF48o8d8Y8_T86r827HOtQmObTZjVkj1OEkE2RhKkhh2Zmabm55ZaquloSlmhBLU3Fw8q0BFw/s320/3evils.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image <a href="http://www.popartdecoration.com/">http://www.popartdecoration.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oh, don't start that See-No-Evil stuff with me. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">It might be pretty but that dragonfly bench is not a dragon and it's not a primate and it shouldn't be here. End of story. </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Here is a terrific monkey couple on a log bench.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRbPq_JnJq2LJ14-OWNd_wvLmbVGxKlcU4aSz85e1v_YGGnsqaaJg85__jSq-98JeChUir3cvE3fyyXKtG633cmcFfXaoiERkn5Y0JVIJjcs_JLxZhZSc5Tdp58Fyj7vcND8bhmETZHts/s1600/kanmuryoumonkeys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRbPq_JnJq2LJ14-OWNd_wvLmbVGxKlcU4aSz85e1v_YGGnsqaaJg85__jSq-98JeChUir3cvE3fyyXKtG633cmcFfXaoiERkn5Y0JVIJjcs_JLxZhZSc5Tdp58Fyj7vcND8bhmETZHts/s320/kanmuryoumonkeys.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie, you have stolen this off my own blog. These are on the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html">Japanese post</a>. Regular readers will have already seen them.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">You kid yourself that you have regular readers.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Back to dragons now. I insist. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Do you know the dragon flag benchpress move? It was a trademark move of Bruce Lee in the Kung Fu movies. Remember those?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">No.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This Kung-fu Master uses the Dragon-head Bench as a weapon. Let that be a lesson to you, Eddie.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIbwQxngpO51Q0OyaR5frQG5FYWdPPri4Vrgwq7PQ1DPStm7TJPlJKfrtdcpb7H6NkDnH9oQ0PuDnpFzYU45xhIiFQzuR3O_Gwp94xm3NAoR9Ou8e-sLfAcYnAPEB9ChrP5P4mwHXg1I/s1600/kung-fu.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIbwQxngpO51Q0OyaR5frQG5FYWdPPri4Vrgwq7PQ1DPStm7TJPlJKfrtdcpb7H6NkDnH9oQ0PuDnpFzYU45xhIiFQzuR3O_Gwp94xm3NAoR9Ou8e-sLfAcYnAPEB9ChrP5P4mwHXg1I/s1600/kung-fu.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://hasayfu.com/">http://hasayfu.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">That sounds like a threat.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I suppose in a way it is. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">I would like my treble fee now, please, as we agreed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We agreed double, not treble.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">In that case I will have to consult my lawyer.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In that case I have just two words for you, Eddie: <i>Circus</i>. And <i>Circus</i>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFE7g5Ki0ddBE14u_fKzNa4mCA05FnjgUsMI9eoS9AbGj01rXF-mC7h_meGwzzXTEH6djyn7T6zhdFxN8wvZsi4KWexBm6qw_MWo3Vs5XX3_xjwzVvG2FxJqafEYMu5nqlp2ZunYIbOPk/s1600/circus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFE7g5Ki0ddBE14u_fKzNa4mCA05FnjgUsMI9eoS9AbGj01rXF-mC7h_meGwzzXTEH6djyn7T6zhdFxN8wvZsi4KWexBm6qw_MWo3Vs5XX3_xjwzVvG2FxJqafEYMu5nqlp2ZunYIbOPk/s320/circus.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">That's hitting below the belt.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, sorry about that. It's just that I'm running out of benches.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Must be the end.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVRSWvqxpYehND_CoTDtJ4hiwIkM-qsFrh3ICC77h3Rfkl7es-9jI7rBCA1Cc3HirHELzBH9LqwnSjqmBjgw5utTQCLijvRz0xo_l6XTkOh-veha4Evz6LkA7sX6nYF0QBgmRlwySVonI-MyA9FceE8M5-YP4xemi7i8Ou6JMqnsNcoU0CE6WfnOTggdv/s1700/DRAGON-BENCH-ENDS-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1700" data-original-width="1700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVRSWvqxpYehND_CoTDtJ4hiwIkM-qsFrh3ICC77h3Rfkl7es-9jI7rBCA1Cc3HirHELzBH9LqwnSjqmBjgw5utTQCLijvRz0xo_l6XTkOh-veha4Evz6LkA7sX6nYF0QBgmRlwySVonI-MyA9FceE8M5-YP4xemi7i8Ou6JMqnsNcoU0CE6WfnOTggdv/w400-h400/DRAGON-BENCH-ENDS-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CoolingandCooling.c.uk</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Wow, Eddie, these dragon bench ends are beautiful! You are an annoying but highly skilled editor. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You know I would never send you to work in a circus. I'm bananas about you.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHssiZVjltg5iU8WoY9b9Z7SjoPRWR_gW1li4wAf9rXXm7bpIOyt5GQSFuNDxLpXlSp4Xmqgk1QCcnHmzdvSxlZTqrnfnyajm56qST4Hj4fG95hWvoa5W-3xLgBXRFP3mQC1b0zJOOyetq/s1600/monkeyB+love.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHssiZVjltg5iU8WoY9b9Z7SjoPRWR_gW1li4wAf9rXXm7bpIOyt5GQSFuNDxLpXlSp4Xmqgk1QCcnHmzdvSxlZTqrnfnyajm56qST4Hj4fG95hWvoa5W-3xLgBXRFP3mQC1b0zJOOyetq/s400/monkeyB+love.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Happy Year of the Dragon.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Thanks. It's nice to be back.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1eoYrhyphenhyphen_AsnnaRsF7MQOdoPwsub1dEaimH0BHySBtImqy7Bd0uAGSsyRkGE9biY2nKCplfv7D0-wy_vPBMfsG6TD7ZJYmhytQaK_e7y98JPueSDiaBjOiTh1oun93BSkraJAe0T2LtrDZ/s1600/%2521cid_part4_09010901_05040608%2540tiscali_co.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1eoYrhyphenhyphen_AsnnaRsF7MQOdoPwsub1dEaimH0BHySBtImqy7Bd0uAGSsyRkGE9biY2nKCplfv7D0-wy_vPBMfsG6TD7ZJYmhytQaK_e7y98JPueSDiaBjOiTh1oun93BSkraJAe0T2LtrDZ/s1600/%2521cid_part4_09010901_05040608%2540tiscali_co.gif" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Credits</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Years of The Dragon include 1928,1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, and 2012. If you were born in any of these years, chances are you are a Dragon. Whether you are lucky or not depends on what you consult. Different information on lucky numbers, colours, directions, etc appear on different websites. It's probably best not to make any life-changing decisions based on this story.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you're interested in benches and also astrology we have had a Chinese New Year bench story almost every year here on Benchsite. There was The Year of the Ox in 2021, The Rat in 2020, The Pig 2019, The Dog 2018, The Rooster 2017, The Monkey 2016, The Goat in 2015, and The Horse in 2014. Eddie was allowed to do The Monkey but absolutely banned from everything else. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The very fancy wood bench at the start of the story is in Chon Buri in Thailand. It was photographed there in 2011 by ekeidar and made available on a Creative Commons Share Alike license. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dragons have a long history in England and St. George is the patron saint of merrie England, a folk hero, a warrior, a much-loved saint. He is known for having slain a dragon and St. George's Day has been celebrated since the eleventh century and in Henry VIII's time you could be fined for not attending St. George's Day celebrations. Forgotten in some decades, the feast of St. George's Day has been revived and there is much white-and-red-cross flag waving these days.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'll let you in on a little secret about Eddie: he hates <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/national-insect-week-benches-bite-back.html">insect benches</a>! </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Personally, I find Eddie rather hard to work with but if you like his style, you can see the posts he has </span><strike style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">ruined</strike><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> edited for me on Benchsite. In 2013 there were the </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/an-orange-bench-mystery.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">orange benches</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. Eddie got stressed out and threw a strop. He interfered with my careful numbering system in </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/31-things-to-do-on-bench.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">31 Things to Do on a Bench</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. In 2014 there were the B</span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/blue-benches-for-blue-monday.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">lue Monday benches</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> in January and then, worst of all, the </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/seeing-red-benches-for-february.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Red Bench disaster</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> in February. After that, Eddie went to Mexico for a while and I had a bit of peace. I am having to rethink my animal editors. Monkeys are bad enough but </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">cats</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> . . . as for </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Meredith</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">, don't get me started. Put it this way: if I had to call in </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Noah to round up animal benches for the ark</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">, monkeys and cats would not be on it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If by any chance this is not enough monkeys for you, <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/2016-year-of-monkey-bench.html">2016 is the Year of the Monkey Bench</a>. I thought it only fair that the story about monkey benches should be handed over to Eddie. What could possibly go wrong? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Wales is a very dragony place and the dragon is a symbol of Welsh identity. The simple wooden bench is on the beautiful trail to Dinas Emrys in North Wales. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The beautiful green Sleeping Dragon bench is by Pat McVay in Whidbey in Washington State. <a href="http://www.mcvaysculpture.com">www.mcvaysculpture.com</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Annette Cox has an Etsy shop called Now Please Take A Seat. It's full of comfy benchy sofa type things like the colourful dragon bench sofa seat. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The British Ironwork Centre in Shropshire makes great themed park benches. Besides the dragon one shown here, you can find a clutch of chicken benches elsewhere on Benchsite. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Estonian chainsaw artist Igor Loskutow now lives in Germany. He created the very intricate carved wood Dragon Bench in 2017. Some people have likened it to a Game of Thrones dragon bench. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Dragon Hall photos are by Chris McAlister. Oh how I love people's holiday photos! </span>Dragon Hall is a Grade 1 listed medieval merchant's trading hall in Norwich, Norfolk. The Great Hall was built around 1427 but archaeological research on the site has shown evidence of 1,000 years of human habitation.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Preston Manganaro's cedar dragon is at the Outside In Gallery in Piermont, New York. <a href="http://outsideinpiermont.webs.com/">http://outsideinpiermont.webs.com/</a> The Outside In describes itself as <i>an ARTefact gallery offering a diverse collection of fine art, found objects and hand-selected artisan objects</i>. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Paul Sivell makes intriguing chainsaw sculptures and is inspired by nature, local traditions, and mythology. His distinctive style is well known around the Isle of Wight though he also works throughout the UK and abroad. The dragon bench is one of his many functional sculptures (benches!) which can be seen at <a href="http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/">http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Thanks to Karen Law at <a href="http://www.karenlaw.ca/">www.karenlaw.ca</a> for her image of the Chinatown monkey in San Francisco. Karen has interesting travels and photographs which are well worth a look. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The beautiful rosewood dragon bench was painstakingly restored by Eric Saperstein, who is one of the Artisans of the Valley. The artisans do hand crafted custom woodworking and period restorations. The Valley is in Pennington, New Jersey but is more easily visited at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #663300; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"> </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #663300;"><a href="http://www.artisansofthevalley.com/">http://www.artisansofthevalley.com/</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #663300; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #663300; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">The artisans publish a blog and a quarterly review of their projects at </span><a href="http://www.artisansofthevalley.com/docs/Artisans_Quarterly_Review_Vol6_Issue1_2013.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Artisans of the Valley's Artisans Quarterly Review Volume 6 Issue 1 - 2013</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The sock monkey couple are Eli and Sirus. They were married in a same-sex wedding ceremony in Massachusetts. You can see the wedding and other sock monkey activities at <a href="http://www.themonkeyville.com/">www.themonkeyville.com</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The round gold bench is or was photographed in Liberic in the Czech Republic in 2011. It's called Zlata Neha, by Lukas Rittstein. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The curvy silver bench is called the Oregon Dragon Bench. It is located at the Nike Advanced Innovation Center in Beaverton, from the design laboratory Joris Laarmass. It is from 3D printed technology. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The monkey on a bench was photographed by Erin Eastman at <a href="http://www.playground.com/">www.playgroundinfo.com</a>. It was created as a tabletop sample for tradeshows. The bench is by DuMor Site Furnishings and the sculpted/molded monkey is by Tivoli Too.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The komodo dragon was photographed on Komodo Island by Toby McAlister in March 2011.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The bench with the bright red dragon feet is at Beddgelert station in Wales. Beddgelert is a town lucky enough to be along the line of the Welsh Highland Railway and Snowdonia National Park. The bench was photographed by nh53 in 2013. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nh53/9560337181">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nh53/9560337181</a> nh53 is very, very well travelled indeed. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The flipflop Fat Monkey is by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman at <a href="http://www.florentijnhofman.nl/dev/projects.php">http://www.florentijnhofman.nl/dev/projects.php</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Many thanks for permission to use these images. Here is a brilliant short video about the making of the monkey: </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5FyGf7PCA8&feature=related" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5FyGf7PCA8&feature=related</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The pretty dragonfly bench is by Cottage and Bungalow and costs $2,260. It's at <a href="http://www.cottageandbungalow.com/">www.cottageandbungalow.com</a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Three Wise Monkey benches are easy to find in bronze, plastic and just about any material you desire but I liked these life-size</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Three Wise Monkeys On A Bench from <a href="http://www.popartdecoration.com/">http://www.popartdecoration.com</a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two serene minimalist monkeys holding up a bench are in the Singapore Japanese Gardens, photographed by the Everyday Minimalist on her extensive, minimalist travels. This is a girl who knows how to live out of one suitcase. She has a fascinating website with excellent minimalist advice at <a href="http://www.everydayminimalist.com/">www.everydayminimalist.com</a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The beautiful blue dragon bench is Victorian cast iron. Along with the sea dragon bench, it comes from <a href="http://www.lostart.co.uk/">www.lostart.co.uk</a> where they are dedicated to the careful restoration of historic garden furniture. Many thanks for permission to use these images.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The lovely carved wood Japanese monkey couple are from <a href="http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/">http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hasanfu is a Kung Fu style which features The Five Animals. The Dragon is the final form and the most difficult because it combines physical moves with a culture of spirit and a higher state of awareness.The Dragon-head Wooden Bench Weapon move is demonstrated by a Kung-fu Master at the Lam Tang Kung Fu Academy in Lexington, South Carolina. This and other Kung Fu moves can be seen at their interesting website at <a href="http://www.hasayfu.com/">www.hasayfu.com</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Circus Circus is a casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Eddie has never worked there and never will. I, however, was a cocktail waitress there in . . . no, I'm not going to name the date but if you're thinking <i>evolved from apes</i> you're in the right era. </span></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-74987282357167866152023-12-01T08:48:00.000-08:002023-12-01T12:36:25.760-08:00Shopping Benches for Christmas<p>I guess I could just go out and buy the obvious thing for Christmas. </p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifUjrBblSRqBRgfzoYLY0l_WkgyGMtmgbP3BybrFzugZmObtc7H3GK-YxUOQhAVKV0MTS3RP3qMOXGTEihuibxM08xOIWRwa8hgTIHIkC2gY8wzJskl0htThMjLeEdbMIMUheSghGfr6ppONmJqz_4yZpkMYZ5EZYkGO9VExS2ynBlshlb9TbEmqSb2Nue" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="320" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifUjrBblSRqBRgfzoYLY0l_WkgyGMtmgbP3BybrFzugZmObtc7H3GK-YxUOQhAVKV0MTS3RP3qMOXGTEihuibxM08xOIWRwa8hgTIHIkC2gY8wzJskl0htThMjLeEdbMIMUheSghGfr6ppONmJqz_4yZpkMYZ5EZYkGO9VExS2ynBlshlb9TbEmqSb2Nue" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mag379/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mag379/</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><div>As everyone knows, shopping is exhausting. It's a nightmare.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwpnbEFawUjEzlxhp_J5-eZOpU8-QvRkFY7oMCSQLCzcmPst02373NTHxUmh8DX1E1qcNDVP2fNx5gyqv15pMWphfWMYtPkjl01f5Zuoxp7ccXJ6wE5b7SKNw7EF2uH8jm5QlUUnbQjCHd/s1600/bunches&bits.karina.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwpnbEFawUjEzlxhp_J5-eZOpU8-QvRkFY7oMCSQLCzcmPst02373NTHxUmh8DX1E1qcNDVP2fNx5gyqv15pMWphfWMYtPkjl01f5Zuoxp7ccXJ6wE5b7SKNw7EF2uH8jm5QlUUnbQjCHd/s400/bunches&bits.karina.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The food shopping alone is enough to make you start smoking again.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0T8G_4cYKk-qFAeVK21ITREUBKE-fnwXO32IB10-XloF2qqXVs5FXBFdlDFa090TJCr8ql_gLkw2_FvG4UfYtsSXnCvDF9TFzwjJtZCHGr4whlQqpI5A6icLAQdc4h04-TyfAiQrhD7e/s1600/rene.spitz.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0T8G_4cYKk-qFAeVK21ITREUBKE-fnwXO32IB10-XloF2qqXVs5FXBFdlDFa090TJCr8ql_gLkw2_FvG4UfYtsSXnCvDF9TFzwjJtZCHGr4whlQqpI5A6icLAQdc4h04-TyfAiQrhD7e/s400/rene.spitz.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/renespitz/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/renespitz/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div>The easiest thing would be just to go out and get some bench stuff.<br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLObGhhWlqn-dxYE3w-hObP7T-R3_PChStKUWtnackhx3ZfkLwXZXDrI-OjbL99O-Z3N0P6AJ3Kb4r0Lmg_WxKsA-Ye7FZ0SHc872kONFCb3k0yQ3zh9W8DwkELVoTZu7DNAHNvU7Zt9UnAqgZGJQe8LXbWTjECdFYec28kAodk113EwmYaONH-vpPqsUf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="286" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLObGhhWlqn-dxYE3w-hObP7T-R3_PChStKUWtnackhx3ZfkLwXZXDrI-OjbL99O-Z3N0P6AJ3Kb4r0Lmg_WxKsA-Ye7FZ0SHc872kONFCb3k0yQ3zh9W8DwkELVoTZu7DNAHNvU7Zt9UnAqgZGJQe8LXbWTjECdFYec28kAodk113EwmYaONH-vpPqsUf=w287-h320" width="287" /></a></div><br /><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But I wouldn't want you to get the idea that I am in any way sponsored by Bench dot or any other company. Far from it. These are my very own purchases from the Bench dot outlet store. None of them fit me and they are all the wrong colours but never mind, they bear the bench message. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here on Paradise Island Lady Brassica has her very own replica mall in the basement of Drizzly Manor. Even so, she often has to take to her bench after a long day of retail therapy.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4txmTS3w7hWP5HzYI7tD4Ja9gO6NEWwSgM7i99ERN7T1_jdJIMU65ACKJTlI4AikhTNKxSFWMdfLioXCL8UUA9barpIQ_sg78YVASZBzLty-zCRtzfDaa4qeUZ5QLKJAwRazN_IoArzH9/s1600/LadyB.Xmas.shop100_6033.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4txmTS3w7hWP5HzYI7tD4Ja9gO6NEWwSgM7i99ERN7T1_jdJIMU65ACKJTlI4AikhTNKxSFWMdfLioXCL8UUA9barpIQ_sg78YVASZBzLty-zCRtzfDaa4qeUZ5QLKJAwRazN_IoArzH9/s400/LadyB.Xmas.shop100_6033.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">To get through the Christmas shopping period we're going to need some solid shopping benches a</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">nd some sound advice. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">First off, make sure the shops are open.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh8qo-GeDtt9xsP0AgT2ZnV-Zxbn15wy4oOKFQxSR1Z72hynrEFEXrkm8e_kBhZH2rI9QuBoIzZMEDGQBO8WU-NGJ8NiBP6M2sDP1_lfMG1UvQPrJKVH665dGahP7Q_vRBCi1x1kxPdzmB/s1600/signfail2.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh8qo-GeDtt9xsP0AgT2ZnV-Zxbn15wy4oOKFQxSR1Z72hynrEFEXrkm8e_kBhZH2rI9QuBoIzZMEDGQBO8WU-NGJ8NiBP6M2sDP1_lfMG1UvQPrJKVH665dGahP7Q_vRBCi1x1kxPdzmB/s320/signfail2.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Take a roomy shopping trolley with you. This one is actually a bench so if you get tired, you can sit down on it.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUgouVJuhWKx3qNSOcnR8Cu6G5dv9bj71YbpyZiY6DAGa_CyzKCh_Q_WmZo8fXhPWsmv8fipVoYgUZNCeMeLP97x57lx3HOKtwXwkwfVBfoQMTNU9mna898-EGpcE70dK0qWgsHntqC6m/s1600/shopping-cart-bench.etienne-reijnders-dutch-design-upcycling-recyclingktbzuq55nw.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUgouVJuhWKx3qNSOcnR8Cu6G5dv9bj71YbpyZiY6DAGa_CyzKCh_Q_WmZo8fXhPWsmv8fipVoYgUZNCeMeLP97x57lx3HOKtwXwkwfVBfoQMTNU9mna898-EGpcE70dK0qWgsHntqC6m/s320/shopping-cart-bench.etienne-reijnders-dutch-design-upcycling-recyclingktbzuq55nw.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://etiennereijnders.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://etiennereijnders.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The shops will bedazzle you. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Try to think what you're shopping for before you go out.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4acb_uKa_3Z2hHWyjEEr3u60DET6UbKwHhuj2zJD57DqsGGldE-wattd2XtvLnze5Q16UgxQgtf0oPW5ondqosxPUX7TNC3y5W1b9vLolYs6jHNnbVMLfyNBdTyKVzpRlhDF2czGEbBQq/s1600/wwolworths.tyne&wear.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4acb_uKa_3Z2hHWyjEEr3u60DET6UbKwHhuj2zJD57DqsGGldE-wattd2XtvLnze5Q16UgxQgtf0oPW5ondqosxPUX7TNC3y5W1b9vLolYs6jHNnbVMLfyNBdTyKVzpRlhDF2czGEbBQq/s400/wwolworths.tyne&wear.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/twm_news/6987219153/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/twm_news/6987219153/</a><br /><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">With a good list, the shopping just flies by.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5Db9aLXhizb0DEcxjh2-kxXqaN1LI75Qpkv6w2T9dmEQ4LCL78la2m17QbiLxVkQI9JV2bgfFEMWcRzSw2x2zTV4kJasf06vNqk44GlBE9H8s576-3PQkac5HdZwqZzcoUsYqhIA6zGv/s1600/600px-Shop_Until_You_Drop_by_Banksy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5Db9aLXhizb0DEcxjh2-kxXqaN1LI75Qpkv6w2T9dmEQ4LCL78la2m17QbiLxVkQI9JV2bgfFEMWcRzSw2x2zTV4kJasf06vNqk44GlBE9H8s576-3PQkac5HdZwqZzcoUsYqhIA6zGv/s320/600px-Shop_Until_You_Drop_by_Banksy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shop_Until_You_Drop_by_Banksy.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shop_Until_You_Drop_by_Banksy.JPG</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Women are easy to buy for. I've already told my husbands what I want.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XWVntmFQdxWjasfGel6sk73hjm70UP5eXsdwRbvLNibMQEuJq4b_wFjVjao3zifLzLN16WA-JjM3j9WFiJRZx3HVWzgl-S1w7vhZj71GMoFpFzysuYKsasiPCzsoy6dZ3PRLzxyalAKb/s1600/picardcreative.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XWVntmFQdxWjasfGel6sk73hjm70UP5eXsdwRbvLNibMQEuJq4b_wFjVjao3zifLzLN16WA-JjM3j9WFiJRZx3HVWzgl-S1w7vhZj71GMoFpFzysuYKsasiPCzsoy6dZ3PRLzxyalAKb/s400/picardcreative.etsy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/picardcreative">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/picardcreative</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But gifts for men are tricky. Shops will give you ideas of stuff you don't want. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Neither of my husbands would be caught dead in this nightie.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgGb1cV6_VK8nXhXUkzNgElrLE-BTCc1s5tKqGEUm8loYQpE6rzRHae7CsVcvYDIkdHcFCI84vp2ot3lHGZrYm_1SX9H9Vazm9RFlSmkOqu-IoCTDfnVx_KQxQlDhvhNbtYO_wDlRXSzy/s1600/giftsformen.tyne&wear.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgGb1cV6_VK8nXhXUkzNgElrLE-BTCc1s5tKqGEUm8loYQpE6rzRHae7CsVcvYDIkdHcFCI84vp2ot3lHGZrYm_1SX9H9Vazm9RFlSmkOqu-IoCTDfnVx_KQxQlDhvhNbtYO_wDlRXSzy/s320/giftsformen.tyne&wear.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29295370@N07/6841096548/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/29295370@N07/6841096548/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Men tend to get socks and ties but this year I thought I'd give His Excellency a bright, trendy Christmas jumper that he can wear all through the festive season. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This fellow looks really chuffed with his. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgl70r2VLPm9XkSsNLsF4WgdjazJQ2Tusxgfsjm3IAyCdydDcP1Kja8WhwlRlYBqwIqjLmON75H5umSJR6BFS6SnaUwI9dNUVKrToqfJCcukPu9FjWEvAYBOBzuifOp4sla86x-F4qHZv/s1600/carnivalofthemaniac.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgl70r2VLPm9XkSsNLsF4WgdjazJQ2Tusxgfsjm3IAyCdydDcP1Kja8WhwlRlYBqwIqjLmON75H5umSJR6BFS6SnaUwI9dNUVKrToqfJCcukPu9FjWEvAYBOBzuifOp4sla86x-F4qHZv/s320/carnivalofthemaniac.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CarnivalOfTheManiac">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CarnivalOfTheManiac</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Miggy, my imaginary friend: His Excellency will not thank you for a jumper. Believe me. He will <b>hate</b> it. You'd be better off giving him a subscription to <i>Bench Dude</i>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hlD5nsQOv35tQ3dl5BEPQNlp2j7PygYewxsWJEz8Ox6z3NmhQleFD1K-Cc3aoZc8DE4DNvx9o5ElxK3GYmJAlDwakLqr83p7WOBp3ZhU4p-P5OcyMrKBZl0HKEirfYbMIF1_-MfG6uVV/s1600/PhotoFunia-1572549216.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hlD5nsQOv35tQ3dl5BEPQNlp2j7PygYewxsWJEz8Ox6z3NmhQleFD1K-Cc3aoZc8DE4DNvx9o5ElxK3GYmJAlDwakLqr83p7WOBp3ZhU4p-P5OcyMrKBZl0HKEirfYbMIF1_-MfG6uVV/s320/PhotoFunia-1572549216.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He'd hate that too. What about this jumper?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWr0_qelUDbcd2zzQnnGrmMndadADjqxTpdwx-Zw56Srivs4mZxv2qWE7QaLll8ZnY48rxIt4l-p6QFkGtZYk6D8b_05Ihvh80mvZ9tzUV1l_Qu3hVcRIZAotZSTXSJ02pfCtpnpeIjIV/s1600/fast.tees.etsy.grey.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWr0_qelUDbcd2zzQnnGrmMndadADjqxTpdwx-Zw56Srivs4mZxv2qWE7QaLll8ZnY48rxIt4l-p6QFkGtZYk6D8b_05Ihvh80mvZ9tzUV1l_Qu3hVcRIZAotZSTXSJ02pfCtpnpeIjIV/s320/fast.tees.etsy.grey.jpg" width="277" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FastTees">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FastTees</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Miggy: Are those reindeer doing what I think they're doing?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oh, crikey. I didn't notice that.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Miggy: I think you'd better give up on the jumpers. What are you getting for Mungo?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mungo is my imaginary husband; he's easier to please. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He's going to get this t-shirt that's right in the Christmas spirit.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiI7Ayze8LxE0aL5J2vKZiMdytIR_QB8qNxZMdjl_jPTWID2fVIsU7L1tAWd7DXGBHza96nND_YT8hWfZZtqL2L_vUCDWLLwoJEiJcFkT9fxYJ2fIsxFdRslQwGOOy_QoqZa7OXupbvWH1/s1600/classywhale.t.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiI7Ayze8LxE0aL5J2vKZiMdytIR_QB8qNxZMdjl_jPTWID2fVIsU7L1tAWd7DXGBHza96nND_YT8hWfZZtqL2L_vUCDWLLwoJEiJcFkT9fxYJ2fIsxFdRslQwGOOy_QoqZa7OXupbvWH1/s320/classywhale.t.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ClassyWhaleTees">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ClassyWhaleTees</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: I suppose you chose this because Mungo used to be a maths teacher?</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, I thought it was exponentially witty.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: But Mungo hates Christmas. He will not wear this t-shirt now or ever.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You could be right, Migs. Maybe I'll just get it for myself.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: If you get one in double extra large, I'd like one. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dream on. You're getting a subscription to <i>Bench Girl</i>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXauECzATNvx1pZDVYYU7qJNWerlc2Q3mLnVYICfwuJUfHsC8QQ0C10uL-GWkq6SlYWmcCvOmPNGWB03ATsM2zpZU03MIgLimEy-YDbhkLAjzZtR0-2QBjXvIJtursJvgj7G3l9UfuJNu/s1600/PhotoFunia-1572549783.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXauECzATNvx1pZDVYYU7qJNWerlc2Q3mLnVYICfwuJUfHsC8QQ0C10uL-GWkq6SlYWmcCvOmPNGWB03ATsM2zpZU03MIgLimEy-YDbhkLAjzZtR0-2QBjXvIJtursJvgj7G3l9UfuJNu/s320/PhotoFunia-1572549783.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Miggy: No thanks. I'll take the bike though. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sorry, Migs. I'm getting a bit stressed out with all this shopping. It's hard to know what to do next.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjc1CyG8ThLXZTV5ZbO-Orjyk2edKnzRZUC_qlDCAb6y1CYuTX5SzLrGc3p3oJR4-uduoyT8fPjTm9qh1Pb8f4wwoQj9DKzKr4egfYkuOVbFUbQ4K8s78T2nh1NUL4Z3pFpIy88OZcnlTl/s1600/Exeter_High_Street_-_geograph_org_uk_.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjc1CyG8ThLXZTV5ZbO-Orjyk2edKnzRZUC_qlDCAb6y1CYuTX5SzLrGc3p3oJR4-uduoyT8fPjTm9qh1Pb8f4wwoQj9DKzKr4egfYkuOVbFUbQ4K8s78T2nh1NUL4Z3pFpIy88OZcnlTl/s320/Exeter_High_Street_-_geograph_org_uk_.WK.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">©<a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/10124">Graham Horn</a> and licensed for <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/reuse.php?id=3607830">reuse</a> under this <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">Creative Commons license</a></span> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><br />I feel like Christmas shopping will be the death bench of me.<br /><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7Rk7IqxuE-NOJE0u8Kb-xy8ypNB4v06_Z0xmHIQ6Fqc-KkADsC-zEstR2jxD1gDj6N4Ka4vcxVkazsk9BKWn0bZk9DhZbyOcYmKeR36e239TRhuGqfVcIhuR8iJGPStUZiBr7W4394TR/s1600/Ro_chi3.Mex.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7Rk7IqxuE-NOJE0u8Kb-xy8ypNB4v06_Z0xmHIQ6Fqc-KkADsC-zEstR2jxD1gDj6N4Ka4vcxVkazsk9BKWn0bZk9DhZbyOcYmKeR36e239TRhuGqfVcIhuR8iJGPStUZiBr7W4394TR/s1600/Ro_chi3.Mex.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/srzrocio/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/srzrocio/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm just going to sit down on these nice red shopping benches and rest my brain.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXkvUYfP_a3EbFVwKG5EsJf5_XxGONKTTgyXFCYl6pVULagcFcC32gGh-86z_nMYFaAu3Nonlf2onWAbZoz-lVhy-xGN0LfQRo7QDgX7gLNMh8ZT_Mqg7Pe9xftwOyASqexVRFdXhhb8c/s1600/choo.yut.shing.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXkvUYfP_a3EbFVwKG5EsJf5_XxGONKTTgyXFCYl6pVULagcFcC32gGh-86z_nMYFaAu3Nonlf2onWAbZoz-lVhy-xGN0LfQRo7QDgX7gLNMh8ZT_Mqg7Pe9xftwOyASqexVRFdXhhb8c/s320/choo.yut.shing.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm watching the Christmas shoppers and I know what everyone is thinking.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHU3pPsCYfx90EUj_5K0Nx5EaxlpIfrXqGXssjsuMRbGd0q91sAkKagIpZcTnHGLezJETEfm3q4G2TL3n8VXL6aKNUeFONjY-gbGFh7P9GO9eYPJGgUoYs3VQK-4FD-po2IroHKMROyVCs/s1600/dressyflats.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHU3pPsCYfx90EUj_5K0Nx5EaxlpIfrXqGXssjsuMRbGd0q91sAkKagIpZcTnHGLezJETEfm3q4G2TL3n8VXL6aKNUeFONjY-gbGFh7P9GO9eYPJGgUoYs3VQK-4FD-po2IroHKMROyVCs/s400/dressyflats.etsy.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.dressyflats">www.etsy.com/shop.dressyflats</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">These women in Liverpool found everything they wanted in Primark but one of them is worried that she might have bought something stupid.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fSRqbnU7frvUmi7FGOcaA9nKfh960cRpUq6Bbx7fiLceFbiEoP-4pMZcl4XOwIcGfE82ZPzkrn-_k64us6nmzj0S5P8k7VNfl81r4XYyX-l0LssVJjoIWttPyOSITB27A70aaele2sT_/s1600/caravangallery.co.uk.Primark-Shopping2-220x195.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fSRqbnU7frvUmi7FGOcaA9nKfh960cRpUq6Bbx7fiLceFbiEoP-4pMZcl4XOwIcGfE82ZPzkrn-_k64us6nmzj0S5P8k7VNfl81r4XYyX-l0LssVJjoIWttPyOSITB27A70aaele2sT_/s320/caravangallery.co.uk.Primark-Shopping2-220x195.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.thecaravangallery.co.uk/">www.thecaravangallery.co.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">OK. Deep breath. Ready for more advice?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbif0ihfKQ2t3rUBPz3UsVunDWzL_IcDtb7Nr72gq4SvSXuUS_U0Bb9zHWzJyH4CU6kIt3UvxO3guFKuSvYsJMatgjiGnGChbetlERh3TGtsY1feOQydYLpfkgJLskXj0PiHfYhCjgNMUK/s1600/twbphotos.FKR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbif0ihfKQ2t3rUBPz3UsVunDWzL_IcDtb7Nr72gq4SvSXuUS_U0Bb9zHWzJyH4CU6kIt3UvxO3guFKuSvYsJMatgjiGnGChbetlERh3TGtsY1feOQydYLpfkgJLskXj0PiHfYhCjgNMUK/s400/twbphotos.FKR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/t_w_b_50/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/t_w_b_50/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The apostrophe is missing in <i>heart's</i>. Maybe they couldn't afford one after all that spending.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dress up to do your shopping trip. A bit of glamour won't go amiss.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDjNHoidGq8JZy3IRnbFsqvBxL7mftB6RESPILrF1rF-37QAbMOq4sklC3LEmI_Gkcqk2ohOonCp8S8ZPWUYlcxV0sS-MlHojf_T84ucfJ6juUs2k3BqXCAMvSTLp8BwY0epDTDV8xGTjv/s1600/kerstinkopen.doen.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDjNHoidGq8JZy3IRnbFsqvBxL7mftB6RESPILrF1rF-37QAbMOq4sklC3LEmI_Gkcqk2ohOonCp8S8ZPWUYlcxV0sS-MlHojf_T84ucfJ6juUs2k3BqXCAMvSTLp8BwY0epDTDV8xGTjv/s320/kerstinkopen.doen.FKCC.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998366@N02/3118323428/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998366@N02/3118323428/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Try to do your shopping alone. If you have to, set off in the rain in the dark of night.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGyMJo1Pmj08LTIYNqRwmXWtwRoAYSMtVbI3e_Pg7ACSyeSPqy0k3On_AFf9vUFOSVNTyYPk93j1jWgOmeojd6tb2Iojb8HP8P6RkwcitEKaGBeiOlgmXH8ToxJF6GeGDaNsRKJlhI9Lj/s1600/agatasart.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGyMJo1Pmj08LTIYNqRwmXWtwRoAYSMtVbI3e_Pg7ACSyeSPqy0k3On_AFf9vUFOSVNTyYPk93j1jWgOmeojd6tb2Iojb8HP8P6RkwcitEKaGBeiOlgmXH8ToxJF6GeGDaNsRKJlhI9Lj/s320/agatasart.etsy.jpg" width="319" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AgatasArtCorner">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AgatasArtCorner</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or take your dog with you. Have a seat in the mall and think things through.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDpFNKZz55m70CMaDgO0RByO3RZe7z8M-bIrhMOVg1bAozUpaOY4FmqVkBMVlQaZKDCtT4EBqm6FBFMctJCpGDL4jBoG0xAuWDLEz5In4V8gpCtn2uTTKXUAnJqEe4a8KIOFjV4dezgh6/s1600/Emiliano.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDpFNKZz55m70CMaDgO0RByO3RZe7z8M-bIrhMOVg1bAozUpaOY4FmqVkBMVlQaZKDCtT4EBqm6FBFMctJCpGDL4jBoG0xAuWDLEz5In4V8gpCtn2uTTKXUAnJqEe4a8KIOFjV4dezgh6/s320/Emiliano.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/loungerie/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/loungerie/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Whatever you do, don't take your kids. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You will end up on a bench doing all manner of childcare.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQRKHfEFh53lo5aXgq7wwWC_rmh86Md8HPuvSTem4FOk1C9m6fY1IQyer4blaYVEaFuUYbKrv3GEhEnLaP7uwIXKB51JtV8ejH943OLj1hpCrV7599XAjFf2KZliLJvJTZKEoIl7rmb70/s1600/800px-Bristol_MMB_V0_The_Mall.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQRKHfEFh53lo5aXgq7wwWC_rmh86Md8HPuvSTem4FOk1C9m6fY1IQyer4blaYVEaFuUYbKrv3GEhEnLaP7uwIXKB51JtV8ejH943OLj1hpCrV7599XAjFf2KZliLJvJTZKEoIl7rmb70/s320/800px-Bristol_MMB_V0_The_Mall.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_MMB_V0_The_Mall.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_MMB_V0_The_Mall</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Either that or you'll spend the whole time queueing to see Santa.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_tRObd5F-MQHRSARh4FLgUmpBt11a4lK2e8CgWxFZmPzGuC-bz48El71SI3a10kboF2tQNekTL2p__iyvknZhPl2mL8PaEzdt6FbyhBxrACgLlhPS7s0YGMWu-90pd0H47q7GQEheQqY/s1600/JoanWilson.Flordia.State.ARchives.+FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_tRObd5F-MQHRSARh4FLgUmpBt11a4lK2e8CgWxFZmPzGuC-bz48El71SI3a10kboF2tQNekTL2p__iyvknZhPl2mL8PaEzdt6FbyhBxrACgLlhPS7s0YGMWu-90pd0H47q7GQEheQqY/s320/JoanWilson.Flordia.State.ARchives.+FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/70682">http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/70682</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And naughty kids get bundled away into the coal sack, which is kind of creepy.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7dTB8aNwwGb5I-XNzMsa98unI_Uc_x4-BgOZagRnSdmchkEIJzGE9R7hYE0cJs6wZk4sSKwrKtRA3d_mzVlSYWrN-NEadvbNENegBKHnKNYMbUdKv8_OG2ptlaxjjIWvYgqWfJN1AUgcP/s700/FB_IMG_1608052917787.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="436" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7dTB8aNwwGb5I-XNzMsa98unI_Uc_x4-BgOZagRnSdmchkEIJzGE9R7hYE0cJs6wZk4sSKwrKtRA3d_mzVlSYWrN-NEadvbNENegBKHnKNYMbUdKv8_OG2ptlaxjjIWvYgqWfJN1AUgcP/w249-h400/FB_IMG_1608052917787.jpg" width="249" /></a></div></div><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It goes without saying: don't go with a man. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRIbdQYaZ9wxydp1Fye1x_qnAgXHbPCG7QbngnMkO_18V07x6F7jVYwRnLw7xNwFVgog35pV16bU8Xx8tOdVqUIg3vE-PTfqaq4oJFO3lUBqNqIJQ5EQcg9C03o8BS5qI-jb4iLl4NeHN/s1600/itsjustslate.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRIbdQYaZ9wxydp1Fye1x_qnAgXHbPCG7QbngnMkO_18V07x6F7jVYwRnLw7xNwFVgog35pV16bU8Xx8tOdVqUIg3vE-PTfqaq4oJFO3lUBqNqIJQ5EQcg9C03o8BS5qI-jb4iLl4NeHN/s320/itsjustslate.etsy.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ItsJustSlate">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ItsJustSlate</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you have to, find a convenient husband-parking bench and leave him there.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4mLTKERqzpeEejAD7jdrBr5n7WQaWj3FgoB2oKo8_rwE4ekBe9KHUADgyO4clQsxqMLs9kH4OtRzU5POMHucGTlJtOj2xdpWLL9Gkqm0zgOkZKCxN1dkKlqTIRFIrrD6gZTMJ2qmkgRk/s1600/vajlentka.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4mLTKERqzpeEejAD7jdrBr5n7WQaWj3FgoB2oKo8_rwE4ekBe9KHUADgyO4clQsxqMLs9kH4OtRzU5POMHucGTlJtOj2xdpWLL9Gkqm0zgOkZKCxN1dkKlqTIRFIrrD6gZTMJ2qmkgRk/s320/vajlentka.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vajlentka/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vajlentka/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></i></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Kids left in a shopping centre ball-pit tend to have a whale of a time. Men, however, tend not to be able to find anything to do. </span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr60rxdxwgGzXBV7DPNLLBHF9On14ylenxz1q1JI-43W60mLBtlSrJAiUPRDfBx5-rngDfLB1AkBPUZ08e5Iocw0T2gbUx2jm2voX6-i2qCt47FUicxkpSbDmLbPZQR6XkZGh7GIOY9GT2BeBXL4mUJr2QPTQPolaKMMAqdpfN8XF6cETUm9inYPNBhQZt/s456/FB_IMG_1701462749920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr60rxdxwgGzXBV7DPNLLBHF9On14ylenxz1q1JI-43W60mLBtlSrJAiUPRDfBx5-rngDfLB1AkBPUZ08e5Iocw0T2gbUx2jm2voX6-i2qCt47FUicxkpSbDmLbPZQR6XkZGh7GIOY9GT2BeBXL4mUJr2QPTQPolaKMMAqdpfN8XF6cETUm9inYPNBhQZt/s320/FB_IMG_1701462749920.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Man on a Bench, Giles Penny</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This man was sensible enough to bring a book but even so, he's had enough. He's been there ten minutes and already he's holding his head. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirupbpA3FYuYcQuWlts5RGtQr1_IoNrkM-V1aZAtxaxxB2WBHsbpVgrn-i9gdRswR7OhY1UabE5W8o5W2HhAR7RPeKRwnjM7GsTWhzlBmU6AP9ICZ15J0YawDotiM2VAvKsU1ZXGwYlI2E/s1600/Emiliano.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirupbpA3FYuYcQuWlts5RGtQr1_IoNrkM-V1aZAtxaxxB2WBHsbpVgrn-i9gdRswR7OhY1UabE5W8o5W2HhAR7RPeKRwnjM7GsTWhzlBmU6AP9ICZ15J0YawDotiM2VAvKsU1ZXGwYlI2E/s320/Emiliano.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/loungerie/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/loungerie/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He seems to have a lot of problems. Maybe I could get him this?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipqJlffjpqgOdQJdohQ_d6n_bpLglLlWOXOUMOI4_pysFyO7ECLAhOEWCn7pH6vKUdOwjB-vNEJq8j4AhhEyPtp96vRxT3cyHzMJHipiYLZ1TJDAIfd0ymUixD2r1whEsH6cjjeUOLv0J/s1600/startinglineuptees.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipqJlffjpqgOdQJdohQ_d6n_bpLglLlWOXOUMOI4_pysFyO7ECLAhOEWCn7pH6vKUdOwjB-vNEJq8j4AhhEyPtp96vRxT3cyHzMJHipiYLZ1TJDAIfd0ymUixD2r1whEsH6cjjeUOLv0J/s320/startinglineuptees.etsy.jpg" width="195" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StartingLineupTees">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StartingLineupTees</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">With all these men hanging around shopping areas it's no wonder shops put up anti-loitering signs. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQz2sF9N63W7EmIPzYu-1tKUfoQ2aVtwugrQFs_K4Qdn2tBjtsBt3Dn-0NMB0AqJBn6el2V6ndO2uF0jUcYklhJGLEGOZfzNzu7QuIyLgoyzx4wGTuGwCphrxjNyJRK8cfUZz1mKqhecYF/s1600/signfail.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQz2sF9N63W7EmIPzYu-1tKUfoQ2aVtwugrQFs_K4Qdn2tBjtsBt3Dn-0NMB0AqJBn6el2V6ndO2uF0jUcYklhJGLEGOZfzNzu7QuIyLgoyzx4wGTuGwCphrxjNyJRK8cfUZz1mKqhecYF/s320/signfail.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Wouldn't it be nice if men waiting on benches would tell each other a Christmas Story?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseOXAs6rTEmMAwXfVrib49IPpe1pHeZdWbPR4Hq-CiFmzN-wl3jM3Q8fcgkCxadF7aafnmWDn3wl76QgZwhXFJRl-RHzCBeWyPmyulmgtq1IFu5GEa84lie39L1lyftgIwwlMVawxmud4/s1600/The_Bench_(72).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseOXAs6rTEmMAwXfVrib49IPpe1pHeZdWbPR4Hq-CiFmzN-wl3jM3Q8fcgkCxadF7aafnmWDn3wl76QgZwhXFJRl-RHzCBeWyPmyulmgtq1IFu5GEa84lie39L1lyftgIwwlMVawxmud4/s320/The_Bench_(72).jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="http://www.deltastage.com/index.shtml">http://www.deltastage.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Then we could all return home as happy couples laden with presents.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgFjYGQDL46wr1U5sOKbxVyKdGldBPSPukoFllOPmb3DljCQnN7wfW8ixr-mvMyY-Plk59DHh0KTfh83FXiO8L7bcn4BBYc7_0rD8e38KAbUIQmr6OcLpPkkV1LzAkt2lZ80mb2TOxp-b/s1600/kerstinkopen.nationaal.archives.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgFjYGQDL46wr1U5sOKbxVyKdGldBPSPukoFllOPmb3DljCQnN7wfW8ixr-mvMyY-Plk59DHh0KTfh83FXiO8L7bcn4BBYc7_0rD8e38KAbUIQmr6OcLpPkkV1LzAkt2lZ80mb2TOxp-b/s320/kerstinkopen.nationaal.archives.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/3117495287/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/3117495287/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The truth is, most men will not enjoy the pleasure of talking to each other whilst waiting on a bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kuduwzRqSm28x9ubX0UgT0A_u4lRVA7WlIeREj8tCPMM_gm7ByQUOC7WQPjSR03_tNHJzZX1vZ2cttYMYPY_hJHODJYJrIG_oJphoFy8IrBx2QFYvXVPwNCZ8rXh4HAB6AtGy835eg7x/s1600/OliverLovleyArtwork.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kuduwzRqSm28x9ubX0UgT0A_u4lRVA7WlIeREj8tCPMM_gm7ByQUOC7WQPjSR03_tNHJzZX1vZ2cttYMYPY_hJHODJYJrIG_oJphoFy8IrBx2QFYvXVPwNCZ8rXh4HAB6AtGy835eg7x/s320/OliverLovleyArtwork.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/OliverLovleyArtwork">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/OliverLovleyArtwork</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If worse comes to worse, you may have to bring them with you and sit on a bench thinking how much there is to do.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuc9PdK51z1edN9LpzcV2uCTJt5wY2R_dY7zOTD9yyQGkwjKV2lKasMNVRXk7_KXs2nx_OhIjR4xmCCB8VNNFGKj0XLA6MAL5HMbTUgV5mjB403OL9xJDSGiwrMl1qW9kfyzj9IdViNq62pnd1-YPvRcl_esvi_bDpSs9-uDRL3UPRHB_c1yPXRnRZigpZ/s640/justard.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuc9PdK51z1edN9LpzcV2uCTJt5wY2R_dY7zOTD9yyQGkwjKV2lKasMNVRXk7_KXs2nx_OhIjR4xmCCB8VNNFGKj0XLA6MAL5HMbTUgV5mjB403OL9xJDSGiwrMl1qW9kfyzj9IdViNq62pnd1-YPvRcl_esvi_bDpSs9-uDRL3UPRHB_c1yPXRnRZigpZ/s320/justard.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/justard/14190027311" style="text-align: left;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/justard/14190027311</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">All in all, you'll need to be quick with your shopping. You can't just run in and grab a bench for half price.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsrWc1UwmqKYrEBFHj95ciIHCUJ_xgYQ3HLAFUSkvb9XiX8a0N_MkATwN4Rf0eWuJSaMqw-V4lXrG8ishWFJotzFw1HMZUqRRwwq9eup66RnTyAk17e15-zcrTHvS2yN2Hmbq84y2uFRa-/s1600/halfpricebenches.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsrWc1UwmqKYrEBFHj95ciIHCUJ_xgYQ3HLAFUSkvb9XiX8a0N_MkATwN4Rf0eWuJSaMqw-V4lXrG8ishWFJotzFw1HMZUqRRwwq9eup66RnTyAk17e15-zcrTHvS2yN2Hmbq84y2uFRa-/s1600/halfpricebenches.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And you don't want to wear yourself out.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59y69fs8rAZVzeIeyooraraSMRDff97IaIq-xSQYPHl7NxzJ92IAm_P0XA-5LZQLsrO2-rUQpsgms6MfxSaKLnkpqIVRMaXnU3PCEKbGIDwUnLgtesnXMU5jOmB22dXtFP02DsbeEVWNCNBDeYnRNDJk8CzWln95CBi9bxhWCR-7rpj1SIW1TTvfXi86H/s960/FB_IMG_1601931284624.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="960" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59y69fs8rAZVzeIeyooraraSMRDff97IaIq-xSQYPHl7NxzJ92IAm_P0XA-5LZQLsrO2-rUQpsgms6MfxSaKLnkpqIVRMaXnU3PCEKbGIDwUnLgtesnXMU5jOmB22dXtFP02DsbeEVWNCNBDeYnRNDJk8CzWln95CBi9bxhWCR-7rpj1SIW1TTvfXi86H/s320/FB_IMG_1601931284624.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Friends</i>, Sergei Vinogradov (1869-1938)</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's a matter of finding just the right shop, and friendly staff who are eager to serve you.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQM29PBY09IrQmneoKylDpdJ7iawozlTqNp_LbxVC3e1Lh-6Cd-UVz6fibUUWIgXVIRM1Raj3gZ71eXaPrUS05ESvBKImcSySlwRGpzTJMbB_dgCPvXJ-kubuEwJhfhTb6Jx6lFElV-XY/s1600/roberto.trm.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQM29PBY09IrQmneoKylDpdJ7iawozlTqNp_LbxVC3e1Lh-6Cd-UVz6fibUUWIgXVIRM1Raj3gZ71eXaPrUS05ESvBKImcSySlwRGpzTJMbB_dgCPvXJ-kubuEwJhfhTb6Jx6lFElV-XY/s400/roberto.trm.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/massimo_riserbo/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/massimo_riserbo/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you're lucky, helpful staff will pack up the presents.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqSo8212DIgs5jsMuMGCjIH34-Jz9nnF0fUW47b6nfk1hpY8SVhDCUgW2rROFlM65Yn9tYk7bDcmJIgzDnbUU5vEDHFLp7D-YDpUaOGN6IuG4biYRQ3ybI5NQIuI1kVg_I8kSA5u1tTDO/s1600/460px-Intocht_van_St__Nicolaas_-_Speelgoedwinkel.WKjpg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqSo8212DIgs5jsMuMGCjIH34-Jz9nnF0fUW47b6nfk1hpY8SVhDCUgW2rROFlM65Yn9tYk7bDcmJIgzDnbUU5vEDHFLp7D-YDpUaOGN6IuG4biYRQ3ybI5NQIuI1kVg_I8kSA5u1tTDO/s400/460px-Intocht_van_St__Nicolaas_-_Speelgoedwinkel.WKjpg.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Intocht_van_St._Nicolaas_-_Speelgoedwinkel.jpg">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Intocht_van_St._Nicolaas</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Then, of course, everything has to be wrapped.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5yd4-GXG2x46dd7nJFTpK5cy0NIlT50EQE2XS1SDGBs3R7AYRuTg47FZqcZJ9PhSaIV7ofpcNfhuvg4SRAatu1XypXuFKOFZUoSnYSF29USBIImGuva2OKpyuz1zgEIB2Ne_LDZD1zQQA/s1600/AG00391_.GIF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5yd4-GXG2x46dd7nJFTpK5cy0NIlT50EQE2XS1SDGBs3R7AYRuTg47FZqcZJ9PhSaIV7ofpcNfhuvg4SRAatu1XypXuFKOFZUoSnYSF29USBIImGuva2OKpyuz1zgEIB2Ne_LDZD1zQQA/s1600/AG00391_.GIF" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But once the Christmas shopping is done you'll be so pleased with yourself.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDZvi3IB0so1dNdSdnd71sr824DVB0MBsesUiQSYzr3hrAC-KICuUF5I3IujTAy7XT6igmqBMvpHRmB4DbOoex2pIhXZrvSmus5qUVteyTQSkFX2lYdY7GcHtxRf3MO397L7-GLF0q21K/s1600/Julie2.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDZvi3IB0so1dNdSdnd71sr824DVB0MBsesUiQSYzr3hrAC-KICuUF5I3IujTAy7XT6igmqBMvpHRmB4DbOoex2pIhXZrvSmus5qUVteyTQSkFX2lYdY7GcHtxRf3MO397L7-GLF0q21K/s320/Julie2.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StitchinStash" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StitchinStash</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You can go and collect your kid that, three or four hours ago, you left on a bench outside The Cookie Shoppe.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWo8zACBvmBaQ9uhGAiReiXiLHdcWxUibGXMS7NrsQNxozLa2chFUjn2W6y0C8hKKvIV8n0vG_jrFwpzTXQiUSNMjMV58wP9lvYihTbQtvtdFrtqixYPmAxViIiHhDo4d9UaTOnxJFNEl/s1600/uncyclopedia.commons.WK.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWo8zACBvmBaQ9uhGAiReiXiLHdcWxUibGXMS7NrsQNxozLa2chFUjn2W6y0C8hKKvIV8n0vG_jrFwpzTXQiUSNMjMV58wP9lvYihTbQtvtdFrtqixYPmAxViIiHhDo4d9UaTOnxJFNEl/s320/uncyclopedia.commons.WK.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Killing-time-while-mom-shops-at-mall-kid-on-bench.jpg">http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Killing-time-while-mom-shops</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You can go and find your man.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4EQ1qAT-zvV495GFIVfbfzHv1p3BIa1SXk-TI9px8aAphdy4nhE1Gfs0TvOYwhIqdoaJryseH-w19AFXq1g1B4d-Yes1lamnEsNZh9hysCcoOB8tnXAQ8HFPHaVVEnAfq8zqHfjStKmRo/s1600/ntitov.FK.permission.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4EQ1qAT-zvV495GFIVfbfzHv1p3BIa1SXk-TI9px8aAphdy4nhE1Gfs0TvOYwhIqdoaJryseH-w19AFXq1g1B4d-Yes1lamnEsNZh9hysCcoOB8tnXAQ8HFPHaVVEnAfq8zqHfjStKmRo/s320/ntitov.FK.permission.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntitov/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntitov/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />If he's outside he may be quite cold by now. <br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjYkIxaIQFVHbruoxixuxLwtAp7vmFWbA9MR_QkM5jcYqSgdQ4xcq9hDKVJLA4HsJLghy9qBRbTVrJM8A9qdkEjnMSmfEk3u869CpvswCScviqwzwxwEdbLDQKEPkGHksdlXXwmti7KawJPkPSPRUGCEtt8_IcNS0pb1k_pl4WOZehppUJmPxYZl4XXQ=s2015" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2015" data-original-width="1918" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjYkIxaIQFVHbruoxixuxLwtAp7vmFWbA9MR_QkM5jcYqSgdQ4xcq9hDKVJLA4HsJLghy9qBRbTVrJM8A9qdkEjnMSmfEk3u869CpvswCScviqwzwxwEdbLDQKEPkGHksdlXXwmti7KawJPkPSPRUGCEtt8_IcNS0pb1k_pl4WOZehppUJmPxYZl4XXQ=s320" width="305" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Man im Schlitten</i>, Walter Gramatté<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And then you can gather all your stuff and get out of there.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgOuso_2hUE8m-WKzED1SOyuxnF_tpqY7NPWJ-AVcVOVz8ohjqgJVVqG14b-py8x4Qiwg5f8dQKdH5lfgcoi1bhk_Qf4BQqDl7arPrkqpj1LED8-Y7KPflFhG56VJHgYSyWrR3_XFFqtWZuUfIO_weENlfePwToQW8arwZrUm6aM9-NiCSM85PQyfE-no/s1000/DuaneHanson.shoppers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="1000" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgOuso_2hUE8m-WKzED1SOyuxnF_tpqY7NPWJ-AVcVOVz8ohjqgJVVqG14b-py8x4Qiwg5f8dQKdH5lfgcoi1bhk_Qf4BQqDl7arPrkqpj1LED8-Y7KPflFhG56VJHgYSyWrR3_XFFqtWZuUfIO_weENlfePwToQW8arwZrUm6aM9-NiCSM85PQyfE-no/s320/DuaneHanson.shoppers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Shoppers</i>, Duane Hanson</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">With a sense of relief, you can stand on a bench surrounded by bags.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UH-t5LS56rqMp-0E0jPbb7TgDxQnarYUTxz4xZcaYZccBOpj6bbURePTcJzu-tnpJxI2QTA6d35Eqwv4d-0G8Q49ZMxyZQ07tQ_dP5VLEnhYoApn5SIQLhltxIdybGD5Ed0vwqk-8uVe/s1600/RainCityGirl.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UH-t5LS56rqMp-0E0jPbb7TgDxQnarYUTxz4xZcaYZccBOpj6bbURePTcJzu-tnpJxI2QTA6d35Eqwv4d-0G8Q49ZMxyZQ07tQ_dP5VLEnhYoApn5SIQLhltxIdybGD5Ed0vwqk-8uVe/s320/RainCityGirl.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/47555374@N03">http://www.flickr.com/photos/47555374@N03/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or, like Innocent, you can sink down into your purchases with a sense of satisfaction.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdWg0lny7UoEXl2zjU8QX_l2q8kxD78lQBI88TjCTB-OYK0s1hFvkO5Zv8Byn7CE0w6KLe-eQ5rRH1zDXXPaO60q1lhYT7PaTsP_p_qLgrZUW_JCl46f8LgiyqTgmtJCq9kR35SYZwrEir/s1600/Innocent.B.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdWg0lny7UoEXl2zjU8QX_l2q8kxD78lQBI88TjCTB-OYK0s1hFvkO5Zv8Byn7CE0w6KLe-eQ5rRH1zDXXPaO60q1lhYT7PaTsP_p_qLgrZUW_JCl46f8LgiyqTgmtJCq9kR35SYZwrEir/s400/Innocent.B.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The control freaks among you can come home and arrange your shopping in alphabetical order.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjir9ZuriIQECsXNZwbnS-f_iTiwpMiMO0cPrKXKV2ccoShDiEAboDWn2e8MDopsCVA-AHX-sKuz6vkoYCcAFarbjLx_1U448R3e685dsrBwibVLL67C8bsoI9QlOVKqsx-Ldi9S33vsQ9S/s1600/B.shirts2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjir9ZuriIQECsXNZwbnS-f_iTiwpMiMO0cPrKXKV2ccoShDiEAboDWn2e8MDopsCVA-AHX-sKuz6vkoYCcAFarbjLx_1U448R3e685dsrBwibVLL67C8bsoI9QlOVKqsx-Ldi9S33vsQ9S/s320/B.shirts2.JPG" width="254" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hmmm. I can see that you are wondering if there is a way to avoid all this. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. There are two ways I can think of. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Like Miggy's mum, you can sit on a bench and make your own presents.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ-p2nyp3n6XI80ZDsB0G_2_DsyULPN5MJonCSECNSejSWwL0c2jUANzhQYc9QYgbtcuz63PZWpSaYTL0k1dTcPNVx1zfx89z4ysaBOsqj5s5NyYxa5sGSsHXvMnzC-ZLz53doDg1YLD5Z/s1600/Miggy's+mum1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ-p2nyp3n6XI80ZDsB0G_2_DsyULPN5MJonCSECNSejSWwL0c2jUANzhQYc9QYgbtcuz63PZWpSaYTL0k1dTcPNVx1zfx89z4ysaBOsqj5s5NyYxa5sGSsHXvMnzC-ZLz53doDg1YLD5Z/s320/Miggy's+mum1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You'd need to plan ahead though. Miggy's mum has been working on these woolly scarves since October. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>As I write this there are just 23 shopping days left before Christmas. Or 24 if you count going down to the corner shop on Christmas Eve and buying anything you can find. <br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The best bet is probably to stay in and order stuff online.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbs6IJXLpGEwXxWkz23Vv-5Tfc5K-tnj1473zZSKLxCytUOA3bnxa6s_3aZYgd2RBHgec97rymWQelbwYQOw67dCpG6-fXRIyJi1kKQs65iU1ptOM9iLh2F-zV7zyd3l7O2r2aWy4enEnb/s1600/Swoboda-shopping_in_harem_mid19th.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbs6IJXLpGEwXxWkz23Vv-5Tfc5K-tnj1473zZSKLxCytUOA3bnxa6s_3aZYgd2RBHgec97rymWQelbwYQOw67dCpG6-fXRIyJi1kKQs65iU1ptOM9iLh2F-zV7zyd3l7O2r2aWy4enEnb/s400/Swoboda-shopping_in_harem_mid19th.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swoboda-shopping_in_harem_mid19th.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swoboda-shopping_in_harem_mid19th.jpg</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Maybe that's the way to do it? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A harem of friends, wifi access, a hookah pipe, an unlimited credit card, and an elegant banquette where you can put up your feet while the stresses of Christmas roll by. What's not to like? </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b>The BENCH bench was photographed in Buchanan Street, Glasgow in 2008. The photographer is Steve Gore, who has a photostream full of all things Scotland. Scottish weddings, Armed Forces Day, stunning beaches, The Edinburgh Festival - it's all going on in Scotland. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mag379/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mag379/</a><b><br /></b></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Karina photographs Bunches and Bits, including the colourful bench and shopping bags at the top of this post. A stay-at-home-mom who isn't home very much, Karina lives in Pennsylvania. She loves Bench Mondays and there are glorious photos of Karina and her family doing all kinds of things on benches, chairs and brick walls. Like me, she is amazed by the talented, creative people who share their photos on Flickr. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Supermarket Shopper </i>is a sculpture from artist Duane Hanson in 1970. It was photographed by Rene Spitz in June 2011. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/renespitz/" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/renespitz/</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rene is based in Cologne and has an interest in design. As his photo sets show, he is addicted to taking pictures in museums and galleries, which is fortunate for me because I am stranded on Paradise Island and never get to see things for myself. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Duane Hanson created a number of lifesize, realistic shoppers, including a man on a bench with a paper bag. Ausstellung Hyper Real, Ludwig-Forum Aachen </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">13. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Primark Shoppers</i> is a photograph by Jan at The Caravan Gallery <a href="http://www.thecaravangallery.co.uk/">www.thecaravangallery.co.uk</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jan and her colleagues travel all around the UK and elsewhere finding, capturing, and exhibiting fascinating little slices of life. Caravan Gallery photos have</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> featured on Benchsite before and I have been lucky enough to visit the caravan. What a treat! </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Lady Jessica Brassica is the wife of Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly. She does indeed have her very own shopping mall in the basement of Drizzly Manor, from which she has unlimited credit and access to all manner of shoes, dresses, handbags, and Young Male Readers of various kinds. On more than one occasion she has been so exhausted by her shopping experiences that a doctor has had to revive her from her condition of Shopilius Extremis </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What's the best thing to buy someone like this for Christmas? Well, one year she was delighted with a throne.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3Sf_csYJceUbE02xbRYtGnzQl1MkQxU9p7TcytOSvwLfXOGUBclKLisR51Qt4jb8ZB4N1udJzBawZGyMv_uFywtdta21h91qk3A7fi7XsEvI9IhhDPP-DazuUg7L18pqYNsavBaS0Qg0/s1600/crown.throne.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3Sf_csYJceUbE02xbRYtGnzQl1MkQxU9p7TcytOSvwLfXOGUBclKLisR51Qt4jb8ZB4N1udJzBawZGyMv_uFywtdta21h91qk3A7fi7XsEvI9IhhDPP-DazuUg7L18pqYNsavBaS0Qg0/s320/crown.throne.JPG" width="237" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The yellow Patient Husband bench was photographed by Aga Slodownik in Porto Fino, Italy. Aga lives in Warsaw ans works as a Polish polisher; she says she does this work with German precision. Aga's photostream shows much interesting travel and she also has a thing for feet. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vajlentka/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vajlentka/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I only recently discovered Sign Fail and I'm really glad I did. Sign Fail are funny sign replicas inspired by real-life hilarity, the best of Chinglish & Engrish on handmade funny signs, cards & magnets. The signs are handmade to order in Melbourne, Australia by Michael Bancroft. Some of them seem too good to be true but I've picked out several which are just right for Benchsite. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Etienne Reijnder's Toosh-e is an ex-shopping trolley converted into a bench. It features as one of my Alphabet of Dutch Benches and comes in really handy here as a Christmas shopping trolley. Etienne Reijnder</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> describes himself as <i>'. . . a headstrong designer, who especially loves to walk the road of sidetracks and loves challenges. I believe in simple work. The design and material must fit in with the thought process, so don't make it prettier or uglier than it needs to be. I work very crisp, and pure.'</i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> His website is at <a href="http://etiennereijnders.com/">http://etiennereijnders.com</a></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The mens' nightie and other gifts for men is a 35mm slide of a display at Binns Department store at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1966. The photo is from the Robert Sanderson collection, available through the Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums on Flickr Creative Commons at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29295370@N07/6841096548/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/29295370@N07/6841096548/</a> The other shop photograph of Christmas decorations is Woolworths in Newcastle, taken in the same year and available through the same collection. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/twm_news/6987219153/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/twm_news/6987219153/</a></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Shop Until You Drop is graffiti by Banksy, photographed by POOP in January 2012. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shop_Until_You_Drop_by_Banksy.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shop_Until_You_Drop_by_Banksy.JPG</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Paula Picard creates funny magnets, wine labels, and greeting cards like <i>All I want for Christmas is everything</i>. My sentiments exactly. There are loads of funny ornaments and greeting cards for Christmas. Paula's shop is in Illinois at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/picardcreative">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/picardcreative</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The silly red dog jumper is 1980s from Stefano International Sportswear. It's sold by Joseph Murawski at Carnival of the Maniac, an intriguing shop full of vintage clothing, vintage paraphernalia, and conjurings. The shop is packed full of ugly Christmas jumpers and a guy who models them in a perfect deadpan way. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CarnivalOfTheManiac">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CarnivalOfTheManiac</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gettemfast has a lot of ugly, funny, cool, custom and geek tee-shirts at his etsy shop in Michigan. I particularly like the reindeer cotton crewneck, which comes in a variety of colours and costs £22.22. It's not the usual sweater you get from your granny. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FastTees">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FastTees</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dave Fiorante runs his Classy Whale Tees shop from Toronto. There are all kinds of joke tee shirts in a huge variety of colours. It should be possible to find one for just about anybody you know. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ClassyWhaleTees">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ClassyWhaleTees</a></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial";">The Next shop and metal benches are in the High Street in Exeter, where I once spent a summer. They were photographed by Graham Horn for Geograph in 2009.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-align: center;">©</span><a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/10124" style="font-family: Arial; text-align: center;">Graham Horn</a><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-align: center;"> and licensed for </span><a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/reuse.php?id=3607830" style="font-family: Arial; text-align: center;">reuse</a><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-align: center;"> under this </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" style="font-family: Arial; text-align: center;">Creative Commons license</a><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-align: center;"> I saw the photograph at</span><br /><span style="font-family: "arial";"> <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Exeter_High_Street_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1137809.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Exeter_High_Street_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1137809.jpg</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Choo Yut Shing lives in Singapore and has an eye for benches. There are lots of sleek, modern benches in public places, like the red plastic benches he photographed in 2009. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">City Girl Night Rain is a fine art print from </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Agata Lawrynczyk's Art Corner in Ottawa, Ontario. Agata does original paintings, multiple canvas, abstracts, and textured artwork. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AgatasArtCorner">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AgatasArtCorner</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The woman with the dog in the mall was photographed by Emiliano in 2007. No clues where this mall was, but it's in the euro zone. He also photographed the man reading a book on a bench in Liverpool. Emiliano is an actor and songwriter from Livorno in Italy. Livorno just happens to be an incredible Bench Place, frequently appearing in the excellent <a href="http://abunchofbenches.blogspot.co.uk/">Bunch of Benches</a>. Emiliano has photographed his share of benches too. You can see them at in his Flickr photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/loungerie/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/loungerie/</a></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two women with children were photographed in a palm tree mall in Bristol in 2008. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_MMB_V0_The_Mall.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_MMB_V0_The_Mall.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">DressyFlats specializes in greeting cards which are cheeky, sassy, un-PC, obnoxious, and adorably hip. They're made by Jessie in Brooklyn and available through her etsy shop at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dressyflats">www.etsy.com/shop/dressyflats</a>. <i>Please Don't Buy Me Anything Stupid This Year</i> is a 5x7 holiday card, laser printed on acid-free cardstock. The image is a digital collage made from vintage and contemporary magazine images, with hand lettering and cutting. Jessie will put a message of your choice inside the cards so you can use them for any occasion. </span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Terry Bell is from New Mexico and has some fantastic photos of the southwest, including a whole set of benches. He took the picture of the yellow bench Shop til your heart's content in the Las Placitas mall. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/t_w_b_50/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/t_w_b_50/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The little girl visiting Santa is Joan Wilson from St. Augustine in Florida. The photo is from the 1951 Department of Commerce Collection, made available through Creative Commons at the wonderful State Library and Archives of Florida <a href="http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/70682">http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/70682</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's Just Slate is a shop full of hand painted home decor, especially signs like the Shopping with your husband one. It's run by Jessica Beare in Virginia and features yard, door and walls signs which are handpainted on old roofing slates. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ItsJustSlate">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ItsJustSlate</a></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The man and woman bearing gifts are from the Netherlands National Archive in 1961. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/3117495287/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/3117495287/</a> The well-dressed woman shopper with gifts is from the archives 1950-1960 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998366@N02/3118323428/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998366@N02/3118323428/</a> Both are from the Spaarnestad Photo Collection at </span></div><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.spaarnestadphoto.nl/"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">www.spaarnestadphoto.nl/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Marji is the Rain City Girl from Seattle. The picture of bags and bench at the end of the story is called Been Shopping and comes from her set of Flickr Bench Monday photos. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/47555374@N03/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/47555374@N03/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Starting Lineup Tees are described as <i>attitude tee's that are sure to propel you to the starting lineup... or at least get you a few high fives on the way into the game</i>. I particularly like <i>I bust mine so I can kick yours</i>. There are sports tees galore, including bench ones. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StartingLineupTees">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StartingLineupTees</a></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>The Bench</i> was a play performed at the Delta Stage Theatre in Greenville, North Carolina in December 2010. Written by<b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>Larry Larson and Eddie Lee, it's a true modern tale of Christmas featuring the story of two men who meet on a bench at the mall while waiting for their wives to finish Christmas shopping. As the weeks progress, they get to know each other, along with all the other wacky characters who inhabit the mall. They enjoy mall-style entertainment on the nearby stage, including a version of <i>A Christmas Carol</i> performed in under 5 minutes. <i>The Bench</i> is apparently full of singing and dancing and is hilariously funny. It sounds like just the thing for getting into the Christmas spirit; I'm sorry I missed it. <a href="http://www.deltastage.com/index.shtml">http://www.deltastage.com/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Bench in a Shopping Centre</i> is a watercolour painting by Oliver Lovley in Nottingham. Oliver uses watercolours and coffee to create pretty, fluid landscapes of Nottinghamshire. I just know these men on the bench are lonely but however long they wait, they will not talk to each other. Oliver's etsy shop is at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/OliverLovleyArtwork">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/OliverLovleyArtwork</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The helpful shop assistant was photographed by Roberto Trm in 2011. He doesn't say where it is but Roberto is from Venice and is widely travelled. Guessing from his wonderful travel Sets, including lots of benches, I'd say Bali or Indonesia. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/massimo_riserbo/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/massimo_riserbo/</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Just Ard is a street photographer with lots of beautiful black and white photographs of unsuspecting subjects. He photographed the <i>N</i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>o more shopping please</i> bench in C</span><st1:city style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" w:st="on">ardiff</st1:city><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> in May 2014. It's part of a Yesterday in </span><st1:city style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" w:st="on">Cardiff</st1:city><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> series at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/justard/14190027311">https://www.flickr.com/photos/justard/14190027311</a> Justard's blog is at <a href="http://www.justard.com/">http://www.justard.com/</a> - well worth a look!</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">My Dutch is normally just about good enough to work these things out but I can't for the life of me find out who is the painter of <i>Entry of St. Nicholas into the Toy Shop</i> (<i>Intocht van St. Nicolaas</i>). It's a Dutch painting by either A.C. Callenfels of <st1:place w:st="on">Alkmaar</st1:place> or Gebr. Kluitman. The date, I think, is 1903. I saw it on WikiCommons at </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Intocht_van_St._Nicolaas_-_Speelgoedwinkel.jpg">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Intocht_van_St._Nicolaas_-_Speelgoedwinkel.jpg</a></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I would love absolutely anything from Julie's StitchinStash fabric studio in North Carolina. Stitchin' Stash offers the highest quality designer cotton fabrics from Michael Miller, Robert Kaufman, Riley Blake, Henry Glass, Studio e and more. There are colours galore, including the obligatory red, green and candycane stripe for Christmas. I just took a deep breath and chose the Holiday Hostess Fat Quarter Bundle to show in the story but if I had any of these, I'd be sewing forever. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StitchinStash">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StitchinStash</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Nikolay Titov took the photo of the two men sleeping on a bench in Taipei City, Taiwan, in 2011. He calls it Exhausting Shopping, which makes sense.</span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntitov/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntitov/</a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Killing time while Mom shops at the mall kid on bench</i> is from the Fair Use policy of Uncyclopedia at <a href="http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Killing-time-while-mom-shops-at-mall-kid-on-bench.jpg">http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Killing-time-while-mom-shops-at-mall-kid-on-bench.jpg</a> I am extraordinarily patient in tracking down the original source of images where possible but sometimes, as in this case, you just have to accept that the photograph is Out There. Having said that, I am always pleased to add a credit to the rightful owner if they want to get in touch. </span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Shopping in the Harem</i> is by Austrian painter Rudolf Swoboda, 1859-1914. The date of the painting is unknown. Swoboda was one of Queen Victoria's favourite Orientalist painters and she sent him to India to paint scenes from her empire. His Indian paintings now hang at Osborne House, Queen Victoria's summer cabin on the Isle of Wight. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swoboda-shopping_in_harem_mid19th.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swoboda-shopping_in_harem_mid19th.jpg</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I wouldn't want you to get the idea that I am in any way sponsored by Bench dot or any other company. Far from it. These are my very own purchases from the Bench dot outlet store. None of them fit me and they are all the wrong colours but never mind, they bear the Bench message and that's what's important. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkDlIGFUE9e4yFlKw83Z7TWR_EZvkz6Qphquka7FLFY7OEK2iVA49tveR8cFDaXNSg6TyfX-GTdGAW8oEcf0pcl8BVj2EgaoVUriuvwZxXzeXssQgIDcj06BWn84kRV-6w26Dq-2AzlHM-/s1600/B.bag.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkDlIGFUE9e4yFlKw83Z7TWR_EZvkz6Qphquka7FLFY7OEK2iVA49tveR8cFDaXNSg6TyfX-GTdGAW8oEcf0pcl8BVj2EgaoVUriuvwZxXzeXssQgIDcj06BWn84kRV-6w26Dq-2AzlHM-/s320/B.bag.JPG" width="285" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-15872865544509846422023-11-05T08:33:00.000-08:002023-12-01T12:39:03.782-08:00Thanksgiving Benches for 2023<p> My friend Troy is here for Thanksgiving. He's a pilgrim from Dry Heaves, Minnesota. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXECDD5TIUbLUlA-IbWczmwUI2-IXM_TXmVd0AEQjUBBix89Yl-mxrRjm6pWZctapCxryFpCBy2aw5QInXCUTYgF7i69htPWN6Tj6U3erGekp0BLBsJc3YZp4v67EafuLuif4CyZrdwKaA/s1600/pilgrimstanding.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1412" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXECDD5TIUbLUlA-IbWczmwUI2-IXM_TXmVd0AEQjUBBix89Yl-mxrRjm6pWZctapCxryFpCBy2aw5QInXCUTYgF7i69htPWN6Tj6U3erGekp0BLBsJc3YZp4v67EafuLuif4CyZrdwKaA/s320/pilgrimstanding.JPG" /></a></div><br /> <div>It's nearly Thanksgiving and we're here to talk Turkey.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipgROTXb7ekRtttw4r1oCNhyphenhyphenQk0fmFNQKSA-evTOmTRlkTZlKPekZ9vH_hHzKPJKl4yKUXLNMDAd7CWs1YnWAE4IwiZNwL7q9M0Y3upi1A3oXPcpLOh8kNeiWdInREAYPlku-NVoBp1tuo/s1600/docksidepress.matt.stangis.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipgROTXb7ekRtttw4r1oCNhyphenhyphenQk0fmFNQKSA-evTOmTRlkTZlKPekZ9vH_hHzKPJKl4yKUXLNMDAd7CWs1YnWAE4IwiZNwL7q9M0Y3upi1A3oXPcpLOh8kNeiWdInREAYPlku-NVoBp1tuo/s1600/docksidepress.matt.stangis.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/docksidepress/2982841359">https://www.flickr.com/photos/docksidepress/2982841359</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I don't mean that kind of turkey though. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I mean this kind: the one on the Bosphorus, where Europe meets Asia.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkemWpHSJ3Mpcwa_lmOzOuNjUKs_wN-l0jiEhQvKYIip7bKzbvkTsZYUKNDKckSjlulmZZllY-CLJ9q_l6yGpcslqNzzNUL3xaGc4NF5bMVwtAT6ksIQeMy1JeS7pRa_n1hyHdjwQoizsb/s1600/loriZ.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkemWpHSJ3Mpcwa_lmOzOuNjUKs_wN-l0jiEhQvKYIip7bKzbvkTsZYUKNDKckSjlulmZZllY-CLJ9q_l6yGpcslqNzzNUL3xaGc4NF5bMVwtAT6ksIQeMy1JeS7pRa_n1hyHdjwQoizsb/s1600/loriZ.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorix/7962364616">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorix/7962364616</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm thinking mosques . . . </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDnoISwQ3daVnNaV3K6q5kxeGy-GXnnTChgrLmOejWhKJrveX97gqqB1CGWu6woaaNSUl648CLZddCabUhKqN2HEGJtg14N4PF1EefP_2vykOIVkK1Gu3iA2c7NE5Jo6EhtF3NQv5sa1IL/s1600/jenny.FKCC+(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDnoISwQ3daVnNaV3K6q5kxeGy-GXnnTChgrLmOejWhKJrveX97gqqB1CGWu6woaaNSUl648CLZddCabUhKqN2HEGJtg14N4PF1EefP_2vykOIVkK1Gu3iA2c7NE5Jo6EhtF3NQv5sa1IL/s1600/jenny.FKCC+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8714491@N05/14405449628">https://www.flickr.com/photos/8714491@N05/14405449628</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and carpets . . .</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDnFnWUGFRs-0YntHOPVDmagyEK3JphE9tFSK1pwi152SJXJiyr6k9MQ_MbCE1TDfAN4rK7gM3t5ZgWoU7St9riX6Fuvee6ABt438yGapAPOkg3jHQtEHamoG1OpfHOhrsy7hKuSFMAUN/s1600/JayBazaar.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDnFnWUGFRs-0YntHOPVDmagyEK3JphE9tFSK1pwi152SJXJiyr6k9MQ_MbCE1TDfAN4rK7gM3t5ZgWoU7St9riX6Fuvee6ABt438yGapAPOkg3jHQtEHamoG1OpfHOhrsy7hKuSFMAUN/s1600/JayBazaar.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/JayBazaar">www.etsy.com/shop/JayBazaar</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />and cats on benches.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmG8g0PKmXjjA0PGp8XvnvhsMk1fj-aaV2WjarK8QpzR8M8a5KPbAfUJb7d7vebKOSKMnlW3kVW7-4c_nLlTZWHA3X7drFlYrdmF8niyJXrvCXEwJ6W3n5Kea1B_urp2Crs9pHLUmyp5ioJKER5cgDQyAimmxTGQAVSqizx-FatRKlkrsDV8u0_MbXP_2/s596/FB_IMG_1701462645999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmG8g0PKmXjjA0PGp8XvnvhsMk1fj-aaV2WjarK8QpzR8M8a5KPbAfUJb7d7vebKOSKMnlW3kVW7-4c_nLlTZWHA3X7drFlYrdmF8niyJXrvCXEwJ6W3n5Kea1B_urp2Crs9pHLUmyp5ioJKER5cgDQyAimmxTGQAVSqizx-FatRKlkrsDV8u0_MbXP_2/s320/FB_IMG_1701462645999.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marmaris, Turkey</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>And grand bazaars.</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3m-G3z6YjIRnL7JwLUHuYiRAychEbdzBpIi5IkMva0aQRHI5x7HBN4IyN5AmXssO0qlfAoD6jkmHtSfRcs2iXXwswQuuh3HeheGLzQdliZaARtRNMTpkQCqieGm6ZrughIb6_bZkPA9DV/s1600/David.Casteel.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3m-G3z6YjIRnL7JwLUHuYiRAychEbdzBpIi5IkMva0aQRHI5x7HBN4IyN5AmXssO0qlfAoD6jkmHtSfRcs2iXXwswQuuh3HeheGLzQdliZaARtRNMTpkQCqieGm6ZrughIb6_bZkPA9DV/s1600/David.Casteel.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8712554@N02/873341385">https://www.flickr.com/photos/8712554@N02/873341385</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Ma'm I was expecting another kind of turkey.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Well, I wondered. I see you're wearing your pilgrim gear. </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Yes, Ma'm. It's Thanksgiving time in Canada, and in the good old US of A. We're plumping up the turkeys . . . </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtw4YRnBLbsmp-o0GM6Alnlm-E_KvlSmCWyclT49bMc7xg7IKC3fs4nmOLwGzmv5ftnEwC2650uo3PWx97cSEYQThTgFTkvMy88Gm3P9tH8NggzXkKDv28Erh39zxHVyKfsBqD-YVQLymb/s1600/pinke.FKCC.check.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtw4YRnBLbsmp-o0GM6Alnlm-E_KvlSmCWyclT49bMc7xg7IKC3fs4nmOLwGzmv5ftnEwC2650uo3PWx97cSEYQThTgFTkvMy88Gm3P9tH8NggzXkKDv28Erh39zxHVyKfsBqD-YVQLymb/s1600/pinke.FKCC.check.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8113246@N02/8203258965">https://www.flickr.com/photos/8113246@N02/8203258965</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">. . . and sharpening the shears. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Do you normally use shears to carve a turkey?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">No, Ma'm. Where I come from we use a sabre.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1cVnMYan5ZA0EYn87P4gUrrnmFUGYtOAvd7zZCnbvxr79HKakag4a5V6pzSLdyiRCYlKTg-S9DLAn2Fsjyk2DtwuNtu7ER32ApJS_jWIgw5RoQBt2pMe2VSjDl8YRGIW3eWctZvrv6So/s1600/pascal.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1cVnMYan5ZA0EYn87P4gUrrnmFUGYtOAvd7zZCnbvxr79HKakag4a5V6pzSLdyiRCYlKTg-S9DLAn2Fsjyk2DtwuNtu7ER32ApJS_jWIgw5RoQBt2pMe2VSjDl8YRGIW3eWctZvrv6So/s1600/pascal.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5631501667">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5631501667</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's just weird. And anyway, I don't eat turkey. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">To me, Thanksgiving is all about pumpkin pie benches.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDZxoVRMDizhnF8kYJgxtCTV4tNUHh1O-mw0heEJwXWEzmLIF3_p2VYeufRy1HFL-FZEBueZAwHHU5MxdpUXa9luhRm2ge_2WI__5TLRzn05jYE3nHRWMlJgScAhU3fwQUcbXmh9E_xRY/s1600/253065157_082694cff2_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDZxoVRMDizhnF8kYJgxtCTV4tNUHh1O-mw0heEJwXWEzmLIF3_p2VYeufRy1HFL-FZEBueZAwHHU5MxdpUXa9luhRm2ge_2WI__5TLRzn05jYE3nHRWMlJgScAhU3fwQUcbXmh9E_xRY/s1600/253065157_082694cff2_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/78208664@N00/253065157">https://www.flickr.com/photos/78208664@N00/253065157</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or as they'd say in Turkey, <i>kabak pasta banklar.</i></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But before we go any further, I'd like to clarify a misunderstanding about Turkey. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Yes, I agree. The little fellow in the picture above is not a turkey; it's a dog dressed as a turkey.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Thanks, but that isn't what I mean.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">No, thank <i>you</i>! I'm honoured to be here, Ma'm. I come from Dry Heaves, Minnesota, which is a modest little place and I am grateful every day for the opportunities I've had.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Thanks, Troy, but . . . </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Thanksgiving is all about gratitude and I've got a heart full of gratitude.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXZOgmT4OZQAicuFA4kRfUmXD44FzGTjCI98_rA9kHj9OVlPrMmFQRaWBfZxh1MGhww6W1iowxJkRL798Tcb058xvdyR6AG5d3s6p4MyLvn8MVbt2u_fZmeVo6DzsbXbGfsjn8duN2DCYd/s1600/AGA-Mum.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXZOgmT4OZQAicuFA4kRfUmXD44FzGTjCI98_rA9kHj9OVlPrMmFQRaWBfZxh1MGhww6W1iowxJkRL798Tcb058xvdyR6AG5d3s6p4MyLvn8MVbt2u_fZmeVo6DzsbXbGfsjn8duN2DCYd/s1600/AGA-Mum.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aga_mum/4706711759" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/aga_mum/4706711759</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm sure you have but . . . </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">I'd like to thank a few people. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">First, I'd like to thank my mom for having me.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmA6Qmg8_897LDUfpbaYikBPDKSXoXP73Mmxx4W-Xrdx5vD1Sr0yvImTzOFZxAWSDhj1-sDZRIuDjERavIsitI-kWuW6w4FWXvTt03FFCvMvjMrh5fHAn9_P3X_msWHMCw0GueRZnG4q62/s1600/rakuten.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmA6Qmg8_897LDUfpbaYikBPDKSXoXP73Mmxx4W-Xrdx5vD1Sr0yvImTzOFZxAWSDhj1-sDZRIuDjERavIsitI-kWuW6w4FWXvTt03FFCvMvjMrh5fHAn9_P3X_msWHMCw0GueRZnG4q62/s1600/rakuten.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.rakuten.co.jp/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">http://www.rakuten.co.jp/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><br /></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">And thanks, Mom, for teaching me to please say please. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">And thank you.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDx3gyuCxhzp8nOegJdyKj5MvdbKV_x_NMi6hibQl6HwpzQcAivnPdnndprAfasQrMIwBiTQEVjx2GYkuIdQ0FbeLG7Vmtlh2tfGlHCvpMg6qTDM5CWLwmmwEWA08Z0Xf2K8SFbgKAiqs/s1600/pleasegreen.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDx3gyuCxhzp8nOegJdyKj5MvdbKV_x_NMi6hibQl6HwpzQcAivnPdnndprAfasQrMIwBiTQEVjx2GYkuIdQ0FbeLG7Vmtlh2tfGlHCvpMg6qTDM5CWLwmmwEWA08Z0Xf2K8SFbgKAiqs/s1600/pleasegreen.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">My mom is of German ancestry. All through my life she's been a brick.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiln9wa66KKtyFzhpxCbJkrU6yA01VJ1AM9Ng_KQfP1KNpNf2ElnxnxL8PlMhRgEsrMb3PMPrZzj6RF5cCY5vj1ZtKwogkuR3K-asGbNJ-vqfcX4alcqIogWHSArwpf9eXlEL5na6v3OI0v/s1600/14517152083_57e5ef98e0_z+(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiln9wa66KKtyFzhpxCbJkrU6yA01VJ1AM9Ng_KQfP1KNpNf2ElnxnxL8PlMhRgEsrMb3PMPrZzj6RF5cCY5vj1ZtKwogkuR3K-asGbNJ-vqfcX4alcqIogWHSArwpf9eXlEL5na6v3OI0v/s1600/14517152083_57e5ef98e0_z+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/frnetz/14517152083/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/frnetz/14517152083/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's all very well, Troy, but . . . </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">My Mexican friends Drida and Friego have also been brilliant. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxpz4c5P2nx6GlMgnXhBWRf7c7CEh6sCQaq1eO8pC6mdfabWnJF5xZpWv63w3xZoYNnHN2Wgr6S1nDedOXBccz9TRscSsJ36011LuarGStoONy4hXcZCoblbWJCs_jq2CVfvWe9jXtCRnA/s1600/mexican+troy.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxpz4c5P2nx6GlMgnXhBWRf7c7CEh6sCQaq1eO8pC6mdfabWnJF5xZpWv63w3xZoYNnHN2Wgr6S1nDedOXBccz9TRscSsJ36011LuarGStoONy4hXcZCoblbWJCs_jq2CVfvWe9jXtCRnA/s1600/mexican+troy.JPG" width="238" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Thanks, guys. Or as we'd say in DF . . . </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNbUlhUB91qfCpTuUpvY4UEBg7lgQXzmwOFfx4re-UNJbLQORr6uchgt-dEnRCpjcWZCcddIDe0RLKfTQp426InOBDNOPHDtPoDa2Fqo7RKxiCo0DpXe5wX6slE3KHpSc4R-UK7gDNdPN/s1600/ellohir.FKCC+(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNbUlhUB91qfCpTuUpvY4UEBg7lgQXzmwOFfx4re-UNJbLQORr6uchgt-dEnRCpjcWZCcddIDe0RLKfTQp426InOBDNOPHDtPoDa2Fqo7RKxiCo0DpXe5wX6slE3KHpSc4R-UK7gDNdPN/s1600/ellohir.FKCC+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellohir/2074602394" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellohir/2074602394</span></a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">I'd also like to thank the good ladies of Ballyfrumpy in County Offhand in Ireland. They crocheted this excellent sweater for me.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXMxiemLgsOPlpqP5dI5TdPekB0yLHpR6vvzWGhsDuaIZ8oKK3CwGpxqmvtP4AGQuIMakmAraEM6WTLZ_TrsAOeDegowtR_W0oiLnJgTHDYC5ITCPS2eQqS4E1kWHNwMNmtIMfKKO1aCg/s1600/troy.sweater1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXMxiemLgsOPlpqP5dI5TdPekB0yLHpR6vvzWGhsDuaIZ8oKK3CwGpxqmvtP4AGQuIMakmAraEM6WTLZ_TrsAOeDegowtR_W0oiLnJgTHDYC5ITCPS2eQqS4E1kWHNwMNmtIMfKKO1aCg/s1600/troy.sweater1.JPG" width="249" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And this sweater as well. And the hat to go with it. And the gloves. And the scarf.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5hrbiHHE1gVBgAEUfnN67W_AGPQw1AKyAYlRNpKMc0AdZ1gWYKaxHVqbXoCuQMdYxHv0Tw2-qB5PW_I2HarM5e1MANVVFYYY4aoGTjtpDcEAfq6XYjY5lmnO0lL9dpddTDYiNPXBO2POq/s1600/troy.aw2014best.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5hrbiHHE1gVBgAEUfnN67W_AGPQw1AKyAYlRNpKMc0AdZ1gWYKaxHVqbXoCuQMdYxHv0Tw2-qB5PW_I2HarM5e1MANVVFYYY4aoGTjtpDcEAfq6XYjY5lmnO0lL9dpddTDYiNPXBO2POq/s1600/troy.aw2014best.JPG" width="223" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">I am truly blessed.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgPDmH4nL3Gt83A6NP2ek_Cj97AKK0VhUZykK9T2aKqPaNRPscCFlit_8p-DtlqBN6IsjFCcK4QgEgaLBUcutRCpbxBu6hF9D579nB-DUGFmdXQCdd4k2KjDGliRekuh_2rcmyBlnpNyVS/s1600/Pattisfunnyfarm.Etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgPDmH4nL3Gt83A6NP2ek_Cj97AKK0VhUZykK9T2aKqPaNRPscCFlit_8p-DtlqBN6IsjFCcK4QgEgaLBUcutRCpbxBu6hF9D579nB-DUGFmdXQCdd4k2KjDGliRekuh_2rcmyBlnpNyVS/s1600/Pattisfunnyfarm.Etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/PattisFunnyFarm">www.etsy.com/shop/PattisFunnyFarm</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">And a special thank you to Lady Jess.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiju2Op7p-z8ky6RGIxJeDkJqMB1NGPXBbEsVga0_V2d4t_tXOdx6b_idrKnBtM2Vve5jcW6XPuVlOBdbXWwx9mTVOqqvrTRDqR7c8TcfmmZf_X0vue56ZWzbKvql-4d1Z0IfgVDix_qtke/s1600/Lie.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiju2Op7p-z8ky6RGIxJeDkJqMB1NGPXBbEsVga0_V2d4t_tXOdx6b_idrKnBtM2Vve5jcW6XPuVlOBdbXWwx9mTVOqqvrTRDqR7c8TcfmmZf_X0vue56ZWzbKvql-4d1Z0IfgVDix_qtke/s1600/Lie.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8458761@N08/5292809230">https://www.flickr.com/photos/8458761@N08/5292809230</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Ever since I've been on Paradise Island she has made me feel at home.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPjFBsK-DPw7WtL7jLMv_CrA1H2jQw4f-S7d2H7kQYaxoH8qqmS5dp7exyFeKBZ7TCzDLwcMINURuIKyvg2K_bQoY5w0obv_4qxk6inNwOPFNJiWqkOsm_HeWeuaj3yjtlqVmQmSUQQ6j3/s1600/4Julydress.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPjFBsK-DPw7WtL7jLMv_CrA1H2jQw4f-S7d2H7kQYaxoH8qqmS5dp7exyFeKBZ7TCzDLwcMINURuIKyvg2K_bQoY5w0obv_4qxk6inNwOPFNJiWqkOsm_HeWeuaj3yjtlqVmQmSUQQ6j3/s1600/4Julydress.JPG" width="247" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">We really enjoyed Lying Together.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmgD3FdURZRgIWafXd8BE4pFk8cUxoNW2BF4Wuwu0lnP3ABgHUdktxTSjEQ0mvcH9fDeDHFydYj-4K5NuhINP60q5meu2AHN7g9IhM09VC1gHZmWUmBDj7RrduFF67tDYB1InyreB3zn4/s1600/lying+together.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmgD3FdURZRgIWafXd8BE4pFk8cUxoNW2BF4Wuwu0lnP3ABgHUdktxTSjEQ0mvcH9fDeDHFydYj-4K5NuhINP60q5meu2AHN7g9IhM09VC1gHZmWUmBDj7RrduFF67tDYB1InyreB3zn4/s1600/lying+together.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, well, the less said about that the better I think. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">Anyway, Lord and Lady Brassica are on their private island in the Caribbean. Who wants to share an island when you-know-what is still going around? </span></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ80zU9maAqYnqZwVJPumPAdYDKNZkh0lm9upv2XY9FQILuhAfxdPvzljARIPwBVlj_TW-Ak7D4T89STTz23Rr5HjjM-t1Za7TYoFG8qagjG-LyV_E7W__7oa2vuYGPLduuCg-fX9KyI-G/s1600/PhotoFunia-1584615430.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1200" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ80zU9maAqYnqZwVJPumPAdYDKNZkh0lm9upv2XY9FQILuhAfxdPvzljARIPwBVlj_TW-Ak7D4T89STTz23Rr5HjjM-t1Za7TYoFG8qagjG-LyV_E7W__7oa2vuYGPLduuCg-fX9KyI-G/s400/PhotoFunia-1584615430.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 12.8px; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html</a></u></span></div></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">Just remember three years ago. There was no sport.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXafLHShx-gJp7z4edrA-ouziXgHYWyNI59FdWaLFplZaxuSDmKQTg1JRJgmHRZuXnZNC0RGbW4wNLnAZakupbyQlSArF_ihTu5hZx_J4uDUEWlzlXIyK07IwpxBVaNVjkRSaToMEJJvt/s1600/PhotoFunia-1584614972.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="700" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXafLHShx-gJp7z4edrA-ouziXgHYWyNI59FdWaLFplZaxuSDmKQTg1JRJgmHRZuXnZNC0RGbW4wNLnAZakupbyQlSArF_ihTu5hZx_J4uDUEWlzlXIyK07IwpxBVaNVjkRSaToMEJJvt/s320/PhotoFunia-1584614972.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><div class="western" style="line-height: 12.8px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: blue;"> <u> http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/miggys-good-sport-benches.html</u></span></div></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">No flights.</span></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXc-G7z43Vd_-xQUapKFG2spGqG1TS6wx_cU9osj-S5ViyokNNz7wUpcmeLwctDKFb2ttpjRwEnjUI5EGtRtUyl25l-umV6xb6KuYUaiegcC1CazJRhiMeKwBOmuTZYhcnLcfzmUogQfCm/s1600/PhotoFunia-1584615070.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="750" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXc-G7z43Vd_-xQUapKFG2spGqG1TS6wx_cU9osj-S5ViyokNNz7wUpcmeLwctDKFb2ttpjRwEnjUI5EGtRtUyl25l-umV6xb6KuYUaiegcC1CazJRhiMeKwBOmuTZYhcnLcfzmUogQfCm/s320/PhotoFunia-1584615070.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />No libraries.</span></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwTPX5Bq2P7cv_-4SPyQvQg-UMOGf_NWzTLi2pFduXdZBPGgwTR94LJZR118t23tBlCz2ePyDGljaVBtgZJY1G6bRmI2n4IuOkKYEAhtEEohUeOcRDTtYnFHCvAf-J2s2HgpJP6LRkFkCj/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569955726.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="720" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwTPX5Bq2P7cv_-4SPyQvQg-UMOGf_NWzTLi2pFduXdZBPGgwTR94LJZR118t23tBlCz2ePyDGljaVBtgZJY1G6bRmI2n4IuOkKYEAhtEEohUeOcRDTtYnFHCvAf-J2s2HgpJP6LRkFkCj/s320/PhotoFunia-1569955726.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><div class="western" style="break-before: page; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2020/03/novel-benches-for-world-book-day-2020.html">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2020/03/novel-benches-for-world-book-day-2020.html</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">No galleries.</span><br /><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbBrShS6lxwKmED5c_ERNDa96TJJZDW38PuuKg_l7V-lNEyGdvx06ORLrSCHKzmp85L-gZAWEteH_GfxqCIZHuBc9Mj8k0WddspGD57jslZdUsnbThQhEHyzy5odIaNZp_YIMOq-GvvqV/s1600/PhotoFunia-1584616197.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="750" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbBrShS6lxwKmED5c_ERNDa96TJJZDW38PuuKg_l7V-lNEyGdvx06ORLrSCHKzmp85L-gZAWEteH_GfxqCIZHuBc9Mj8k0WddspGD57jslZdUsnbThQhEHyzy5odIaNZp_YIMOq-GvvqV/s320/PhotoFunia-1584616197.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">Luckily, we still had benches. And Thanksgiving of course.</span></div></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">And I certainly do give thanks, Ma'm. Lady Jess and I met through Young Male Readers dot com. Her husband Lord Brassica sent me this bench with a very special message. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ckVATd53ReKU4rTeiNGQLDXBR2H8KoXc0m23xGAKAH3srrccsCWadks7zGRserfSrF7eLPblZAokF_GJIAGBtBZ-PylJkkLnjaK9OT2pPCfDYgdeN4O8T0w_1Ecr7sR1JEEK6u8JO-_x/s1600/dragon+dream+888.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ckVATd53ReKU4rTeiNGQLDXBR2H8KoXc0m23xGAKAH3srrccsCWadks7zGRserfSrF7eLPblZAokF_GJIAGBtBZ-PylJkkLnjaK9OT2pPCfDYgdeN4O8T0w_1Ecr7sR1JEEK6u8JO-_x/s1600/dragon+dream+888.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52807531@N00/4183863804">https://www.flickr.com/photos/52807531@N00/4183863804</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e69138;">I'm not entirely sure what it means but I certainly am grateful for it. </span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Troy, if you've finished thanking people . . . </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">And I'd also like to say thank you to people who put up benches in parks saying thank you. Because parks bring me great joy.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9k-88NQPB7YMN55DqAyjND_8MiP126Zvt0iQwkxzbgUhRyIb1OgzON-KwDfA0WNZGsl0FYT679ZI_WlpD7Zc2PGexLDMtcEDV8Qw9ZQJIHr5t8QOUsGFEfZs9BTL2fxxSqz1B5B660Jb/s1600/michael.kazanorwicz.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9k-88NQPB7YMN55DqAyjND_8MiP126Zvt0iQwkxzbgUhRyIb1OgzON-KwDfA0WNZGsl0FYT679ZI_WlpD7Zc2PGexLDMtcEDV8Qw9ZQJIHr5t8QOUsGFEfZs9BTL2fxxSqz1B5B660Jb/s1600/michael.kazanorwicz.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/encee/5015846088">https://www.flickr.com/photos/encee/5015846088</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I am going to stop you right there, Troy. I want to show some benches in Turkey and you are gobbling up this whole blog. I want to talk turkey.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">I thought we <i>were</i> talking turkey. As in Indian Bird. As in Peruvian Bird or French Bird. Or even Dutch chicken. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, I mean the other Turkey. As in Constantinople, the Queen of Cities, where east meets west. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUb7m_Yi2vIZdhPgj0Bld-YUUXpW2M9cxiWcKTBayoJIJbWrUgeDU3V3c-rkeipP0C7vawSZ-H3x6nqRBqBj94h67WFb_5K2mN2VVxCOYlm7zVzlLvrFU_M1Fq4oCFEALCGE5PyAbdhq5/s1600/ryanaward.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUb7m_Yi2vIZdhPgj0Bld-YUUXpW2M9cxiWcKTBayoJIJbWrUgeDU3V3c-rkeipP0C7vawSZ-H3x6nqRBqBj94h67WFb_5K2mN2VVxCOYlm7zVzlLvrFU_M1Fq4oCFEALCGE5PyAbdhq5/s1600/ryanaward.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanaward/6124826130">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanaward/6124826130</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">That's a very poetic turn of phrase you've got there, Ma'm, if you don't mind me saying.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Thank you, Troy. I'd forgotten you're a poet. Istanbul is full of poetry benches, like this one at Heybeliada on the Sea of Marmara.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpmf5T8o6bjoNZUi8WdzKpgfO4xM3dx56_j4u1QrPUIDQzRH5WI8J4k6Ue-_BNcy-PiPaUvdkJs-448ekL3zMf8DgYbuJg_Npfz652IhsEu8ydtKZKtpPyl3_RgjWMO0zW7uazSkLeNBwG/s1600/williamaveryhudson.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpmf5T8o6bjoNZUi8WdzKpgfO4xM3dx56_j4u1QrPUIDQzRH5WI8J4k6Ue-_BNcy-PiPaUvdkJs-448ekL3zMf8DgYbuJg_Npfz652IhsEu8ydtKZKtpPyl3_RgjWMO0zW7uazSkLeNBwG/s1600/williamaveryhudson.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/williamaveryhudson/2823734944">https://www.flickr.com/photos/williamaveryhudson/2823734944</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In fact, there is a whole park of open books.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTufQo0bCTHBc3Uzhb7uhnjwZBfbYCcZHd4aYR7a31JCt5H0OH6FH8Y4L5c2penJtmOk5X8Qfe7Wejq4B3ON5Phk5x2GVTuur2Dub7aYAfJE-8KAUwg5qPkkvIHeXply8jSNBBZX8Jr9E/s1600/Matthias.Buehler.FKCC+(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTufQo0bCTHBc3Uzhb7uhnjwZBfbYCcZHd4aYR7a31JCt5H0OH6FH8Y4L5c2penJtmOk5X8Qfe7Wejq4B3ON5Phk5x2GVTuur2Dub7aYAfJE-8KAUwg5qPkkvIHeXply8jSNBBZX8Jr9E/s1600/Matthias.Buehler.FKCC+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kakadu/14524464399">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kakadu/14524464399</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">I'd like to sit in the sun on one of those benches and read some poetry. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's what this cat is doing. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfNMVKzWyJZYYk5MwvTViA1Efi6dpgSY_c31ycI_oQa0GSvDbrC0fCIvt0JbhODn2l6khZIfqes5vAfouiuCp3WNWbyjgS1Z0F_dYuNlrhNzIjULxA2c1fnXTFSmHrH410bpaQWElUzrB/s1600/jenny.FKCC+(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfNMVKzWyJZYYk5MwvTViA1Efi6dpgSY_c31ycI_oQa0GSvDbrC0fCIvt0JbhODn2l6khZIfqes5vAfouiuCp3WNWbyjgS1Z0F_dYuNlrhNzIjULxA2c1fnXTFSmHrH410bpaQWElUzrB/s1600/jenny.FKCC+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybrooks/15361037117">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybrooks/15361037117</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">There are a lot of cats on benches in Istanbul.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBddvd9OjUWwv7mNafh5fHOVY9wF08FrZiR1haGqe7msarE9Rzl8R8ZmA-oAcp8IdgBdfZXRLdp6X2lw4jFuUBneVxgWbL-Eet29QAVy2v5rcejQBNsEBMXWIWbgjGEaoX4b_oYZKvBDWEgiq4C5JbUNT1ZASIHiSd4qXV9RhYwf2HVkAk0KoiUtE_A/s750/FB_IMG_1677925673973.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="750" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBddvd9OjUWwv7mNafh5fHOVY9wF08FrZiR1haGqe7msarE9Rzl8R8ZmA-oAcp8IdgBdfZXRLdp6X2lw4jFuUBneVxgWbL-Eet29QAVy2v5rcejQBNsEBMXWIWbgjGEaoX4b_oYZKvBDWEgiq4C5JbUNT1ZASIHiSd4qXV9RhYwf2HVkAk0KoiUtE_A/w400-h190/FB_IMG_1677925673973.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timboli, the Istanbul Station cat</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">And then you can visit the Blue Mosque, which isn't quite this blue.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfp9eLoTvYk86TBo86XzPl2_c3oOYmtdL9jNOP-VYnTvmoXPKUrbNsBTaerF7DnFqZQ1U7A21xA4hWmzkQzKLYf7YQjuzYzzf8_OM2thkGgpotYknq147IhxAV0G_HBCaDZKtponwXSrab/s1600/blue.mosque.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfp9eLoTvYk86TBo86XzPl2_c3oOYmtdL9jNOP-VYnTvmoXPKUrbNsBTaerF7DnFqZQ1U7A21xA4hWmzkQzKLYf7YQjuzYzzf8_OM2thkGgpotYknq147IhxAV0G_HBCaDZKtponwXSrab/s320/blue.mosque.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Ma'm, Istanbul is awesome.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. The words <i>Turkish</i> and <i>Delight</i> come to mind.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDzLZV5OEgQWhwDe9rkT2rNg-2qnWTIME4D-28oxYNh8mtCz66ksLlIXxbscZn3WWdBLGQnNdZUT8HDnqaq-Wav69l40efbtd2iSQv1WDbWygOaheSSgqYqTZ2J4VYGKgSUHRtwzFGyPC/s1600/colinwarren.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDzLZV5OEgQWhwDe9rkT2rNg-2qnWTIME4D-28oxYNh8mtCz66ksLlIXxbscZn3WWdBLGQnNdZUT8HDnqaq-Wav69l40efbtd2iSQv1WDbWygOaheSSgqYqTZ2J4VYGKgSUHRtwzFGyPC/s1600/colinwarren.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinwarren/11865470526"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinwarren/11865470526</span></a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Couldn't you just sink into a pretty bench like this and sip your Turkish coffee?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdjcumbJVFYNkES0iit4xeXYnTjtyAMFEQwiTJ9sZiZz0LHWGUhVg8tQbCHQhiMDqFwNbkIF-BoZdh5GvZQP4dIRSc8nMTP29qgKzmqIIqZMoQEhkdu9eCc5AtC5y7t3Hpza7pWVpo9y6/s1600/JayBazaar.etsy..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdjcumbJVFYNkES0iit4xeXYnTjtyAMFEQwiTJ9sZiZz0LHWGUhVg8tQbCHQhiMDqFwNbkIF-BoZdh5GvZQP4dIRSc8nMTP29qgKzmqIIqZMoQEhkdu9eCc5AtC5y7t3Hpza7pWVpo9y6/s1600/JayBazaar.etsy..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/JayBazaar">www.etsy.com/shop/JayBazaar</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">No, it's too strong for me. I normally have an Americano.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Boooooorrrrrrrring! </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Anyway, in Istanbul there are plenty of places to sit.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbF1oC5P-U7rg8oU56j-FrdJPKj32WMaqA89HbjfZql6ll4BI-G1tp40Tq7nmAyf-GKOeMJBHjZkjTCK1EV8DaC4_kJpnp2cIA7Cy-ohw8q11vaSwt28LJH7fBEdeZE8cCIPiZNHaHenm/s1600/Matthias.Buehler.FKCC+(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbF1oC5P-U7rg8oU56j-FrdJPKj32WMaqA89HbjfZql6ll4BI-G1tp40Tq7nmAyf-GKOeMJBHjZkjTCK1EV8DaC4_kJpnp2cIA7Cy-ohw8q11vaSwt28LJH7fBEdeZE8cCIPiZNHaHenm/s1600/Matthias.Buehler.FKCC+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/soledadbrother/6316314435">https://www.flickr.com/photos/soledadbrother/6316314435</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Throughout Turkey they have <i>banklar çok</i> - lots of benches.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_v4Z5hHl6bpmfgoSNDtq2pCgyLkvuX_0sDkxPOFKLzN3SxGsViYYRGJ1qOie6el0qPK96fN2YK-HdyiUi-TuF7OG-jbaNMwwarjDEqWxcELznup7WudEKMqTL8g7bxksTfzNHsAtRlFBW/s1600/jacqueline_poggi.FKCC+(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_v4Z5hHl6bpmfgoSNDtq2pCgyLkvuX_0sDkxPOFKLzN3SxGsViYYRGJ1qOie6el0qPK96fN2YK-HdyiUi-TuF7OG-jbaNMwwarjDEqWxcELznup7WudEKMqTL8g7bxksTfzNHsAtRlFBW/s1600/jacqueline_poggi.FKCC+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="meta-fieldphoto-title"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jacqueline_poggi/12907820884">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jacqueline_poggi/12907820884</a><o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">We have quite a few turkey benches here in the US of A as well.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZcCjceqSRGgrd8880THfCH-LVITumWoByYTwW8mcZgHKUkVaRBdBHl26CqWcHqXbRQSOMdEMbCK0FVaOXkaVRzujLFt8_P6InIPRrs2VSTrT3LeUsQe8A0vku49HX8EHR0ZZr35A081X/s1600/outbackinthebarn.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZcCjceqSRGgrd8880THfCH-LVITumWoByYTwW8mcZgHKUkVaRBdBHl26CqWcHqXbRQSOMdEMbCK0FVaOXkaVRzujLFt8_P6InIPRrs2VSTrT3LeUsQe8A0vku49HX8EHR0ZZr35A081X/s1600/outbackinthebarn.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn">www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">And I'd love to have a seat but now I need to get rolling.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVGnGLLUiwBFA5wIqKZFWB7ykU_oaBmRH3GddLsnw1qNH9yy165mDOEfGYrORMkthTcg8ApN2QYRMTmHBYgXVT5WWuUstrxlkpCQ2_CD9A3jJ5qxsuUZY0Vw2AZZmi53Br5MvcBjL6Nij/s1600/roadsidepictures.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVGnGLLUiwBFA5wIqKZFWB7ykU_oaBmRH3GddLsnw1qNH9yy165mDOEfGYrORMkthTcg8ApN2QYRMTmHBYgXVT5WWuUstrxlkpCQ2_CD9A3jJ5qxsuUZY0Vw2AZZmi53Br5MvcBjL6Nij/s1600/roadsidepictures.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidepictures/8206417339">https://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidepictures/8206417339</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You're off to Dry Heaves then.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Yes, and I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRUUs2BWxcRUPwI-3aulUL7aDW_-yhTYrnHL-YnAhdQLnw1na6U1JHLyIB2kTXkVy7KCYcqGQLAHIdQAy1tZR-DIM7g4Gq7ZoINAPbe9ptnmWBRxpwdLCwScvXQZHgZX4RI_kT8saXjN9/s1600/jason.brackens.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRUUs2BWxcRUPwI-3aulUL7aDW_-yhTYrnHL-YnAhdQLnw1na6U1JHLyIB2kTXkVy7KCYcqGQLAHIdQAy1tZR-DIM7g4Gq7ZoINAPbe9ptnmWBRxpwdLCwScvXQZHgZX4RI_kT8saXjN9/s1600/jason.brackens.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/leff/8208546895">https://www.flickr.com/photos/leff/8208546895</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Me too. That reminds me, I've got a pumpkin ready to make my pies.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoGQlBL1tnc6ki0QrPbHVQnGlgPG0Z1xdCIJQV99kaa4GP2hgJydjNieQQ0L0UTQW5zE0SiAV4ALwwjCrx5yLXdGt2bHFFrVZjlA_9DiVQWDW7F3VCOMcfd5TrVvGssaa1k6cGpjMWZU7i/s1600/Jench2014close.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoGQlBL1tnc6ki0QrPbHVQnGlgPG0Z1xdCIJQV99kaa4GP2hgJydjNieQQ0L0UTQW5zE0SiAV4ALwwjCrx5yLXdGt2bHFFrVZjlA_9DiVQWDW7F3VCOMcfd5TrVvGssaa1k6cGpjMWZU7i/s1600/Jench2014close.JPG" width="299" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Wineglass, moustache, manbag . . . I think you've made a mistake here, Ma'm. I met this fellow in Potirons in France. He's a famous chef. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oui. Il s'appelle Jench de Bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">I'd like to say thanks to him.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUsLZn4vyPC_XEtwKKZsD5rgmge2k_E_eXuvrFAS6GloL9lywXQxQ74vRIWpt6zoeYUAw4kB1uK2tg7EoRP7w3_AR5IL_YNxWAKit_LGJCKsZB1p7yN5i_jjrYmoV_RlXVqv9tyqgdPbJB/s1600/dreasmjung.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUsLZn4vyPC_XEtwKKZsD5rgmge2k_E_eXuvrFAS6GloL9lywXQxQ74vRIWpt6zoeYUAw4kB1uK2tg7EoRP7w3_AR5IL_YNxWAKit_LGJCKsZB1p7yN5i_jjrYmoV_RlXVqv9tyqgdPbJB/s1600/dreasmjung.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dreamsjung/12241111044">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dreamsjung/12241111044</a><o:p></o:p></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Of course I couldn't make a pie out of Jench. Not after all the help he gave me on the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html">Edible Benches blog</a>. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I guess I never got round to thanking him.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Jqb_-0ffCRFQP_f_Xcap5OdMkGl-L5lDGFPDYqOKh8WOxVdnxWQqRhR2FqTFv-d98wZPnRXc9O9L0sLs5eQyy58z9zH_jYbBzsq0vF_LXFU_7KT6WIDrGkPd5GyK5yuQubimQGkqq56n/s1600/crankymessiah.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Jqb_-0ffCRFQP_f_Xcap5OdMkGl-L5lDGFPDYqOKh8WOxVdnxWQqRhR2FqTFv-d98wZPnRXc9O9L0sLs5eQyy58z9zH_jYbBzsq0vF_LXFU_7KT6WIDrGkPd5GyK5yuQubimQGkqq56n/s1600/crankymessiah.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/24613099@N05/3103515782">https://www.flickr.com/photos/24613099@N05/3103515782</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I hope you'll enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner, Troy. Who will you be sharing your turkey with?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Oh, it's always the same people round the table.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwR3y-XXDQGtxqMlfGJYJCvqlWunZYQwUxwVNXUNqoL6wIL4-3MjB1kMtx5R5BrW7bEx7pWVdfUcjsu7tSNDCHCA-SkJwXQhjGAVWxrBwacEi0wqMDwYbwodEJW5DggYzPOkk0UXWal8W4/s1600/clotho98.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwR3y-XXDQGtxqMlfGJYJCvqlWunZYQwUxwVNXUNqoL6wIL4-3MjB1kMtx5R5BrW7bEx7pWVdfUcjsu7tSNDCHCA-SkJwXQhjGAVWxrBwacEi0wqMDwYbwodEJW5DggYzPOkk0UXWal8W4/s1600/clotho98.FKCC.jpg" width="241" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/clotho98/6389456203">https://www.flickr.com/photos/clotho98/6389456203</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #ffa400;">And sometimes The Country Gentleman</span>.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_0ru9ID5GoCXEBRcfLhPqji87SIHnm7nBjkULepaFj-BsImOI5hWrGdTrM7DGGjd4IVfHlclIcGAew1ZHigowrA9E4vomXilx1br7L12hBGRsg5kQPF5-Fz1LU0d_pvwjO5L9yPUhuroE8xoOWMdMMuZVE27EifIs1qVXbVZShY9SuyaEFqGPYwGSOGN/s1598/FB_IMG_1700839812045.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1598" data-original-width="1276" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_0ru9ID5GoCXEBRcfLhPqji87SIHnm7nBjkULepaFj-BsImOI5hWrGdTrM7DGGjd4IVfHlclIcGAew1ZHigowrA9E4vomXilx1br7L12hBGRsg5kQPF5-Fz1LU0d_pvwjO5L9yPUhuroE8xoOWMdMMuZVE27EifIs1qVXbVZShY9SuyaEFqGPYwGSOGN/s320/FB_IMG_1700839812045.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Early Thanksgiving 1926, NC Wyeth</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span style="color: #ffa400;">We had to take a wall out of our house to accommodate everybody. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZfbAv_5vXJfQDpBF8nceubtoPDFBlDivR-vJCcttB_Cqh4295liBrsnqNr2baQHeVex68Ihl3041IYE_9-fb1r7F9TJwXnTmntKOVeEdyFQSnq20dHvWoPW_bky78UAjAupA0fNWf0_c0wapOmi8DyZAdsXgDPw-pOCHpIkh1V31e0T5_qK9TznpU2QCR/s640/FB_IMG_1700839772379.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZfbAv_5vXJfQDpBF8nceubtoPDFBlDivR-vJCcttB_Cqh4295liBrsnqNr2baQHeVex68Ihl3041IYE_9-fb1r7F9TJwXnTmntKOVeEdyFQSnq20dHvWoPW_bky78UAjAupA0fNWf0_c0wapOmi8DyZAdsXgDPw-pOCHpIkh1V31e0T5_qK9TznpU2QCR/s320/FB_IMG_1700839772379.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanksgiving Day 1953, Bernie Fuchs</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, it's too late now to show all the lovely Turkish benches I </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">gathered. The benches from Turkey are going to have to wait for another time. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e69138;">Sorry, Seashell. I got the wrong end of the drumstick here. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e69138;">I went in like a whirling dervish and messed up your Turkish blog.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguAQWmrjsTIcydI8zZciC7knYqpf7X5XW11v1rkG6BKGSFE4nrSs2OAwkIeLlORgVa6L_PXtrnK0PXug8NwenBrdxb8hnrbErPrrN_4aK87RpwS7n8e20si1YizXi-ZosZVwFgkxSxd9TM/s1600/turkishdance.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguAQWmrjsTIcydI8zZciC7knYqpf7X5XW11v1rkG6BKGSFE4nrSs2OAwkIeLlORgVa6L_PXtrnK0PXug8NwenBrdxb8hnrbErPrrN_4aK87RpwS7n8e20si1YizXi-ZosZVwFgkxSxd9TM/s1600/turkishdance.JPG" width="233" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">Well, all I can say to your readers is<i> Sabrınız için teşekkür ederiz</i> - thank you for your patience.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's really nice of you, Troy.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">And I'd like to say thank you to your readers for bearing with me on this side of the pond.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGz8rCowBxIeOJlftACRx-sDKwur_R3ZnTE4FFE3KQS2rQKcyyBaMs328E3R21f3C9fXJBB9Zeql1IgYqSWeRzmtbhb9iIOGpKQBChVuSR63y-AsTmC95cWPo2jjyirtO6Ncw-S3XcN2Um/s1600/gisela.giardino.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGz8rCowBxIeOJlftACRx-sDKwur_R3ZnTE4FFE3KQS2rQKcyyBaMs328E3R21f3C9fXJBB9Zeql1IgYqSWeRzmtbhb9iIOGpKQBChVuSR63y-AsTmC95cWPo2jjyirtO6Ncw-S3XcN2Um/s1600/gisela.giardino.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gi/304120801">https://www.flickr.com/photos/gi/304120801</a><br /><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Alright, Troy, happy Thanksgiving. And thanks to everyone who has persisted with this story. I don't know where you are in the world so this is the best I can do:</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy5OzpMpzlAVPfJanxWY4GlJNhkmRnptDwE355bUTey2sM2HnQVySmucYfC0LBtOBuQEm1GcGQDBnstQXAVYUJPGNnbH567Gw_7xdT5xx_YBr2_yi_SpyEJZUoBhlAlvzsLwz0kh-lijzh/s1600/alexander_wrege.FKCC.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy5OzpMpzlAVPfJanxWY4GlJNhkmRnptDwE355bUTey2sM2HnQVySmucYfC0LBtOBuQEm1GcGQDBnstQXAVYUJPGNnbH567Gw_7xdT5xx_YBr2_yi_SpyEJZUoBhlAlvzsLwz0kh-lijzh/s1600/alexander_wrege.FKCC.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexander_wrege/2998403001">https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexander_wrege/2998403001</a><o:p></o:p></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Actually, the Turkish <i>thank you</i> is missing.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e69138;">T<i>eşekkür ederim</i>.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I forgot you were a linguist, Troy.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's been great sharing Turkey with you. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGDLJ82TGDDgMCf2HVb5dyQujbUZk-j2b1u17gs9BsYpIBfjKji1qKDAoeAdmbaGZf5Q3-nuWXbEjIC6Vai2uXI-EJIYMxdZ6KCVLhWbafwo6tyXO9ceFlEcZSGP1PP3-XJJMtm8pdyXa/s1600/euclidstreetshop.WP.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaGDLJ82TGDDgMCf2HVb5dyQujbUZk-j2b1u17gs9BsYpIBfjKji1qKDAoeAdmbaGZf5Q3-nuWXbEjIC6Vai2uXI-EJIYMxdZ6KCVLhWbafwo6tyXO9ceFlEcZSGP1PP3-XJJMtm8pdyXa/s1600/euclidstreetshop.WP.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/euclidstreetshop">www.etsy.com/shop/euclidstreetsho</a>p<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Stay safe! And d</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">on't forget to sign our guest bench before you go. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMz6f8ZBPyukorzLQDeoqzuwYzEwFaXU0zrI81pIamBVj0XbJb6nM1GoKgnhUnuZvzn1JwM2FhW1niJpmt0Ew6Y9xCSOgADAINnHX7vDjygIJ84xATeQW8ECpZJKlOGZETwO9g1qrvbBRj/s1600/sasafrasprintables.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMz6f8ZBPyukorzLQDeoqzuwYzEwFaXU0zrI81pIamBVj0XbJb6nM1GoKgnhUnuZvzn1JwM2FhW1niJpmt0Ew6Y9xCSOgADAINnHX7vDjygIJ84xATeQW8ECpZJKlOGZETwO9g1qrvbBRj/s1600/sasafrasprintables.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/SasafrasPrintables">www.etsy.com/shop/SasafrasPrintables</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div align="left"><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><st1:city w:st="on">Troy</st1:city><span> breezed into our town a few summers ago. 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.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span> </span></div></div><div align="left"><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Matt Stangis is a visual junkie who lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He photographed the turkey on a bench with a pumpkin in October 2008. Matt reminded me that Thanksgiving in Canada is different from the States: in Canada Thanksgiving is on the second Monday in October, which this year was October 13th. In the States, Thanksgiving is on the fourth Thursday in November - the 27th this year. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/docksidepress/2982841359"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">https://www.flickr.com/photos/docksidepress/2982841359</span></a></div></div><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Lori X is a designer.<i> Turistik yuzer tesis isl der</i> and the couple on a bench in Istanbul was photographed by Lori in 2012.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> My Turkish isn't very good but I could make out the word <i>Tourist</i>. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorix/7962364616"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorix/7962364616</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jenny is a recent graduate in landscape architecture. She was in Istanbul this year, where she took some gorgeous photographs of the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, and the benches where you can see the mosque in the background. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8714491@N05/14405449628">https://www.flickr.com/photos/8714491@N05/14405449628</a> For a photo tour of Istanbul it's worth a look at Jenny's photostream.</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two kilim rug benches in the story are by Jay at Jay Bazaar, not in Turkey but in Brooklyn. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/JayBazaar">www.etsy.com/shop/JayBazaar</a> Jay's Bazaar is full of lovely kilim rugs, ornaments, and vintage jewelry. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">David Casteel is an elderly curmudgeon from Dallas. He photographed the Grand Bazaar bench on a trip to Istanbul in 2006. He has a whole album full of photos from the trip at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8712554@N02/873341385">https://www.flickr.com/photos/8712554@N02/873341385</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div style="margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Lady Jessica Brassica is a fashionista and former model with Studio Joop from Overbearing in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Holland</st1:place></st1:city>. Now she has her own fashion house at Ballyfrumpy in <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Offhand</st1:placename> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Ireland</st1:country-region></st1:place>. She loves shopping at her replica mall and having poetry read by Young Male Readers dot com. She is happily married to Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, a gentleman farmer and expert on both <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">cows</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html">picnic benches</a>. Lord Brassica's generosity extends to Thank You benches for the community, as shown here.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpoI_Z7xHORpG4lJk7Fl8BHbyYphOYHxjtvDjMvcxfuYUnMjK7ODD7ldC1Yo3zvmmxqm-QiuNbh87ZsqyJU9FqW-GNFVW5LmQxi_wrRUM7FIj1kp54YsTAA7LTLetKcCdBuVVkNVcdh_r/s1600/100_4650.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpoI_Z7xHORpG4lJk7Fl8BHbyYphOYHxjtvDjMvcxfuYUnMjK7ODD7ldC1Yo3zvmmxqm-QiuNbh87ZsqyJU9FqW-GNFVW5LmQxi_wrRUM7FIj1kp54YsTAA7LTLetKcCdBuVVkNVcdh_r/s1600/100_4650.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/summer-bench-days-are-here-again.html">this summer</a> Lord B has been rather busy with his dog Pru, his horse Tonks, and his 1947 Land Rover, so Lady Jess has been spending rather a lot of time at her beach hut with <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Troy</st1:place></st1:city>. The novel <i>Lying Together</i> is by Gaynor Arnold. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Pinké is a native Texan who </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">makes dog happy art, including Churkey - that's Chuck the dog dressed as a turkey for Thanksgiving 2012. Chuck regrets being addicted to salmon dog treats but apparently there aren't any rehab programs available in Houston.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8113246@N02/8203258965">https://www.flickr.com/photos/8113246@N02/8203258965</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you like dogs, there are plenty of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">great dog benches</a> here on Benchsite.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Pascal lives in Heidelburg and amuses me with his Lego mini-persons. In this story we've got Robert, a Lego person on a bench with a turkey and a sword. The title is Partial Amnesia; that's apparently because <i>Robert only faintly remembered something about Monday, benches, and bonus points for birds</i>. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5631501667" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5631501667</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Christel lives in Trelleborg in Sweden. The bench groaning with pumpkins of all sizes was photographed from the car near Trelleborg in autumn 2006. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/78208664@N00/253065157">https://www.flickr.com/photos/78208664@N00/253065157</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">AGA~mum's photostream has a lot of amazing benches from around the world. She has an eye for a bench, does AGA~mum. I have a heart full of gratitude for her lovely Heart of Gratitude bench, photographed in 2010. It's in a beautiful garden setting and the bench message says it all. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aga_mum/4706711759">https://www.flickr.com/photos/aga_mum/4706711759</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Thanks Mom</i> is from Rakuten in Japan <a href="http://www.rakuten.co.jp/">http://www.rakuten.co.jp/</a> From what I can gather, Rakuten is sort of the Etsy of Japan. Call me fussy, but this particular Mom doesn't look very German; I wonder if Troy is telling porkie pies?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Maik Meid is involved in fundraising, photography, and non-profit social media. </span><span style="background-color: #fefefe;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He<span style="font-size: 11.81px;"> </span></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US">photographed the Danke image in 2014, which is one of many different bricks made for the Spendenstein project. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/frnetz/14517152083/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/frnetz/14517152083/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">Antonio S, aka Ellohir, is an engineering student from Valencia in Spain. The gracias image was photographed in 2007. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellohir/2074602394">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellohir/2074602394</a> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Patti Colvin from Oakville, Washington lives on a funny farm. Yes, really. She has a farm full of critters she loves, writes about, and makes things from. Her products are largely organic: the sheep are sheared by her, wool washed by her, and wool spun by her on my drop spindle. Earrings from pop tops, paper mache "Littles", art journals that look like the "Book of Shadows" - Patti loves making something out of nothing.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> That includes the barn wood sign <i>I am blessed</i>, shown in the story. </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/pattisfunnyfarm" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/pattisfunnyfarm</a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US">*Lie, pronounced Lee, is from Antwerp. She sent a message - merci with roses and chocolate - to all her Flickerito friends back in 2010. What a nice thing to do. Delightful photo and lots of different languages. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8458761@N08/5292809230" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/8458761@N08/5292809230</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dragon Dream888 seems to keep an eye out for benches. She was walking about a shopping mall in Washington DC in 2009 and photographed the <i>Thank you for not reclining bench</i>. It's one of many in her photostream at </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52807531@N00/4183863804" style="font-size: 12.72px; text-align: center;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/52807531@N00/4183863804</a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Ellen Wachtel commemorative bench is in<st1:address w:st="on"> Central Park in New York City. The photographed was taken in 2010</st1:address> by Michael Kazarnowicz, who lives in Stockholm. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/encee/5015846088">https://www.flickr.com/photos/encee/5015846088</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Troy is a well-travelled pilgrim and a bit of a linguist. He's quite right that in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Turkey the country the</st1:place></st1:country-region> word for <i>turkey</i> the bird means Indian Bird. The Indian word for turkey means Peruvian bird. And the Greek word for turkey means French bird. However, in Malaysia the word for turkey means Dutch chicken. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">How does Troy know all this? Probably he looked up <i>1,411 QI Facts</i> at <a href="http://www.qi.com/1411"> www.qi.com/1411</a> page 216.</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /><o:p></o:p></b></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ryan Ward is an attorney from Santa Monica, California. He photographed the peeling orange bench in Istanbul in 2011. Note the crest imprint, which appears on lots of things throughout the city. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanaward/6124826130" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanaward/6124826130</a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">William Avery Hudson from New York is a communications consultant and photographer. He photographed the Heybeliada Turkisk poetry bench in 2008. Heybeliada is one of the Prince's Islands in the Sea of Marmara, where there are many poetry benches along the seafront. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/williamaveryhudson/2823734944"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">https://www.flickr.com/photos/williamaveryhudson/2823734944</span></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Matthias Buehler is a German software developer living in Denmark. He has a nice collection of bench photos and is one of many people who photographed the Istanbul open-book benches. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kakadu/14524464399">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kakadu/14524464399</a> </span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are many cats in Turkey. Many, many cats. Quite of few of them appear on Flickr pages. I liked this one called Catnap, by Jeremy Brooks in 2014. Jeremy is a software engineer with a passion for photography, especially vintage neon signs. His photos are mainly urban scenes, which is great because this includes lots and lots of benches. Love the closeup of patterns in a metal bench! <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybrooks/15361037117">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybrooks/15361037117</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By the way, if you like cats, let Meredith guide you through the cream of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html">Cat Benches</a>. If you think turkeys are for the birds, there are <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/no-spring-chicken-benches.html">no spring chickens</a> but a lot of nice hen benches. </span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">Two things you probably know about Turkey: Turkish coffee and Turkish delight. Both were captured in a beautiful photograph by Colin Warren in 2013. Colin is from Geelong in Austrailia. He's one of those people who gets out there with his camera and photographs all kinds of things - shoes, rocks, plants, dead rabbits - he makes everything look good. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinwarren/11865470526">https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinwarren/11865470526</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Justin Lehmann, from San Francisco, photographed the benches outside Istanbul's Blue Mosque in 2011. Lots of people photograph these benches as they are very photogenic (the benches, not the people). I think Justin's black and white photograph is very effective. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/soledadbrother/6316314435">https://www.flickr.com/photos/soledadbrother/6316314435</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span class="meta-fieldphoto-title"><span lang="EN-US">There are many ancient ruins in Turkey, including Roman amphitheatres with rows and rows of stone benches for watching gory spectacles. The amphitheatre pictured here is in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Side</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Turkey, photographed in</st1:country-region></st1:place> 2014 by Jacqueline Poggi from Provence. She has amazing photographs of buildings and she loves cathedrals. <o:p></o:p></span></span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jacqueline_poggi/12907820884">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jacqueline_poggi/12907820884</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. We've already had <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/falling-for-autumn-benches.html">her harvest bench back in the fall</a> and, come St. Patrick's Day in March, I look forward to her Irish bench too. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn">www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn</a></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Allen is a school district maintenance supervisor and freelance photographer living in Kansas City and Henderson, Nevada. He is an obvious fan of Las Vegas and his photostream is full of roadside Americana - gas stations, cars, motels, neon signs, packaging and suburban life. Oh, this is heavenly nostalgia for me! Allen also collects stuff, like the 1900s postcard of a turkey towing a pumpkin. This was Allen's greeting to his Flickr pals at Thanksgiving 2012. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidepictures/8206417339">https://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidepictures/8206417339</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The turkey hotdog is an unusual thing and not something I'd like to eat at Thanksgiving. Well, it certainly caught my eye. It was photographed in 2012 by Jason Brackins, a software developer originally from Bethesda, Maryland. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/leff/8208546895">https://www.flickr.com/photos/leff/8208546895</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jench de Bench is a chef from Potirons in France and last year I asked him to help me with my <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html">Edible Benches</a> story. Which he duly did, sort of. Well, no, he didn't. He kept disappearing and after a great deal of searching for him throughout France, I gave up and edited the post myself. I don't mind saying, it's a bit of a mess but still, there are a lot of tasty benches on there.</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Jason Taellious from Olympia, Washington likes reflections, long exposures, words, flyer art, architecture and art. His photostream is full of all these things. There's a lot of great stuff and I liked the photo lexicons, especially the word <i>Merci</i>, photographed in Paris in 2013. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dreamsjung/12241111044"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dreamsjung/12241111044</span></a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I love the idea of a cranky messiah. There is one on Flickr and he says he didn't do it. I think he might be from Baltimore but that's really none of my business. The photograph from 2008, <i>Thanks for nothing</i>, is just what I was looking for <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/24613099@N05/3103515782">https://www.flickr.com/photos/24613099@N05/3103515782</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Clotho98 from Richmond, Virginia is a no good floozie (her words, not mine). She photographs a lot of vintage advertising and magazine covers, including the the Thanksgiving one from a Boy's Life magazine in November 1927. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/clotho98/6389456203">https://www.flickr.com/photos/clotho98/6389456203</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gisela Giardino lives in Buenos Aires but comes from somewhere far from there.<i> </i>She gets on well with herself and is with herself all the time. She is pretty clear who she is, as shown by the long list on her Flickr profile. </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> was written in the sand by someone in Nov 2006 and Gisela photographed it before it got washed away. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gi/304120801" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/gi/304120801</a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">Alexander Wrege says he's alive. Well, that's a good start. Alexander is a teacher from Germany, now living in Toledo in the United States. It looks like he gets out and about all over the place, doing lots of stuff like hiking and kayaking and having fun. Alive, in other words. His photo shows a lot of thank yous in different languages. Very handy for this particular story, though I don't see one in Turkish. <o:p></o:p></span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexander_wrege/2998403001">https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexander_wrege/2998403001</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michelle in LA has lots of greeting cards in her Euclid Street Shop. I love the card that says Thanks a B-nch with some lovely balloons where the letter E should be. That would be Thanks a Bench, which is just what I need for this blog. It does occur to me that the balloons are standing in for the letter U, which would be Thanks a Bunch - an entirely different message. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/euclidstreetshop">www.etsy.com/shop/euclidstreetshop</a> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jessica from SasifrasPrintables in Ohio tells me that a guest bench is an alternative to your run-of-the-mill guestbook- guests sign a blank bench with their name and a message for the bride and groom, and after the wedding the bench is finished and used either in the home or in the new couple's garden/yard. SasifrasPrintables does DIY downloadable and printable holiday and wedding designs such as the <i>Sign our guest bench</i> print. You choose the size of sign you want, download it, and print it out on your own printer. Easy peasy! </span> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/SasafrasPrintables" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/SasafrasPrintables</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If at the end of this story you have a lust for further travel, you can go lots of places here on Benchsite. See a <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">fiesta of Mexican benches</a>, for example, or an <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/an-alphabet-of-dutch-benches.html">alphabet of Dutch benches</a>. The 2017 <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/china-in-year-of-rooster-bench.html">Year of the Rooster Bench</a> will take you to China. Get <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html">high on alpine benches</a>, or <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html">tasty Italian ones</a>. Every summer Miggy and Mungo and I go on our bench-finding missions; see our <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/greek-bench-mission-impossible.html">impossible Greek mission</a>, or what happened when we cycled <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/of-bikes-and-benches.html">down the Danube</a>. And for some truly amazing Japanese benches, see <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html</a></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-35027741922609279472023-10-09T02:02:00.001-07:002023-10-09T02:16:33.271-07:00Harrowing Halloween Benches<p> It's Halloween and the scary benches are out. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHveuQjFwwhAxe0jdPBYxvyIICztAp_e57JfLzEqTCQv1NiFmC7gNVyjjiDFhYga5mEhb8jf7gLNh5MTs_hSW0Dxd1iYWGanHm087U8dre9bc4IaqTSNW_J-yQxXWWDBpr7kH5LtXNUi6Q/s744/scary-vintage-halloween-creepy-costumes-130-57fcaebc54a9b__605.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="605" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHveuQjFwwhAxe0jdPBYxvyIICztAp_e57JfLzEqTCQv1NiFmC7gNVyjjiDFhYga5mEhb8jf7gLNh5MTs_hSW0Dxd1iYWGanHm087U8dre9bc4IaqTSNW_J-yQxXWWDBpr7kH5LtXNUi6Q/w325-h400/scary-vintage-halloween-creepy-costumes-130-57fcaebc54a9b__605.jpg" width="325" /></a></div> Vintage Halloween costume 1930s<p>I mean realllllly scary.</p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhzQOP7QEAvjBYlXlDTBLG0TQ-3_YseyXicgyUe_GNwPzXzjFmCOpfaf5z93Hiy8pf4U0yhEVsKff7Ww50RoMHDjH-Op7L-xTuzveM0Fpe83qmSstCs9O9RYhWq6UV6tGcezvzUUp3Hvc/s1600/midnightinthegardenofevil.BS.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhzQOP7QEAvjBYlXlDTBLG0TQ-3_YseyXicgyUe_GNwPzXzjFmCOpfaf5z93Hiy8pf4U0yhEVsKff7Ww50RoMHDjH-Op7L-xTuzveM0Fpe83qmSstCs9O9RYhWq6UV6tGcezvzUUp3Hvc/s1600/midnightinthegardenofevil.BS.webp" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.steelheartlimited.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.steelheartlimited.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There is every reason to be much afraid.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvnTl57YS0GmCKbvi8-Arlj3Jn6zPyfnDTbdbWzfeJTe98ANFHfOUFpon0r5SWObgTmrqd2NSg0o74Sc2YlexQy4uyB3_HVI-Y_65ge0W_iFs9oUzK-NmWiWIbHYR3x057llb0Kw3X_TL/s1600/much+afraid.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvnTl57YS0GmCKbvi8-Arlj3Jn6zPyfnDTbdbWzfeJTe98ANFHfOUFpon0r5SWObgTmrqd2NSg0o74Sc2YlexQy4uyB3_HVI-Y_65ge0W_iFs9oUzK-NmWiWIbHYR3x057llb0Kw3X_TL/s320/much+afraid.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Much Afraid from <i>The Pilgrim's Progress</i> 1683</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Creatures from the edges of beyond are everywhere. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They emerge from the souls of drowned benches . . . </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuk8HUK2rF2PuqBYFxfxxt-R65nmLHCa0IQSarv3OqkGnmZq092MO9M76FldSy8Bfjg1tmhmz4PAUldUCoKV9akOx7ApEnfl5rlX0jFBkZ_V6wfzkCRC5S_oNkHGrCbRoABpYDhc6y9WX/s1600/johnonolan.FK.ok.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuk8HUK2rF2PuqBYFxfxxt-R65nmLHCa0IQSarv3OqkGnmZq092MO9M76FldSy8Bfjg1tmhmz4PAUldUCoKV9akOx7ApEnfl5rlX0jFBkZ_V6wfzkCRC5S_oNkHGrCbRoABpYDhc6y9WX/s320/johnonolan.FK.ok.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnonolan/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnonolan/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">they occupy the living benches in public parks . . . </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi325NNDjU3_8mZLO78IFVA-tUsamiLxbBfkDGJoLcopaYcw5jEq6OLcResCkh7psfyHKTKCAkbTBZwRc_U9X2nrZxlxvvsQkDPYdzlkKp3OoglEZx3ew_eR0tjU9xj9Z09YSGRl1D8txRb/s1600/Hortulus_Dobrzyca_(12).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi325NNDjU3_8mZLO78IFVA-tUsamiLxbBfkDGJoLcopaYcw5jEq6OLcResCkh7psfyHKTKCAkbTBZwRc_U9X2nrZxlxvvsQkDPYdzlkKp3OoglEZx3ew_eR0tjU9xj9Z09YSGRl1D8txRb/s320/Hortulus_Dobrzyca_(12).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hortulus_Dobrzyca_(12).jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hortulus_Dobrzyca</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. . . and they even swarm around the benches in your sitting room.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwHsXRqKZCw6DVgD0gUtZwRxb61bvCe7g7hefWPNLXAwY_aFNbiABkttw-IUzNEZKM8xiOX3x_SycslIq91YDCaxI-xwcbd7y8rmFppV1SBavj4OdMFOdWndISCsd_OfTeIXrB-gVkD8M/s1600/stickerhog.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwHsXRqKZCw6DVgD0gUtZwRxb61bvCe7g7hefWPNLXAwY_aFNbiABkttw-IUzNEZKM8xiOX3x_SycslIq91YDCaxI-xwcbd7y8rmFppV1SBavj4OdMFOdWndISCsd_OfTeIXrB-gVkD8M/s320/stickerhog.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/stickerhog" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/stickerhog</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I was terrified by this skeleton in my ensuite. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8c2JfzrcaND5ZiO7xTET60Zg1sQ4UAqJvizxw2UehehyphenhyphenrKt1h1caITNIqB3lN8lrzmR-FueLKFFstw4A-DyoaNzlLaSmhUG7TrEw6m1E6YRIX8nF9LluQLb7n28mai5Z914mbuYg44uXu/s1600/powerhousemuseum.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8c2JfzrcaND5ZiO7xTET60Zg1sQ4UAqJvizxw2UehehyphenhyphenrKt1h1caITNIqB3lN8lrzmR-FueLKFFstw4A-DyoaNzlLaSmhUG7TrEw6m1E6YRIX8nF9LluQLb7n28mai5Z914mbuYg44uXu/s320/powerhousemuseum.FKCC.jpg" width="234" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=386897">http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He said he'd just nipped in there for a quick cigarette.</span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkFnbWidPeKnpHqfCu8WNi4Crjasvi5V6iL3Bvf6MCw7QXqWxHSFCK7t-DDhjBAP4UIR9tRXlHhxUcgfGK_srE21lZGHJoTpFXoK-ikg4Uy8bEvYAGK8KuY0CKqW-9uLmBUCLMvxBk3DiT/s630/56216c1a1400002b003c8777.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkFnbWidPeKnpHqfCu8WNi4Crjasvi5V6iL3Bvf6MCw7QXqWxHSFCK7t-DDhjBAP4UIR9tRXlHhxUcgfGK_srE21lZGHJoTpFXoK-ikg4Uy8bEvYAGK8KuY0CKqW-9uLmBUCLMvxBk3DiT/s320/56216c1a1400002b003c8777.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div> <i>Head of a Skeleton with A Burning Cigarette</i> 1886, Vincent Van Gogh<br /><div><br /></div><div>Can I light that for you? </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3EJwP1nibHIiortxZ8BPLvJlwwuACJmpyT0_mRwtabFLN4lO2ZTuvjzEXRftbBYeVoNFJ_KjB9AJk9TgqXSIASvBZ4B8fR6IZecSbg6-n03oyHeTNuqbA_732TdpR-jrYrfnhJXjMXUk/s649/FB_IMG_1604010493485.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3EJwP1nibHIiortxZ8BPLvJlwwuACJmpyT0_mRwtabFLN4lO2ZTuvjzEXRftbBYeVoNFJ_KjB9AJk9TgqXSIASvBZ4B8fR6IZecSbg6-n03oyHeTNuqbA_732TdpR-jrYrfnhJXjMXUk/w309-h400/FB_IMG_1604010493485.jpg" width="309" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vincent Price movie still</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Meanwhile, his mates had taken over my piano.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyL2zCvuBqY_v_awbTxOthadiAh2qbOPKADj1xXyjQ5HT7p-FzGm40wlY9xrU6sVs_gdkf8AdBRbJdx_I8pVm1XG7kNnNVh1jdN-naiiIebNDsIBFfH0hrVTsiEf_HNneZPEUZBGVzzAq/s1600/nationalarchivesuk.1893.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyL2zCvuBqY_v_awbTxOthadiAh2qbOPKADj1xXyjQ5HT7p-FzGm40wlY9xrU6sVs_gdkf8AdBRbJdx_I8pVm1XG7kNnNVh1jdN-naiiIebNDsIBFfH0hrVTsiEf_HNneZPEUZBGVzzAq/s320/nationalarchivesuk.1893.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/8141311057/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/8141311057/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There was some dancing going on. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqS3uuWx6RlfRuomdnsLjSnbhyphenhyphentlhJhVcsj6FAZu1VMkFNEqxAfSGxXLDXHgfBz5mztDA1ltDBBL861M2uZeMsLP1IyKdkiRjunXFuO9xlMhllYthh6EYzgY6q9zb__8-qvTToKvF2CpSA/s1440/FB_IMG_1601382220140.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1148" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqS3uuWx6RlfRuomdnsLjSnbhyphenhyphentlhJhVcsj6FAZu1VMkFNEqxAfSGxXLDXHgfBz5mztDA1ltDBBL861M2uZeMsLP1IyKdkiRjunXFuO9xlMhllYthh6EYzgY6q9zb__8-qvTToKvF2CpSA/s320/FB_IMG_1601382220140.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <i>Party on Mobilisation Day</i> 1936, Daniel Sabater<br /></div><div><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Some of them look friendly enough</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwV6iGRhnwNZW_M53XH0mEU06e0Io4rTK8tS9FfR032900KI_bSklmnJ4uH3wm0ckhb-WB494zvqBgj_1V5kKH8ILWll88eh_WXhn0NoqltSHRbFDOLChyu6-ElciJANWresXE7c-VdJAc/s1600/skeleteons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwV6iGRhnwNZW_M53XH0mEU06e0Io4rTK8tS9FfR032900KI_bSklmnJ4uH3wm0ckhb-WB494zvqBgj_1V5kKH8ILWll88eh_WXhn0NoqltSHRbFDOLChyu6-ElciJANWresXE7c-VdJAc/s1600/skeleteons.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.thrillomatic.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.thrillomatic.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">but you don't get the feeling you want to reach out to them.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWWXrPYlW4CZMW-QJ5wniPy8nl3NshV5gziqrPbkgj-hBFixRXgudedu-McQlvPCYpcjCcMLwrLLDhDNDF4gQEdE_DuMLiMhKAFrGhgTUy8X6BMqJjRLJoM2d0RNu9PEasNys0pVweBCcN/s1600/Screenshot_2013-10-17-22-14-26-1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWWXrPYlW4CZMW-QJ5wniPy8nl3NshV5gziqrPbkgj-hBFixRXgudedu-McQlvPCYpcjCcMLwrLLDhDNDF4gQEdE_DuMLiMhKAFrGhgTUy8X6BMqJjRLJoM2d0RNu9PEasNys0pVweBCcN/s320/Screenshot_2013-10-17-22-14-26-1.png" width="178" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Joanna Michalak</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You certainly don't want them giving you a massage.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseqEdyLVWRCQaa9vf1xFoRRBSzIkUQtJSmYge2PwcVprKa3Uvsij_12AEDSRq2r3SiYsoib6CWg5JNxeJLspZOwbJ9-FhVKI3fqXnrBdQ2F9hG3945J0gyf8y2D3qMZ2cr958hhX5sveP/s1704/FB_IMG_1604937915178.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1704" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseqEdyLVWRCQaa9vf1xFoRRBSzIkUQtJSmYge2PwcVprKa3Uvsij_12AEDSRq2r3SiYsoib6CWg5JNxeJLspZOwbJ9-FhVKI3fqXnrBdQ2F9hG3945J0gyf8y2D3qMZ2cr958hhX5sveP/s320/FB_IMG_1604937915178.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you don't like skeletons, it's best to avoid benches in cemeteries.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxDhv73rzBxSHFnKfACLpLC1che90eppj3HSNyIPHis4xzp1bgvi7774ukMyGUghOtySSq9Qpgqp1XGykFxi6avAWxmBXQ5iy5MxwZ0Trn9ePzwD72ZPosb88RB7mciQNeaIcOCWWbPbN/s1600/cemetery.best.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxDhv73rzBxSHFnKfACLpLC1che90eppj3HSNyIPHis4xzp1bgvi7774ukMyGUghOtySSq9Qpgqp1XGykFxi6avAWxmBXQ5iy5MxwZ0Trn9ePzwD72ZPosb88RB7mciQNeaIcOCWWbPbN/s320/cemetery.best.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm avoiding benches in parks too. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You get those smiling zombies who sit beside you on a bench and try to chat about the economic crisis. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPul1nodgCweyVVglN-BmEyZuF6V6qNNBRNdDA9Ek6y5RVE9jMae2JzDmT26Y3tb73KO4nHdgEj0J6nR6rv6fMCCzE_iHLHdkcQPAEtveWNTwoBsUO88LtvMhpXW5P6Lrnupf0RECjMpe/s1600/JohnTavaresJr.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPul1nodgCweyVVglN-BmEyZuF6V6qNNBRNdDA9Ek6y5RVE9jMae2JzDmT26Y3tb73KO4nHdgEj0J6nR6rv6fMCCzE_iHLHdkcQPAEtveWNTwoBsUO88LtvMhpXW5P6Lrnupf0RECjMpe/s320/JohnTavaresJr.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/johntavaresjr/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/johntavaresjr/</a> </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This zombie girl tried to befriend me by asking for advice about makeup.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixMwtLevcUgB-l85Vb4iqBXHDtlJPdZFzqvQdQKTyNA32l1lMpllqmvZKrTf9SZRkNyKe-yZY_EiNMNIhQSBo92Gn6-8C2vooW77Xl89hCylr4U_9Hg7HgQ1EmAQlvLxlsAQ2Zs8mgInLc/s1600/Ryan+Hayes.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixMwtLevcUgB-l85Vb4iqBXHDtlJPdZFzqvQdQKTyNA32l1lMpllqmvZKrTf9SZRkNyKe-yZY_EiNMNIhQSBo92Gn6-8C2vooW77Xl89hCylr4U_9Hg7HgQ1EmAQlvLxlsAQ2Zs8mgInLc/s320/Ryan+Hayes.FKCC.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Take care! They weave a web of deceit.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteJHuohtgiHACzHYL8kgQ06hojDt475Fp9VbBBSGhrx0k-U_dfm09Xr4cApzBg0Vqi6JE1RrGjaQ4S1sokEby6B7t2reuXNXLOeYhsTcWyEDZqlhFSTtUWn_BIOn5BIkRVAvQwqWMKuHj/s1600/debbie.courson.smith.spider+web+bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteJHuohtgiHACzHYL8kgQ06hojDt475Fp9VbBBSGhrx0k-U_dfm09Xr4cApzBg0Vqi6JE1RrGjaQ4S1sokEby6B7t2reuXNXLOeYhsTcWyEDZqlhFSTtUWn_BIOn5BIkRVAvQwqWMKuHj/s320/debbie.courson.smith.spider+web+bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.boisedailyphoto.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.boisedailyphoto.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I am particularly careful around witches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I know there are good ones, like this one playing with her dog in the park . . . </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh737ey23AEA6wQBsPSjS_JMIGdBLkJbXzvqDEji55_FF1jh2GUn1qP6YbRXKSSik9rXINKSlJPZyteVN5j_kmcMHvMCP3jYxgkCD6oMjoaiKKsY5mpclFqmgq9FGyTWeRxrDYI3QmoUpXX/s1600/Cresney.2007.FKRok.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh737ey23AEA6wQBsPSjS_JMIGdBLkJbXzvqDEji55_FF1jh2GUn1qP6YbRXKSSik9rXINKSlJPZyteVN5j_kmcMHvMCP3jYxgkCD6oMjoaiKKsY5mpclFqmgq9FGyTWeRxrDYI3QmoUpXX/s320/Cresney.2007.FKRok.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cresny/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/cresny/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. . . and this little one I saw in the bike shop.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKV5-HQAhaXPiFDvaiLlaL1qHwazDa64646Cw5Wtur5Eqi_bQie_VYCS5cwj_8IfC95wBymVCS0jZU-rB0OqDiVkZ5CZLp5YACJcV_HO8iRhpqoqBo25OPOvaUbCB0BkUWcMIg_YBPto7/s1600/amber+witch.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKV5-HQAhaXPiFDvaiLlaL1qHwazDa64646Cw5Wtur5Eqi_bQie_VYCS5cwj_8IfC95wBymVCS0jZU-rB0OqDiVkZ5CZLp5YACJcV_HO8iRhpqoqBo25OPOvaUbCB0BkUWcMIg_YBPto7/s320/amber+witch.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But next thing you know, they're leaving their spoons in your coffee . . .</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOv75VW9CUs9S5u8loLM_19CNcA7lQqRql8Iu3Lq9eGzBrdJOV2rW1y0nEnlfYNj3z_dpaT8fvTkwpVaXutoE-XQ30IPcjPUymra0D0OJ49PetGAc_S9YXyOZdbhwJT94HeCEo5EjvTmsn/s1600/milkandhoneyluxuries.etsy+(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOv75VW9CUs9S5u8loLM_19CNcA7lQqRql8Iu3Lq9eGzBrdJOV2rW1y0nEnlfYNj3z_dpaT8fvTkwpVaXutoE-XQ30IPcjPUymra0D0OJ49PetGAc_S9YXyOZdbhwJT94HeCEo5EjvTmsn/s320/milkandhoneyluxuries.etsy+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and parking their brooms near your lovely orange bench.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IFUTnoppzsyxxPM5Y5bp3S9pdZ4Rcilg9a5PYKFOptPebSyfm5xs7v0gdWT7XwB-PPA3uVwUK84lSxdQCwjg4GRW70Sd5-Tqrovo9DP1RzcTD3S9PSjHYbjLpH8h8SFxFXXa2bmswet_/s1600/wordybirdstudios2.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IFUTnoppzsyxxPM5Y5bp3S9pdZ4Rcilg9a5PYKFOptPebSyfm5xs7v0gdWT7XwB-PPA3uVwUK84lSxdQCwjg4GRW70Sd5-Tqrovo9DP1RzcTD3S9PSjHYbjLpH8h8SFxFXXa2bmswet_/s320/wordybirdstudios2.etsy.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/wordybirdstudios" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/wordybirdstudios</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They fly off and you never know when they're coming back.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm8O4Gx-ltKg8Ph61cipRFDOpZIQl8e9WwGbFTZtqToaKqstBcSzZ9Oxy4vUgSOsn9x0BkCr54vm4-KCkm5ie3oDGC4rZ-k8uQjfWx0hREi6HEDQy_L2Qolh-c6gD50veCNr9bx0GnqfCf/s1600/riapereira.fkr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm8O4Gx-ltKg8Ph61cipRFDOpZIQl8e9WwGbFTZtqToaKqstBcSzZ9Oxy4vUgSOsn9x0BkCr54vm4-KCkm5ie3oDGC4rZ-k8uQjfWx0hREi6HEDQy_L2Qolh-c6gD50veCNr9bx0GnqfCf/s1600/riapereira.fkr.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/riapereira/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/riapereira/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dare to complain and you'll get threats.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGRdV_sL7TDPZFsqWgrGK30d-u8ZjciCWHKKle9obsUcrWr_VoJ2ns1bJSmz3ZnlJKleS3HrdRuOCSmfHpBd4T1fFkjB3elhOHVmfsU_LAwYfjKqydaL2T2tkTxgl2PW7zDXRswLQsXqs/s1600/2chicksandabasket.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGRdV_sL7TDPZFsqWgrGK30d-u8ZjciCWHKKle9obsUcrWr_VoJ2ns1bJSmz3ZnlJKleS3HrdRuOCSmfHpBd4T1fFkjB3elhOHVmfsU_LAwYfjKqydaL2T2tkTxgl2PW7zDXRswLQsXqs/s320/2chicksandabasket.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/2chicksandabasket" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/2chicksandabasket</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Coffee anyone?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aauRjHE7W3Rt_4Diowq4bOWOy30mPGPPcEWYVl0RBuWny4Jaw6o2PMl3csJMEPOQasNQcqlzJNb_Fjus3NjiJLQGljjTet-3s-l2tHHwzMUNA5ZiKBAGKj6hq45Fyk3yUi026BTp5s9w/s1600/milkandhoneyluxuries.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aauRjHE7W3Rt_4Diowq4bOWOy30mPGPPcEWYVl0RBuWny4Jaw6o2PMl3csJMEPOQasNQcqlzJNb_Fjus3NjiJLQGljjTet-3s-l2tHHwzMUNA5ZiKBAGKj6hq45Fyk3yUi026BTp5s9w/s200/milkandhoneyluxuries.etsy.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>It's no wonder people are terrified.</div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEUDNYDHOl6BhNJb7ME6X6lv-bo_s04iLx99q3JV0PxH2oESIGgAp-cbQz_gV4_OBiEKF36z9hWky6vMXflu6lXO1MhXmKG8DCTbbs6dwwlJIsFviaCRewsrOTWgujJoXGfQl2BEsqSMO/s1600/scared+couple.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEUDNYDHOl6BhNJb7ME6X6lv-bo_s04iLx99q3JV0PxH2oESIGgAp-cbQz_gV4_OBiEKF36z9hWky6vMXflu6lXO1MhXmKG8DCTbbs6dwwlJIsFviaCRewsrOTWgujJoXGfQl2BEsqSMO/s320/scared+couple.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br />And no one will hear you scream. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XE2dE1sI1rf76-VlZNC_t1PR1Kd_09SKEW3I15EzfM7TziLL2Nd3WB4zlTz6XhueV5P5Xd37HoOVU9XKGBGxXmussYNEmkC1sqs-E0FCLoB2CFtJXeE7q7ACyeZmeEpuHXghTxFLuVM3/s1919/The_Scream_by_Edvard_Munch%252C_1893_-_Nasjonalgalleriet.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1919" data-original-width="1546" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XE2dE1sI1rf76-VlZNC_t1PR1Kd_09SKEW3I15EzfM7TziLL2Nd3WB4zlTz6XhueV5P5Xd37HoOVU9XKGBGxXmussYNEmkC1sqs-E0FCLoB2CFtJXeE7q7ACyeZmeEpuHXghTxFLuVM3/w323-h400/The_Scream_by_Edvard_Munch%252C_1893_-_Nasjonalgalleriet.png" width="323" /></a></div> <i>The Scream</i> 1893, Edvard Munch<br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Beware of demons sitting on benches, even if they appear to be just sending a text.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5aNIxPf6pI0LnKEkWJX_obDmBKkMWtKrl0FfkjGhyxxNIjLmtayghLh0hsokhaml4lips1gTk0Jj7loL92G3R6RJOTyJBDL_7gCTuEPpI8Vv6bLjZAenSDuJkBIddwgO4lAKvoCmTQzy/s1600/Demons_onB.2005.MartijnvandeStreek.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5aNIxPf6pI0LnKEkWJX_obDmBKkMWtKrl0FfkjGhyxxNIjLmtayghLh0hsokhaml4lips1gTk0Jj7loL92G3R6RJOTyJBDL_7gCTuEPpI8Vv6bLjZAenSDuJkBIddwgO4lAKvoCmTQzy/s320/Demons_onB.2005.MartijnvandeStreek.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/treenaks/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/treenaks/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And take special care with people who are absorbed by light. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQKD5wlCkkGQCSaFSGDYbFtGBc18Rj-YIMIzQVt6a18Ihr6xpf1q63Yqumtcr-NdwSnkV9YtOQS6XWN-ylGNrL8MRIgGkyKOyTylJgzzRMg1dyX7DcCyNT5GXU4k0hdg8HK59IgkI1koh/s720/FB_IMG_1601830547966.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQKD5wlCkkGQCSaFSGDYbFtGBc18Rj-YIMIzQVt6a18Ihr6xpf1q63Yqumtcr-NdwSnkV9YtOQS6XWN-ylGNrL8MRIgGkyKOyTylJgzzRMg1dyX7DcCyNT5GXU4k0hdg8HK59IgkI1koh/s320/FB_IMG_1601830547966.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Absorbed by Light</i> 2018, Karoline Hinz</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Watch out for vampires who want to suck your blood. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-lkG3NssJ9v5sAaklU6ucQWDybfW9xk9XLGhh1qoRjMpPg6L9YYYhXZzAQz4vTCKPmBXUUYKmAnKUef9ERF84C7pAIpRXpn72sNwVH_p4CllXWj3tRatuhp1qLsdLGxYrwHST3Oxz5Cl/s1140/FB_IMG_1603808102509.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-lkG3NssJ9v5sAaklU6ucQWDybfW9xk9XLGhh1qoRjMpPg6L9YYYhXZzAQz4vTCKPmBXUUYKmAnKUef9ERF84C7pAIpRXpn72sNwVH_p4CllXWj3tRatuhp1qLsdLGxYrwHST3Oxz5Cl/s320/FB_IMG_1603808102509.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>City Vals</i> 1910, Sven Brasch</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This woman may not realise the danger she is in. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyimgSR_ZLc_U-21pvueQAwWLuNZczsrEkgJn8RU2yFx864iTT6UX7ftR1ki_g-6ll1Y8TEqdi9XTJvRAK3ZpSqdtlioMRqQcAuzGcXlZPFP57-Ri67oB01sZE8MKOQRCo9EXP8V7vJ3Fy/s1600/royallibrarydenmark.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyimgSR_ZLc_U-21pvueQAwWLuNZczsrEkgJn8RU2yFx864iTT6UX7ftR1ki_g-6ll1Y8TEqdi9XTJvRAK3ZpSqdtlioMRqQcAuzGcXlZPFP57-Ri67oB01sZE8MKOQRCo9EXP8V7vJ3Fy/s320/royallibrarydenmark.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofmapsprintsandphotographstheroyallibrarydenmark/8043671034/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/theroyallibrarydenmark/8043671034/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This girl though, seems more alert. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Plus the vampire is small and very cute.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V8bMMHiZWxL0_AO0NNRos_ZUPBsqkF4_Gj9BnhL9v8RpFJZREOovLy-AYQF5Y3rpRPcUUxl8EdZqG2WZqYBFBWcVlMxJpcq818D65NmWnXiaV5BI3WlP8GAfDsfqGBJ2xFmGiiia0cBC/s1600/alleykitten.FK.CC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V8bMMHiZWxL0_AO0NNRos_ZUPBsqkF4_Gj9BnhL9v8RpFJZREOovLy-AYQF5Y3rpRPcUUxl8EdZqG2WZqYBFBWcVlMxJpcq818D65NmWnXiaV5BI3WlP8GAfDsfqGBJ2xFmGiiia0cBC/s320/alleykitten.FK.CC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alleykitten/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/alleykitten/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Some scary creatures will jump out at you and yell BOO.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDiwj7o8a5hZ0hGeH9MexyWDgV7zsSkP5VefqZ95lNlrNC0SZr5ov24pT4i7Z3fZBLIPfwhpTCIFj2TPTlbb-AkL0Nw-148kdgtfhRnZHvPRkJ6MX4PjPaDHq0FSX6LhBz8k38aKRDvCO/s1600/kitschcafe.B.Monday.FKR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDiwj7o8a5hZ0hGeH9MexyWDgV7zsSkP5VefqZ95lNlrNC0SZr5ov24pT4i7Z3fZBLIPfwhpTCIFj2TPTlbb-AkL0Nw-148kdgtfhRnZHvPRkJ6MX4PjPaDHq0FSX6LhBz8k38aKRDvCO/s320/kitschcafe.B.Monday.FKR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/drew-o-rama/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/drew-o-rama/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's not so bad. Lots of these are just pumpkinheads. </span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbdaAlJZFN9Ef4v73RJ5UQOvSL1pVZwdY4Co_-xLMVRFRngte62GAcRi2OLAoV55pwH3pmT2Ajdk3nrFx41_dv-jZv-V2__zvhgD2cwzbtDJNj8qGA9Pk6qxOT5SgQ_mOJL6hfxyo_m4O/s250/FB_IMG_1603644611966+pump+kimono.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="146" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbdaAlJZFN9Ef4v73RJ5UQOvSL1pVZwdY4Co_-xLMVRFRngte62GAcRi2OLAoV55pwH3pmT2Ajdk3nrFx41_dv-jZv-V2__zvhgD2cwzbtDJNj8qGA9Pk6qxOT5SgQ_mOJL6hfxyo_m4O/w234-h400/FB_IMG_1603644611966+pump+kimono.webp" width="234" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">vintage Halloween card c.1900-1918</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's the murderers you have to watch out for.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQYwMPjUzHXo0AJ6r_4Zzob-Ru1fBLDMRz07oowJ4s75AL88p4lgSmnLziModfT9-Y6_RdJLs8YFVj7u1gCmyExe3OYTpQru2Utcg3S4FLROBskOGFcEVsfjNXrS-kPUhmQ824-wrVGQi/s500/FB_IMG_1603808352877.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQYwMPjUzHXo0AJ6r_4Zzob-Ru1fBLDMRz07oowJ4s75AL88p4lgSmnLziModfT9-Y6_RdJLs8YFVj7u1gCmyExe3OYTpQru2Utcg3S4FLROBskOGFcEVsfjNXrS-kPUhmQ824-wrVGQi/s320/FB_IMG_1603808352877.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Murderer</i> 1910, Edvard Munch</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And the ghosts. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3ySspeloVGXp47-W0TzQth16FFWJpAzpeYrSPn6LLy9OPrA1VccpL-2lCX1_HKhuN5TIVSJY5b-dB2zlehy0LkCSTspXoUJrfDn0v1-ClQGRcic6qCw_K-FTo4WpFqqHCwKFgLUXYcDg/s1600/amber+ghost.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3ySspeloVGXp47-W0TzQth16FFWJpAzpeYrSPn6LLy9OPrA1VccpL-2lCX1_HKhuN5TIVSJY5b-dB2zlehy0LkCSTspXoUJrfDn0v1-ClQGRcic6qCw_K-FTo4WpFqqHCwKFgLUXYcDg/s320/amber+ghost.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They fade in and out and surprise you when you least expect it.</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQchNelFtG0yyv5IjV9Guo15aq1qnIUu_ymC7WvYlgd04X6Iz7yBhySPPsKx9pU4tvxgUZOYauTAPyIHz5k1qkcdup2_gbKQOVYViux24yFYzqdAYxVVgC0cPLY8x5lTRWQKSHx_geatpj/s1600/William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray,_Design_31,__A_Long_Story___-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQchNelFtG0yyv5IjV9Guo15aq1qnIUu_ymC7WvYlgd04X6Iz7yBhySPPsKx9pU4tvxgUZOYauTAPyIHz5k1qkcdup2_gbKQOVYViux24yFYzqdAYxVVgC0cPLY8x5lTRWQKSHx_geatpj/s320/William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray,_Design_31,__A_Long_Story___-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray,_Design_31,_%22A_Long_Story.%22_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No bench is safe from these ghostly figures. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AKqRVFmS7YpDEvKd7T5wCFKgSQyM8c-WX8rKBHdrQx_YptST0A9QhIh3ExnSlK8FWJmJ2cC9m6Gd2P7CSzzXgOVP7kRQayyoRNEPuVx8iuYT3c5qANWKVIBYib-eLmVR5TQDTFz0NI8Y/s630/5625476e1400006f003c890c.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AKqRVFmS7YpDEvKd7T5wCFKgSQyM8c-WX8rKBHdrQx_YptST0A9QhIh3ExnSlK8FWJmJ2cC9m6Gd2P7CSzzXgOVP7kRQayyoRNEPuVx8iuYT3c5qANWKVIBYib-eLmVR5TQDTFz0NI8Y/s320/5625476e1400006f003c890c.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div> <i>Die Nacht</i> 1922, Aksel Waldemar Johannessen<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">With terror like that, it's no wonder this fellow lost his head.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCRAvGsjP9uZLz7Fef7I0E2euy5awqUvhkjw74_Jwsm1GWaS22FqMPbuBUlkkyJloVPItg39yjmiShSu1PwTC986V4-yVAFT9RTupwXl083NlGRrsy0WpY3lbaF9YxckuzbZcj5p1qcIs/s1600/simongreig.FKok.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCRAvGsjP9uZLz7Fef7I0E2euy5awqUvhkjw74_Jwsm1GWaS22FqMPbuBUlkkyJloVPItg39yjmiShSu1PwTC986V4-yVAFT9RTupwXl083NlGRrsy0WpY3lbaF9YxckuzbZcj5p1qcIs/s320/simongreig.FKok.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xrrr/4060860832/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/xrrr/4060860832/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's important to keep calm and <strike>scary</strike> carry on. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here in Fribble we had a Halloween party where everyone dressed up as people from different countries. It was meant to be fun rather than frightening.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Innocent wore her new designer pumpkin frock. She and her cat look innocent enough on their Halloween bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguiCzbv6nxKBzX7V-_cQQQ7-zkxMHt7dVGW87oGIXzIfObdU4QMHadobpm-rUEST00IfvWcd1iJWuvEnGn0DDPsmtZLPqVsG__vd_muJwH9spGsbzJbPgjvHjLs9gFu5gkOsj7s-6POaDi/s1600/Innocent.halloween.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguiCzbv6nxKBzX7V-_cQQQ7-zkxMHt7dVGW87oGIXzIfObdU4QMHadobpm-rUEST00IfvWcd1iJWuvEnGn0DDPsmtZLPqVsG__vd_muJwH9spGsbzJbPgjvHjLs9gFu5gkOsj7s-6POaDi/s1600/Innocent.halloween.JPG" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Her husband Root was a little weird in a Greek toga and Tamsin was an Egyptian mummy. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But the scariest it got was Lord Brassica as Zog, King of Albania.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyO3cXLT2eLoyu5QpsinTA-fOPC3cWCEyACzQ_KJ7K1XHwwpSjvQGokZMp5YAIJytEXlVe2pc2rQHCiyoFxu1ljGurqqF5XSZQutkAUkjzaEttkjkA422VZLTegyjTZU1xSpA8sd1L7Us/s1600/Hallw.+nations.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyO3cXLT2eLoyu5QpsinTA-fOPC3cWCEyACzQ_KJ7K1XHwwpSjvQGokZMp5YAIJytEXlVe2pc2rQHCiyoFxu1ljGurqqF5XSZQutkAUkjzaEttkjkA422VZLTegyjTZU1xSpA8sd1L7Us/s320/Hallw.+nations.JPG" width="308" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Far worse are the people who sit on benches without heads . . .</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFafI3GFsOkHafP_NjbI7FS6Tw7J-3R0SCymb5Ajn4PW02gY-7Lp78Euf63p0nOr-MLwTSdu8NclizkJfzQ8041hGW9t9o3mWpDkD6ifZjJjEYtc1IrRi_HOE0rJ9NNySetA4UmsuPtzIo/s1600/expatwinnipegger.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFafI3GFsOkHafP_NjbI7FS6Tw7J-3R0SCymb5Ajn4PW02gY-7Lp78Euf63p0nOr-MLwTSdu8NclizkJfzQ8041hGW9t9o3mWpDkD6ifZjJjEYtc1IrRi_HOE0rJ9NNySetA4UmsuPtzIo/s320/expatwinnipegger.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wunderlich/" style="text-align: left;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/wunderlich/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. . . or the ones who have a head but lack anything substantial in the way of a body . . .</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWnKE8_WWJK5FK6b8_qKNT-pQKJe4PIIXg9rNLbqmS7xzNzoOFm8T-bK9pvY_8um6VAtgKwIShaKVt0Ser5YsZ0DshnfrzDdEhtKPUXbzEf6RSb2z8DOBIjj2_pv_k4N9VubI5i2ytjQpB/s1600/Screenshot_2013-10-17-22-13-29-1-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWnKE8_WWJK5FK6b8_qKNT-pQKJe4PIIXg9rNLbqmS7xzNzoOFm8T-bK9pvY_8um6VAtgKwIShaKVt0Ser5YsZ0DshnfrzDdEhtKPUXbzEf6RSb2z8DOBIjj2_pv_k4N9VubI5i2ytjQpB/s320/Screenshot_2013-10-17-22-13-29-1-1.jpg" width="169" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Joanna Michalak</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The problem with skeletons is, they're just too thin. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But not as thin as wire people. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNwsd8W1PCVcKWrs8xl_45gtKZcAyGxEfPf9dqyxTgXJmEbTQly4iuk8fXPbmuJjOOy2ew9mri6Bc3Wpvat7ErCbIFmPSzrTvr7BORWCZEY94ayoMO8CNkZHaALvaCBd32ixLUOjn7l4N/s467/FB_IMG_1602923968234.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="346" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNwsd8W1PCVcKWrs8xl_45gtKZcAyGxEfPf9dqyxTgXJmEbTQly4iuk8fXPbmuJjOOy2ew9mri6Bc3Wpvat7ErCbIFmPSzrTvr7BORWCZEY94ayoMO8CNkZHaALvaCBd32ixLUOjn7l4N/s320/FB_IMG_1602923968234.jpg" /></a></div> <i>Man Geht Mil </i>1916, Hannah Hoch<br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Brassicas had another Halloween party over at Drizzly Manor which, I gather, was more sinister. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizaxzXD8pbIuHO6zV5kBpYnB4WXfzIqdyqh-J0-aKiiiBIGFdH51amFUMJY5hXIwnLQMyynBVudOOsbPUsjf8rAamyFSZCgsqeBFA8ziLug7EyxAnzekOF_3YLVlx8_bkJGSmvXaXs7k7c/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569835810.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizaxzXD8pbIuHO6zV5kBpYnB4WXfzIqdyqh-J0-aKiiiBIGFdH51amFUMJY5hXIwnLQMyynBVudOOsbPUsjf8rAamyFSZCgsqeBFA8ziLug7EyxAnzekOF_3YLVlx8_bkJGSmvXaXs7k7c/s320/PhotoFunia-1569835810.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">My imaginary friend Miggy turned up shrouded in secrecy. I don't even know which one she is here. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU1LI9WF3j1q1QgZsWywv-QHWX0fxGQHLPea7sW8Zilisusz8NaXzyCNSh_WgK8L7TJ3YpFb5v53HhxgweMRN8vslj8qqJ1qN_u32gINNPCONLNn0OAJhUcKxQiQwgl6lCcABH3P7oZ1l/s1600/shrouded+women.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU1LI9WF3j1q1QgZsWywv-QHWX0fxGQHLPea7sW8Zilisusz8NaXzyCNSh_WgK8L7TJ3YpFb5v53HhxgweMRN8vslj8qqJ1qN_u32gINNPCONLNn0OAJhUcKxQiQwgl6lCcABH3P7oZ1l/s320/shrouded+women.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Time Guards</i>, Manfred Keilnhofer, my photo 2009<br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Unwin the butler served up a cauldron of arms and legs, some with shoes still attached. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">And then little April amused us by removing her head.</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1AD4tcGVgElALXiSeTuTPFeXfXVaV72avJQ9FbpQkY3MxyTEdz6V9c2quY-nH-prxjpnQylcyHmdSdp6IsPzDZ-7_CTfPOyEN9cl-3_VQ3UGkvuzlmRVd8IMkTSoimFWsjmS_3u_ddcpz/s1600/limbs.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1AD4tcGVgElALXiSeTuTPFeXfXVaV72avJQ9FbpQkY3MxyTEdz6V9c2quY-nH-prxjpnQylcyHmdSdp6IsPzDZ-7_CTfPOyEN9cl-3_VQ3UGkvuzlmRVd8IMkTSoimFWsjmS_3u_ddcpz/s320/limbs.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">With a seasonably on-trend spider fascinator on her head Lady Jessica Brassica was a very elegant and dignified Morticia Addams.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0pb-ZYyris4_frXpqQapYcwxxRFrqrzFnUvXJ2kZehhy7k-V2BriD1RcI5bPaLeo379UeryKV5qIyvTfF2hFSPRLzkuvWeu1fao9QXFKnn-p1aqoUHLTLXykm_QMm7ZPn7D_xc-Pn-4v/s1600/LadyB.Halloween.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0pb-ZYyris4_frXpqQapYcwxxRFrqrzFnUvXJ2kZehhy7k-V2BriD1RcI5bPaLeo379UeryKV5qIyvTfF2hFSPRLzkuvWeu1fao9QXFKnn-p1aqoUHLTLXykm_QMm7ZPn7D_xc-Pn-4v/s320/LadyB.Halloween.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Not so dignified was Eddie, my Inner Editor.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEe7jmKSmSmjdyms6QEebCZ9K_q1houAsk9OSt-YrF4GoGiKKapFYidIjlLJb0QE1EaT4cCsS5bNHHEIGO-5qflQjGhB1z40Eds0jFUwlwpKUehaVFDxWRhGj0gyYJ7WWvrrtDw5tmA6MW/s1600/Eddie+baby.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEe7jmKSmSmjdyms6QEebCZ9K_q1houAsk9OSt-YrF4GoGiKKapFYidIjlLJb0QE1EaT4cCsS5bNHHEIGO-5qflQjGhB1z40Eds0jFUwlwpKUehaVFDxWRhGj0gyYJ7WWvrrtDw5tmA6MW/s320/Eddie+baby.JPG" width="229" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We wondered why on earth Eddie dressed himself as a baby. </span>He says he can't imagine anything scarier.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJGEdFqvBgZZVHL-N4V-bma_sWKag8rNT7XxAOTACm_hZt7-4HNojdONFP3eHrl_QDxL40awJz0OHE1CtPN2DFt2bVf3VJcoPrQgVI56HnOnc-Sx1cgz4JUQdzUG-Wa48Nem1l7cwsJjS882yqIgxEzqKbPTtHx3UQCKxsit_LrXfjq-lrl4O1AeNYeA=s799" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="609" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJGEdFqvBgZZVHL-N4V-bma_sWKag8rNT7XxAOTACm_hZt7-4HNojdONFP3eHrl_QDxL40awJz0OHE1CtPN2DFt2bVf3VJcoPrQgVI56HnOnc-Sx1cgz4JUQdzUG-Wa48Nem1l7cwsJjS882yqIgxEzqKbPTtHx3UQCKxsit_LrXfjq-lrl4O1AeNYeA=w305-h400" width="305" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johnson & Johnson Baby Lotion ad, c. 1944</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie explained that babies remind him of creepy crawlies. </span>You can see what he means.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-WVT5B0QA_W8ktHDUmMlvoOX18MRd6c9Jivd_Zah3pQ7jvOAJ5w26EaB6xtny7JaSZD__PHN-Ab2p8f7Kd-dAtn8g4MByj9qCezkLOUYCr70TRCp3Y_YaJMKB_YHgL9dVkd2-AbAA5xR/s1600/RyanHayes.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-WVT5B0QA_W8ktHDUmMlvoOX18MRd6c9Jivd_Zah3pQ7jvOAJ5w26EaB6xtny7JaSZD__PHN-Ab2p8f7Kd-dAtn8g4MByj9qCezkLOUYCr70TRCp3Y_YaJMKB_YHgL9dVkd2-AbAA5xR/s400/RyanHayes.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Which leads me to a question: whatever happened to Baby Jane?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFV92C6AncEXYshTyZ7LEKQ1pG3V1MBjV_T8o2B1SIfmwO7jNGjzaxyeg4UDKhy-YrC6N-1PVRh4YvNtQa74klke3WlPil5IZmQWwe8aINRNL5gsdPgFUm4Ii34A0bvByPuiKGul-cUrg/s1600/uneekdolldesigns.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFV92C6AncEXYshTyZ7LEKQ1pG3V1MBjV_T8o2B1SIfmwO7jNGjzaxyeg4UDKhy-YrC6N-1PVRh4YvNtQa74klke3WlPil5IZmQWwe8aINRNL5gsdPgFUm4Ii34A0bvByPuiKGul-cUrg/s320/uneekdolldesigns.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The haunting look of Baby Jane reminds me of our resident Evil Twin, Cora Boran. She frightens the life out of us by shuffling round the streets of Fribble with her walking frame.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQ9ARqctx3OTa3odCJU8uoqz43vrabhpBvQ81GxZ3x-O22XmpdD9GBgZDWu3PkDVj3SZ8E_4ToQ1HkKyzyoHU3QqQBM-CM2Fqy_9pIXPrkd2aQcsd9XOHStMR0jMyWTtAZtcGCZV1u19h/s1600/Hallw+Cora+(2).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQ9ARqctx3OTa3odCJU8uoqz43vrabhpBvQ81GxZ3x-O22XmpdD9GBgZDWu3PkDVj3SZ8E_4ToQ1HkKyzyoHU3QqQBM-CM2Fqy_9pIXPrkd2aQcsd9XOHStMR0jMyWTtAZtcGCZV1u19h/s320/Hallw+Cora+(2).JPG" width="196" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And now for something truly frightening. Are you ready?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbd-5RulX1fO0bsKUREQRmGyp71oLjqOg4Zk3mXThSATpTnuLKoi_pPe9gBRJmAOYJzhBVHg5XULsjmF4XRiRLQy8ExFV5crgDDoQzHZm0jiaDhVchWp3co1qfzuszYxGiTHUwh8KMyJ3/s1600/J0178843.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbd-5RulX1fO0bsKUREQRmGyp71oLjqOg4Zk3mXThSATpTnuLKoi_pPe9gBRJmAOYJzhBVHg5XULsjmF4XRiRLQy8ExFV5crgDDoQzHZm0jiaDhVchWp3co1qfzuszYxGiTHUwh8KMyJ3/s200/J0178843.JPG" width="132" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ever heard of <i>coulrophobia</i>?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You haven't? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, if you're scared of clowns, look away now.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwOmxBKDlka0_w3NlIFuQV-EFS8qfEoTKTQk2ArfYeP5-0FJlmWDvtvxixCqK4nOh2TtMHc-iVsht34-nPl25qn0XDoFWaX4s41rfCFAdOSz3gb64T2FAT2vDX73EeEDAcV_kIx1eSNDQ/s1600/GeorgeF.Der.Krampus.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwOmxBKDlka0_w3NlIFuQV-EFS8qfEoTKTQk2ArfYeP5-0FJlmWDvtvxixCqK4nOh2TtMHc-iVsht34-nPl25qn0XDoFWaX4s41rfCFAdOSz3gb64T2FAT2vDX73EeEDAcV_kIx1eSNDQ/s320/GeorgeF.Der.Krampus.FKCC.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfoster67/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfoster67/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Der Krampus</i> is very creepy indeed. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The only thing worse would be a clown zombie. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4ud3MqzoBU0EQ1pGvjek23WB8Gn3D8_yFW9GgORI64bSmK9RsZXGhsAzCvaBLBXeH7NaHT8LENJCHLn0T4kG0C_DVX403sbaPgnO9nA23ieV-vr-C49IxrPK5T64NnVsDjRsK5AIJuME/s1600/Scary_Clown_Zombie_-_Flickr_-_SoulStealer_co_uk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4ud3MqzoBU0EQ1pGvjek23WB8Gn3D8_yFW9GgORI64bSmK9RsZXGhsAzCvaBLBXeH7NaHT8LENJCHLn0T4kG0C_DVX403sbaPgnO9nA23ieV-vr-C49IxrPK5T64NnVsDjRsK5AIJuME/s320/Scary_Clown_Zombie_-_Flickr_-_SoulStealer_co_uk.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soul_stealer/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/soul_stealer/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">My imaginary friend Miggy is terrified of zombies and clowns. She is frightened out of her wits by Der Kraumpus. She says if she saw him she would leave home and run away to a motel. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But it's no good going to a motel, Miggy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xRBVmuLartkWGcoB-msfH0I_KR8K0boLGlfMpJwQfvt8Ti41R_uifc2MLA90tNfOfAueqoCfNY9cm9STdZeHv-D_n_tPstYJKgqmuIR2YXTwbzHQtdZij1DCoao3d8AqrFKVEFj2smQV/s1600/Jabbex.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xRBVmuLartkWGcoB-msfH0I_KR8K0boLGlfMpJwQfvt8Ti41R_uifc2MLA90tNfOfAueqoCfNY9cm9STdZeHv-D_n_tPstYJKgqmuIR2YXTwbzHQtdZij1DCoao3d8AqrFKVEFj2smQV/s320/Jabbex.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jabbex/7817593030/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jabbex/7817593030/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There'll be a clown in every room.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMpp4sgSjrUuLx11CIKl_uzlam6Ed6mOsNej1R7DkdNwaqudCSnMEGYAiLAMQhj-0FTGhEPbBvpsC8voHxX0d15b42RBNMcHGMhPrXYfzH-jLQC8uIEHCb8CB-frPts2zrJ2DpGkZa-Vlx/s1600/librariananguish.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMpp4sgSjrUuLx11CIKl_uzlam6Ed6mOsNej1R7DkdNwaqudCSnMEGYAiLAMQhj-0FTGhEPbBvpsC8voHxX0d15b42RBNMcHGMhPrXYfzH-jLQC8uIEHCb8CB-frPts2zrJ2DpGkZa-Vlx/s320/librariananguish.fkcc.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianguish/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianguish/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's no good trying to lock yourself in the room and settle down with a book.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmLEtc9QblO6ERtsL1fFr-svVUxn4K2AB_sKamwKWctnww2Xl5dB9P0yyQCdcnILk9FP7KtvnOqN21rQxxItKVAW4IcDSbYK4-a0bWoO4zA4DNu9at7hNfdAqN2FvejF4zDLN8xlyuuiY/s1600/here.be.clowns..jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmLEtc9QblO6ERtsL1fFr-svVUxn4K2AB_sKamwKWctnww2Xl5dB9P0yyQCdcnILk9FP7KtvnOqN21rQxxItKVAW4IcDSbYK4-a0bWoO4zA4DNu9at7hNfdAqN2FvejF4zDLN8xlyuuiY/s320/here.be.clowns..jpg" width="222" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You won't be able to sleep.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhe69Ux6j7o4_YOoy9PH3mi9OS0ZSjxXtYIBDcahg5rYoHdJ76BHJzl7BFygw6gViIEkaHlSrjI528QEt-Q1Vbp5LEEAXLvhnJqOp8BGBSWygPJna0p0YKgeO7bvuZLaq8TqsTpC3sjXF/s1600/Kohaku16etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhe69Ux6j7o4_YOoy9PH3mi9OS0ZSjxXtYIBDcahg5rYoHdJ76BHJzl7BFygw6gViIEkaHlSrjI528QEt-Q1Vbp5LEEAXLvhnJqOp8BGBSWygPJna0p0YKgeO7bvuZLaq8TqsTpC3sjXF/s1600/Kohaku16etsy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/kohakul16" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/kohakul16</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miggy found herself a simple non-clown motel and she likes the retro car.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0FmZ_NyS64f0mHgq0s98HW1JaI-wjhPEyz4xHN3ZvKWbhYiv_9jNTagyHDDyfTPu2bs8NS61xohTMK8ML89HGRsvT77lmr3o598vctdyRBD9IIo4fw_uZXLeY0ftybs-xe3Pa-7kxU-qX/s1600/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0FmZ_NyS64f0mHgq0s98HW1JaI-wjhPEyz4xHN3ZvKWbhYiv_9jNTagyHDDyfTPu2bs8NS61xohTMK8ML89HGRsvT77lmr3o598vctdyRBD9IIo4fw_uZXLeY0ftybs-xe3Pa-7kxU-qX/s320/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And what's this? A good-looking young man who owns the car. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Name of Norman . . . </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4pu9RVOXY2uADRGBHhuobgKAnxECajLvjBm6ccX2A84x5ftG2NeCqTiiavmYqsRzS4Hr0kv07XSEArmM8u-kPWw1146yZd_8gFsS1RlNM9_jOPg13OnJ4IDTcq8_PERVIS120JU5A5Wn/s1600/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4pu9RVOXY2uADRGBHhuobgKAnxECajLvjBm6ccX2A84x5ftG2NeCqTiiavmYqsRzS4Hr0kv07XSEArmM8u-kPWw1146yZd_8gFsS1RlNM9_jOPg13OnJ4IDTcq8_PERVIS120JU5A5Wn/s320/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Norman? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Bates Motel? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hmmmm. Something about that rings a bell.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Migs! Whatever you do, don't take a shower! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx1KILiGqbSbN1U-b37ssiNAKIfpe7kH2jTAW2VzZdgBMpBwDhoXVk1EA2Bn8nOQOVgfB6HyKl9BzTtwB4ResQYB_q0Dhbjd_gQgt36jyL7ID_CRdzoUOzlz5pt23oB2oH9vQydLJ6AwG/s1600/customshowercurtains.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx1KILiGqbSbN1U-b37ssiNAKIfpe7kH2jTAW2VzZdgBMpBwDhoXVk1EA2Bn8nOQOVgfB6HyKl9BzTtwB4ResQYB_q0Dhbjd_gQgt36jyL7ID_CRdzoUOzlz5pt23oB2oH9vQydLJ6AwG/s320/customshowercurtains.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/customshowercurtains" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/customshowercurtains</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="text-align: center;">And don't even think of calling for help.</span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdY20rmEPJu-TGF_wiE54D0NHCNkqPbG4XgTjNMa6zbLmHqKx021Lx3iuj-j5uRwCHt2H9MZUDrNu2gQqxijZvN_K8MiH_CF1CiIQLJMvG9_VXXN19GzFYknVYiK43RLFoXj-BM9QdpcOV8yNpfSzfb8VOAX4udEQeUHQa89_sUzEOcNm0Ukms2WJ-84Z/s445/FB_IMG_1696842342002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="403" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdY20rmEPJu-TGF_wiE54D0NHCNkqPbG4XgTjNMa6zbLmHqKx021Lx3iuj-j5uRwCHt2H9MZUDrNu2gQqxijZvN_K8MiH_CF1CiIQLJMvG9_VXXN19GzFYknVYiK43RLFoXj-BM9QdpcOV8yNpfSzfb8VOAX4udEQeUHQa89_sUzEOcNm0Ukms2WJ-84Z/s320/FB_IMG_1696842342002.jpg" width="290" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><b>Credits</b></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The alien creature on the little whicker bench is a vintage Halloween costume from the 1930s. I saw it on Bored Panda, where in 2020 it was rated as Number 1 creepiest of all the creepy vintage costumes. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The large spider bench is from Steel Heart Ltd. in Illinois </span><a href="http://www.steelheartlimited.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.steelheartlimited.com/ </a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> They make stylish and unusual home and garden products from cast iron, metal and other materials. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Much Afraid is a character from John Bunyan's <i>The Pilgrim's Progress</i>, 1683. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The drowned bench and the girl coming out of the water is a photograph called <i>Broken</i> by John O'Nolan, 2010. and I saw it at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnonolan/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnonolan/</a> John is from Lincoln and is a passionate web designer, as well as an entrepreneur, programmer, blogger, & author. He's also a member of the WordPress UI Team. There are some stunning portraits on his photostream too. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The witch on the bench is by MOs810 in Poland, taken in 2013. It was taken at the beautiful garden Hortulus Ogrody Tematyczne in Dobrzycy. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hortulus_Dobrzyca_(12).jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hortulus_Dobrzyca_(12).jpg</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I just love these decal bats flying around the elegant bench sofa. They're from Sarah at Stickerhog in Massachusetts. Sarah sells all kinds of wall decals and vinyl graphics for the home; indeed there are decals for every room in the house. Love the cup of steaming coffee! <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/stickerhog">www.etsy.com/shop/stickerhog</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The skeleton in my ensuite is from the wonderful Powerhouse Museum Collection on Flickr Commons. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2980051095/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2980051095/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's a plate glass negative, taken about 1900, entitled Portrait of an articulated skeleton on a bentwood chair. It's a gift of the estate of Raymond W. Phillips, 2008. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The skeletons playing the piano are from the National Archives UK, 1893. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/8141311057/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/8141311057/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The dancing skeletons are a painting by Spanish artist Daniel Sabater (1880-1951). It was painted in 1936 at the start of the Spanish Civil War. No irony there then. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What is it with skeletons playing musical instruments? </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Day of the Dead skeleton couple are from </span><a href="http://www.thrillomatic.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.thrillomatic.com</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> I really like them! They</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> have featured on Benchsite before, at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gambling-on-love-in-las-vegas.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gambling-on-love-in-las-vegas.html</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Joanna Michalak sent me the skeletal hands holding up candles, and the skeleton head with a very flimsy body which looks like it might be made out of a hessian bag. I know Thin is Good and all that, but really, it's not much of a body, is it? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The very, very thin couple walking together are not skeletons but they <i>are</i> seriously thin. The work is called <i>Man Geht Mil</i> and I have not been able to get a sensible translation of this. It was created in 1916 by German artist Hannah Hoch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I photographed my local cemetery just a few days ago here in Fribble-under-Par. Fribble dates from the 14th century so this is a nice old cemetery with lots of Victorian headstones still just about standing. The weeds have taken over, which adds to the atmosphere, and the bench too is in a state of decay. For more about Fribble-under-Par and my paradise island see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">John Tavares Jr. lives in Toronto and uses his photos to document and report. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The zombie girl and the man with his newspaper on a bench is apparently</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Another Quiet Afternoon at Nathan Phillips Square,</span></i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> which suggests that zombies normally inhabit this park. If I'm ever in the area I'll pop along and see one. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/johntavaresjr/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/johntavaresjr/ </a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The intricate spiderweb bench featured as a Boise Daily Photo back in September 2008. It's from Debbie Coulson Smith, the Boise Diva, who posts pictures at <a href="http://www.boisedailyphoto.com/">http://www.boisedailyphoto.com/</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> As it happens, this bench was not for Halloween; it was in front of a tattoo shop.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The witch and her dog in the park (2007) are by David Creswell, who lives in New York City but is very well travelled, as reflected in his Flickr photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cresny/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/cresny/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The little witch in the bike shop and the ghost later on are both Miggy's niece Lettie. Like most kids, Lettie loves Halloween and now that she's older, she still carries on the tradition of dressing up. Lettie has a baaaaad sheep bench story to tell at </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two scary spoons are both from Sarah Parker in Virginia. Her etsy shop has handstamped silverware, etched glass and other unique gifts. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries">www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The broom parking sign is from Wendi West at Wordybird Studios in Utah. Wendi makes wall decals and stickers for every occasion. There are 11 pages of them in her etsy shop, all beautifully photographed against some eye-catching furniture. The orange bench is brilliant so I'm not surprised a witch would wan to park her broom there. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/wordybirdstudios">www.etsy.com/shop/wordybirdstudios</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ria Pereira from Miami took the <i>Happy Floating Halloween</i> image of Oliver the cat on the broomstick. Love the socks. Ria also has a way with coffee; her photos of cappucinos are enough to make me get on my broomstick and fly down to the nearest coffee house. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/riapereira/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/riapereira/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The <i>Don't make me drop a house on you</i> sign, as every witch lover will know, is from the Wizard of Oz. I recognise the socks. It comes from 2 chicks and a basket, who make primitive handpainted and handcrafted signs in their cozy workshop in Pennsylvania. There are plenty of signs for witches, as well as for Christmas and other holidays. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/2chicksandabasket">www.etsy.com/shop/2chicksandabasket</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The demons sending a text are by Martijn van de Street, photographed in 2005. Martijn reckons they were reading a map. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/treenaks/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/treenaks/</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> I saw them at </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demons_on_a_bench.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demons_on_a_bench.jpg?uselang=en-gb</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The three people on a bench with their phones are a sculpture by Berlin-based artist Karoline Hinz. The sculpture, <i>Absorbed by Light</i>, was created by Hinz and designer Gail Lucas for the Amsterdam Light Festival in 2018. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="open-sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Edvard Munch's painting <i>The Scream</i> (1893), is one of the most recognizable works in the history of art. His later works proved to be less intense, but his earlier, darker paintings ensured his legacy. A testament to his importance, The Scream sold for more than $119 million in 2012. His other painting, The Murderer (1910), is less well known but nevertheless very disturbing.</span><span face="open-sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No vampires are involved in the photo of the man and the woman; it's actually ghosts which are the problem here. The woman is actress Betty Nanser, performing in the Ibsen play <i>Gengangere</i> (<i>Ghosts</i>) in 1925. Her co-star is Henrik Bentzon. I can't help thinking she looks a little drained of blood, but perhaps that's the fear of ghosts. The photo is from The Royal Library of Denmark at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofmapsprintsandphotographstheroyallibrarydenmark/8043671034/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofmapsprintsandphotographstheroyallibrarydenmark/8043671034/</a></span></div><div><br /></div>The elegant woman in the green dress is actually not the victim of a vampire; the man is merely kissing her neck. <i>City Vals</i> was created in 1910 by Danish graphic artist Sven Brasch (1886-1970). <br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The little vampire and the girl on the bench were photographed in California in 2008 by Stacey Taylor-Kane. The vampire may look cute, but the photo is called <i>Looking Tasty</i>, which suggests the pretty girl is in some danger from the young vampire. No wonder she looks worried. The photo is from Stacey's photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alleykitten/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/alleykitten/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The pumpkinhead in a kimono is a vintage Halloween card from somewhere between 1900 and 1918. There was a huge fashion trend for kimonos at that time. Sorry, that's all I know. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Boo!</i> is the man in the mask standing on the bench. It's from Drew's Kitschcafe at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/drew-o-rama/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/drew-o-rama/ </a> Drew does a lot of Bench Mondays with this same bench. He likes french fries and vintage clothing and housewares. His photostream is full of colour: dishes, yarn, quilts, food, fabrics - all sorts of bright and brilliant things. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The ghost poem is William Blake’s painting <i>The Poems of Thomas Gray Design 31 (A Long Story</i>), painted between 1797-1798. Blake lived 1757-1827. This is a Google Art Project. The painting is now in the Yale Center for British Art, but, as with most ghosts, not on view. I found it <span style="font-size: x-small;">at </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray,_Design_31,_%22A_Long_Story.%22_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray,_Design_31,_%22A_Long_Story.%22_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><div><br /></div>The ghostly woman beside the blue bench at night is a painting by Norwegian artist Aksel Waldemar Johannessen (1880-1922). Looks like the painting was done in the year of the artist's death. It's called <i>The Night</i>. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The man holding his own head is Simon Greig (xrrr), who is an IT architect and part-time photographer. He has made this photo available via Flickr Creative Commons at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xrrr/4060860832/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/xrrr/4060860832/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's called <i>Happy Headless Halloween</i> and apparently it only took him 15 minutes to make. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The pumpkin head beside the headless body is by Ex-pat Winnipegger John Wunderlich, who now lives in Toronto. His photostream includes great Halloween photos at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wunderlich/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/wunderlich/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The shrouded women are <i>Time Guards</i>, sculptures I saw at Cass Sculpture Park in West Sussex during a visit in 2010. (I have also seen them entitled <i>Guardians of Time</i> - not sure which is correct.) Either way, they are stunning. The work is by Austrian sculptor Manfred Kielnhofer and this year the sculptures have been on tour. This month they have been at the Festival of Lights in Berlin, looking somewhat different from when I saw them. <a href="http://www.artpark.at/2013/10/04/festival-of-lights-berlin-guardians-of-time-by-manfred-kielnhofer-contemporary-modern-light-art-festival/">http://www.artpark.at/2013/10/04/festival-of-lights-berlin-guardians-of-time-by-manfred-kielnhofer-contemporary-modern-light-art-festival/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here in Fribble and Drizzly we take Halloween very seriously. There are lots of parties and people enjoy getting out their costumes. Some are spine-tingly, others are entirely benign. For example, here's Ursula Makepeace, our Unicorn in Residence. She decided to come to the Halloween party wearing the same thing she wore for <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/imagine-its-world-peace-day.html">World Peace Day</a> back in September.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkegBJ-3MEUhESxSbWLRh1ZUtG1O0p4M8ZpYmRINO0VtXac1WYCGYHqeHU2OsmcqJAYyUZTxLCWKFiKkSEPIuPEXv38TmjeMSS7DY8__0uWC3u-x2IGBAP2iUYRpVIdagiMOKn9TOsyFq/s1600/100_5855.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkegBJ-3MEUhESxSbWLRh1ZUtG1O0p4M8ZpYmRINO0VtXac1WYCGYHqeHU2OsmcqJAYyUZTxLCWKFiKkSEPIuPEXv38TmjeMSS7DY8__0uWC3u-x2IGBAP2iUYRpVIdagiMOKn9TOsyFq/s320/100_5855.JPG" width="308" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Baby Jane is a Uneek Doll Design from Debbie Ritter's shop in Alabama. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</a> Debbie makes dolls for all kinds of historic and literary figures, including this Bette Davis doll from her role in <i>Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (date)</i> To my mind, this film is still one of the scariest ever. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Giant Scary Baby Things were photographed by Ryan Hayes in Prague in 2009. He saw them on the Mala Strana. Ryan is from Austin, Texas originally but now lives in London. He photographs a lot of creative people, including the Burning Man festival in Nevada, Halloween, and makeup artists at work. The zombie girl asking for makeup advice at the start of the post is also his. Ryan's photostream is oneflameinthefire at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Der_Krampus is a candy coloured clown I found on Flickr Creative Commons. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfoster67/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfoster67/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He's by George F, perhaps he even </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> George F. I'm not coulrophobic but Der Krampus is very scary indeed. If you don't believe me, have a look at the set of photos of what clowns get up to on their holidays. Elsewhere, George F has some gorgeous, haunting photos of abandoned institutions; these really are the stuff of nightmares.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The coulrophobia badge is by Amber in Atlanta, Georgia. I thought this badge summed up coulrophobia rather succinctly. Apparently the term coulrophobia is a recent one, used mainly on the internet and not derived from any specific psychiatric condition, though it is well-established in research that many people, especially children, have a fear of clowns (Miggy included). A few years ago the Bestival had to change their theme when it became clear that many Bestival-goers are coulrophobic. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Amber's etsy shop sells pinback buttons, magnets, photoprints and art glass penants. </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/people/kohaku16" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/people/kohaku16</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The clown zombie is from Soul Stealer, who took the picture at World Zombie Day in London in 2012. There are a huge number of brilliant portraits on Soul Stealer's photostream, including goblins, steampunks, goths, zombies and some really creepy dolls. It's Halloween every day at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soul_stealer/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/soul_stealer/ </a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Clown Motel is in Tonopah, Nevada and it is very much photographed. According to Trip Advisor in August 2011, its rooms are clean and comfortable. Despite this recommendation, Miggy won't be going there. This photo is by Jon Jabbex, taken in 2012 for his Flickr photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jabbex/7817593030/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jabbex/7817593030/</a> Jon did not find the motel creepy at all, but didn't like the cemetery right behind it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The seated clown with another clown in his lap is also from the Clown Motel; I recognise the photos on the wall behind them. This photo is by librariananguish, who</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> describes herself as a librarian crimefighter. She</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> visited The Clown Motel in 2010 and lived to tell the tale. You can see more photos of the Clown Motel and other scary stuff at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianguish/with/5070021196/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianguish/with/5070021196/</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Here Be Clowns</i> is a book I found in an antique shop. It is an anthology edited by Dorothy Davies and published in 2012. I don't know anything about the plots of the stories but the front cover is enough to send Miggy screaming to the Bates Motel. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><a class="cboxElement" href="http://horrorbug.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/TheBenchPoster.jpg"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Bates Motel is at Universal Studios. It was photographed by Loren Javier in 2011 and appears on his photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you know Alfred Hitchcock's movie Psycho, you'll know all about the Bates hotel and what happened in the shower there. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Loren lives in LA and has an annual pass at Disneyland. But he has loads of photos from Universal Studios too, including a whole collection of Norman Bates and the Bates Motel. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The <i>Psycho</i> shower curtain is one of the many fabulously creative shower curtain designs from Joe. I don't suppose many motels buy them. Joe's shop is at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/customshowercurtains">www.etsy.com/shop/customshowercurtains</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The final Halloween party picture shows Fribble residents, from left to right: Cora Boran (with mask and walking frame); Tamsin Pink (wrapped in shroud); Garcon Orange, a French orange dressed as himself; Tamsin's baby with a spider on his head. In the middle row our Engineer Emily has a bowl of fruit on her head and is supposed to be Carmen Miranda. The wrench in her hand doesn't help. My two cats Rosie and Melissa are at the back, then our police constable Wyme the Crime under the ghost head. He couldn't be scary if he tried. Root, son and heir of Lord Brassica, is wrapped up in a green net (good place for him) and his mate Sk8T is upside down for some reason. In the middle is a little angel called Angela, who appears to be a party-crasher as no one knows who on earth she is. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaslBq67iEhYNHk4i3lg-2L26WwFmgO3-4-0lEqrtiN0RhMOF0Ti61qiAiWVpiJ5ac0R7znYuEeOrN4DiHUI8vwd5MWmRb6K1KfY2A9A-haOLTBQE6O7maEHVhLabMXVU4ScPzAyiHfnvo/s1600/hands.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaslBq67iEhYNHk4i3lg-2L26WwFmgO3-4-0lEqrtiN0RhMOF0Ti61qiAiWVpiJ5ac0R7znYuEeOrN4DiHUI8vwd5MWmRb6K1KfY2A9A-haOLTBQE6O7maEHVhLabMXVU4ScPzAyiHfnvo/s320/hands.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div></div><div><br /></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-92691818412555712023-10-02T00:17:00.003-07:002023-10-02T00:21:33.734-07:00World Animal Day - Benches from Noah's Ark<p> We found old Noah on his bench in the park</p><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_Gr8yfpVgc2J0sR_vmCv9GHT-EdspzVl2NHJ-lxMAoZbr0wYA51WTn3VCHJHwu-vtvcWOEpqJMdpVcO9MVLxwpluQWEW423np3LijqPgGVbv6eNyPPyDexwo6SmlTyG1iXeI2MgtxOI2/s1600/Noah&sheep2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_Gr8yfpVgc2J0sR_vmCv9GHT-EdspzVl2NHJ-lxMAoZbr0wYA51WTn3VCHJHwu-vtvcWOEpqJMdpVcO9MVLxwpluQWEW423np3LijqPgGVbv6eNyPPyDexwo6SmlTyG1iXeI2MgtxOI2/s320/Noah&sheep2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and asked his advice on loading the ark.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiVR7iGcxcd-N6jJsIm3I6H-xvBYK6hkYdqGjrIHin_Pik2YrZ3rhisMCDdveKXsDbP8BQlzaDPvEgwkzcNqX2cblz4_8OrazbEmx6B5-h7iSBl8ah54oOnn2Uq7XUHpLLHMgkzzjZcY0/s1600/boatB1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiVR7iGcxcd-N6jJsIm3I6H-xvBYK6hkYdqGjrIHin_Pik2YrZ3rhisMCDdveKXsDbP8BQlzaDPvEgwkzcNqX2cblz4_8OrazbEmx6B5-h7iSBl8ah54oOnn2Uq7XUHpLLHMgkzzjZcY0/s320/boatB1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It rained so long that we thought <i>Crikey!</i></span><br /><i>A flood of biblical proportions looks likely</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnKnFwDPGLvTS8CzY34ZH4FQbDstchVTpqWJXcn0D0UJZuAZ4lrE_In5BOhzbEgKuq4DP3nO32yCuG6d0SlIxAQiQF2aBySihnmaEczwHDmnt8j6yJ2BHWtEsyLLA2DwaeetiBvpS8t5_/s1600/rain!.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnKnFwDPGLvTS8CzY34ZH4FQbDstchVTpqWJXcn0D0UJZuAZ4lrE_In5BOhzbEgKuq4DP3nO32yCuG6d0SlIxAQiQF2aBySihnmaEczwHDmnt8j6yJ2BHWtEsyLLA2DwaeetiBvpS8t5_/s320/rain!.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Though rounding up animals is quite a chore</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Noah knew how - he'd done it before.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So the Fribble lads and the Drizzly wenches</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">set out to save our animal benches.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><i>Wenches</i> is a silly word. Is it just here to keep the rhyme? Editor</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The big ones went first: the tigers</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwOkpgoV5gZySBooHAv3KMd0ptsZLsWACpbef4lKS6pAyPOaZLeXDeCHH_ZiSpcjtDWryD67OpNoa4_bNeOfQXOmJVlTXglL9Kx7efirXaeLU6jyqrUAoFGi6OYrY-EBq9Djd5UZ77N7K/s1600/asianreplicas.siberian_tiger_animal_bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwOkpgoV5gZySBooHAv3KMd0ptsZLsWACpbef4lKS6pAyPOaZLeXDeCHH_ZiSpcjtDWryD67OpNoa4_bNeOfQXOmJVlTXglL9Kx7efirXaeLU6jyqrUAoFGi6OYrY-EBq9Djd5UZ77N7K/s320/asianreplicas.siberian_tiger_animal_bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/">www.asianreplicas.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the cows</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUcDdYp_AtYXVeg-c7WiD8VjRUWCko_AnfawAukBKNGAasBc3_clOnK1mH7dd7pmKZFWwrpDljVuzzhpWNHJ8je4i5VTxpqWYepjUv0MWVffqM2SOQY_wPcbH5EQMsg8vDlrlbYmLpxNK/s1600/kothen.anhalt.WK.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUcDdYp_AtYXVeg-c7WiD8VjRUWCko_AnfawAukBKNGAasBc3_clOnK1mH7dd7pmKZFWwrpDljVuzzhpWNHJ8je4i5VTxpqWYepjUv0MWVffqM2SOQY_wPcbH5EQMsg8vDlrlbYmLpxNK/s320/kothen.anhalt.WK.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-08_K%C3%B6then_(Anhalt)_12.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-08</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the zebra</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhDv6zMsQw-tpgmfDuRBJr2l9POXDYp4W7JX3Nf13J9KKudlAv20iT3MQvRVc84KDTErj2oryrP2LMaDSNKmCL0RAoLlhkISPDzZBF7EMC62ws5hyphenhyphenIs9gguifqikUlT9TuS2FThJBqBvg/s1600/ZEBRA+BENCH.lifesizemodels(7).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhDv6zMsQw-tpgmfDuRBJr2l9POXDYp4W7JX3Nf13J9KKudlAv20iT3MQvRVc84KDTErj2oryrP2LMaDSNKmCL0RAoLlhkISPDzZBF7EMC62ws5hyphenhyphenIs9gguifqikUlT9TuS2FThJBqBvg/s320/ZEBRA+BENCH.lifesizemodels(7).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""calibri" , "sans-serif"" style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000022/!x-usc:http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk/"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk</span></span></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the buffalo</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMGq9bT5tyEwvrDph_wlfQngJKMTsHWth7rtfFThC7f1Rlb3vHdpDQFecpOTaF2FvWk1Teej6spBmfKDhQ-0XEqUjEGCO-AKUggJ-Jp1YF9-poqy9-h59vuKsjcWJ8l1PWrv_wpP3xJeLC/s1600/creativecommonsbuff.fkr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMGq9bT5tyEwvrDph_wlfQngJKMTsHWth7rtfFThC7f1Rlb3vHdpDQFecpOTaF2FvWk1Teej6spBmfKDhQ-0XEqUjEGCO-AKUggJ-Jp1YF9-poqy9-h59vuKsjcWJ8l1PWrv_wpP3xJeLC/s320/creativecommonsbuff.fkr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the sun bear</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhq-x15Pc2YLn-ey5JF9ZvXZPVrn73Xjbakddhg_P8UdnsyGnwsJdAdcKQ6QREhd3_E210pQ5ISz4_8eZHxa40nWJxzMpdTmRuOK7eF3ubXnwZeJuOzPIGKDW2A9l0vNHcqBGGrz3gj9Dt/s1600/beartonguecommons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhq-x15Pc2YLn-ey5JF9ZvXZPVrn73Xjbakddhg_P8UdnsyGnwsJdAdcKQ6QREhd3_E210pQ5ISz4_8eZHxa40nWJxzMpdTmRuOK7eF3ubXnwZeJuOzPIGKDW2A9l0vNHcqBGGrz3gj9Dt/s320/beartonguecommons.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenzowie/with/8731733772/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenzowie</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the sows.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg626XQ8Fa6k5jB0kON2NGdBNm6ik9C5NVf6Ts0td5QTR3t_rvFoyZT8vEm34oWNBSZMkHJ6nkFZvjPDRrAtFxZsOTy0VJ5vFU0xKFGsgVGa4bw8__lfzBjtKkP5Lber0iTvriTujGYtslp/s1600/Gimme-PigB.pamela.silinpalmer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg626XQ8Fa6k5jB0kON2NGdBNm6ik9C5NVf6Ts0td5QTR3t_rvFoyZT8vEm34oWNBSZMkHJ6nkFZvjPDRrAtFxZsOTy0VJ5vFU0xKFGsgVGa4bw8__lfzBjtKkP5Lber0iTvriTujGYtslp/s1600/Gimme-PigB.pamela.silinpalmer.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "arial";">©Pamela Silin-Palmer 2013</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Noah referred to his <i>Ancient Ark Planne</i>r</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and asked them to wait in an orderly manner.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ugRtizM_-tLmjavog8k-pVNzP8wp3S-IZ3dSvG73bzZ7Yxzyj5UxLP17MFovOYilrc1aMmXGxVt41B0ecwCLaes_nP6WQKPK4FAtZdotamWmR_k4H7U6nX032cdUgB77MHaVhks0_6yL/s1600/scarycrow.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ugRtizM_-tLmjavog8k-pVNzP8wp3S-IZ3dSvG73bzZ7Yxzyj5UxLP17MFovOYilrc1aMmXGxVt41B0ecwCLaes_nP6WQKPK4FAtZdotamWmR_k4H7U6nX032cdUgB77MHaVhks0_6yL/s320/scarycrow.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarycrow/3520051220/sizes/m/in/photolist-6n4bAh/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarycrow/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The wolves howled their protest </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoV51YAfE0xpwgxJ_2ik79T7LHOk_mQLpxFVLGlWlRoEG0L5e6P1c4v3vd544ERaBEPQpfU0Q1MFZxJoAa7ZFmBJQ5L1RrvyWPupcjW1elhruaqu9QZyhtUYNU3BXZw7mglSfvpAOR27hC/s1600/artwooddesigns.com.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoV51YAfE0xpwgxJ_2ik79T7LHOk_mQLpxFVLGlWlRoEG0L5e6P1c4v3vd544ERaBEPQpfU0Q1MFZxJoAa7ZFmBJQ5L1RrvyWPupcjW1elhruaqu9QZyhtUYNU3BXZw7mglSfvpAOR27hC/s1600/artwooddesigns.com.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.artwooddesigns.com/">www.artwooddesigns.com</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The owl was a screecher</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cVbPpTARGV_vouRsz8K4WeGMVFJpYLflIiMp2x8f15xlsHkKtKwhO9nF7FgbAsGBxCruZVcDmSgJG3sFrqO_Zur4YwOhnoutioe2v67q82oW3VFBpPYKPdcVMmgAI4-eFix1glGxdHfz/s1600/Owl_Bench_-_geograph_org_uk_-_1423367.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cVbPpTARGV_vouRsz8K4WeGMVFJpYLflIiMp2x8f15xlsHkKtKwhO9nF7FgbAsGBxCruZVcDmSgJG3sFrqO_Zur4YwOhnoutioe2v67q82oW3VFBpPYKPdcVMmgAI4-eFix1glGxdHfz/s320/Owl_Bench_-_geograph_org_uk_-_1423367.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_Bench">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_Bench</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">but we wanted to save each precious creature.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">Dubious rhyme here, Seashell. Do sort yourself out. Editor.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The foxes</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyF3Kykv9Ozn_FCFTDaMvOwd4WQAfcIXky5FbKneY8cvSlfwyGo-IQctJMMQ3HfwjJWWhaCXuPPvrP52UEf_VYipzi6B9RPds0-3IAgH9QnHU8ayqVoFZ_DkwNP-viqt5DKqQuwBNGEOS/s1600/appley+bench+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyF3Kykv9Ozn_FCFTDaMvOwd4WQAfcIXky5FbKneY8cvSlfwyGo-IQctJMMQ3HfwjJWWhaCXuPPvrP52UEf_VYipzi6B9RPds0-3IAgH9QnHU8ayqVoFZ_DkwNP-viqt5DKqQuwBNGEOS/s320/appley+bench+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Joanna Michalak</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the horned frog</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Cmb4LlZZjPzw0MifdogA8uw-FIAzdnK7XPJYT8AIrLAEnc8bZcFhTvS5OmL065Ly6mcGVMeUeIHyWp-7b4CIvZO0VWXPsjn-eSukT79tv36b98d7z7pYsFZWG8Mne_2_c6zstEszEEX8/s1600/jimmywayne.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Cmb4LlZZjPzw0MifdogA8uw-FIAzdnK7XPJYT8AIrLAEnc8bZcFhTvS5OmL065Ly6mcGVMeUeIHyWp-7b4CIvZO0VWXPsjn-eSukT79tv36b98d7z7pYsFZWG8Mne_2_c6zstEszEEX8/s320/jimmywayne.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the bunnies</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibi-m7ufO-nqfhjaaYKRhSgAek93ZSTjf9Bd4J1xE1cxmPszhp1Q7ihRGRN_5kPFXAGcNVMJ0N7boRvLwzCN1XquBOe6LDCR4vSzMGEKpb4-wzQF4ey9ybKEdI6RZcsjHw-cbCydEE7dL_/s1600/rabbitBench1991.pamela.silinpalmer..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibi-m7ufO-nqfhjaaYKRhSgAek93ZSTjf9Bd4J1xE1cxmPszhp1Q7ihRGRN_5kPFXAGcNVMJ0N7boRvLwzCN1XquBOe6LDCR4vSzMGEKpb4-wzQF4ey9ybKEdI6RZcsjHw-cbCydEE7dL_/s1600/rabbitBench1991.pamela.silinpalmer..jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial";">©Pamela Silin-Palmer 2013</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the sheep</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1p1k8ROtrTBxLizp5y-LYUS-hoVqeTV1jXclWuU6Jbd3OiNS6h6h89aOeK9RU6EspsUULnf-jEYJEaUZvRPJj_YvtUbXGwqPhZTCNusNMUyDJWnbhFGI-yxh-6K-bNCemn7R7tOOFrywD/s1600/rosaliesherman.philart.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1p1k8ROtrTBxLizp5y-LYUS-hoVqeTV1jXclWuU6Jbd3OiNS6h6h89aOeK9RU6EspsUULnf-jEYJEaUZvRPJj_YvtUbXGwqPhZTCNusNMUyDJWnbhFGI-yxh-6K-bNCemn7R7tOOFrywD/s320/rosaliesherman.philart.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.philart.net/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.philart.net/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">each animal bench we wanted to keep.* </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79; font-size: x-small;">*Except snakes. I hate snakes.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The squirrel bench</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBJFk-HPiUU3N6o7bbF3IRAWmjudaEn1gtS6Jt-KB-4T8JxuSTmWCumoVlBQpPl7z0sJQ_dKYaemvHMy_RPn2rlKAWivXIDyWDKSSEOG9qpKFh0hRQ6CA73oHPrQhI12zwJaq7ivXsTL8/s1600/565px-Station_bench_-_geograph_org_uk_-_241759.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBJFk-HPiUU3N6o7bbF3IRAWmjudaEn1gtS6Jt-KB-4T8JxuSTmWCumoVlBQpPl7z0sJQ_dKYaemvHMy_RPn2rlKAWivXIDyWDKSSEOG9qpKFh0hRQ6CA73oHPrQhI12zwJaq7ivXsTL8/s320/565px-Station_bench_-_geograph_org_uk_-_241759.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_241759.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_bench</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and peacock</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGHmjyfoMqJWP0E2KRvF_M3RaRpPJM_yti3YV0ccqemuAtLYO5-CKL1Nc60i3A3CBC1FEjLakq-qZGo-9fNsOoh5mL9AaYQ8q9axQOdMvTwmNFRpgrClL2jorRltK6qWH9wkHXTcB-aK-/s1600/800px-Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGHmjyfoMqJWP0E2KRvF_M3RaRpPJM_yti3YV0ccqemuAtLYO5-CKL1Nc60i3A3CBC1FEjLakq-qZGo-9fNsOoh5mL9AaYQ8q9axQOdMvTwmNFRpgrClL2jorRltK6qWH9wkHXTcB-aK-/s320/800px-Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Jinnah</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">we put on the boat, along with the wombat</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1mi2psVtl5d4T6MR7sjZVys362sXB1SzB2pjRXbBOYJubwnsPzlJ7nEXv0zGrFBZmjyFEER9sX1ofdp05TmOUw9NMCTwe2HZAdJ9xouUWdjR-y-mQ6WtyegWycAxNvldyyWfhGe94WBQv/s1600/mikecogh.sturt.ade2012.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1mi2psVtl5d4T6MR7sjZVys362sXB1SzB2pjRXbBOYJubwnsPzlJ7nEXv0zGrFBZmjyFEER9sX1ofdp05TmOUw9NMCTwe2HZAdJ9xouUWdjR-y-mQ6WtyegWycAxNvldyyWfhGe94WBQv/s320/mikecogh.sturt.ade2012.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the horse</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKf0TErYOhMpkmfekFZiAAUxqMwf43Jbx-G9ZY9nCy_OnvGSHRPCdDHzDFfU9ovREcLPw4vVuME3NJ2Nkweb9QTdvsWVY8qrKUx4c4fIZuFCLZ7qqH8FVzqsNOhQpo3sv_EZTAcA8aAiO/s1600/queenofcreativity.BS.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKf0TErYOhMpkmfekFZiAAUxqMwf43Jbx-G9ZY9nCy_OnvGSHRPCdDHzDFfU9ovREcLPw4vVuME3NJ2Nkweb9QTdvsWVY8qrKUx4c4fIZuFCLZ7qqH8FVzqsNOhQpo3sv_EZTAcA8aAiO/s320/queenofcreativity.BS.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: x-small;">http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and the goat.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKewUaeTUcScrtoI3b-Z0OjM8UnhsApBlai_H3Ie6T0aHhDSiSyb6PBKqtbageJvnvPFWsG0gzpFW4hJoH9CGrko157ETRFD7wxSW4w5Sdglm9dXc3ngl8SF0pPP6bZs8BwEph1gDZurp7/s1600/erika.crofut.goat-bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKewUaeTUcScrtoI3b-Z0OjM8UnhsApBlai_H3Ie6T0aHhDSiSyb6PBKqtbageJvnvPFWsG0gzpFW4hJoH9CGrko157ETRFD7wxSW4w5Sdglm9dXc3ngl8SF0pPP6bZs8BwEph1gDZurp7/s320/erika.crofut.goat-bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.erikacrofut.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.erikacrofut.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">What about pandas? I'd like to see a panda bench. Editor</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There was space for the badgers</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloC9TCj0N0PNtWi3UmOW6iH0C9eyt6HddfalX9VnVr2W3GjbF4k8CHsxTQ7gX27exIgMSMBWeElLxrCsr9Kt8j6Kkad8eO4IeAHxmQ1GJLkkMUWQY3u8wPqU13KVyW8sIKe_ORQEnE6n9/s1600/carvedtree.badgers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloC9TCj0N0PNtWi3UmOW6iH0C9eyt6HddfalX9VnVr2W3GjbF4k8CHsxTQ7gX27exIgMSMBWeElLxrCsr9Kt8j6Kkad8eO4IeAHxmQ1GJLkkMUWQY3u8wPqU13KVyW8sIKe_ORQEnE6n9/s200/carvedtree.badgers.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a place for the frogs</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EDdpiv618C6Lh_l9UlLDiqPfGS2p9ny4D8W0V3RrgSDQYKQ29GJ_YKamocc9i0jq3AEKA_gtcXJ7XymJzJ_08xG2NjWUnCwti5VDwrThTQzkZfHl8e94BBz-M_g92WjLcrYWV2LpkJNM/s1600/rustilee.frog.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EDdpiv618C6Lh_l9UlLDiqPfGS2p9ny4D8W0V3RrgSDQYKQ29GJ_YKamocc9i0jq3AEKA_gtcXJ7XymJzJ_08xG2NjWUnCwti5VDwrThTQzkZfHl8e94BBz-M_g92WjLcrYWV2LpkJNM/s320/rustilee.frog.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/rustilee" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/rustilee</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">adorable monkeys</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSq2QZr2Tod6noMDhiwL0miVjXpf7veC8Ou6xvaNOunmz7fFuWVoCCq2mjsSzkhPeHx1Pei68wLKHNX2Xm0roAkK7k9jaZjaFhfjRIiCRQ47rTBLPDXAeLq1MiywQdRHOPmJuVk5RgC04W/s1600/kanmuryoumonkeys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSq2QZr2Tod6noMDhiwL0miVjXpf7veC8Ou6xvaNOunmz7fFuWVoCCq2mjsSzkhPeHx1Pei68wLKHNX2Xm0roAkK7k9jaZjaFhfjRIiCRQ47rTBLPDXAeLq1MiywQdRHOPmJuVk5RgC04W/s320/kanmuryoumonkeys.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and a couple of dogs.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjXfrJ_Wcx68pflUV8q_7lCcwoYm5DiWla9omLe5PqvutvIT3fmEcPAepaGOpRWFEh8wu8vq5mdhtZ6EY7nIKzwmCnJ0niDrDDsAjwreUz_7ye6xL9BLV4VMIv8Yez0mwJrAnbct-VAlz/s1600/eclectic-benches.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjXfrJ_Wcx68pflUV8q_7lCcwoYm5DiWla9omLe5PqvutvIT3fmEcPAepaGOpRWFEh8wu8vq5mdhtZ6EY7nIKzwmCnJ0niDrDDsAjwreUz_7ye6xL9BLV4VMIv8Yez0mwJrAnbct-VAlz/s320/eclectic-benches.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.dogmt.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.dogmt.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Some were wood </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYX6mTCzC2P09cg29bZAWFdJKsWU3nM1mx_QppHdfuJaGYkCTBm4q8iI2eyII_C4YJunFYj0XYe-WR7vmqadx-xLrZs2L-PzoUYC9bgvmMfgaIshWwYE_eBSVmaLJvXFEN6O5iBAht5DQ/s1600/dragonwooddesigns.turtle.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYX6mTCzC2P09cg29bZAWFdJKsWU3nM1mx_QppHdfuJaGYkCTBm4q8iI2eyII_C4YJunFYj0XYe-WR7vmqadx-xLrZs2L-PzoUYC9bgvmMfgaIshWwYE_eBSVmaLJvXFEN6O5iBAht5DQ/s320/dragonwooddesigns.turtle.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and some were stone</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2eaRXQ-VvCNwXWhQafn0Tacqt_P0uEj7VlkyPD6zhphJmDGk9uwZqzQKwRm_-akR4KxQR3ZdndUJbGzOWa-htGPZKqegJ5sNmO7jMkd84AP9bB76Qy1ut2Q6r3eupBiZ38z2NU-ioU6K5/s1600/ell-r-brown.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2eaRXQ-VvCNwXWhQafn0Tacqt_P0uEj7VlkyPD6zhphJmDGk9uwZqzQKwRm_-akR4KxQR3ZdndUJbGzOWa-htGPZKqegJ5sNmO7jMkd84AP9bB76Qy1ut2Q6r3eupBiZ38z2NU-ioU6K5/s320/ell-r-brown.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">some were skeletons</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfRLaDE8Tkv9OILT-nyMBlVQCpEHBT9rDmusKg4Kitz0OoTxyMZX7hHN5tTloiH0Q-0wKs5IQw22cnxRrwRdTc5ELNR6fPxcaIqwyZUgcneq7CTGuNqDAgww3P0cCXEmvaqgBEed3MXT3/s1600/mieke.tachen.studiojob..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfRLaDE8Tkv9OILT-nyMBlVQCpEHBT9rDmusKg4Kitz0OoTxyMZX7hHN5tTloiH0Q-0wKs5IQw22cnxRrwRdTc5ELNR6fPxcaIqwyZUgcneq7CTGuNqDAgww3P0cCXEmvaqgBEed3MXT3/s320/mieke.tachen.studiojob..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and some were bone.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mEZFPhObUfbxHCBv3CKmmb3Lt2VAWXX2XywqXOcLBBBXsWzqA4BfpoiPOF9psRrB16k31wXlKZ8tdJP94pkMt0ZPVQJx0kYbOjvdxl57rt6eCKwBofYWfodAhatfp9Ge0verwr_dusl_/s1600/dogboneB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mEZFPhObUfbxHCBv3CKmmb3Lt2VAWXX2XywqXOcLBBBXsWzqA4BfpoiPOF9psRrB16k31wXlKZ8tdJP94pkMt0ZPVQJx0kYbOjvdxl57rt6eCKwBofYWfodAhatfp9Ge0verwr_dusl_/s1600/dogboneB.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.marenakos.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.marenakos.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">That's lucky. Those dogs will need something to eat. Ed.</span><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There were lots of lovely paw benches saved</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvASO1apWbyVPoLQbSh_8IuYJ_XSlxDiEuN1GA4GS4BMSxYaX8e_Mzzc1g3rThvxTiU25N_5AGWFnRlzcDriz4Xxr_-ESfaQPr2FgnbjwQX82hmoMWw4P91F7eFxfL31gbiweF02V7Sbqd/s1600/paws.katerobertson.qofcreativity.ID.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvASO1apWbyVPoLQbSh_8IuYJ_XSlxDiEuN1GA4GS4BMSxYaX8e_Mzzc1g3rThvxTiU25N_5AGWFnRlzcDriz4Xxr_-ESfaQPr2FgnbjwQX82hmoMWw4P91F7eFxfL31gbiweF02V7Sbqd/s1600/paws.katerobertson.qofcreativity.ID.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: x-small;">http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">though some of the dogs </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">were not well behaved.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HpclnGIpV653rbFVX48PaEEs4lAxJbBJBeLDHvY8JjgIsOzNAA-No8_pPMvBrcBZJEzbz9oqUA6mNK_vp9xnA-0KUj-Cs-Y_DFtxLlc1HnjdcWn61zoxH_yi7AMHH9-qRKwoPE_8D-Cf/s1600/spicytec.com.Straight+Line+Designs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HpclnGIpV653rbFVX48PaEEs4lAxJbBJBeLDHvY8JjgIsOzNAA-No8_pPMvBrcBZJEzbz9oqUA6mNK_vp9xnA-0KUj-Cs-Y_DFtxLlc1HnjdcWn61zoxH_yi7AMHH9-qRKwoPE_8D-Cf/s320/spicytec.com.Straight+Line+Designs.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000032/!x-usc:http://www.straightlinedesigns.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">www.straightlinedesigns.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">You could take off some of those dogs and save a panda. Ed.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79; font-size: x-small;">What's with the pandas? They get enough publicity as it is. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about dragonflies?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85XMZWuLp3PyT6W4chRLtlnt_biEd9nqLcXsy3LItZPVo_Y_7PI5wqV-AnkK6kMAIgJKbsVGYLGzQAzdFOlmrkkUMFDr4YDr22IKwQ34EiQBHjB8sliP5jiZF2IFyLoEL6RcmDmZbsBzT/s1600/houzzdragonfly.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85XMZWuLp3PyT6W4chRLtlnt_biEd9nqLcXsy3LItZPVo_Y_7PI5wqV-AnkK6kMAIgJKbsVGYLGzQAzdFOlmrkkUMFDr4YDr22IKwQ34EiQBHjB8sliP5jiZF2IFyLoEL6RcmDmZbsBzT/s1600/houzzdragonfly.bmp" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.cottageandbungalow.com/">www.cottageandbungalow.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about bats?*</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87pfwwAyYfy3wTV-4tPIKgmWAuxbS6WU0CgJ4mDXULU5eNZ6EmQSytwXZDPvwQnmiNMCCCr2Jb0I1C0gCYUk6QaOyNL5NxLVKWqlxOo4WARBDOPOz0m2c-23od74iEa67w_wq2ZphG5VF/s1600/tuscalosajoe.commons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87pfwwAyYfy3wTV-4tPIKgmWAuxbS6WU0CgJ4mDXULU5eNZ6EmQSytwXZDPvwQnmiNMCCCr2Jb0I1C0gCYUk6QaOyNL5NxLVKWqlxOo4WARBDOPOz0m2c-23od74iEa67w_wq2ZphG5VF/s320/tuscalosajoe.commons.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dziadzia/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/dziadzia/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">*It seems to have escaped your notice that these are baseball bats. Ed.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Centipedes matter!</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlGH5Weq6NLtlA7M7VWKSjRQqi_HK2TyXC0B5f53BEAFSvGOxBF9cYhVHN5L-cQswD1m_V4KKD3obwaPtM1AJtOQCMaawcKeQDBeTZdxHeCb9oQ_W6VwsEket5gZggalI7u0JDS-Ot3lcH/s1600/Shongololo_bench_by_louis_henri_02.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlGH5Weq6NLtlA7M7VWKSjRQqi_HK2TyXC0B5f53BEAFSvGOxBF9cYhVHN5L-cQswD1m_V4KKD3obwaPtM1AJtOQCMaawcKeQDBeTZdxHeCb9oQ_W6VwsEket5gZggalI7u0JDS-Ot3lcH/s320/Shongololo_bench_by_louis_henri_02.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.louishenri.com/">www.louishenri.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and so do cats.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVT0sP1wNstW5Lsjmj0G5gnxTVEUVf-ocdqI51hxn0JgR6gd7vY8bgp4Qv7LwTCC618T9wC4ANjHlBsByvcdIzcsGqx476OO-Jnr1NHwmqo52LyIYyZAOjVFine7gZHmkPr-707XP4WRGD/s1600/DonDrummcatbench.lehcar1477.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVT0sP1wNstW5Lsjmj0G5gnxTVEUVf-ocdqI51hxn0JgR6gd7vY8bgp4Qv7LwTCC618T9wC4ANjHlBsByvcdIzcsGqx476OO-Jnr1NHwmqo52LyIYyZAOjVFine7gZHmkPr-707XP4WRGD/s320/DonDrummcatbench.lehcar1477.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There's space for a rabbit</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfI8abcBl8Jhl-2x8Kw6we7M8F58uzvRWIgMY7lPUkDyU3j-7-XT9ujOE85IX7U6fUz16qaUk6oWRUCAkMNw5Z4BVWpkRRYjqQjM2SNE_HYg2P_l_TltmThO4ou0nE_KWmU02UGaypdz4/s1600/georgia.gerber.Rabbit-Bench-web.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfI8abcBl8Jhl-2x8Kw6we7M8F58uzvRWIgMY7lPUkDyU3j-7-XT9ujOE85IX7U6fUz16qaUk6oWRUCAkMNw5Z4BVWpkRRYjqQjM2SNE_HYg2P_l_TltmThO4ou0nE_KWmU02UGaypdz4/s1600/georgia.gerber.Rabbit-Bench-web.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.georgiagerber.com/">http://www.georgiagerber.com/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and a lizard, of course</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkkhAiVxGxwwB2UJRSwxeZnFAk-43qhmL898-qdS76sRS0iwAjEVsf_Uyl654Huw9duMJUCDy5oUjFYCQjE8TK53ufKrK2CrY67fGMSepKD7eE4UWr3jhAiqKSKnOFOEGOE-fRRL_orkLS/s1600/Mosaic_street_bank.Adelaide..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkkhAiVxGxwwB2UJRSwxeZnFAk-43qhmL898-qdS76sRS0iwAjEVsf_Uyl654Huw9duMJUCDy5oUjFYCQjE8TK53ufKrK2CrY67fGMSepKD7eE4UWr3jhAiqKSKnOFOEGOE-fRRL_orkLS/s320/Mosaic_street_bank.Adelaide..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_street_bank.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_street_bank.jpg</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">we can fit in a deer</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMvoOuNxWCbDQzX-eT95GX3bx2NonPNRSZsPw8JyzS_ozvxvOEXn_MVgSme689cKS_W31v7FsvdgxwkPbIaKtuTGBPKzLBKjk5nNw1n3TKBrgLNhtSzhO7sX3uwvoyRUQ0yiqF9DgVS0A/s1600/Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMvoOuNxWCbDQzX-eT95GX3bx2NonPNRSZsPw8JyzS_ozvxvOEXn_MVgSme689cKS_W31v7FsvdgxwkPbIaKtuTGBPKzLBKjk5nNw1n3TKBrgLNhtSzhO7sX3uwvoyRUQ0yiqF9DgVS0A/s320/Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruno_Weber</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and another nice horse. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sxQVJReGvzzJGsacZgLpNuua12AFaacsVpkFhM5tx6BXu4jq_tbM4hDVY1DI6Ya3Drn0gbN17UCXWKBBj6P8PaRnWkhapN7ZvxE3nqEejgXfU72H2R1qJlhUBEwGgqrk8WgK5aI4a8fL/s1600/horse_bench.3Drivers.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sxQVJReGvzzJGsacZgLpNuua12AFaacsVpkFhM5tx6BXu4jq_tbM4hDVY1DI6Ya3Drn0gbN17UCXWKBBj6P8PaRnWkhapN7ZvxE3nqEejgXfU72H2R1qJlhUBEwGgqrk8WgK5aI4a8fL/s320/horse_bench.3Drivers.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.3drivers.com/">http://www.3drivers.com/</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">So why no panda then? Why two horses and no panda? Ed.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We can fit in a snail if it's not very big</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2r_8Rrl1gE6BFPKNY8aRjqhFvYiFvv8iHRJUtGKU8L3juD6UeuAorW4Nx1EFYByzaPGaASLv0du7kVKsGL3TmAGzn4FVIhPKK6jKGwoqewJqezME1U0Em9EgdXSNX2eUMWjLGngYpnzke/s1600/simon.speed.SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2r_8Rrl1gE6BFPKNY8aRjqhFvYiFvv8iHRJUtGKU8L3juD6UeuAorW4Nx1EFYByzaPGaASLv0du7kVKsGL3TmAGzn4FVIhPKK6jKGwoqewJqezME1U0Em9EgdXSNX2eUMWjLGngYpnzke/s320/simon.speed.SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.JPG?uselang=en-gb" style="text-align: start;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SnailBench</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a nice salamander</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmxCq2BorBAq-wSZOIBHKQzPgSq8NAYOsIZBb12NdrS1wluDBBocuZxi5K6zZRsFQsTsjTyjsyaXYAMuoG6Uo5kTptAXpac8gKSLORYKt1m_DJZY6psXTIixMHp-tryqJWz01bD9flEpY/s1600/salamandra.Herzlyia.Yael.Shmueli.2010.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmxCq2BorBAq-wSZOIBHKQzPgSq8NAYOsIZBb12NdrS1wluDBBocuZxi5K6zZRsFQsTsjTyjsyaXYAMuoG6Uo5kTptAXpac8gKSLORYKt1m_DJZY6psXTIixMHp-tryqJWz01bD9flEpY/s320/salamandra.Herzlyia.Yael.Shmueli.2010.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_7389_bench_in_shape_of_salamandra.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_7389</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and some lovely pink pigs.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56XmK3HzECgZ0BhdATx0Id-n62pR-l1cwrOEVjjYHuswAJskGLriKd0f0ippXk8PA0yUtacMQvbPmcRl5UZAyrbZgB6aZGzYC-Tre-OnF__Xkw4RqR3ZUL1S4clMyoGmsGOG3aMsEFosf/s1600/hangcat.FKR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56XmK3HzECgZ0BhdATx0Id-n62pR-l1cwrOEVjjYHuswAJskGLriKd0f0ippXk8PA0yUtacMQvbPmcRl5UZAyrbZgB6aZGzYC-Tre-OnF__Xkw4RqR3ZUL1S4clMyoGmsGOG3aMsEFosf/s320/hangcat.FKR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hangcat/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/hangcat/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We couldn't find spiders or chickens or drakes</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">What about reptiles?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No way am I googling <i>benches</i> and <i>snakes</i>. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a crocodile bench, if you really insist</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MbpeZzolO5NCK1A93psMK_2p-kzFjNI-rv0BOgSwZ8KaUzXW-sIyouvQOkAnZ6eM9YvR4xOESvtCtMp_PfaFqRzzHmv7ru52giQCzat5e33KJ4RUVZIHgIlzNaRo1qTQlGEg_kxOeLB_/s1600/crossroadsmall.bellevue.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MbpeZzolO5NCK1A93psMK_2p-kzFjNI-rv0BOgSwZ8KaUzXW-sIyouvQOkAnZ6eM9YvR4xOESvtCtMp_PfaFqRzzHmv7ru52giQCzat5e33KJ4RUVZIHgIlzNaRo1qTQlGEg_kxOeLB_/s320/crossroadsmall.bellevue.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/carson/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/carson/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and a lovely giraffe that we just about missed</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBbAWE9CKa-qNAfaRYF1I95xdR1CBZ31jFeorfg_pYtu41wmtr98sNJaxowu4J0AsjYD-V-URWttDKrqY3H3ulMOix6wwOn2FHopzJDnPBI4B5ZzgMiBiz65vXGXOQiBwT3C_3NueujX6n/s1600/broxap.animal_themed_bench2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBbAWE9CKa-qNAfaRYF1I95xdR1CBZ31jFeorfg_pYtu41wmtr98sNJaxowu4J0AsjYD-V-URWttDKrqY3H3ulMOix6wwOn2FHopzJDnPBI4B5ZzgMiBiz65vXGXOQiBwT3C_3NueujX6n/s320/broxap.animal_themed_bench2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/">http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a beautiful camel that will really enchant us</span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCSr7LroXswy2U7Q4_W9rXPurEMkXV9X2mDukRsQ3JdBhyYwTuvhxqUFrF8yHDd58ndfPUWQztimSIqWNMmzK-_Oj1ygHlP-IaMkHnx1QfJILDdFFwGGtK__HE6s-0MtIn4xmh0MgeNn1f/s1600/3299495331_a6cd1b1593.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCSr7LroXswy2U7Q4_W9rXPurEMkXV9X2mDukRsQ3JdBhyYwTuvhxqUFrF8yHDd58ndfPUWQztimSIqWNMmzK-_Oj1ygHlP-IaMkHnx1QfJILDdFFwGGtK__HE6s-0MtIn4xmh0MgeNn1f/s320/3299495331_a6cd1b1593.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofsecrets/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofsecrets/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and last but not least, a praying mantis.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYyDjvh8w-eCnvOhM2A1rLWUtK8cvob_m2S6izOBdMKkHLVJ2Va8Rjr_3g6giM0wapoJJu6JUk_8z7_WT3D5r6Lvk8Z2z2kBjvuDifTG_jzAPYpdsgP_p0IzmLpTna7hvY0ZyVHx3AgjV/s1600/prayingmantic.dragonwood.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYyDjvh8w-eCnvOhM2A1rLWUtK8cvob_m2S6izOBdMKkHLVJ2Va8Rjr_3g6giM0wapoJJu6JUk_8z7_WT3D5r6Lvk8Z2z2kBjvuDifTG_jzAPYpdsgP_p0IzmLpTna7hvY0ZyVHx3AgjV/s200/prayingmantic.dragonwood.etsy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><i>Enchant us</i> and <i>mantis</i> is a terrible rhyme. Ed.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">I know. It's a half rhyme.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, it isn't. It's just rubbish.</span> </span><div><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about leprechauns?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnVhyphenhypheni8H0TkAx3wmLWGJdDOxKLLMcYrdltJ9qk4LOnWwqjqcDPNYWqkBHa4rVOaTBeSIg9PXH_8yez63zWnSehwFGKTBa6TzsS1oFmfp-ZuRiiirQ2_DxmlOCOwDYTykeqlwztBqp6pnb/s760/uneekdolldesigns.etsy+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="570" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnVhyphenhypheni8H0TkAx3wmLWGJdDOxKLLMcYrdltJ9qk4LOnWwqjqcDPNYWqkBHa4rVOaTBeSIg9PXH_8yez63zWnSehwFGKTBa6TzsS1oFmfp-ZuRiiirQ2_DxmlOCOwDYTykeqlwztBqp6pnb/s320/uneekdolldesigns.etsy+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div> www.etsy/shop/uneekdesigns<br /><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about rats?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0sPQ_h7TbaA_X6zN7R_gWwY9P9mn1dgKxKtivE5oCCNyhmVpOpMsAI84zJFZWVEHZ8s7OUqg5BGgJoRzLQlcB66xU7Kc7-WzHNYHE5HLcuBdKKrVeBBgjElW2HTbfU7ldVOkpX4cXzmO/s2048/20200115_151233+Year+of+Rat.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1996" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0sPQ_h7TbaA_X6zN7R_gWwY9P9mn1dgKxKtivE5oCCNyhmVpOpMsAI84zJFZWVEHZ8s7OUqg5BGgJoRzLQlcB66xU7Kc7-WzHNYHE5HLcuBdKKrVeBBgjElW2HTbfU7ldVOkpX4cXzmO/s320/20200115_151233+Year+of+Rat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> benchsite.blogspot.com.The-Year-of-the-Rat-Bench<br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about unicorns?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ros2WrEcQQJ1V-sVLgIIFJbxBKnE-CfMBH7AjTBD5dor6XKXFHj3LEzu6f8tZCQV7XqzFJqAmtzc1Rd2urzpCjaXWvK-GY-ySlz8Y3d9RNQWdzAqMWTLupRLyVromhUib4Z8Ld16XutB/s1687/100_7383.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1647" data-original-width="1687" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ros2WrEcQQJ1V-sVLgIIFJbxBKnE-CfMBH7AjTBD5dor6XKXFHj3LEzu6f8tZCQV7XqzFJqAmtzc1Rd2urzpCjaXWvK-GY-ySlz8Y3d9RNQWdzAqMWTLupRLyVromhUib4Z8Ld16XutB/s320/100_7383.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> benchsite.blogspot.com.we-all-scream-for-ice-cream <br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And trolls?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNHwoEJvcWctv32kvP2jz3zkOqJoZKS3fp9b0ej6xAQOVhCnc4CL06ioeYgIQ51qUNirQj-lKirvp_nGrkxxhE-Pqv32goSTwvdrh_RVp5g3DYOMAcgv64JJD1ydtLOhEA_ZnTczYSZVK/s320/coyoterimstudios.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNHwoEJvcWctv32kvP2jz3zkOqJoZKS3fp9b0ej6xAQOVhCnc4CL06ioeYgIQ51qUNirQj-lKirvp_nGrkxxhE-Pqv32goSTwvdrh_RVp5g3DYOMAcgv64JJD1ydtLOhEA_ZnTczYSZVK/s0/coyoterimstudios.etsy.jpg" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Kelly Riley @ coyoterimstudios </span> <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And bats?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">We've already done bats. Ed</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rats then. 2020 was the Year of the Rat.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Rats to that.</span> </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Trolls and leprechauns should go on The Ark shouldn't they?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">No. Trolls and leprachauns do not exist. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's because they didn't make it onto The Ark.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Unicorns do not exist either.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I beg your pardon. Ursula is our Unicorn-in-Residence here in Fribble-under-Par. She's a peace campaigner, a romantic, and a lover of ice cream.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbO62UusbSJTCcuqwh-DFKLHbviJIRZgk79i_TRy1tH_WXXvbwxyl8xUnQQFPKZC2pA4F5Sp3lYFfvev_TsTKRJUYDLFEra6JinUkRK8M2wfOEQAaskEtZOIzsRs4Q87ZTrWxwwYYEriP/s2048/Ursula.valentine.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1343" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbO62UusbSJTCcuqwh-DFKLHbviJIRZgk79i_TRy1tH_WXXvbwxyl8xUnQQFPKZC2pA4F5Sp3lYFfvev_TsTKRJUYDLFEra6JinUkRK8M2wfOEQAaskEtZOIzsRs4Q87ZTrWxwwYYEriP/s320/Ursula.valentine.JPG" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">I have only one thing to say to that. Ed </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0E0sJcfGuK5WJtAb-hk6rW0B6VnIgaPt5HiMDJNlUATAb4jqrSgrWTSR3fxWiLqp-IA8cCCNWzotSoiDRXgr-_x_bUcp4Prriw_4p4wfUryvEcZi4hkcz17z6nk_9Z2SK4YBqZnD7gepN/s500/3390098439_26ba13467c_z.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0E0sJcfGuK5WJtAb-hk6rW0B6VnIgaPt5HiMDJNlUATAb4jqrSgrWTSR3fxWiLqp-IA8cCCNWzotSoiDRXgr-_x_bUcp4Prriw_4p4wfUryvEcZi4hkcz17z6nk_9Z2SK4YBqZnD7gepN/s320/3390098439_26ba13467c_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/trilbybutton/3390098439/in/photolist" style="font-size: 16px;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/trilbybutton/3390098439/</a></div><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Wait! A couple more camels were found in the park!</span><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEiSihYjtDeeVRsOEwrEX-zdBE1wi8Nlo-e7WJcv-FYo6h0oUEy_9WRKxYWOF-tYtXMYS3MJE7bCYUk6re4a5JD-Ze0Lh2GrnHIWUR1rxYyEkc3cdqBo0CGuvJbNn7oqDVBq_1F7FZamE/s1600/andys.londoncamel..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEiSihYjtDeeVRsOEwrEX-zdBE1wi8Nlo-e7WJcv-FYo6h0oUEy_9WRKxYWOF-tYtXMYS3MJE7bCYUk6re4a5JD-Ze0Lh2GrnHIWUR1rxYyEkc3cdqBo0CGuvJbNn7oqDVBq_1F7FZamE/s320/andys.londoncamel..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oiyou/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/oiyou/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We need to ensure they are saved in the ark. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's pretty crowded though.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3tY1WcYvwV8MaOl7VfgZejGH2-pGRKD7uK3DYHWUVLm2EjCWft-AuplW2dE48feD6PxkwZXJNmQT3KuXPjVt8b6Gae7uwoJ5w6z-6o8YCXEdv4Otk1yosOK-qIgZ0AnMd41-JW7s4Av32/s1600/campana_cakestool_004.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3tY1WcYvwV8MaOl7VfgZejGH2-pGRKD7uK3DYHWUVLm2EjCWft-AuplW2dE48feD6PxkwZXJNmQT3KuXPjVt8b6Gae7uwoJ5w6z-6o8YCXEdv4Otk1yosOK-qIgZ0AnMd41-JW7s4Av32/s1600/campana_cakestool_004.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/">www.larcobaleno.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I wonder how many chameleons have snuck on?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Is that it?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's it. That's the ark full, with all the animal benches loaded.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJT3EPCArlA3CrWJbqEsR9fUFGMI-TZKC-MuAfECXMIXW37nGE2NLFxIfX91bz5xWNA5PiGwAhkV8tuGpYod-qbAeE5-FFj9eoF7PQkgD9Fdw5iaEcc2DZmezP9PLW5S7Ph3fO_LzXjAII/s1600/ventrytoy.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJT3EPCArlA3CrWJbqEsR9fUFGMI-TZKC-MuAfECXMIXW37nGE2NLFxIfX91bz5xWNA5PiGwAhkV8tuGpYod-qbAeE5-FFj9eoF7PQkgD9Fdw5iaEcc2DZmezP9PLW5S7Ph3fO_LzXjAII/s320/ventrytoy.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/ventrytoys">www.etsy.com/shop/ventrytoys</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">What about snakes?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oh, alright, here's one. </span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWBjsEk_fZmTViNK4cWQyD0-dtxSNTV1SzNQrhwM_ipClsNDazMQLPeYPvdCzdx1OFB_BjVVUNej9G4dElcjdFWGCZMU5_8AkF7lbWylOOlrNDvAGu4GihWMDqfXTi5PlzYB1UMmpmnHo/s1600/Highgate.Plgrnd.Birm.EliBrown.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWBjsEk_fZmTViNK4cWQyD0-dtxSNTV1SzNQrhwM_ipClsNDazMQLPeYPvdCzdx1OFB_BjVVUNej9G4dElcjdFWGCZMU5_8AkF7lbWylOOlrNDvAGu4GihWMDqfXTi5PlzYB1UMmpmnHo/s320/Highgate.Plgrnd.Birm.EliBrown.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">What about pandas? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sorry, couldn't find one. They're very elusive you know.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">And what happened to the rhyme? </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">It seems to have become as extinct as the dodo.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Best I can do. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hasn't Noah done a marvelous job rounding up all these animal benches?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">In celebration of all animals </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">on World Animal Day 2023! </span><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">( Including pandas)</span><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_rZoiO-Tf9W12_8uELVt7n1NtUVPnMsGkRwYZG1j4zcvyLkviC_xxlUlkKvQ3uZDodbjaOBhbp9SL8KhjzqnFebbXQF30VndgdFNIgMKEiQNuYK_epSG_Zzgb3IHqQ8oIIHeAcKLy3J6/s1600/krittervilleusa.fkr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_rZoiO-Tf9W12_8uELVt7n1NtUVPnMsGkRwYZG1j4zcvyLkviC_xxlUlkKvQ3uZDodbjaOBhbp9SL8KhjzqnFebbXQF30VndgdFNIgMKEiQNuYK_epSG_Zzgb3IHqQ8oIIHeAcKLy3J6/s320/krittervilleusa.fkr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And here is a Panda Banquette with all the pandas you could possibly need.</span><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7thsqeM_UTK3-RKjTtd4GayIRc2-vnAJ0nYrAezoLQRPpoaSakG7pC5F5AHkTq2XGO3rpJ9Ii-dB1gG4WFbIJ1WcXRsGk6Lh1yNqAUglRPoB54c1eCvKubL8nHxcR1n08a6cWXZLKGKd/s1600/_campana_panda_banquete_chair_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7thsqeM_UTK3-RKjTtd4GayIRc2-vnAJ0nYrAezoLQRPpoaSakG7pC5F5AHkTq2XGO3rpJ9Ii-dB1gG4WFbIJ1WcXRsGk6Lh1yNqAUglRPoB54c1eCvKubL8nHxcR1n08a6cWXZLKGKd/s1600/_campana_panda_banquete_chair_1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/">www.larcobaleno.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><strong>Credits</strong></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Isn't Noah splendid? I found him in the RSPCA charity shop back in 2013 when Benchsite began. As the shop helps to rescue thousands of animals every day, I just knew this was Noah and I couldn't wait to write a blog about him. Some people have expressed concern that he is smoking a pipe and of course smoking is bad for health and October is Stoptober month. However, as Noah is several millennia old now, I don't think this is a problem. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I found the boat bench far from the sea in a beautiful walled garden high on the hill overlooking Wells Cathedral and Glastonbury Tor in Somerset. More boat benches are rocking up at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/boat-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/boat-benches.html</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The white Siberian tiger bench is from Asian Replicas, who make</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana";">a huge variety of lifesize statues and furniture in the Philippines <a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Elsewhere on Benchsite you will find their <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html">edible benches</a> such as tacos and ice creams. You could also have pizza bench, a cake bench, or a chicken and chips bench. Their extensive catalog is at </span><a href="http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip</span></a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The cow bench was photographed by Ralf Lotys in Kothen, Anhalt in 2007. Kothen is a city in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. The cow bench appears in Wikimedia at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: blue; font-size: small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-08_K%C3%B6then_(Anhalt)_12.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-08_K%C3%B6then_(Anhalt)_12.jpg</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">Let Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, show you <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">the cream of bovine benches</a>.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The zebra is from Jolly Roger Ltd. Lifesize Models in the UK. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk/">http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk</a> </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They have thousands of quality resin and fibre-glass 3D life-size models, figures, signs, statues, props, furnishings, etc. Their showroom has over 2000 themed models, which include animals, people, and <i>everything from counter-top coffee beans to fullsize elephants. </i>Their Facebook page shows some of the models in amazing situations <span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><b><span style="color: blue;"> </span></b></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheJollyRogerLtd">https://www.facebook.com/TheJollyRogerLtd</a> You will also find them talked about on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/lifesizemodels">https://twitter.com/lifesizemodels</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The splendid buffalo bench is from Papillion, Nebraska, photographed by Jimmy Emerson in 2012. He also photographed the delightful horned frog bench in Springerville, Arizona in 2010. Jimmy lives in Georgia and likes to photograph county courthouses and post offices. He hopes to visit all 3,143 counties or county equivalents in the United States and from the looks of his photostream, he's made a very good start. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The sunbear is known for having an extraordinarily long tongue. The sunbear's tongue bench at Edinburgh Zoo is much photographed. This photo is by Greenzowie at Flickr. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenzowie/with/8731733772/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenzowie/with/8731733772/</a> I don't know anything about greenzowie but there are some excellent model shoots on the photostream, as well as glorious landscapes from a wide variety of places. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The howlin' wolf bench is by Eric Widitz in Fox River Grove, Illinois. Eric is a chainsaw sculptor who makes all kinds of statues and furniture from huge chunks of American wood. A lot of his stuff has a nature theme but he does people as well. See his catalogue and videos of his work at </span><a href="http://www.artwooddesigns.com/"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">www.artwooddesigns.com</span></a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This bench also appears on Benchsite in a very different context at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/festive-festival-benches-liveblogged.html">festivals</a></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are many splendid bird benches here on Benchsite. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/troys-thanksgiving-turkey-benches.html">Turkeys</a>, for example. And <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/no-spring-chicken-benches.html">chickens</a>. The <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-great-british-bird-bench-survey.html">Great British Bird Bench survey</a> also yielded a lot of brilliant birds, including owls. The Owl Bench is near <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Bowling</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Harbour in central Scotland</st1:placetype></st1:place>, photographed in 2009 by Lairich<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rig. In the background are the Kilpatrick Hills. </span></div><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_Bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1423367.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_Bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1423367.jpg</span></a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The colourful fox and badger bench is near Ryde, Isle of Wight. It was photographed by Joanna Michalak earlier this year.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> It is inscribed in loving memory to Eric and Joyce Harris from Stephen and Christine Harris.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Paul Sivell makes intriguing chainsaw sculptures and is inspired by nature, local traditions, and mythology. His distinctive style is well known around the Isle of Wight though he also works throughout the UK and abroad. The badger bench is one of his many functional sculptures (benches!) which can be seen at </span><a href="http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/</a><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The wombat photo is by Mike Cogh, who has an extensive collection of brilliant benches on his Flickr photostream <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/</a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> I was delighted to find this wombat just in time for World Animals Day. I can honestly say it's the only wombat bench I have ever seen. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Pamela Silin-Palmer is a decorative artist, fine artist, and illustrator who now lives in Ireland. She makes magical paintings, greeting cards, dolls, paper products, and glorious hand-painted fantasy furniture. From renaissance rabbits to royal boars, her website is full of fun and fantasy - a real delight! <a href="http://www.pamelasilinpalmer.com/">www.pamelasilinpalmer.com</a> She provided the pigs and bunny benches in this story. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are loads of lovely bunny benches around but I thought these the loveliest of all.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Three Men on a Bench are waiting patiently to enter the ark. They are dressed appropriately as a deer, a pig and a horse. The photo is from Davey Scarycrow, who likes to photograph assemblages, birthday parties on benches, and vintage stuff, including old cars. I think I recognised my old 1976 Ford Fiesta in his photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarycrow/3520051220/sizes/m/in/photolist-6n4bAh/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarycrow/3520051220/sizes/m/in/photolist-6n4bAh/</a></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I've done <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">Sheep Benches</a> before. Oh, indeed I have. With my artist/designer hat on I have even made sheep benches, like this one, entitled <em>Don't B Sheepish 2</em>.</span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSIN-ESyeC_MMWZe7mBtqukpeQ_4YzvLGcdSg8E4FmaBVeUawdjYg7U4ea6U399yAuDWqSDSOwTmKr6Y82vzRkVsDsz0ITG99aclhno4DZtGVt2j31YCcFL8RILC-brfYIIrZdnKGDcyuY/s1600/bathmat+B.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSIN-ESyeC_MMWZe7mBtqukpeQ_4YzvLGcdSg8E4FmaBVeUawdjYg7U4ea6U399yAuDWqSDSOwTmKr6Y82vzRkVsDsz0ITG99aclhno4DZtGVt2j31YCcFL8RILC-brfYIIrZdnKGDcyuY/s200/bathmat+B.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><em>Don't B Sheepish 2</em>, subtitled <i>Bathmat on a Piano Bench, </i>is available for $4,500. Contact Bo-pEEp via this blogspot. No, just joking. Benchsite is non-commercial and always will be. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The sheep bench shown in this post is one of several bench sculptures called <i>Eastwick Park Farm,</i> 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.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The scale of the Philart project is really quite something and it's being added to all the time. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.philart.net/">http://www.philart.net/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Squirrel Bench is near the station at Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria. It was photographed by John Illingworth in 2006 for Geograph</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_241759.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_241759.jpg</span></a></span></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The elegant peacock bench is in Jinnah Garden in Lahore, Pakistan. It was photographed in 2010 by Khalid Mahmood</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg</span></a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">As 2014 is <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/2014-year-of-horse-bench.html">The Year of the Horse</a>, I thought horses ought to have a blog of their own. And so they have. We galloped into the new year with a lot of gorgeous horses. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The first horse and the lovely pawprint benches were photographed by Kate Robertson from Idaho Falls. Kate is the Queen of Creativity.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> She describes herself as </span><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">a painter, mixed media artist, weaver, spinner and writer. Besides that, s</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">he photographs all kinds of stuff wherever she goes on her creative pursuits. She is a Kaizen-Muse creativity coach and she has loads of ideas on how to get your creative mojo working. She has various blogs; I first saw her at </span><a href="http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com</span></a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And 2015 is <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/2015-year-of-goat-bench.html">the Year of the Goat</a> bench. Erika Crofut from Connecticut made the beautiful goat bench and she has other bright, fun animal benches and sofas on her website at </span><a href="http://www.erikacrofut.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.erikacrofut.com/</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Erika explains that she has </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">always loved the process of transforming a thought from my head into something physical that can be shared with people . . . My projects are all attempts to interpret and visually articulate ties between history, family, and stories. . . I use my art to express my amazement and gratitude for how beautiful an average day can be</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rusti Lee from Colorado made the cheerful green frog stool. Rusti's shop is at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/rustilee" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/rustilee</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> She makes whimsical handpainted stuff for the home, especially knobs, frames, boxes, and more. I love her painted signs. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The lovely carved wood Japanese monkey couple are from </span><a href="http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you particularly like monkey benches, or for that matter, dragons, there are plenty of monkeys and dragons at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html</a> And remember that 2016 is the Year of the Monkey so Eddie, my Inner Editor, finally gets his say at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/2016-year-of-monkey-bench.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/2016-year-of-monkey-bench.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I was intrigued when I saw <i>Studio Job</i>, the black and white bench of animal skeletons by Mieke Tacken in Amsterdam. Mieke's photostream shows a real commitment to design: she goes to all the design shows and takes photos of amazing things. Like some other people I know, she seems to have an interest in photographing seating of various kinds. Chairs? There are thousands. And quite a few brilliant benches too. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two stately Labradors 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. <a href="http://www.dogmt.com/">http://www.dogmt.com/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dog Mountain</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> is set on a 150 acre private mountaintop and is </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">always open to people and their dogs. Its</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> unspoiled haven is covered with hiking trails and dog ponds. T</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">here is no leash law on Dog Mountain:</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">d</i><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ogs are not just welcome here, they are cherished! </i><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dogs are free to run, play, swim and best of all meet other dogs!</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Stephen's artworks, include paintings, sculptures, books, and a Dog Chapel,</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "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." </i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Stephen died in 2010 but his love of dogs lives on in his artwork.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The stone elephant bench is at Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa in the UK. It was photographed by Ell Brown, who lives in Birmingham and has a HUGE Flickr photostream at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/" style="text-align: center;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Elliot Brown also photographed the snake bench at the end of the story. It's from the Highgate Playground in Birmingham. I found it just about non-snakey enough to put on the ark. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">Dog benches</a> are very popular here on Benchsite and a dogbone bench comes in handy when you have a lot of hungry dog benches to feed. The</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Tenino Dogbone bench is from Marenakos in Preston, Washington. They make a variety of granite dogbone and other types of benches. </span><a href="http://www.marenakos.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.marenakos.com</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are some very nice medical dogs on Benchsite at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The lifted leg dog bench is actually a table: it's called <em>Bad Table</em>. It's one of many 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. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.straightlinedesigns.com/">www.straightlinedesigns.com</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The pretty dragonfly bench is by Cottage and Bungalow and costs $2,260. It's at </span><a href="http://www.cottageandbungalow.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.cottageandbungalow.com</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> a small store which offers personal one-to-one service in furniture, quality home furnishings and accessories. Their coastal home products make you want to go out and live on the beach. As for animal benches, they do a stunning blue peacock, a dolphin, and the pretty dragonfly shown here. For more intriguing insect benches, see what's buzzing for National Insect Week at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/national-insect-week-buzz-about-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/national-insect-week-buzz-about-benches.html</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I was aware that these are baseball bats rather than animal bats. This bat bench is the suitably named Johnny Bench baseball bench. It's in Cincinnati and was photographed by Tuscola Joe way back in 2003 and made available on the Flickr Creative Commons.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dziadzia/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/dziadzia/</a> See Miggy's choice of good sport benches at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/miggys-good-sport-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/miggys-good-sport-benches.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Louis Henri's <i>Shongololo</i> bench is inspired by his African roots; shongololo is the Zulu word used for centipedes and millipedes. The Shongololo bench has 56 hand-turned walnut legs. Louis Henri </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Bührmann</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> grew up in South Africa in a family of designers and innovators. He now resides in London where he produces opulent interiors and distinctive designs at his own business </span><a href="http://www.louishenri.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.louishenri.com</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Louis' Twitter is at <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/louishenrii">www.twitter.com/louishenrii</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The cat 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. 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 </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you like cats, you'll want to see the purrfect benches I found for <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html">World Cats Day</a>. And <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/tuning-in-to-piano-benches.html">cats who play the piano</a>? No problem, tune in here. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Georgia Gerber sculpted the beautiful bronze rabbit. Georgia creates bronze sculpture primarily working with life size animal and human figures, often incorporating architectural or abstract elements with an emphasis on creating accessible public art which encourages viewer interaction. She has an amazing studio and garden at Whidbey Island, Washington. Her bronze sculptures can be seen at <a href="http://www.georgiagerber.com/">http://www.georgiagerber.com/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> For more sunny bunny benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The bright blue mosaic lizard is a street bench in Adelaide, Australia. It was photographed by Dinkum in 2010. </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_street_bank.jpg"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_street_bank.jpg</span></a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The deer is by Bruno Weber </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">on Uetliberg in the canton of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Zurich. It was photographed by </st1:city></st1:place>Roland zh<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> and made available on Wikimedia at </span></span></span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg</span></a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The second horse is from 3D Rivers, whose</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">mission is <i>to help the internet community meet the growing need for a wide range of well-designed, high quality 3D models and consumer goods products in a constantly changing environment</i>. They offer a huge range of 3D products including things like buildings, transport, everyday objects, characters, model packs, animals, and yes, of course, benches. This Indian-style horse is one of the many different kinds of benches available via their online site at <a href="http://www.3drivers.com/">http://www.3drivers.com/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The snail bench is in Priory Country Park in Bedfordshire. It was photographed by Simon Speed in 2010 and comes from Wikimedia at </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.JPG?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.JPG?uselang=en-gb</a><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The salamander bench is</span> <span style="font-family: "arial";"> by Yael Shmueli in Herzliya in Israel. It was photographed by </span>אבישי טייכר <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and appears in Wiki Commons at </span> <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_7389_bench_in_shape_of_salamandra.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_7389_bench_in_shape_of_salamandra.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two cheery pink pigs were photographed by Hangcat in Chicago. He's a young photographer who makes the most of his city by capturing quirky features of city life. He does benches too, and graffiti that people write on benches. Hmmmm, that's got me thinking of another post . . . <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hangcat/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/hangcat/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The saw-tooth crocodile bench is a little scary. It's in the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, Washington. I don't know if I'd want to sit down on it even if I had shoppers' feet. Jim Carson from Seattle photographed it in 2009. It's part of his photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/carson/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/carson/</a> Jim's cycling photos of rural Washington, Oregon and Idaho bring back the happy travelling days of my childhood. According to Jim, Wallace, Idaho is the centre of the universe. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The giraffe bench is one of a range of recycled plastic animal-themed benches made by Playline Design in Devon in the UK. There's also a hedgehog, a dinsosaur and a frog <a href="http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5">http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5</a> The</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> business provides active and imaginative playground equipment for schools, holiday parks and local authorities throughout the UK. They also cater for special educational needs children with a variety of play equipment based around visual stimulation, and sensory items such as sand and water play. </span></span><br /><a href="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000016/!x-usc:http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5" target="_blank"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></a><a href="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000016/!x-usc:http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5" target="_blank"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The gorgeous camel bench was photographed by Hilde Heyvaert at Adventureland in Disneyland, Paris. Hilde's Flickr photostream is called House of Secrets Inc. and it certainly is full of secrets and surprises: festivals, animals, costumes and loads of colourful stuff from Disneyland Paris. </span></a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofsecrets/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofsecrets/ </a> </span><a href="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000016/!x-usc:http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5" target="_blank"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hilde lives in Belgium and is described as <i>a steampunk fashionista extraordinaire</i>. She writes for <i>The Gatehouse, </i>a blog about all things steampunk and dieselpunk. </span></a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I felt so lucky to find the praying mantis bench, which is from Dragonwood Designs in Pennsylvania.So is the little green turtle bench. </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns</a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dragonwood's</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> owner is a professional cabinetmaker/woodworker who designs and makes unique and beautiful furniture and objets d'art from woods such as honduras mahogany, walnut, bubinga, hard maple and German beech. <i>I try to provide an eclectic mixture of meticulously crafted furniture with useful items integrating natural aspects of the materials with which I work. I strive to create the sublime as well as the mundane, furniture and objects which are unique designs and not available anywhere else.</i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> That has certainly been achieved with the praying mantis bench; I didn't see one anywhere else! </span></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #212124; font-size: 16px;">Trilby Button is interested in color, texture, illustration, words on walls, and weird hair. Back in 2009 her Second Life avatar got involved in the first of the Unicorn Wars. I’m not certain but I think Trilby was on the Pro-unicorn side. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/trilbybutton/3390098439/in/photolist" style="font-size: 16px;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/trilbybutton/3390098439/in/photolist</a></span></div><div><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The camels who just made it onto the ark at the end are from Andy Davison in London. The camel bench-ends were photographed on the London Embankment along the River Thames. Andy's camels are part of a varied photostream which includes ciabatta bread, cats, and lots and lots of football games. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oiyou/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/oiyou/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The jumble of animals is called the <i>Cake Stool</i>. It's by brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana at the mind-blowing design company L'arco Baleno. <a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/">http://www.larcobaleno.com/</a> The Cake Stool is described as<i> "an iconic example of the Campana brothers’ signature style" </i>and we see it again with the Panda Banquette at the end of the story. These playful pieces repurpose stuffed animals, which the brothers Campana consider <i>'a humble, often overlooked material'</i>.<i> </i>The Cake Stool is described as<i> ". . . a poetic, vibrant stool, that plays on the irony in these soft representations of predatory animals. The stuffed animals are hand-sewn onto canvas stretched over a stainless steel structure. Another exemplar of this limited edition of 150 is in the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts." </i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The <i>Panda Banquette</i> is is a limited edition of 25. At $44,170 it's the most expensive bench ever featured on Benchsite.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Noah's Ark, fully loaded, is a wooden toy made by Rosario at Ventry Toys in Tralee in Ireland. It was photographed at Ventry harbour and really looks ready to go. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/ventrytoys">www.etsy.com/shop/ventrytoys</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The joke about how many chameleons might have snuck onto the ark is by Adam Hess and is one of the best one liners from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017. That's not just me saying so - it's on the official list.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The snake bench was photographed by Elliot Brown at <span class="meta-field photo-title">Highgate Park -Adventure Playground in Birmingham. </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Kritterville USA makes brightly coloured and very cute benches, chairs and stools. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The panda bench was photographed in 2010 and appears in Kritterville's photostream at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/</a> There are also frogs, beetles, bugs, and a variety of other kritters. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie, my Inner Editor feels that primates did not get their fair dues in this story so I've agreed, as usual, to let Eddie put up a picture of himself. Here he is last summer with his Factor 500 suncream and everything he needs for a day at the beach.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_L-FITYKTc9bgA6lSF8fwf6BWRnIqrQFXyMbjUqZyqPHa1NE2naOYtcl9t_psMar_kCLR1li0-WoJaz2MBSHVq467cKObmblbBsCDeJ8a6lmOjKCCJzMuk-JRzb1Ztx83Xa01Z5fc1tSo/s1600/Eddie+beach.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_L-FITYKTc9bgA6lSF8fwf6BWRnIqrQFXyMbjUqZyqPHa1NE2naOYtcl9t_psMar_kCLR1li0-WoJaz2MBSHVq467cKObmblbBsCDeJ8a6lmOjKCCJzMuk-JRzb1Ztx83Xa01Z5fc1tSo/s320/Eddie+beach.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-7639536931336719342023-08-31T09:31:00.017-07:002024-03-05T06:17:43.329-08:00National. Punctuation, Day! Benches?<p> <span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ho<span>w's </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">your grammar and punctuation?</span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl8Uv8rw9r6kRS4_Xb8d28iNxJf_QuJn0zhYBDjCCycFUYFctDYL18NJlhTsOb-oU9b91Z81XwLpsARAw0EI5q80Funq6lSEVPdhoIf3OBUhvLioB4Wdz9MaUhxojPpEaI7OsbqMwSnIq/s1600/alexanderhenningdrach.drachmann.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl8Uv8rw9r6kRS4_Xb8d28iNxJf_QuJn0zhYBDjCCycFUYFctDYL18NJlhTsOb-oU9b91Z81XwLpsARAw0EI5q80Funq6lSEVPdhoIf3OBUhvLioB4Wdz9MaUhxojPpEaI7OsbqMwSnIq/s320/alexanderhenningdrach.drachmann.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302</span></a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Do you know what quotation mark benches are for? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3P54YcLjmMN3uwPdgFMDVXDLO4MFjn8U_sgsflhPBc0P-U-sHaPVnuesBc7r4zG7pbCTK0wDIbf3U61IRRNOFmT5ekmvIyrCJnu7pBA12IicGP05XM5YNuZxlRKH1ypJ2pPM3qM6lBEQb/s1600/TABISSO-YOU.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3P54YcLjmMN3uwPdgFMDVXDLO4MFjn8U_sgsflhPBc0P-U-sHaPVnuesBc7r4zG7pbCTK0wDIbf3U61IRRNOFmT5ekmvIyrCJnu7pBA12IicGP05XM5YNuZxlRKH1ypJ2pPM3qM6lBEQb/s320/TABISSO-YOU.gif" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.tabisso.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: verdana;">www.tabisso.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Have you made your peace with apostrophes?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Have you made your peace with apostrophes?</span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeCS2c6U8e5BpXPqpu16b0Q0DHaRJmo9skg-hlKA4V8Mpj7PShxMQDOM8Rz1OwkN3K5uNS1gEaIuVekb0PXHfpBjqzAVAGGmOcNJuWwo6s6vE-Nv76PRojPn2Elr-Mw3EGPqs6ZVtXUk-/s1600/Rachel.K.kimonomania.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeCS2c6U8e5BpXPqpu16b0Q0DHaRJmo9skg-hlKA4V8Mpj7PShxMQDOM8Rz1OwkN3K5uNS1gEaIuVekb0PXHfpBjqzAVAGGmOcNJuWwo6s6vE-Nv76PRojPn2Elr-Mw3EGPqs6ZVtXUk-/s320/Rachel.K.kimonomania.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimonomania/474758933/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimonomania/474758933/</span></a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie, my Inner Editor, who just happens to be a primate: You refer to apostrophes here but then you show a question mark. That's confusing.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sorry, Eddie. I'm just trying to introduce National Punctuation day, which is on September 24th. And National Grammar Day, which was on March Forth.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Eddie: Wrong <i>forth</i>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sorry, Eddie. Your right. It's <i>fourth</i>. As in 4th. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: red;">Eddie: Wrong <i>your</i>. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Right again! It's YOU'RE, short for you are.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: red;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Eddie: I know that. I'm a grammar guy. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's best to begin with a picture of me.</span><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's the (inevitable) picture of you.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ1vhRJFPKlwes8KzDpI3ZYymCsz1jEvvtVrvLdf2s04y10CaStMKnWYaVNucSBs9bxN4SXvmFiGVkyUT_R6BU5S_0by3Mit7MS7cVbxyKs13zG-MJS-tGRqTivQj2nDNsNZsKsZUSGtD/s1600/Eddie.writing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ1vhRJFPKlwes8KzDpI3ZYymCsz1jEvvtVrvLdf2s04y10CaStMKnWYaVNucSBs9bxN4SXvmFiGVkyUT_R6BU5S_0by3Mit7MS7cVbxyKs13zG-MJS-tGRqTivQj2nDNsNZsKsZUSGtD/w200-h185/Eddie.writing.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: I notice that you've used parentheses here.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes. As regular readers of Benchsite will know, I'm very fond of good grammar and correctly-used punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODum82EvOc-G5tpIAuWbf-gPcLql3DaO6zTNThd7NgqSttvxGDM0UFNAS-Bp5DvMo5cwcDeu-ocw6oCCHQmlpW8YEKMHNn9HfMFxzYF6zFwq41DluP3w3Z33pKHxhI9DOB1uSM_cAgYng/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570097489.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODum82EvOc-G5tpIAuWbf-gPcLql3DaO6zTNThd7NgqSttvxGDM0UFNAS-Bp5DvMo5cwcDeu-ocw6oCCHQmlpW8YEKMHNn9HfMFxzYF6zFwq41DluP3w3Z33pKHxhI9DOB1uSM_cAgYng/s320/PhotoFunia-1570097489.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency, one of my husbands: This looks like it's going to be a heavy punctuation crossing.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1vFckf00qyg-wrPAZv2Ul8UTyIbkztvfjkTqpLncBKh1JDgOvr21WMScJXsHRjH07dBFBUl8jcx9s35CJbptEQPfFLZ1dM8S1cr6zZtpB7TOV5AwvJ-FdBlIEKVIWZZQkr3JHTGy-PYp/s1600/kevin.trotman.fkccdonotuse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1vFckf00qyg-wrPAZv2Ul8UTyIbkztvfjkTqpLncBKh1JDgOvr21WMScJXsHRjH07dBFBUl8jcx9s35CJbptEQPfFLZ1dM8S1cr6zZtpB7TOV5AwvJ-FdBlIEKVIWZZQkr3JHTGy-PYp/s320/kevin.trotman.fkccdonotuse.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/in/photolist-LNrP" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin, a local girl who works in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy: I've never understood punctuation. I have a lot of questions about it. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0IiYDumG4ueXBwqFhmJxaTCeYPUsfkX_5L2LOEPn1oLLURWRaMxp3_xXU1ZyKKhMkt-kKqrzzTPDB0xbqi7SZSYktEkElD4QLBuFl5XHpgI2Yn-M4AEzUtHuSwfTUik8paO-nbJCzm8D/s1600/tsahi.levent-levi.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0IiYDumG4ueXBwqFhmJxaTCeYPUsfkX_5L2LOEPn1oLLURWRaMxp3_xXU1ZyKKhMkt-kKqrzzTPDB0xbqi7SZSYktEkElD4QLBuFl5XHpgI2Yn-M4AEzUtHuSwfTUik8paO-nbJCzm8D/s320/tsahi.levent-levi.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/" style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, then you're like lots of people, Tamsin. That's what National Punctuation Day is for. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly: Do we really need a whole day for it? I'd have thought a minute or two would do.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There's a lot of punctuation to get through, Lord B. There's the colon and the semi-colon and hyphens and exclamation points and ellipsis . . .</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: And of course the question mark, which is often used incorrectly.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lrmG95z3K9UzpQ0PNITbsR5_y3udF15AP26JP5aK4wf0jryP63FOmXCZfbdu_Ixz3UC7NP_PzHP1ucW0Et32xwnnqCcpWUMf7IMW1dUPMVeO4BJ8bLHg6GDiIYCUAVhNmo3JYgO1O2py/s1600/Raymond.Bryson.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lrmG95z3K9UzpQ0PNITbsR5_y3udF15AP26JP5aK4wf0jryP63FOmXCZfbdu_Ixz3UC7NP_PzHP1ucW0Et32xwnnqCcpWUMf7IMW1dUPMVeO4BJ8bLHg6GDiIYCUAVhNmo3JYgO1O2py/s320/Raymond.Bryson.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: I see you are illustrating this with a cross-section of the public.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: He doesn't look cross to me. He looks like a topnotch chap.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: This is President Obama, my long-standing friend.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Really? How long has he been standing?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: You have your work cut out for you on this one, Seashell.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I know. But I dream of a world where subjects and nouns agree, where homonyms are used properly. Where there are no dangling participles. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cutnhPpy9tTGWi_S69CX6Ft1Jr-21-Zbx42lOxei6ufBnbSZKmNFLqDVMujvMDUMp0fGF2entPu7Nai5OncIcjlG8xuyfLw_7lZUVEsHzmZuHukz-W7X8L_UBGbPp0Rrb8Zl6uYhiXWi8lpz_4K_KaS_sR8-t8zE7-fEX3nGnCHRgPPSVfhreWajAg/s2048/FB_IMG_1677928277476.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1725" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cutnhPpy9tTGWi_S69CX6Ft1Jr-21-Zbx42lOxei6ufBnbSZKmNFLqDVMujvMDUMp0fGF2entPu7Nai5OncIcjlG8xuyfLw_7lZUVEsHzmZuHukz-W7X8L_UBGbPp0Rrb8Zl6uYhiXWi8lpz_4K_KaS_sR8-t8zE7-fEX3nGnCHRgPPSVfhreWajAg/w338-h400/FB_IMG_1677928277476.jpg" width="338" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dreams</i> 1896, Vittorio Corcos (1859-1933)</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">His Excellency: I share your dream. This woman is beautiful, thoughtful, and well read. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica: I'm no reader but I do fancy a woman on a bench. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Readers of this blog should be assured that they will not be judged on their beauty. Or their use of grammar and punctuation.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;">Eddie: Yes, they will.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4C7NGAxO5axspe6m7LIiT98rfCsgm-BeCJ-gtDW73MNIEfWA3Gj-SS0AwDjNhFEz3pLlHw4a7wYJCzYwbLkecTOYDWyc7Ni-FUDEXCkLo4fJClKuovDFBoLfJ-UwKyeFliTdLTY0RQh_7o2Sa5AvS70qEVSyOtARi_G3y0TwoMmkRS5tiPh_H95g9Mg/s1100/FB_IMG_1677925564329.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1100" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4C7NGAxO5axspe6m7LIiT98rfCsgm-BeCJ-gtDW73MNIEfWA3Gj-SS0AwDjNhFEz3pLlHw4a7wYJCzYwbLkecTOYDWyc7Ni-FUDEXCkLo4fJClKuovDFBoLfJ-UwKyeFliTdLTY0RQh_7o2Sa5AvS70qEVSyOtARi_G3y0TwoMmkRS5tiPh_H95g9Mg/s320/FB_IMG_1677925564329.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Monkeys As Art Judges</i>, Gabriel von max, 1889</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Golly, I'd better find a book and look up some questions. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord Brassica: I read a book once. It was blue.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: I have a philosophical question to pose.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6V5SLV2hPymy7QhMgkmdkn93JY75snziKJjwsuZaxl_ojlwNNZfd4uBRG6vrALKghG75HDwxSmMuWJgURvlgHSVfg6BQivcKTQQoNTBgbAaPyhSjg1HNxqVSeC9mcs5M4gqHkzGM3SD8NCwoYRuY3Z8LFOB7VGRFrS88gNy4VLJINXM-wQ6hvX9QJfQ/s1280/FB_IMG_1677925817838.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6V5SLV2hPymy7QhMgkmdkn93JY75snziKJjwsuZaxl_ojlwNNZfd4uBRG6vrALKghG75HDwxSmMuWJgURvlgHSVfg6BQivcKTQQoNTBgbAaPyhSjg1HNxqVSeC9mcs5M4gqHkzGM3SD8NCwoYRuY3Z8LFOB7VGRFrS88gNy4VLJINXM-wQ6hvX9QJfQ/s320/FB_IMG_1677925817838.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I have a question <strike>to two</strike> too. Is it ok to stand on a bench with a question mark on your head?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOfXFsvqoM-iFfVmIF772hXjlrdA5SkJ9ksVsPppgwwm8I-2EVfUG7AaCCi0NCE_tA6A4-OPVDlJnFYgg2URScofF7NZX57J3U26swEgojusjxyMsWuzuszec3CqD7x3L7PVV37Ivp13f/s1600/marco.belluci.FK3534516458_48e4e8595f_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOfXFsvqoM-iFfVmIF772hXjlrdA5SkJ9ksVsPppgwwm8I-2EVfUG7AaCCi0NCE_tA6A4-OPVDlJnFYgg2URScofF7NZX57J3U26swEgojusjxyMsWuzuszec3CqD7x3L7PVV37Ivp13f/s320/marco.belluci.FK3534516458_48e4e8595f_z.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Of course not. Standing on furniture is always bad manners what?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You can't have a question mark here, Lord B because t</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">he word 'what' is not a question in this context. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I can jolly well have a question mark wherever I please. If Her Majesty doesn't bestow one on me, I am in a position to purchase one. Harrods do a nice line in question marks I'm told. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Maybe we should have some Q&As. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: In my day it was Ps and Qs. You had to mind them or you'd get a clip around the ear. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Let's just stick with the <b>and</b> then.</span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYY36wa2R3_wcj-emH8OMsCpIpnd-TItYA57_Ef_MHrJSaV5pDF4jkOsbO5XG-V3fsen38BFADf4Q6BiMjAx471LXC1D5Nd1ycEwTsecmCcqQ0WtvVdwShZKD2NDoZmhfVKx1RsPcTJ_yL/s1600/edgeplot.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYY36wa2R3_wcj-emH8OMsCpIpnd-TItYA57_Ef_MHrJSaV5pDF4jkOsbO5XG-V3fsen38BFADf4Q6BiMjAx471LXC1D5Nd1ycEwTsecmCcqQ0WtvVdwShZKD2NDoZmhfVKx1RsPcTJ_yL/s320/edgeplot.fkcc.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This is the kind of hour-glass figure I enjoy seeing on the female form. My wife has a figure like this. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-MIy9xE1o86w9QXioHPv4Mtcab0C6S-i5ZmdIqnAsInM-gheiVKzebFDM4DKNpE3EkAHMWqV7yyaBXeFWqPdGN0WtSDYWxPo89pxLTD7RypaM0J1vxkQ6pddCGw6IllJ-IgzWYHpP2Iu7/s1600/ladybcasualbest.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-MIy9xE1o86w9QXioHPv4Mtcab0C6S-i5ZmdIqnAsInM-gheiVKzebFDM4DKNpE3EkAHMWqV7yyaBXeFWqPdGN0WtSDYWxPo89pxLTD7RypaM0J1vxkQ6pddCGw6IllJ-IgzWYHpP2Iu7/s320/ladybcasualbest.JPG" width="104" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Punctuation <b>please</b>.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency, my husband: There are different levels of punctuation. I, of course, am highly conversant to the highest level of the Punctuation Pyramid.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWgBOaHCiinKux7PwgziiQvW6uAZGXBvQ1bhxQ1HOiDVOeGQwEqtnYO8K-NRmA0OlVPqo2DMmuruQk7KqsgODaE5Ar9xkBOw5ZZGi9Mf-O0AL5hYMgda4UFkrzEyXC3nsqKHVNVk24EGr/s1600/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWgBOaHCiinKux7PwgziiQvW6uAZGXBvQ1bhxQ1HOiDVOeGQwEqtnYO8K-NRmA0OlVPqo2DMmuruQk7KqsgODaE5Ar9xkBOw5ZZGi9Mf-O0AL5hYMgda4UFkrzEyXC3nsqKHVNVk24EGr/s320/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">May I quote you on that?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaFsvc0RMIz_uDWXpcf1fTJiMNUL_d70Ijo5XWRWNhDb-Q_HygknG2Lvq4ETS6ysb-98PXlNJPUvKkPL90i3KT32ivLSIv0us7ek8Z603wjfErv20ZeFNmp1C66q4xYLa_yPzu8x-kzBt/s1600/plainkacyjane.FKNOTCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaFsvc0RMIz_uDWXpcf1fTJiMNUL_d70Ijo5XWRWNhDb-Q_HygknG2Lvq4ETS6ysb-98PXlNJPUvKkPL90i3KT32ivLSIv0us7ek8Z603wjfErv20ZeFNmp1C66q4xYLa_yPzu8x-kzBt/s320/plainkacyjane.FKNOTCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/plainkacyjane/2254145743/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/plainkacyjane/2254145743/ </span></a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some people are sticklers for punctuation. The self-confessed punctuation geek Lynne Truss had a hit in 2004 with a book about punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I know that joke: a panda bench walks into a restaurant. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9tGSVFGqclfeLcTBnIs9hydCRTTfF58bMQGodVHcfdMnlt4q4sJ0fR6pvAjtWLTOKJACkpYxNxKrFOYiBG6rJzlmLEx0qn-RiF0T1UDSwobPGp8TtfTeghnwHhsgL0JiFZvhNqZFRapg/s1600/krittervilleusa.fkr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9tGSVFGqclfeLcTBnIs9hydCRTTfF58bMQGodVHcfdMnlt4q4sJ0fR6pvAjtWLTOKJACkpYxNxKrFOYiBG6rJzlmLEx0qn-RiF0T1UDSwobPGp8TtfTeghnwHhsgL0JiFZvhNqZFRapg/s320/krittervilleusa.fkr.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">He orders a bamboo sandwich and he eats shoots and leaves.</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Eddie: No. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">A panda walks into a restaurant . . . </span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFEAlJHQBpGGRZD-tJrRMqdXJqFsV-Lo8-J-vDe1PLdoW0YOjGS8QPdsARJ1kOQiQK85fX638p3jmoKZEa6GqqWxqDffYu8xMZUM1NsX7nPH7Gszja1EC1nYCG6ndRICnx_olyw41XsaD/s1600/_campana_panda_banquete_chair_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFEAlJHQBpGGRZD-tJrRMqdXJqFsV-Lo8-J-vDe1PLdoW0YOjGS8QPdsARJ1kOQiQK85fX638p3jmoKZEa6GqqWxqDffYu8xMZUM1NsX7nPH7Gszja1EC1nYCG6ndRICnx_olyw41XsaD/s1600/_campana_panda_banquete_chair_1.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">http://www.larcobaleno.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Golly, Eddie, this is some panda bench!</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: These pandas are soooooo cute!</span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: orange;">His Excellency: This is a Panda Banquette.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: I'll start again.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">A panda banquette walks into a restaurant and orders a sandwich, after which he takes out a gun, fires two shots into the air, and exits. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">In other words, he eats, shoots and leaves.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I'd have that blighter arrested if he's going to fire a gun in restaurants. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I guess he didn't like the sandwich?</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You're missing the point. Whether that panda is bamboo-eating or gun-toting all depends on a single comma. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">His Excellency: I am partial to wildlife but I detest violent commas. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: As a professional editor I advocate a Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Me too. I hate it.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: The Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa argued that even to have touched the feet of Christ is no excuse for mistakes in punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I think you'd better find a bench and do your punctuation sudoko.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineHZS1G_AcKawitgAtG6aAGs1EUkDrpHZ9DOcPSoYkZyZiTkpjv3X9I6ReLLkJTGTLY7ud_Rod12NmCdIJMRESnMx20Y_PCiaGtk-xBlkPKFJgxZuwu13JLpaUv18CR3B-SzSOiTbrQ5P/s1600/purplepenning.dawn.mcilvain.stahl.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineHZS1G_AcKawitgAtG6aAGs1EUkDrpHZ9DOcPSoYkZyZiTkpjv3X9I6ReLLkJTGTLY7ud_Rod12NmCdIJMRESnMx20Y_PCiaGtk-xBlkPKFJgxZuwu13JLpaUv18CR3B-SzSOiTbrQ5P/s320/purplepenning.dawn.mcilvain.stahl.FKCC.jpg" width="315" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Good heavens! I don't think we had all this when I was at school.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Of course you did. Grammar and punctuation have been around as long as written language.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: We had it. My school was a Centre of Excellense. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: This would be a good opportunity to show a pencil bench.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmNqhOddnCJ3nbr1Bd9djr0ngATZKzg3OIMSaUG5Jv5krfFQEAXs_DFcWNSJInt092PvFEgMwyyntzhhMa4q6Z3euHVikJxIIgD0qQ1EC2SznsDMoGktMttqSMXzGokFJlHIh6DPM7f1s/s1600/Hanneorla.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmNqhOddnCJ3nbr1Bd9djr0ngATZKzg3OIMSaUG5Jv5krfFQEAXs_DFcWNSJInt092PvFEgMwyyntzhhMa4q6Z3euHVikJxIIgD0qQ1EC2SznsDMoGktMttqSMXzGokFJlHIh6DPM7f1s/s320/Hanneorla.FK.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006" style="text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Good point, Eddie. You're very sharp.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: Yes. I'm</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> the Keeper of the Apostrophe.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And I'm the Queen of Commas.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: What exactly is a comma?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Here's a little verse to help you remember:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana;"><i>A cat has claws at the ends of its paws.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana;"><i>A comma's a pause at the end of a clause.</i></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Cats are so cute and fluffy! </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNHMtBGJGLs15nJ1vqTZHOxgmgJOipUXbA1J8nWkDMkmFZXmbIdaWh-CdijRG8pT1zcLxMEc7qaIqgOEQpVbBpXR4lSLXAstrnSZ9nOXkL80kdzcCNRyV0mVj-i2iyviFAJc7a9cpCZOLCtduJSjaOMZwadDyc7TdmUFDsOakazkk8iId-wnWQzubIw/s750/FB_IMG_1677925673973.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="750" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNHMtBGJGLs15nJ1vqTZHOxgmgJOipUXbA1J8nWkDMkmFZXmbIdaWh-CdijRG8pT1zcLxMEc7qaIqgOEQpVbBpXR4lSLXAstrnSZ9nOXkL80kdzcCNRyV0mVj-i2iyviFAJc7a9cpCZOLCtduJSjaOMZwadDyc7TdmUFDsOakazkk8iId-wnWQzubIw/s320/FB_IMG_1677925673973.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tombili again</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: What's all this nonsense about cats? I've got milking to do. Let's bring this chat to a stop.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">A full stop?</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #f9cb9c;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: How do you feel about fullstop benches?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHzwfEDz67sWqGESViZQrWPcFcxDU17FF9Hvx92yi6nFmfbMsPRQBFPbrUWn6MGByVU3NwF7ywMbSb9RpYk8BYeD9pWYvaqac6dspI1CW4-WcIEWlNwIwd3_RQMePsO3Sz83vkGuuLvv1/s1600/B+logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHzwfEDz67sWqGESViZQrWPcFcxDU17FF9Hvx92yi6nFmfbMsPRQBFPbrUWn6MGByVU3NwF7ywMbSb9RpYk8BYeD9pWYvaqac6dspI1CW4-WcIEWlNwIwd3_RQMePsO3Sz83vkGuuLvv1/s1600/B+logo.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This is not a sentence so there is no reason whatsoever that it should have a fullstop. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: You're ok with the capital B though. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Of course. Capital letters are for proper nouns. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: In my house hounds behave quite properly.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1IOiPn1riE7BB1081v0SsJG2yLFY92wZ7afQf2e1fJ5bRp4C-vYFxtlaLi657IMUR-aX2FNSEYyksFGYe9EpBjJC0RsjfumM-JfTx9BUsdwdhVQoNr2yWgBXHyTYFqw_0QjlJfOkxjbeE/s1600/100_8436+Lord+B+in+den.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1600" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1IOiPn1riE7BB1081v0SsJG2yLFY92wZ7afQf2e1fJ5bRp4C-vYFxtlaLi657IMUR-aX2FNSEYyksFGYe9EpBjJC0RsjfumM-JfTx9BUsdwdhVQoNr2yWgBXHyTYFqw_0QjlJfOkxjbeE/s320/100_8436+Lord+B+in+den.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;">I said <b>NOUNS</b>! </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: You're getting quite worked up, Seashell. You need a break.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm-V0sJyO0bh-PChfqAGnGXBVZROdI2NQ6ZU8-DvJvFRw4O3kxi5EpI915_BfKmRZRh3Km1plgXkSRqXGNALkN2nmJ_ex8QN-_orvtyLznjwbJrT1vE2yubifxZuWx6mm6cKZN_Z-0aWR/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569523215.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm-V0sJyO0bh-PChfqAGnGXBVZROdI2NQ6ZU8-DvJvFRw4O3kxi5EpI915_BfKmRZRh3Km1plgXkSRqXGNALkN2nmJ_ex8QN-_orvtyLznjwbJrT1vE2yubifxZuWx6mm6cKZN_Z-0aWR/s320/PhotoFunia-1569523215.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No, I want to finish the punctuation benches. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAghrHePhGDT0KzHWyQEwWLfPpAK0lusvdkaIm0IRp_oK-L5CgAjZgPZeAGhPDUVTfo6TItWLrinNIB_mhAz4Nsfd3SDJCBOezLKXOKRYAGv2QNdckAYtuBamST5ileQaYJr5qHektq6xB/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570097315.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="607" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAghrHePhGDT0KzHWyQEwWLfPpAK0lusvdkaIm0IRp_oK-L5CgAjZgPZeAGhPDUVTfo6TItWLrinNIB_mhAz4Nsfd3SDJCBOezLKXOKRYAGv2QNdckAYtuBamST5ileQaYJr5qHektq6xB/s320/PhotoFunia-1570097315.jpg" width="258" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">My husband, His Excellency: It's unlikely that you w</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">ill find a bench to illustrate each of the marks of punctuation. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">You'll soon come to a fullstop.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWvlAdQfLrCCssfukTdWvLNxTK9bJ4uo71cQYY-FgSRf6AVcy3xBwy0JE7SpFm9Ulc8AeVssA01w0HdjW3O_sqlDDP3W79WTpK_CfoTEuRyqoQVl-wZz-Rcn8slJVcFhk9HY8PNhNuIyz/s1600/leo.reynolds.fullstop.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWvlAdQfLrCCssfukTdWvLNxTK9bJ4uo71cQYY-FgSRf6AVcy3xBwy0JE7SpFm9Ulc8AeVssA01w0HdjW3O_sqlDDP3W79WTpK_CfoTEuRyqoQVl-wZz-Rcn8slJVcFhk9HY8PNhNuIyz/s320/leo.reynolds.fullstop.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/85990435/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/85990435/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'll be fine. I have plenty of benches stacked up.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jguMp03sOYYMw1dWKQSO2JWApa_z9hZEuERFgCoc9Jt-T4NtgFS2yVWaADnKhJeEOkGeJvyCxU8my1moIAkzyIMY5I5xVhyrHwd5unhuvSFqQCh6K105FOi10_tFhKKOCOqnlrGOtArV/s1600/SB22+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jguMp03sOYYMw1dWKQSO2JWApa_z9hZEuERFgCoc9Jt-T4NtgFS2yVWaADnKhJeEOkGeJvyCxU8my1moIAkzyIMY5I5xVhyrHwd5unhuvSFqQCh6K105FOi10_tFhKKOCOqnlrGOtArV/s320/SB22+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">photo by Sheila B</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: That's what I'm afraid of. I'm getting bored.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Go back to your bench and wait then, please. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisE8lmEopM88R-7LnRAfo_Ex8bpXA3UNBF9uFes3GATBQz9-1qtEfYrsyj9Y-obRR0l0zG0N5uLH5MTzdqrVkiKzLRWDf87MOipePjV1ROV8FvukE8GLCeZgCgUFCo40EjBho6kYzeUr6y/s1600/iluvcocacola.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisE8lmEopM88R-7LnRAfo_Ex8bpXA3UNBF9uFes3GATBQz9-1qtEfYrsyj9Y-obRR0l0zG0N5uLH5MTzdqrVkiKzLRWDf87MOipePjV1ROV8FvukE8GLCeZgCgUFCo40EjBho6kYzeUr6y/s400/iluvcocacola.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/</a></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">His Excellency: I'd like to make it clear that this is not me.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Poor chap, I wonder how long he's been waiting? </span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: red;">Eddie: According to the punctuation on the sign, this is just one husband's bench. It's not a bench for all husbands.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">True. This is the catastrophe of the apostrophe.<span style="color: #990000;"> <br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This chap looks chilly. He wants taking down to the Duck and Dog Collar for a Ploughmans and a warming pint. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Is that Ploughman's belonging to one ploughman or Ploughmans' belonging to all who plough? Just asking.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Unless this bench belongs to just this one husband, it's not p</span></span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The same with this guy's bench:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-R9-mYAXGvEalfcsOe1qxl83dIf9P47yzzQX-QK2pWaScDsN_Q1NVjPi5lXWX0f0EnMYvXXiJLWy1xn2DVLxVIKPfq7cNWoZfUNZoqexdHe-DOcHuqwdEX9TFCMMSgpB5xpJ1DRYCW-4/s1600/sarahbrowning.smichael.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-R9-mYAXGvEalfcsOe1qxl83dIf9P47yzzQX-QK2pWaScDsN_Q1NVjPi5lXWX0f0EnMYvXXiJLWy1xn2DVLxVIKPfq7cNWoZfUNZoqexdHe-DOcHuqwdEX9TFCMMSgpB5xpJ1DRYCW-4/s320/sarahbrowning.smichael.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smichael/3863185306/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/smichael/3863185306/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></span></div><div><span style="color: magenta; font-family: verdana;">Tamsin: So are you saying I can't sit on this bench because I'm not a guy?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: red;">Eddie: No one can sit on it, except a guy named Guy. It's Guy's bench.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If it's for other guys, it would need different punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: red;">Eddie: Or indeed no punctuation at all. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKsgpGKvA3PgFVdCudwD-2A6D3nkZMoPltnECKzHaA47LipNoIZtZgSqFX_cqr-yuukXNSRk7fi3kUEzFFNmtWYbRID2phBHqR9inT5k1bd_HfyVhJhX2yJdlA2VBSyn6NMZPOMdoCFpt/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570097375.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="720" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKsgpGKvA3PgFVdCudwD-2A6D3nkZMoPltnECKzHaA47LipNoIZtZgSqFX_cqr-yuukXNSRk7fi3kUEzFFNmtWYbRID2phBHqR9inT5k1bd_HfyVhJhX2yJdlA2VBSyn6NMZPOMdoCFpt/s320/PhotoFunia-1570097375.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Wow, I'm getting more and more confused. My head is full of questions.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUdDSw2LpSRvZgdE5IIDZ-oRMfITg-mZObj1Ue6BqT_9qNYAPBFsH2yAuICLK76JA-VEvfjSSqZFS0dUK_IyTU7q2LyBdH1aa9KiQAIS_v-fAxRnbf35qmxebmRrSOvafIEYO7KG8yqEk/s1600/scott.mcleod.mcleod.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUdDSw2LpSRvZgdE5IIDZ-oRMfITg-mZObj1Ue6BqT_9qNYAPBFsH2yAuICLK76JA-VEvfjSSqZFS0dUK_IyTU7q2LyBdH1aa9KiQAIS_v-fAxRnbf35qmxebmRrSOvafIEYO7KG8yqEk/s320/scott.mcleod.mcleod.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, Tamsin, tell me your three favourite things.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I like cooking babies and puppies. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Cooking babies? That's not so bad. But cooking puppies! What kind of monster are you?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: black;">I think you mean you like cooking, babies, and puppies.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: That's what I said.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I can't see what all the fuss is about. I didn't get where I am today by knowing where to put a semi-colon. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;">Well, excuse me, Lord B, you got where you are through inherited wealth. Drizzly Manor is inherited.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAV2LKMlrMOHqAWmkTfI8NVsYzx6_VwUxn0vijJ0wqdlDZtPqcJo-My8vSDbtPjoHBvX07CrgZhumMOdYKxjejZlTbEjDydYRTbzN8CoQG_5S7Wg-J3tf4NAiEwfpX2Q9qJvy9FfuqciPT/s1600/100_8425+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAV2LKMlrMOHqAWmkTfI8NVsYzx6_VwUxn0vijJ0wqdlDZtPqcJo-My8vSDbtPjoHBvX07CrgZhumMOdYKxjejZlTbEjDydYRTbzN8CoQG_5S7Wg-J3tf4NAiEwfpX2Q9qJvy9FfuqciPT/s320/100_8425+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Is it? By jove, I guess it is. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;">As is Castle Broccoli. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldciPuKu5DuIW-IZh75Kzdq7AkldKURqKOU_F8vva4Fmf8Y_LWxKpRzRMUhH_Kv4_oKbD1ufyf4pimggOIUXxTuOsF17erp60v-x7AlghH0ACHGE283u-wMkIuwC9Mv2NVxvHGjJFClXo/s1600/royals%2526castle.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldciPuKu5DuIW-IZh75Kzdq7AkldKURqKOU_F8vva4Fmf8Y_LWxKpRzRMUhH_Kv4_oKbD1ufyf4pimggOIUXxTuOsF17erp60v-x7AlghH0ACHGE283u-wMkIuwC9Mv2NVxvHGjJFClXo/s320/royals%2526castle.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: The words 'entitled' and 'twit' come to mind.</span></span><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica: That was my great grandfather: Manley Randolph Godfrey de Puking Entwit. </span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;">Eddie: I've looked him up.</span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFBjn0-yYQ5blL-0GTGjom3HvHmSXh13Is5nb3Fi5iQTku8NgjSrcQ2JXSSgTjrRgWSNTjo5XVF87dIXgN00_e2l4fpzufVp7-SegnqnfwwK3xdFMVpo-DaUFyqvOQqXSmWIAKCt4lATb/s2015/FB_IMG_1603228737052.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2015" data-original-width="1435" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFBjn0-yYQ5blL-0GTGjom3HvHmSXh13Is5nb3Fi5iQTku8NgjSrcQ2JXSSgTjrRgWSNTjo5XVF87dIXgN00_e2l4fpzufVp7-SegnqnfwwK3xdFMVpo-DaUFyqvOQqXSmWIAKCt4lATb/s320/FB_IMG_1603228737052.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Scholars</i>, Gabriel Ritter von Max </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;">Eddie: He was known as De Puking Entitled-Twit.</span><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #ff00fe; font-family: verdana;">Tamsin: So hyphenated words have a hyphen? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes, it's only non-hyphenated words that don't have a hyphen.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: I note an irony in the spelling of the words hyphenated and non-hyphenated. </span></div><br /><span face="" style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: I still don't see why we need spelling. Or punctuation. </span><span face="" style="color: magenta;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Because meanings change where punctuation is not used properly. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxpXkITYf2jXBJNkeDlaSEljmtNX1EfvdDBHXAtT4X6dEdZE1rhQZAFDs3wPbJ_2JgEV8st0mEv7jn4euaKQnk1qiS8UB1UbSvyRq6Ydhcx5QntAICdNyoJ1rzA1olG1Nr6JUDQCRZXVz/s1600/20140921_133721.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxpXkITYf2jXBJNkeDlaSEljmtNX1EfvdDBHXAtT4X6dEdZE1rhQZAFDs3wPbJ_2JgEV8st0mEv7jn4euaKQnk1qiS8UB1UbSvyRq6Ydhcx5QntAICdNyoJ1rzA1olG1Nr6JUDQCRZXVz/s1600/20140921_133721.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">my photo, Wiltshire</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: red;">Eddie: Shouldn't Starbucks have an apostrophe?</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">His Excellency: This isn't Starbuck's. This is St. Arbuck's, a different thing altogether. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span style="color: red;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Eddie: Their cappuccino is excellent.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"></span><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFJnmUDfbIzTwqJFCi9-P34aP7ncZT9HOjZ46o1mdQrgXyM8YMwL_WjeJ8AP8yTD04gdMYTNrlBMtGDWngxH3FeZ2TyxPGX_6DSzBzRd5lSXWoUmzIrqCtn55a-OW6-7XZ-9B3AeJ6Me_/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFJnmUDfbIzTwqJFCi9-P34aP7ncZT9HOjZ46o1mdQrgXyM8YMwL_WjeJ8AP8yTD04gdMYTNrlBMtGDWngxH3FeZ2TyxPGX_6DSzBzRd5lSXWoUmzIrqCtn55a-OW6-7XZ-9B3AeJ6Me_/s320/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Either way, you need an apostrophe to make the meaning clear. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's another example for you:</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUNrXJcnuLje5tkh6eUlW_A9pJ15FcXdXfvIfxCRF6vIxKYFyH3bJ11qU7fo8_FMgM1Zp6tafflk4tVnaFpaEGMF8YgQRIySeQS_9WyRAkZ-IBqF5T5R9IermguOvGhQghhNiHxr9OHJ8/s1600/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUNrXJcnuLje5tkh6eUlW_A9pJ15FcXdXfvIfxCRF6vIxKYFyH3bJ11qU7fo8_FMgM1Zp6tafflk4tVnaFpaEGMF8YgQRIySeQS_9WyRAkZ-IBqF5T5R9IermguOvGhQghhNiHxr9OHJ8/s320/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4294873069/"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4294873069</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: My own polo ponies drive rather faster than most. One of them has six penalty points for speeding. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Ohhhhh, I LOVE ponies! </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Luckily red squirrels slow down. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOozEXV_hzohafA1WiWTZJPHRlx37o5QY9JsBiGG2bkZZ3YBxfEg1FfjWKOXophommNPiA_ah6nrrJlOYYJKr127w7tH05lHjxnAaG3AL2xtTtuRnpMP8WUQgO-o5opgmnoVNFkMdUQcL8AkO5u1HdM2RYjT6fPChMdNCZUwvdHKdV4pjj4kNvJY-uCbli/s2048/FB_IMG_1697224999579.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOozEXV_hzohafA1WiWTZJPHRlx37o5QY9JsBiGG2bkZZ3YBxfEg1FfjWKOXophommNPiA_ah6nrrJlOYYJKr127w7tH05lHjxnAaG3AL2xtTtuRnpMP8WUQgO-o5opgmnoVNFkMdUQcL8AkO5u1HdM2RYjT6fPChMdNCZUwvdHKdV4pjj4kNvJY-uCbli/s320/FB_IMG_1697224999579.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I love cute little squirrels too! <br /><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's another sign for you from the drive-through safari park. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V-QEgx44qV2shB2CTwxF1LP4U1VrJIOsHBgAE1dgBFqGhFIWufeg8QuZbqUmS9XJrC8Z6Wsm8FXbRrtqleP1u12u8pHti_x3nnno5FqYwQx1cJBvcN3W8kRXJmHY7h1a3DQOqG1k4gGa/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570094967.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="373" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V-QEgx44qV2shB2CTwxF1LP4U1VrJIOsHBgAE1dgBFqGhFIWufeg8QuZbqUmS9XJrC8Z6Wsm8FXbRrtqleP1u12u8pHti_x3nnno5FqYwQx1cJBvcN3W8kRXJmHY7h1a3DQOqG1k4gGa/s320/PhotoFunia-1570094967.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Quite. You don't want elephants roaming free. They're much safer in cars. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I think you'll find this is the imperative form in which the 'you' is implied. </span><br /></span><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I don't want a ruddy elephant in my Land Rover. I've already got a cow and a couple of dogs in there. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVPBBNQ0yeX0Q3TbePemdAPQyjWqUVAWozu9eVH3XOmgDUGEV4UC0sScqI5FZpHK8SWmKHJrE-T1WPEL0kWO-bH9OKE6OtAvO8sFyMbl9jMqAarNkv6OsI4-Q9ADgfNIiVZAlixAfnY1x/s1600/LordB1+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="1171" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVPBBNQ0yeX0Q3TbePemdAPQyjWqUVAWozu9eVH3XOmgDUGEV4UC0sScqI5FZpHK8SWmKHJrE-T1WPEL0kWO-bH9OKE6OtAvO8sFyMbl9jMqAarNkv6OsI4-Q9ADgfNIiVZAlixAfnY1x/s320/LordB1+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;">My horse Tonks has to ride in the carriage.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW4ohH3hi-TqCN6WfCF5ZLvB9VezeiYXYsBKo8VV6OZVXkHI5QOtUP_JvLAQ5hKL49bwKfzw1VSm3vIMKic7cQTu6qMo0Luu4fFBh59M82vR8nlfyLmv5QpZaTPoHkmo3dqf29Qy2Zn2J/s1600/tonks+in+carriage.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1316" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW4ohH3hi-TqCN6WfCF5ZLvB9VezeiYXYsBKo8VV6OZVXkHI5QOtUP_JvLAQ5hKL49bwKfzw1VSm3vIMKic7cQTu6qMo0Luu4fFBh59M82vR8nlfyLmv5QpZaTPoHkmo3dqf29Qy2Zn2J/s320/tonks+in+carriage.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Let's try again. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJWQZbJpUbeD-xAp47EoG-cedJZWbZfWBi5dPvzj1l5WvlgtA8_8_4_G1Omu4x8Mhms4mehmV1RlfETRxWDdMzb2ku3yDn_1mUHrQmzFxJGe7TzOLNBwvqN6J7fO_Z1Wq5Y8b2KcJj2o4/s1600/TeenieTees.etsy.il_570xN_655741873_inb3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJWQZbJpUbeD-xAp47EoG-cedJZWbZfWBi5dPvzj1l5WvlgtA8_8_4_G1Omu4x8Mhms4mehmV1RlfETRxWDdMzb2ku3yDn_1mUHrQmzFxJGe7TzOLNBwvqN6J7fO_Z1Wq5Y8b2KcJj2o4/s400/TeenieTees.etsy.il_570xN_655741873_inb3.jpg" width="318" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/teenietees"><span style="font-family: verdana;">www.etsy.com/shop/teenietees</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Good Lord. What sort of people eat their ancestors? </span></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Not to put too fine a point on it, punctuation saves lives. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Speaking of points, in some places the fullstop is known as a period. It goes at the end of a sentence. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Unless the sentence is a question. </span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqQgzghB0S_5t_iHKgrxbjWO_CkSoQtzkCNALgIW_FSiyVTi89-Ai6tGdTzeOoqYAQ9YyF39LacNtbmG_vuftJiOarflsZtTd-eHpLC8AYQfhyphenhyphenGOrZpOqPuVnmbDMkuJxRMGxJa2GKQoJ/s1600/mauro.un+gatto.fkcc+IT.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqQgzghB0S_5t_iHKgrxbjWO_CkSoQtzkCNALgIW_FSiyVTi89-Ai6tGdTzeOoqYAQ9YyF39LacNtbmG_vuftJiOarflsZtTd-eHpLC8AYQfhyphenhyphenGOrZpOqPuVnmbDMkuJxRMGxJa2GKQoJ/s320/mauro.un+gatto.fkcc+IT.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: This cat is sooooo cute!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Punctuation is quite straightforward; I hope you're not going to bore us with a lesson. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Good use of the semi-colon here, HE.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MeovY6DJ5CXO3KBTLdjySgdb82aGQx_W7znI5E1uyUjpuqlCqtnOf6cUFol_kvuEqdyp7mEMOagNQKo_6FoEXMEvmbS0KhmoTqjJJJzpdfzREEhlYqGN4eaDwNlNoyw8oKsRF_NnpsBx/s1600/rebecca.wilson.saucysalad.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MeovY6DJ5CXO3KBTLdjySgdb82aGQx_W7znI5E1uyUjpuqlCqtnOf6cUFol_kvuEqdyp7mEMOagNQKo_6FoEXMEvmbS0KhmoTqjJJJzpdfzREEhlYqGN4eaDwNlNoyw8oKsRF_NnpsBx/s320/rebecca.wilson.saucysalad.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/ </span></a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Oh, I know this one! It's the winky face! ;</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: No. Just NO. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdCZkh3Yn9k1dzzLUeFq0An5r4ULk5vUtienY-Q8DmyhAY2oBw3taa3vqOqp57I3KDV3XQOb3Gjkvq-q_LTjA0jXRjA8DKiiM6lZV2oMn0et9z4DIxXiGdQsETXDeEePZ4WGF2OF4ii5h/s1600/grammaticalt.etsy.il_570xN_676053398_13pq.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdCZkh3Yn9k1dzzLUeFq0An5r4ULk5vUtienY-Q8DmyhAY2oBw3taa3vqOqp57I3KDV3XQOb3Gjkvq-q_LTjA0jXRjA8DKiiM6lZV2oMn0et9z4DIxXiGdQsETXDeEePZ4WGF2OF4ii5h/s200/grammaticalt.etsy.il_570xN_676053398_13pq.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: What on earth is going on here? Polo ponies. Winky faces. This discussion is making me feel quite befuddled. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">I suppose you're going to say there's a punctuation mark for that? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Indeed there is, Lord B. This is the interrobang. It's a combination of an exclamation and a question.</span><br /></span><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHdEzDmiE7n-YyuxByJHFGp2X5W4DM8MRWEYPCuTsKWzKV-GQkoHSwl4rQ3KTarelHJPZqYVqrfbk6EHONwO0eGPXUT5gHjoCqeZSlZwG2W0i9Nm3bKN0uTQEAv1nfpFepKPmTWgnnwv7/s1600/larry.tenney.fkcc..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHdEzDmiE7n-YyuxByJHFGp2X5W4DM8MRWEYPCuTsKWzKV-GQkoHSwl4rQ3KTarelHJPZqYVqrfbk6EHONwO0eGPXUT5gHjoCqeZSlZwG2W0i9Nm3bKN0uTQEAv1nfpFepKPmTWgnnwv7/s320/larry.tenney.fkcc..jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I love little squiggles like this! lol What am I like?! </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, done, Tamsin. This is proper use of the interrobang.<span style="color: magenta;"> </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Punctuation is brill!!!! I think I've nailed it!!!!</span> </span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCfJgfHa6DfbZsLthgvDucYM4JiDb8PqryMYsmBon9sMeXmH7ii4WOQsh1VL89VUIuspVYnHEB7x1ZbNsP1uGgIA_mneiuWwx3rPOxxrhD1BGrkqth4-wi0J2Y9yimZdd-tWxTnSXTCA6/s1600/borispumps.NeilMilne.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCfJgfHa6DfbZsLthgvDucYM4JiDb8PqryMYsmBon9sMeXmH7ii4WOQsh1VL89VUIuspVYnHEB7x1ZbNsP1uGgIA_mneiuWwx3rPOxxrhD1BGrkqth4-wi0J2Y9yimZdd-tWxTnSXTCA6/s320/borispumps.NeilMilne.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: You haven't. Multiple exclamation points are always incorrect. They </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">should only be used in situations of extreme excitement, for example a 30th birthday party.</span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqI5gjCmbVt2OmNU4gZDWAbc_3hRA95VTRFBYldyGP3Rh2sA-CeLAmvtnRIlhkb7qP5mF_KmfFVWraxFvFZKYGlTLIBFjA2i_YAq1yKQZIQ-9ohkGNvyR8tEGe0yV75ojTqzPNNyFq4pHh/s1600/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqI5gjCmbVt2OmNU4gZDWAbc_3hRA95VTRFBYldyGP3Rh2sA-CeLAmvtnRIlhkb7qP5mF_KmfFVWraxFvFZKYGlTLIBFjA2i_YAq1yKQZIQ-9ohkGNvyR8tEGe0yV75ojTqzPNNyFq4pHh/s320/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Parties are fab!!!</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I go to as many as I can!!!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: As illustrated here, the exclamation point is seriously over-used. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I agree, Eddie. There are too many exclamation points around.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5D5-nl6pcn9HKtAlMqhPGque8F1I711jJ0dyajl2RsEMVFRn94F-pibSmzcWV8hEpfgCCAPkmmtr8FHueCBt_beq29mbclNwxPYUJgY-w-mifYh_gXXdOohq5i3lPw9ruiR9vDaN6ee-/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569524930.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5D5-nl6pcn9HKtAlMqhPGque8F1I711jJ0dyajl2RsEMVFRn94F-pibSmzcWV8hEpfgCCAPkmmtr8FHueCBt_beq29mbclNwxPYUJgY-w-mifYh_gXXdOohq5i3lPw9ruiR9vDaN6ee-/s320/PhotoFunia-1569524930.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">These days you can't find a bench without sitting on an exclamation mark. </span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbczF_f0ZtzzI2S6730opzbi8HdN74BXxe7FAyAiHcTysgj3xmcl15g6OxIHz9PCA-IW1QlubZ32drKzjNfjgiCQKCZY6UFrKlxWk3BhstrUrGCrpMwvjMMfzxtpjd0x1XqUQjPlnZEo6d/s1600/loonatic.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbczF_f0ZtzzI2S6730opzbi8HdN74BXxe7FAyAiHcTysgj3xmcl15g6OxIHz9PCA-IW1QlubZ32drKzjNfjgiCQKCZY6UFrKlxWk3BhstrUrGCrpMwvjMMfzxtpjd0x1XqUQjPlnZEo6d/s320/loonatic.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoscribe/4246687403" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoscribe/4246687403</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Snow is sooooo lovely!!!</span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;">Eddie: Exclamation points leave me cold. People are far too free with them.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lord Brassica: Giving away things for free makes people lazy and lacking in motivation. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Nothing should be free.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What, even air?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54S81UF17h0B2TQidvp8rubMNMwCZ7qn9ViF53K55c6EcTz3w5eH5SbO4gDgNo1dRtZldNf4mRJZMqlV_mCZKTu5v4HPJlY4EfPIzd3oM9fDqHUPCzv2LehEDnOUV2zsYbqVvgQ3SaltN/s1600/robwatling.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54S81UF17h0B2TQidvp8rubMNMwCZ7qn9ViF53K55c6EcTz3w5eH5SbO4gDgNo1dRtZldNf4mRJZMqlV_mCZKTu5v4HPJlY4EfPIzd3oM9fDqHUPCzv2LehEDnOUV2zsYbqVvgQ3SaltN/s320/robwatling.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I personally can afford all the air I need, and for that matter, all the punctuation. I'd like to see people pay for punctuation if they need it. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: What price the exclamation point?</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: About £3.75 I think. </span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Golly, I've run up quite a bill!!!!! </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: red;">Eddie: We're not making much progress. Punctuation Day is in September. It's going to be here before we've finished. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Punctuation isn't very sexy, is it?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It depends, Tamsin. I've seen some rather racy correspondence about quotation marks.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ik6eTdCEdEQsL5FnF6f1y5q6_2aiWFis9VS7uzxbrU0me-s-FCXBtvsdcrv0XRAiB05TUMHwOodWxCgwEcz0LFsrIY1Vk57xV1A0qwyrjgMB7YFQGyaKjfHf_ru8P7qnPJn8KsKRHE0Z/s1600/saplingpress.etsy.il_570xN_676589944_l77m.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ik6eTdCEdEQsL5FnF6f1y5q6_2aiWFis9VS7uzxbrU0me-s-FCXBtvsdcrv0XRAiB05TUMHwOodWxCgwEcz0LFsrIY1Vk57xV1A0qwyrjgMB7YFQGyaKjfHf_ru8P7qnPJn8KsKRHE0Z/s400/saplingpress.etsy.il_570xN_676589944_l77m.jpg" width="343" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">His Excellency: And then there's the Comma Sutra . . . </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black; font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiDLEQazokvumuMXAvHWz65eHRqEt1LNtsSqnwo9yxPNW8WobqxhrtUqygcgaHEkyKiIhxjOZnkezf3hoe9q2jWT2q0G886u-dtAejpA8c2b1cQexaB4PiFUfEhaUKiE80S6oFdVa0Y3o/s1600/seeminglee.FKCC.commasutra.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiDLEQazokvumuMXAvHWz65eHRqEt1LNtsSqnwo9yxPNW8WobqxhrtUqygcgaHEkyKiIhxjOZnkezf3hoe9q2jWT2q0G886u-dtAejpA8c2b1cQexaB4PiFUfEhaUKiE80S6oFdVa0Y3o/s320/seeminglee.FKCC.commasutra.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/8378437207/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/8378437207</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I hope they are practicing safe text.</span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: An illustration from The Joy of Punctuation is more than I can bear. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I agree, let's move on. I want to show you what happens when punctuation goes bad.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jKq_69dZDg6nZgtD0Pjo-U6SE7kU0pV5Ltu77srsG9bkjAgsvMy7ObXm1MNjp_cV0PxgwahGJKK8iVfJQUiqe-E7PG9soBtDWCws3sEkgLIApHMcaG9fzg0rwcufZdmRGQa-vJig2K9R/s1600/bad+comma.dlanham.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jKq_69dZDg6nZgtD0Pjo-U6SE7kU0pV5Ltu77srsG9bkjAgsvMy7ObXm1MNjp_cV0PxgwahGJKK8iVfJQUiqe-E7PG9soBtDWCws3sEkgLIApHMcaG9fzg0rwcufZdmRGQa-vJig2K9R/s320/bad+comma.dlanham.FKCC.jpg" width="282" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This German comma chap seems to have run amuck, as Europeans are wont to do. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Do the words <i>British</i> and <i>Empire</i> mean anything to you?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: As editor-in-chief of this post I suggest we avoid politics.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Your not wrong there</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's YOU'RE, Tamsin, not YOUR! <span style="font-size: large;">YOU ARE!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica: Hold your horses, Seashell, it doesn't do to get worked up. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #ff00fe; font-family: verdana;">Tamsin: I love horses, especially ponies. There so cute and . . .</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: verdana;">His Excellency: This may not be the best time to point out that THERE and THEY'RE have very different meanings.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">So. Deep breaths. Start again. <br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">My bêtes noir</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> is the comma splice, that's where independent clauses are joined by a comma, it's a thing that happens a lot these days, it's really irritating it doesn't make any sense, and I wish it would stop. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotYSvfztubR0pHpocg8QJ_keEXHSey-yqa7rKIIAH8FYJPSoTsniMtLooE1jX0D_Y3Hdq-L-IgOlrxkh2vSnEIEjaWyQc_wxGA60Io-pWZMcYOzvYu3EDIQGsrNLlrXFyufxYJbL0kFPm/s1600/grammaticalArt.Etsy.il_570xN_830896447_hp72.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotYSvfztubR0pHpocg8QJ_keEXHSey-yqa7rKIIAH8FYJPSoTsniMtLooE1jX0D_Y3Hdq-L-IgOlrxkh2vSnEIEjaWyQc_wxGA60Io-pWZMcYOzvYu3EDIQGsrNLlrXFyufxYJbL0kFPm/s320/grammaticalArt.Etsy.il_570xN_830896447_hp72.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: This is an excellent example, Seashell. The three ways of avoiding the comma splice are . . .</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sorry, HE, this isn't a punctuation lesson. We're not at Oxford, you know.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I personally dislike the Oxford comma even though I went to Oxford.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqYdzZlxw6ThNMcAwJsr6f7KytRhDJhddEN8HHwEM_lMkoXM1oHA_fql4di5f8KIW3HUHzQBpR_2leG1TzCia8SZ9BWErw0uwPMiKs2jSIr85RE1j_skLBmRujdtWRZZQmn4w10346cf4/s1600/RedHedgePhotos.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqYdzZlxw6ThNMcAwJsr6f7KytRhDJhddEN8HHwEM_lMkoXM1oHA_fql4di5f8KIW3HUHzQBpR_2leG1TzCia8SZ9BWErw0uwPMiKs2jSIr85RE1j_skLBmRujdtWRZZQmn4w10346cf4/s320/RedHedgePhotos.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos</span></a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I disagree. The Oxford Comma has its place. And so does good grammar. </span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh90Iu_5SYqz5aco74VvFemhMcZmTMAD39rl6jnlkNUmNqQMCoj_2VSjJJP5pkn0IqvBkxMvDQbQ1tm9e9vCBK0O712verwgdL_F7C_Yk5FU5UOTuNg8UY_6kAqnaUTzf2U8l6CYNCABz-/s1504/20200611_095208.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1301" data-original-width="1504" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh90Iu_5SYqz5aco74VvFemhMcZmTMAD39rl6jnlkNUmNqQMCoj_2VSjJJP5pkn0IqvBkxMvDQbQ1tm9e9vCBK0O712verwgdL_F7C_Yk5FU5UOTuNg8UY_6kAqnaUTzf2U8l6CYNCABz-/w256-h222/20200611_095208.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">many online sources</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#0f9d58" face="verdana">Lord Brassica: Never saw a dog! By jove that's an unlucky girl.</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#ff00fe" face="verdana">Tamsin: Never smiled. She must have been miserable.</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#0b8043" face="verdana">Lord Brassica: Why couldn't someone just show this poor woman a dog?</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is called an amphiboly; because of poor grammar, you're misunderstanding the meaning.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;"><font face="verdana">His Excellency: She couldn't see a dog without smiling. That in itself is a pro</font><font face="verdana">blem.</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now we need to tackle the most misunderstood punctuation of all - the apostrophe.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I know this place! They have really nice pastries!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYUfLAC9ALmWIjIDT_XpMP3QPDVybPtPVvZY4o7aLxbPjWoHY-eLlBlDYPJx7ciYszzOpJaxwWJMdy8CDosSdE87NlvbzG1RGM1hSBxVS__Gyi26WbDklNlPrm1gq4RO5Jw2QmBLs4MxK/s1600/apostrophe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYUfLAC9ALmWIjIDT_XpMP3QPDVybPtPVvZY4o7aLxbPjWoHY-eLlBlDYPJx7ciYszzOpJaxwWJMdy8CDosSdE87NlvbzG1RGM1hSBxVS__Gyi26WbDklNlPrm1gq4RO5Jw2QmBLs4MxK/s320/apostrophe.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: They make great cappuccinos.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsix9mI0bRwcQEkq7stP5y-XoigJS9QOCq5xE93Gy_OzrAP9lyyzh8FW2eLfNcrcXRDIovforH7SoTtUrvY_rY86NNzBIlccakTTiEzGYmas4aQuRnRWJC4auW0LOrrMbUOy3ZHTmL6Vh/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsix9mI0bRwcQEkq7stP5y-XoigJS9QOCq5xE93Gy_OzrAP9lyyzh8FW2eLfNcrcXRDIovforH7SoTtUrvY_rY86NNzBIlccakTTiEzGYmas4aQuRnRWJC4auW0LOrrMbUOy3ZHTmL6Vh/s320/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We're talking about punctuation here, not coffee shops.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Wow, this is fun!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vRrayN2eQxq2lP0L47WVOh_1Lr6qH-FQ0qogpgOdCGsd0fUdIoCSNIHdhiEKVbMIjiXtzcCVVkw08KTFvKAG327n1_Yz-SslxGr9DHaMRXkm1L06bb-LWV06Ktaju-_c9PPxG9TIM353/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570094736.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="849" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vRrayN2eQxq2lP0L47WVOh_1Lr6qH-FQ0qogpgOdCGsd0fUdIoCSNIHdhiEKVbMIjiXtzcCVVkw08KTFvKAG327n1_Yz-SslxGr9DHaMRXkm1L06bb-LWV06Ktaju-_c9PPxG9TIM353/s320/PhotoFunia-1570094736.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">His Excellency: Looks like we've got some way to go on apostrophes.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We begin with a simple fact.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwGatUNuyrXJdQ6P8ukUF_OTo41o5kvWeDvn_Fhyphenhyphendn8Lwh8NPq9XTr5FVNuuru7U78us1fIo42K66PRl-6q6k4DGYZQDe43aCoChaT7hyphenhyphenztJMPqvwDSiKBoqxE9WeeK7_hlcn7APFYDXxD/s1600/shopsaplingpress.etsy7514963986_859a0b5987_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwGatUNuyrXJdQ6P8ukUF_OTo41o5kvWeDvn_Fhyphenhyphendn8Lwh8NPq9XTr5FVNuuru7U78us1fIo42K66PRl-6q6k4DGYZQDe43aCoChaT7hyphenhyphenztJMPqvwDSiKBoqxE9WeeK7_hlcn7APFYDXxD/s320/shopsaplingpress.etsy7514963986_859a0b5987_z.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Let me make this clear:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitiS6Q-gc8ddokQ3TfmtO9kpM1ASOcpxI1evoR4zbSA5VG88grM0Ch2MOn5pVhYJtTbvxnSTIGIye2EVL48tAXPVIjlQC3_L4FRpvtTpcRUvcOR3WkTF4JTODCxJoGSeNVdyOZkAGvbWL7/s1600/BookFiend.etsyil_570xN_650457337_4a6p.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitiS6Q-gc8ddokQ3TfmtO9kpM1ASOcpxI1evoR4zbSA5VG88grM0Ch2MOn5pVhYJtTbvxnSTIGIye2EVL48tAXPVIjlQC3_L4FRpvtTpcRUvcOR3WkTF4JTODCxJoGSeNVdyOZkAGvbWL7/s320/BookFiend.etsyil_570xN_650457337_4a6p.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />The incorrect apostrophe is sometimes known as the Grocer's Apostrophe, as in banana's, lemon's, potatoe's. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here in Fribble-under-Par, </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Squeezy, our pet lemon, gets sour about apostrophes.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirP688D-UvrrjKpJCpvxsI41eWnRAM_LHFmUaFCXWVH2ddYMbMV2_7isRRDOnI5IV0EgCiDT8IZYh0pV1E5IywBRwJ0A_vIJUluwJ7uGY2HK6wsZMowvoZHpw20O_lcuc17fyG3vnRatiG/s1600/100_7523.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirP688D-UvrrjKpJCpvxsI41eWnRAM_LHFmUaFCXWVH2ddYMbMV2_7isRRDOnI5IV0EgCiDT8IZYh0pV1E5IywBRwJ0A_vIJUluwJ7uGY2HK6wsZMowvoZHpw20O_lcuc17fyG3vnRatiG/s320/100_7523.JPG" width="318" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span style="color: purple;"> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">Squeezy: The Grocer's Apostrophe shows no respect whatsoever for lemons.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I say, this fellow doesn't look much like a grocer. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black; font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw855C6QuV3VNkn08sSNQgmr2_libM2WQoIZrTuMKdTvlrOBi8sHTgMKvbvLnUTHT9ceCzG_vM1jraIlj1PNBfzd-txwedojOWJ7-Sz1XWSlw6SqLZOjQEuVF1uYDo0-h-Inp0ZkQ3Nqp/s1600/fishcakesoboy.etsy.il_570xN_799871360_78yy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw855C6QuV3VNkn08sSNQgmr2_libM2WQoIZrTuMKdTvlrOBi8sHTgMKvbvLnUTHT9ceCzG_vM1jraIlj1PNBfzd-txwedojOWJ7-Sz1XWSlw6SqLZOjQEuVF1uYDo0-h-Inp0ZkQ3Nqp/s320/fishcakesoboy.etsy.il_570xN_799871360_78yy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy</span></a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: purple;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Squeezy: The Grocer's Apostrophe shows no respect whatsoever for lemons.</span></span><br style="color: black;" /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica: Looks more like a hedgehog. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Or in the plural, <i>hedgehogs</i>.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: How hard is it to just add an s?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, English spelling <i>is</i> quite tricky. People seem to have a lot of problems with plurals. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjkrSjdQ_2aBIcZ-0LBIfCXuC1h5cXF5neurdiculcWVrYeH-Ggt6jX8wad3qAtWpPl_J0L8iA38OJAMAX7dUqFaXu76F8yivShecjXSr7mJAr1Dv8YT7Jqf29ed1v8Yh4YMf_AICubO-/s1600/20141101_152746.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjkrSjdQ_2aBIcZ-0LBIfCXuC1h5cXF5neurdiculcWVrYeH-Ggt6jX8wad3qAtWpPl_J0L8iA38OJAMAX7dUqFaXu76F8yivShecjXSr7mJAr1Dv8YT7Jqf29ed1v8Yh4YMf_AICubO-/s400/20141101_152746.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: A pre-loved baby? Does that mean the baby isn't loved anymore? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Cheekie. WRONG. And Monkies. Just WRONG. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Like a multi-storey carpark, it's wrong on so many levels.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord Brassica: I've told my chauffeur never to park in those structures.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: You know what though? I don't care about the proper use of apostrophes.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, Tamsin, fair enough. But you should know that the rogue apostrophe slayer is about.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuP9zMOyzJI_BeghVK1bGlH9IV6tCDYYRg6xuQhpJMyO5uxbxvcM6k-AC-lkDhyphenhyphennEKIMMoUNDJMTrfYXl-oCSc5ugc4tmK0IwJhCxBR9ANifMiJ-KB02r3wWpRFxVlRIKxCBAPI7fVczJ9/s1600/wordtree.etsy.il_570xN_719462029_mfp0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuP9zMOyzJI_BeghVK1bGlH9IV6tCDYYRg6xuQhpJMyO5uxbxvcM6k-AC-lkDhyphenhyphennEKIMMoUNDJMTrfYXl-oCSc5ugc4tmK0IwJhCxBR9ANifMiJ-KB02r3wWpRFxVlRIKxCBAPI7fVczJ9/s320/wordtree.etsy.il_570xN_719462029_mfp0.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Is it the slayer who's rogue or is it the apostrophe? Just asking.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #ff00fe; font-family: verdana;">Tamsin: You know what? I don't care about apostrophes. Or commas. Or spelling. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">What do you mean? SPELLING RULES! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8y6gnDpf1wpxMYOXCkHKCmeONKfW-jvx1_pFznZ-1Vu9PUER9tonBNUd_vq2epS5B7jFzNhO7RriFV5s0oB5145FqwIKn39Y2RYFVCD1U1XZZTeonWn_cVjTZ_ueSs9yDv8ysodYrVwVOaN0IuMNtny6G-0vWVvSJ8Pyn7wQszue-PopUqa0qAlVbR42/s974/FB_IMG_1709647578772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="922" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8y6gnDpf1wpxMYOXCkHKCmeONKfW-jvx1_pFznZ-1Vu9PUER9tonBNUd_vq2epS5B7jFzNhO7RriFV5s0oB5145FqwIKn39Y2RYFVCD1U1XZZTeonWn_cVjTZ_ueSs9yDv8ysodYrVwVOaN0IuMNtny6G-0vWVvSJ8Pyn7wQszue-PopUqa0qAlVbR42/w379-h400/FB_IMG_1709647578772.jpg" width="379" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sign Appreciation Society, Facebook</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Enough! I'm going to find a bench and sit down with this plate of <strike>cookeys</strike> <strike>cookie's</strike> cookies for Punctuation Day. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JkZ-t8XILEwTzTq3wo7AAMfIOlwzgVfJzKavYhhEmwR6Fi0xYJfBWBVXN9WNj0fV2Pw5ypV-VoP1OO6mXO1UTNVQTlvURiRV9_YKHXvYiUs285LfhIOaC8w-FuvJhDdGbuQDxwZYvLay/s1600/David.Erickson.fkcc.punctuationday.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JkZ-t8XILEwTzTq3wo7AAMfIOlwzgVfJzKavYhhEmwR6Fi0xYJfBWBVXN9WNj0fV2Pw5ypV-VoP1OO6mXO1UTNVQTlvURiRV9_YKHXvYiUs285LfhIOaC8w-FuvJhDdGbuQDxwZYvLay/s320/David.Erickson.fkcc.punctuationday.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: This is a clear case for a dictionary.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I looked up the word 'bench' in my wife's dictionary and I couldn't find it. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKrE7qjmXmKaJPr8cEGUjWqi3jmKJYy6Jtj7ETtwb3Zh1-HvZPJlVYaICEvOuRv49iBXGqh2Xg9NYW9vWSyvc9zcZMD2EFQmocwGfdeQIPTzoAK_ARlSD1vpchxP0bdAkZbcMO60V8D73/s1600/givingnot%2540rocketmail.com.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKrE7qjmXmKaJPr8cEGUjWqi3jmKJYy6Jtj7ETtwb3Zh1-HvZPJlVYaICEvOuRv49iBXGqh2Xg9NYW9vWSyvc9zcZMD2EFQmocwGfdeQIPTzoAK_ARlSD1vpchxP0bdAkZbcMO60V8D73/s320/givingnot%2540rocketmail.com.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/</a></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well done, Lord B. So fa, so good.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I have no idea what you're on about, Seashell.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Me neither. I feel like my brain is upside down.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPBy-c69lO8vMC1K51mD3qwUpUL0CEV5t86VHkfxE8JC0tDPWcKy-iZ7_0IvYftCCIEPX4mH_7bLMzEmqVumkRiqynviVj_NA2wllS_nLLPY5gwwRuYJPx5rM-3fAcjbqti5Y15ZhXzbP/s1600/artotemsco.fkcc.artotem.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPBy-c69lO8vMC1K51mD3qwUpUL0CEV5t86VHkfxE8JC0tDPWcKy-iZ7_0IvYftCCIEPX4mH_7bLMzEmqVumkRiqynviVj_NA2wllS_nLLPY5gwwRuYJPx5rM-3fAcjbqti5Y15ZhXzbP/s320/artotemsco.fkcc.artotem.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/</a></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I too am partial to some inverted Spanish punctuation.</span> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Do I speak Spanish? I don't think I do.</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There's no need to feel like an idiot, Tamsin. </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">For the principles of punctuation, you just have to remember this little poem: </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>The stops point out, with truth, the time of pause</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>A sentence doth require at ev'ry clause.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>At ev'ry comma, stop while one you count;</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>At semi-colon, two is the amount;</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>A colon doth require the time of three;</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>The period four, as learned men agree.</i> </span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Do women agree though?</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I'm not aware of any learned women in this neck of the woods. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Present company <strike>accepted</strike> excepted, Lord B?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: I have no idea what company you mean. Fortnum and Mason?</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, we've covered commas, quotation marks, fullstops, question marks and exclamation points. Does anyone have any questions?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: A philosophical question: is the exclamation point justified in the name of this seaside town in the west of England?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nysrKof5Emv-_TLhv78bYnJ9s4Ees06HTIcNobye7XgjK27aH2il0dxrCLJzXvVFXcX68FU67M4p8D9WtUibs1Bm-vliVE2XwFSEFyXJad5_s8UvKFQpYOAOjkcJsJc4Y8zWhTVCbknF/s1600/mark.robinson.westwardho.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nysrKof5Emv-_TLhv78bYnJ9s4Ees06HTIcNobye7XgjK27aH2il0dxrCLJzXvVFXcX68FU67M4p8D9WtUibs1Bm-vliVE2XwFSEFyXJad5_s8UvKFQpYOAOjkcJsJc4Y8zWhTVCbknF/s320/mark.robinson.westwardho.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/ </a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Westward Ho! When I was 18 I spent a jolly summer holiday there with my nanny! </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There are two exclamation points here, Lord B. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Three pounds seventy-five each! That's ummmm . . . quite a lot of money!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This punctuation lark is all ruddy nonsense. I'll say toodle pip to you all and get back to my cows.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLf-AGCKkFYkfM1Jt7vH5_V9P8jZEuTTa_zpVlglUbSvNTxrm_Vi4jaB5D7Idzz8sHx4IZvfKn1_iLSGoAMWAqjy0IOttfG7KZJktK-zL8yWoXag0WhXcFhhhPfugSu_EcoMMXln4h5Mi8/s1600/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLf-AGCKkFYkfM1Jt7vH5_V9P8jZEuTTa_zpVlglUbSvNTxrm_Vi4jaB5D7Idzz8sHx4IZvfKn1_iLSGoAMWAqjy0IOttfG7KZJktK-zL8yWoXag0WhXcFhhhPfugSu_EcoMMXln4h5Mi8/s320/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4255861037/%C2%A0" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4255861037/ </span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Golly. If asked nicely, Lord B's cows are clever enough to close the gate. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Now <i>that's</i> something to celebrate on Punctuation Day!</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We're very literary here on Benchsite. A stack of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-stack-of-book-benches-for-world-book.html">book benches for World Book Day</a>? We got 'em. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html">Poetry benches</a>? Yes, please. We even have <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/world-book-day-dewey-need-library.html">Dewey benches for militant librarians</a>, and a whole <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/an-alphabet-of-dutch-benches.html">alphabet of Dutch benches</a>. And there's an <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/an-alphabet-of-dance-benches-for-world.html">alphabet of dance benches</a> as well. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">According to Alexander Henning Drachmann, Alexander Henning Drachmann is a charming, reflective and relatively young artist from the west coast of Denmark. He loves books, music and films but he hates most modern pop music and also opera. He loves films and documentaries and he's green with a capital G (so that's Green). He took the photo of the question mark bench sculpture at the start of the story, which he saw in Esbjerg, Denmark in 2006. I wonder if it's still there. That's not a question by the way, which is why there is no question mark. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The brilliant "You" seating is by TABISSO®, a dynamic French design company focusing on a new concept of high-end typographic lounge furniture. Typographia was inspired by teaching the alphabet in a township in South Africa. Their collection of typographic furniture allows you to freely communicate names, acronyms, or any personalised message by displaying chairs and floorlamps side byside. The set of chairs includes all letters from A to Z and numbers from 0 to 9, and the set of floorlamps covers over 20 punctuation marks.They were nominated finalists of best new product in a London design show in 2011. </span><a href="http://www.tabisso.com/" target="_blank">www.tabisso.com</a><br /><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white;">Eddie is my Inner Editor, who just happens to be a primate. If you've seen much of Benchsite you will know what a problem Eddie is for me. He has <s>ruined</s> helped me edit the post about my swimming bench and the </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/blue-benches-for-blue-monday.html"><span style="background: white; color: #848484;">Blue Monday benches</span></a><span style="background: white;">. He <s>interfered with</s> stepped in to help with the </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/an-orange-bench-mystery.html"><span style="background: white; color: #848484;">Orange bench mystery</span></a><span style="background: white;">. However, he has a habit of setting his own agenda with the benches. Look what <s>a mess he made</s> great job he did on <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html"><span style="color: #848484; text-decoration-line: none;">St. George's Day</span></a> . And as for my </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/seeing-red-benches-for-february.html"><span style="background: white; color: #848484;">Red benches</span></a><span style="background: white;"> in February? No wonder I was <s>very grateful</s> seeing red. It's lucky he was around for National Insect Day though; his <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/national-insect-week-buzz-about-benches.html">insect benches</a> are buzzing.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="background: white;"><br /></span><span style="background: white;"></span><span>Kevin Trotman is the Rocketeer and he makes brilliant fake industrial signs. His hometown is somewhere in Texas but now he lives in South Carolina. I wonder if they have Heavy Punctuation Crossing signs in South Carolina. No, I don't think so since The Rocketeer said he had fun making this using <a href="http://www.stclaire.com/">www.stclaire.com</a> and PhotoShop. It's in the Punctuality Gallery on Flickr. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/in/photolist-LNrP">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/</a></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>His Excellency is one of my two husbands. He is a philosopher and a man who takes an interest in many subjects, apart from chemistry. He's particularly keen on <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html">poetry benches</a> and also <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/an-alphabet-of-dance-benches-for-world.html">dancers</a>. For more about my two husbands and their education see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html</a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some people are just so clever and creative that other people take their stuff and use it for their own purposes. Such is Tsahi Levent-Levi, who made the finger face with a question. It's one of his many brilliant teaching and presentation photos which appear in all kinds of galleries and is, fortunately, available on Creative Commons. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/</a></span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>Tamsin is a sweet local girl who works here in Fribble-under-Par in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy. Ever a follower of fashion, Tamsin likes to try anything new. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html">Fifty shades of pink benches</a>? It didn't scare her. Tamsin has a French fiance, Garcon Orange, and a baby named Isambard Kevin, whose paternal origins are unknown. </span><span>And she has a rather odd perspective on life, as shown in the post she helped me with about</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/big-bench-small-bench-cute-and-tiny.html">big and small benches</a><span>. If you think size doesn't matter, you ought to see it. </span><br /><span><br /></span>President Obama faced a lot of hazy questions in his time, which is why Raymond Bryson made a series of Obama versus, well, all kinds of stuff. Raymond Bryson's profile is empty but his albums are full of toys, animals and yes, quite a few question marks. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/</a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer here on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Paradise</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>. He loves his horse Tonks, his dog Pru,and his 1947 Landrover, in that order. He indulges his wife, Lady Jessica Brassica with a replica mall in the basement of Drizzly Manor, a beach hut on the Esplanade, and unlimited amounts of cash for shopping. However, it has emerged that he doesn't know as much as you'd think about farm animal benches, especially<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">cow benches</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">sheep benches</a>. He knows a bit more about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/2014-year-of-horse-bench.html">horse benches</a>, learned from his horse Tonks, and possibly something about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">dog benches</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>from his dog Pru. What he really knows though, is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html">picnic benches</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The question mark sculpture person is from the Florence Exhibition of sculptor Jean-Michel Folon.It was photographed by Marco Bellucci in 2005 <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We can't do punctuation without reference to the lovely ampersand. Ampersand/Needle is a photograph showing detail of Roy McMakin's sculpture Love & Loss in Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park. The neon object above is the ampersand from the sculpure, which uses various shapes - including a tree trunk, a concrete bench and a tiny artificial pond - to spell out the title Love & Loss. Edgeplot was there to photograph it in 2007. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/</a></span><br /><br /></span><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lady Jessica Brassica is a fashionista and former model with Studio Joop from Overbearing in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Holland</st1:place></st1:city>. Now she has her own fashion house at Ballyfrumpy in <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Offhand</st1:placename> in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. She loves shopping at her replica mall and having poetry read by Young Male Readers dot com. She is happily married to Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly but<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/summer-bench-days-are-here-again.html">last summer</a> Lady Jess spent rather a lot of time at her beach hut with <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Troy</st1:place></st1:city></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 13.5pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Tom Barrett is a Year 5 classroom teacher, ICT Subject Leader and Assistant Headteacher in a large primary school in Nottinghamshire. He has been blogging about the implementation of technology in his classroom for over three years at edte.ch. He also photographed the Punctuation Pyramid, which is helpful for Year 5 students and just about everyone else, including His Excellency. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) was a Portuguese writer. <i>The Book of Disquiet</i>, from which the punctuation quotation is taken, was published posthumously in 1984 and is a Penguin Classic. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lynn Truss's <i>Eats Shoots and Leaves</i> was book of the year in the UK in 2004. Some of its examples are hilarious. What's it about? The rest of its title is <i>The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation</i>. In this case you <i>can</i> tell a book from its cover. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Kritterville USA makes brightly coloured and very cute benches, chairs and stools. The panda bench was photographed in 2010 and appears in Kritterville's photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/</a> There are also frogs, beetles, bugs, and a variety of other kritters. See which pandas and other animal benches Noah saved on the ark for World Animal Day </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html</a><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The jumble of pandas is The Panda Banquette by brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana at the mind-blowing design company L'arco Baleno. <a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/">http://www.larcobaleno.com/</a> It's described as <i>an iconic example of the Campana brothers’ signature style - playful pieces made from repurposed stuffed animals</i>, which the brothers Campana consider <i>a humble, often overlooked material</i>. The stuffed animals are hand-sewn onto canvas stretched over a stainless steel structure. The Panda Banquette is a limited edition of 25. At $44,170 it's the most expensive bench ever featured on Benchsite.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Punctuation sudoku was for International Apostrophe Day in August 2013. Gosh, the apostrophe gets a day of its own! It comes from Dawn McIlvain Stahl, aka PurplePenning, who kindly brings style and order to writing, and lives to tell the tale. Dawn is a professional freelance copyeditor and writer with many interests. Exceptions: calculus, catheters, and cake. She's in Monticello,Illinois. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/</a><br /><br />There really is, or was, a St. Arbucks coffee shop in a village in Wiltshire, UK. Sadly, it did not have the required apostrophe to show ownership of the shop. In every other way, though, it's a very clever concept and I hope they gave that other Starbucks a run for their money. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The two primate <i>Scholars</i> were painted by German artist Gabriel Ritter von Max (1840-1915). Now that's a name to rival the very entitled Puking Entwits.<br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The giant pencil bench is by Ron Parks (2009). It's in Jocelyn Sculpture Park in Omaha, Nebraska and was photographed by Hanneorla for her photostream at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006</a> Hanneorla loves travelling and taking pictures around the world. She is fascinated by contemporary visual art, cutting-edge sculpture, modern architecture, and futuristic designs. The pencil bench features in the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/schools-out-for-summer-benches.html">school's out for summer benches</a>. No more pencils, no more books . . . </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The stack of benches are lounge chairs (sort of benches) and they were photographed by my good friend Sheila B, who lives in Cyprus. She's always there offseason and has a good eye for stuff that's stored, put away, waiting for something to happen. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Bill and Vicki T live in Rochelle, Illinois. Back in 2007 they visited Alaska, where they saw the log cabin and the inviting Husband's Waiting Bench. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/ </a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Scott McLeod photographed some very colourful question mark cookies which someone baked in 2012. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/</a> Scott, originally from Virginia, is a Director of Innovation. Associate Professor. CASTLE Director. Blogger. Idea generator. Solution builder. Agitator. Catalyst. And here's a quote for you, properly punctuated: “If the leaders don’t get it, it’s not going to happen.”</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Tina Marie's shop is Teenie Tees, where they are dedicated to creating fun, funny, cute and trendy shirts designs that you will love and love to wear for years. Just one of her Tees is the one showing the importance of a comma. Let's eat Grandpa has a completely different meaning than inviting Grandpa to eat. Commas really do save lives. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/TeenieTees%C2%A0">www.etsy.com/shop/TeenieTees </a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cats have a way of asking perfectly punctuated questions with their tails. This cat photo is Punto interrogativo? The photographer is Mauro from Umbria in Italy. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Rebecca Wilson is a girl after my own heart. She believes that punctuation is truly the glue that's holding civilization together, however tenuously. Back in 2010 she bravely defended the semi-colon, a misunderstood punctuation mark which comes in for a lot of schtick. You can read it here: <a href="http://saucysalad.com/2010/08/26/a-punctual-defense/">http://saucysalad.com/2010/08/26/a-punctual-defense/</a> And you can see it on her photostream at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/ </a> Rebecca is a professional web editor and writer and an amateur photographer who now lives in Portland, Oregon.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Natalie in Phoenix, Arizona is a nerdy chemist by day and a graphic designer by night. Her brilliant Etsy shop, Grammatical Art, combines her love of grammar, graphic design, and science to make prints, tees, and cards for the nerd in all of us. I have used two of her semi-colon prints to show why comma splices are not cool; a semi-colon is much cooler. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The interrobang (‽) is a combination question mark and exclamation point. It's out of fashion now but it was once used to punctuate an excited or rhetorical question like #WTH‽ .Some people have been campaigning to bring it back. Larry Tenney took this photo in 2013 <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Neil Milne from Glasgow is otherwise known as boris pumps. Among other things, he photographs nail art, including the freehand exclamation marks on a black background. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's apparently by Buzz Buzz at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/buzzbuzznailart">www.facebook.com/buzzbuzznailart</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ian is holding a portable exclamation mark but he doesn't look very excited about it. The photographer is bysfonline at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/</a> </span><br /><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sometimes Rob Watling from Nottingham UK takes photos, and sometimes he posts them on Flickr. Free Air! is a 2010 photo </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/" style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><font>In April 2018 benches were big news on the internet. Well, one was anyway. When Nicole Campbell died, age 35, in Los Angeles, a nice memorial bench was put up in her name intending to celebrate her love of dogs. Instead, what became celebrated was the amphiboly (misunderstanding) arising from poor grammar on the bench plaque. RIP Nicole. <br /></font><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lisa Krowinski owns the Shop Sapling Press in Pittsburgh, specialising in letterhead printed stationery. There are quite a few very useful Fact sheets, for example did you know that on the internet you're never more than three clicks away from a cat? Nice to know. Fact 79 concerns the apostrophe and there is an interesting personal letter from Question Marks. Lovely stuff, Lisa! <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress">www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress</a> And speaking of cats, my cat editor Meredith can show you some purrfect cat <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html">benches for World Cat Day</a>.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">David Lanham is an illustrator and designer living in Greensboro, North Carolina. He made the Bad Comma cartoon which says that a comma in the wrong place can be a dangerous thing, even in German. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/</a> For some greatly diverse European benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/united-in-diversity-28-benches-for.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/united-in-diversity-28-benches-for.html</a><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Oxford bench was photographed by Stephanie Byron, who is from Iowa. I don't know if she was actually in Oxford at the time, or maybe even another place called Oxford, other than the well-known university one. Her shop is Red Hedge Photos, which sells simple, beautiful, and unique products inspired by nature. There are floral prints, animals, textures, objects, letters and all kinds of prints to add a dash of cheerful inspiration to everyday life. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos">www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos</a> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There are Apostrophe cafes all over the place. I took a photo of this one in London. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Elizabeth is a Book Fiend from Belmont, North Carolina. Fittingly, she runs Book Fiend, a shop selling literature-inspired jewelry, stickers, magnets, cuffs and gifts. There are safe text warnings and Oxford commas, and one of her weatherproof vinyl stickers is a great reminder that apostrophes do not make plurals. She does grammar too: the past, the present and the future walked into a bar. It was tense. </span> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend">www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here in Fribble-under-Par we have a six year old named April, and her parallel selves, May and June. Squeezy is their pet lemon. Here they are at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html">Easter, when things were going a bit sour</a>.</span><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBsFud9tJRCYoTEwF9h8tokDQfz6X2nz2ZzEp88e6BM3i6sWw9-uvUwhdGjsGTfCOAF5PjyWjXiJiapCAkIAmN2To_3tuvRKOMH-USokkvDJJh73u0biR6wOAd__9BrDOVkPL7Fl_d5TR/s1600/pet+lemon+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBsFud9tJRCYoTEwF9h8tokDQfz6X2nz2ZzEp88e6BM3i6sWw9-uvUwhdGjsGTfCOAF5PjyWjXiJiapCAkIAmN2To_3tuvRKOMH-USokkvDJJh73u0biR6wOAd__9BrDOVkPL7Fl_d5TR/s320/pet+lemon+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Respect Apostrophes button is from Voz in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His Etsy shop, Fishcakes, makes nifty stuff like buttons, books, mugs and keychains. There is evidence of the grammar police and spelling vigilantes amongst the many colourful buttons. Great to see that! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Oh dear. Although it has a thriving literary scene and many writers, the Isle of <strike>White</strike> Wight is the home of Cheekie Monkies. You can see the sign writer meant well. He or she understood that some words are made plural with ie. Unfortunately, cheeky and monkey do not follow this rule. Cheeky monkeys are needed. Goes to show that when in doubt, check your dictionary or your spellcheck. But even that won't save you from pre-loved babies. For some monkey business with cheeky monkey benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html</a><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">From their base in Cardiff in Wales Team Wordtree are a specialist brand language consultancy. They create styles of language and write for companies all over the world. In their spare time, these cunning linguists create some nice wordy, printed things, such as the rogue apostrophe slayer.They are never lost for words. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree</a></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">David Erickson photographed a splendid plate of punctuation cookies for National Punctuation Day in 2008. He's a strategic communications professional, director of e-Strategy, and expert media source on online communications from Minneapolis. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The dictionary bench defining the word 'sofa' is Dr Johnson's Wild World Book Bench from London in the summer of 2014. The designer is Scriberia and it was photographed by givingnot@rocketmail.com, who has nothing in his/her profile but lots of albums of London and some from Berlin, including quite a few benches. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">¡I really like the Spanish language convention of inverted question and exclamation marks! Artotem captured these beautifully in 2009. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/</a> You can see some fabuloso Mexican benches at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Michael Beitz, a Fine Arts graduate of the University of Buffalo, exhibits throughout Europe and the US. He makes all kinds of weird and wonderful sculptures which have emerged from his years as a furniture designer. Sofas in knots, upside down tangled tables - it's great to see his quirky, twisty, mind-bending stuff. The idiot bench, made of wood, is from 2013.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html">http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html</a></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The poem <i>Principles of Punctuation</i> is by Cecil Hartley, published in 1818. It's not really the way we understand punctuation these days but someone might find it useful. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Westward Ho! beach was photographed by Mark Robinson in 2008 and yes, Westward Ho! is a real place and it has a real exclamation mark as part of its name. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/</a> Not to be outdone by Westward Ho!, the small town of Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! in Quebec has two exclamation points, three hyphens, and space between Ha! and Ha! So there.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-37185227283610002732023-06-27T02:27:00.014-07:002023-07-27T13:52:27.418-07:00Still Screaming for Ice Cream Benches!<p> </p><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's July and we're all screaming for ice cream benches.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3HzXuEtYxPiDdj-WIs6BYrATFUMJOgU_QhtqSs2SBXlfuZC-yhTQmif6EQdXANrdrIEAozi9tnoSzF0L0ttbXI3Kr221XUXnPNyc8E4dmMSdwdVqDwOTUg7gm_qDYOQYSSeOreDO4aPl/s1600/asianreplicas.com.Ice%252520Cream%252520Bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3HzXuEtYxPiDdj-WIs6BYrATFUMJOgU_QhtqSs2SBXlfuZC-yhTQmif6EQdXANrdrIEAozi9tnoSzF0L0ttbXI3Kr221XUXnPNyc8E4dmMSdwdVqDwOTUg7gm_qDYOQYSSeOreDO4aPl/s400/asianreplicas.com.Ice%252520Cream%252520Bench.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ursula Makepeace is our Unicorn-in-Residence here on Paradise Island. She's going to show us some cool ice cream benches for </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">National Ice Cream <strike>Bench</strike> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Month.</span><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face=""><br /></font><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ame8hREl0DvqbFAfQ5DAsZjnHswTlL3CWo9swJNGJLg_hABuM5bEnEZEp_QEeLY-LIZnPFzIsa76dIcZrdv27-4-6sS3ztHYdVa-3f34xiNALBDMen7aHcmFHVLwUh6uqF5z9UGcMndH/s1600/ursula.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ame8hREl0DvqbFAfQ5DAsZjnHswTlL3CWo9swJNGJLg_hABuM5bEnEZEp_QEeLY-LIZnPFzIsa76dIcZrdv27-4-6sS3ztHYdVa-3f34xiNALBDMen7aHcmFHVLwUh6uqF5z9UGcMndH/s320/ursula.JPG" width="272" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ursula herself is very fond of ice cream so she's got the scoop.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBL1TDvwGGuWuraDQ_vxB7Mwxda9fSAxTDJl0WzTc_uRMOpPmBkqulB7bFAQcuKt_CufZjOG2sXEx2lMHAeAUrnz7I32eTQOeDuVho_MZA4n4l9TU5BOIt5rFAvtOTq_XhJafu5crH8UYL/s1600/100_7384.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBL1TDvwGGuWuraDQ_vxB7Mwxda9fSAxTDJl0WzTc_uRMOpPmBkqulB7bFAQcuKt_CufZjOG2sXEx2lMHAeAUrnz7I32eTQOeDuVho_MZA4n4l9TU5BOIt5rFAvtOTq_XhJafu5crH8UYL/w256-h254/100_7384.JPG" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/07/unicorn-ice-cream-benches-for-ice-cream.html"><font size="1">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/07/unicorn-ice-cream-benches-for-ice-cream.html</font></a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What's all this about National Ice Cream month, Ursula?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Ursula: Well, it was started by President Reagan in 1984. He wanted the month of July to be National Ice Cream Month.</span><br /><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">And National Ice Cream Day is on the third Sunday.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Or is that sundae?</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-jdVCsynw2Weqdb7sjsabzOwU3eO9bbulRHJz67JIP2qLlAJi0Tavii6Si_jPVwkL3kC0j19KyGYgrTx6D1yKhS7N_6zfdPib6n8mheOyP6PhMgTp3zE5mz3s-j4UFvOpZF2iT_mSa1g/s1600/ice+cream+sundae+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-jdVCsynw2Weqdb7sjsabzOwU3eO9bbulRHJz67JIP2qLlAJi0Tavii6Si_jPVwkL3kC0j19KyGYgrTx6D1yKhS7N_6zfdPib6n8mheOyP6PhMgTp3zE5mz3s-j4UFvOpZF2iT_mSa1g/s320/ice+cream+sundae+B.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/angel2dream/2299534730" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/angel2dream/2299534730</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Ursula: In 2023 National Ice Cream Day is July 16th in the US, Canada and the UK.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Strange choice of month. I'd have put Ice Cream Month in winter.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIT1wHCguGSRIyJmxi6-shZatDClZUAp5evQ7QIj6k_2NeZB6c7NDWnvQcBr7Ud-NjZCsnQq3ltLhZHVwGgh7aIMPxDu-e5Oe9vZ1yii9QfkxqX5JshY-8zyULNBJ71b0bLMlPwlBdbg43/s1600/martyn.latenightmovie.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIT1wHCguGSRIyJmxi6-shZatDClZUAp5evQ7QIj6k_2NeZB6c7NDWnvQcBr7Ud-NjZCsnQq3ltLhZHVwGgh7aIMPxDu-e5Oe9vZ1yii9QfkxqX5JshY-8zyULNBJ71b0bLMlPwlBdbg43/s320/martyn.latenightmovie.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn/99338148/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn/99338148/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;">Ursula: Well, in February it's Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. It's a great holiday!</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;">Let me guess. You do two things, right? </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;">1. Eat ice cream</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;"></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white;">2. For breakfast</span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Ursula: Most people enjoy ice cream in summer. One of the joys of summer is hearing the ice cream van's tinkling music as it gets nearer. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlk53erwjJ5UfV1OW4zEPfhsDNSY0C1fTftKUnxVS-KrBX8vZVmOrfPN55Hd5pWzSn7jLxKq4yeC9BLjYAbcfBTTs-gjPAqKe-uylOxCdcpt79G47tFrjfEAn_rP5pjHBNMDGJFpAh0DE/s1600/evil_cheese-scientist.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlk53erwjJ5UfV1OW4zEPfhsDNSY0C1fTftKUnxVS-KrBX8vZVmOrfPN55Hd5pWzSn7jLxKq4yeC9BLjYAbcfBTTs-gjPAqKe-uylOxCdcpt79G47tFrjfEAn_rP5pjHBNMDGJFpAh0DE/s320/evil_cheese-scientist.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/evil_cheese_scientist/9279660732/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/evil_cheese_scientist/9279660732/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lord Brassica's ice cream van played Tchaikovsky.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Of course. He grew up in a posh neighbourhood.</span></span></div><div><font color="#ff00ff" face=""><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6mSaqfVJU78wfR0SSNETsjvWsYLVdnX4-m-9vkWy-vOnyehvB2PaCxZlRn-GCeb84aFsroffiiPxtO0M6mSNzgfM8kPjby-_cnBzD9nUrRreN7x0bEZzUZgwtJNfiS_IOiFIxs3_Tjx5S/s1806/LordB.Drizzlymanor.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><font size="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1806" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6mSaqfVJU78wfR0SSNETsjvWsYLVdnX4-m-9vkWy-vOnyehvB2PaCxZlRn-GCeb84aFsroffiiPxtO0M6mSNzgfM8kPjby-_cnBzD9nUrRreN7x0bEZzUZgwtJNfiS_IOiFIxs3_Tjx5S/s320/LordB.Drizzlymanor.JPG" width="320" /></font></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/05/one-sandwich-short-of-picnic-bench.html"><font size="1">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/05/one-sandwich-short-of-picnic-bench.</font></a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">My dad used to tell me the music meant the ice cream was all sold out. He said all those people rushing to the van were going to be disappointed, so I didn't bother. Saved him a lot of money over the years.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Well, now you can rush out and get yourself a triple treat.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1d70cKVR6hG2SYoVJslIhQmkQp812tq6B-DKyimJvzlq0mzSxGRJb2-WiFEF8liX-EneNOXxPVXmTj7bh-Lv27G_JvEbA8RX2AoT6KTr5rENejGt1h50dGqoFKjHkZI8F_fiJ22AC-za/s1600/asianreplicas.Chocolate%2525203D%252520Ice%252520Cream%252520Model%252520%2526%252520Statue.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1d70cKVR6hG2SYoVJslIhQmkQp812tq6B-DKyimJvzlq0mzSxGRJb2-WiFEF8liX-EneNOXxPVXmTj7bh-Lv27G_JvEbA8RX2AoT6KTr5rENejGt1h50dGqoFKjHkZI8F_fiJ22AC-za/s400/asianreplicas.Chocolate%2525203D%252520Ice%252520Cream%252520Model%252520%2526%252520Statue.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/">www.asianreplicas.com</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">But July is that time of year when everything is melting.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnIa9zYkP9w9KWnnPNP6lfJT5BCBr0pZ20Ucwf7UWDRkbUCj3j4m9RKHcYPfYiJX6Ng-FOMFbU5Av8vV63nuGmXhD9iznSDT8TtMgr-bInGQqJ3hj-nTHSlyFvmjxOvYtaY88GqNHP1w-/s1600/Neko.Dahl.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnIa9zYkP9w9KWnnPNP6lfJT5BCBr0pZ20Ucwf7UWDRkbUCj3j4m9RKHcYPfYiJX6Ng-FOMFbU5Av8vV63nuGmXhD9iznSDT8TtMgr-bInGQqJ3hj-nTHSlyFvmjxOvYtaY88GqNHP1w-/s320/Neko.Dahl.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NekoDahl">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NekoDahl</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And once your bench has melted, even your ice cream van is in danger. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt08DLXjaa0Z4LEgRMLITt5iwsHQ0O-tQJCDxYpENqkmCVDYg6VX7tPjCn6yRrid4d2lE3UuVpHJOoXa8mZ9HppIt7kqmqXWef0o2VpMXtZPAa8yhkgVhCFxxqXIlxrEVkQz7mCocs1aK0/s1600/jokideo.com554352_328242280583154_126894987384552_754025_829628602_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt08DLXjaa0Z4LEgRMLITt5iwsHQ0O-tQJCDxYpENqkmCVDYg6VX7tPjCn6yRrid4d2lE3UuVpHJOoXa8mZ9HppIt7kqmqXWef0o2VpMXtZPAa8yhkgVhCFxxqXIlxrEVkQz7mCocs1aK0/s320/jokideo.com554352_328242280583154_126894987384552_754025_829628602_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://jokideo.com/tag/melted-ice-cream-van/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://jokideo.com/tag/melted-ice-cream-van/</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Ice cream isn't normally associated with danger. I'd like to keep a positive note here, Seashell, if you don't mind. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm disappointed in you, Ursula. I was hoping you would shed some light on ice cream benches for us.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01HP0iNveDZAl4NHA9sNc9txPSbrD0vDGtn9Ka6QSUCqt88Q4HCJVnJMWyR_ThjQqxQepSzGhd1hKnWWe974diFp2oXTOM0uyzjqzp83zyfCFNnSpNUhIuhYWxMlMkH4o3XdpmAKiRNMc/s1600/tangyauhoong.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01HP0iNveDZAl4NHA9sNc9txPSbrD0vDGtn9Ka6QSUCqt88Q4HCJVnJMWyR_ThjQqxQepSzGhd1hKnWWe974diFp2oXTOM0uyzjqzp83zyfCFNnSpNUhIuhYWxMlMkH4o3XdpmAKiRNMc/s200/tangyauhoong.fkcc.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tangyauhoong/5866805977/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/tangyauhoong/5866805977/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Like where did Ben meet Jerry? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What did Baskins think of Robbins? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />And how far did the Arctic roll?</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Or how do you make a rootbeer float?</span></div><div><span style="color: #ff00fe;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMUfiQVVtPsBeqoXOvsPdb4hgpBQXMOI_HrmA4fvxSZ82TXreY_l36339yRyB4V6KcBJs4TFTsoIQ30C-TZrxtC8TvWeJlOKEtyAwWAgq1kqiFU31otQJbVxQhynzlbHtxaQF2dFwqksgH9Vs7OS_yiWYqINp8ixVEYXnw9U5xrGSFMzrERcvoxKk7fWZ/s960/FB_IMG_1687861523341.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="692" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMUfiQVVtPsBeqoXOvsPdb4hgpBQXMOI_HrmA4fvxSZ82TXreY_l36339yRyB4V6KcBJs4TFTsoIQ30C-TZrxtC8TvWeJlOKEtyAwWAgq1kqiFU31otQJbVxQhynzlbHtxaQF2dFwqksgH9Vs7OS_yiWYqINp8ixVEYXnw9U5xrGSFMzrERcvoxKk7fWZ/w289-h400/FB_IMG_1687861523341.jpg" width="289" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Not funny. I Know how to make a rootbeer float.<br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">You need to cool down, Seashell. I might have some ice cream that's right up your street.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPOA9We-4w8Gt0p1QlB79blI6drkUzHXMMHHstuXvF8B2hKw7cUkbQ4mOu4rOfrr3FPN6Ltp4WCctPOQAmYMcVSpyKvT1sR-bdf6OajhmqA0vIiJ_JyfVa-MKsh9s2f4A1HPbV7eqCjnUXZYmMgyxOhXf4SXvEbZltHXo81oEMDNBEXgmFjc7zraJRUMl/s320/PhotoFunia-1593531063.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="320" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPOA9We-4w8Gt0p1QlB79blI6drkUzHXMMHHstuXvF8B2hKw7cUkbQ4mOu4rOfrr3FPN6Ltp4WCctPOQAmYMcVSpyKvT1sR-bdf6OajhmqA0vIiJ_JyfVa-MKsh9s2f4A1HPbV7eqCjnUXZYmMgyxOhXf4SXvEbZltHXo81oEMDNBEXgmFjc7zraJRUMl/w400-h261/PhotoFunia-1593531063.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">How about a nice colourful popsicle to suck on?</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRK2M5aY3ltd3K_q-CtSsOJnZOTEeA3cKmb39GD8sgG5oZVHCaTr4PTfNMD-HEv23-_I-QKXzMW5mTbYwshoqAWU8IcLhFACDvvOJjXE5d4w-7Ls0shRcA8nuxKBkJ3JEp0TJtpYz7BHc/s1600/icecreams2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRK2M5aY3ltd3K_q-CtSsOJnZOTEeA3cKmb39GD8sgG5oZVHCaTr4PTfNMD-HEv23-_I-QKXzMW5mTbYwshoqAWU8IcLhFACDvvOJjXE5d4w-7Ls0shRcA8nuxKBkJ3JEp0TJtpYz7BHc/s320/icecreams2.JPG" width="218" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">I think you'll find these are ice loll</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">ies.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> But I guess that depends on which side of the pond you're on. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I'll get on with the history now. Why don't you get yourself a cup of ice cream and have a seat on the bench?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_6SG0ZOhXsxAjtXrO4hey1laaNrCwL0aCzu844Iwd75QbzMFfT2H_-HcV5e6X16mBy8DEQ439_TvcdSWxYMjDu2TcNMNzFxBrj3vZnkp6-qULbUx5XHl7CR-vLJdFb9XKjxC5nZxSvQN/s1600/wonderlane.lapaz.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_6SG0ZOhXsxAjtXrO4hey1laaNrCwL0aCzu844Iwd75QbzMFfT2H_-HcV5e6X16mBy8DEQ439_TvcdSWxYMjDu2TcNMNzFxBrj3vZnkp6-qULbUx5XHl7CR-vLJdFb9XKjxC5nZxSvQN/s320/wonderlane.lapaz.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4162664610/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4162664610/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Looks good enough to eat. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Great. You get on with that and I'll show you what's hot in ice cream. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Right now it's unicorn flavour!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFFzTzaZZwX_ahY9uoG934WjZ0qVrgX6-f0kSzVwM1dTp8cvvZct7lnLY6jaKCnWKLC3QLU0qhTKzPbC-f-RPHAMOcJJCJsviWghi4IJVUzKXxPJVI-9PrrDrmXYlNXVjOcR8Y-DbGm9N/s1600/unicorn+ice+cream%252C+Montbaur+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="1600" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFFzTzaZZwX_ahY9uoG934WjZ0qVrgX6-f0kSzVwM1dTp8cvvZct7lnLY6jaKCnWKLC3QLU0qhTKzPbC-f-RPHAMOcJJCJsviWghi4IJVUzKXxPJVI-9PrrDrmXYlNXVjOcR8Y-DbGm9N/s320/unicorn+ice+cream%252C+Montbaur+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo, Montbaur, Germany</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Or <i>Ein Horn</i> as they say in Germany. It's magical! </span><br /><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBh226QdYi6SbAHuGeI1cOBvSkTNGLERF18imy8sTfTY7Cp2yDMnhbDJ6iWzi-n4AcLoChzMdDaXeFh4Oh9hPYqIDCkWFe09x7pfj8iKkhPqlcNhoI11Pa4L0aKULJOoTMerWZqvYOsxJk4OS3n8prtuNjeKiMZUn0Wt93JmbZqv5c4DBaSlAjVB_sAAAg/s1067/FB_IMG_1690488949939.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBh226QdYi6SbAHuGeI1cOBvSkTNGLERF18imy8sTfTY7Cp2yDMnhbDJ6iWzi-n4AcLoChzMdDaXeFh4Oh9hPYqIDCkWFe09x7pfj8iKkhPqlcNhoI11Pa4L0aKULJOoTMerWZqvYOsxJk4OS3n8prtuNjeKiMZUn0Wt93JmbZqv5c4DBaSlAjVB_sAAAg/s320/FB_IMG_1690488949939.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Unicornament</i> 2023, Hannah Lipsey</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Do you remember that 2017 was the Year of the Unicorn Dog Bench?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes. Too many dogs, too many unicorns.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">But is it true that Arctic Rush is the new name for slush?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I'll get to that.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I wish you'd get on with it. I've got my sunglasses on and I'm melting.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHz5_WtaOFAdP82bB4A0A-4ODkNRqFjKskf_TVEDiI4H68iu-UPkKalzT9lIDOIjNF2DRgVAjPFM189yLkNXhGqGOAP8he-pPur3kIR8T-u9l-qP_dP8q6XdLgetTRzXNtSKhhay5ckdMy/s1600/ice+cream+glasses%252C+Oldenburg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><font size="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHz5_WtaOFAdP82bB4A0A-4ODkNRqFjKskf_TVEDiI4H68iu-UPkKalzT9lIDOIjNF2DRgVAjPFM189yLkNXhGqGOAP8he-pPur3kIR8T-u9l-qP_dP8q6XdLgetTRzXNtSKhhay5ckdMy/s400/ice+cream+glasses%252C+Oldenburg.jpg" width="240" /></font></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/08/hot-stuff-benches-for-sizzling-summer.html"><font size="1">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/08/hot-stuff-benches-for-sizzling-summer.html</font></a></b></p><p class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font size="1"><br /></font></p><font size="1"><br /></font></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Can I begin now or are you going to keep interrupting?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I've made a valid point about heat though: in July, ice cream benches melt.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileuIF5vZVW2DjUekGUYA-dcfLFiNDdDt0jRoBGfTHoeUK9nfZTP8hBwp9gThsaaiSGMy2GpF-73P5geqgi4qzc0nsoLFhAqm30LJFXn4QJd9O1zgR5Yf4DuUxpoTtSp-6SmX7_l096PTi/s1600/smoothie-by-florent-degourc.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileuIF5vZVW2DjUekGUYA-dcfLFiNDdDt0jRoBGfTHoeUK9nfZTP8hBwp9gThsaaiSGMy2GpF-73P5geqgi4qzc0nsoLFhAqm30LJFXn4QJd9O1zgR5Yf4DuUxpoTtSp-6SmX7_l096PTi/s320/smoothie-by-florent-degourc.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.florentdegourc.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">http://www.florentdegourc.com</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And now thinking about all this has given me </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. That's I</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">ce Cream Headache to you.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">The cure for ice cream headache is to find yourself a picnic bench, a little shade umbrella, and a cold vanilla cone.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSynlf2SWoleq5qG6mwakHctQq7wzaUbXS0nzYhe3Ue3xQ5NAiF1_0OnkFBUMisFnuI73sB3B0M4uw9v6ctLVzs8uPuwfC7PrXLXt-W4QkkdbPkfXDOkiS6v0oNkeYLUQ82mtY0l7cfS4/s1600/redditpics.com.6DpGNia.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSynlf2SWoleq5qG6mwakHctQq7wzaUbXS0nzYhe3Ue3xQ5NAiF1_0OnkFBUMisFnuI73sB3B0M4uw9v6ctLVzs8uPuwfC7PrXLXt-W4QkkdbPkfXDOkiS6v0oNkeYLUQ82mtY0l7cfS4/s320/redditpics.com.6DpGNia.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://redditpics.com./">redditpics.com.6DpGNia</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I can make a pig of myself with ice cream. But vanilla? Isn't that a bit boring?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Well, it's still the number one ice cream flavour in the US. There's a day for it: June 23rd. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0U_rLqLOwXYOy69B8GRrHChqgIgQKf961_0zNiS9vhYFI_Fu55WqeeW9Y5lAyjDYqUakXi6B8f1SoW5QPsIlHXmIfaCKDkHKiUBF36Jjq3hVHygyE7YOvhJwI8xW40Jp-NtGkDU3FmKP4/s1600/thomas.hawk.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0U_rLqLOwXYOy69B8GRrHChqgIgQKf961_0zNiS9vhYFI_Fu55WqeeW9Y5lAyjDYqUakXi6B8f1SoW5QPsIlHXmIfaCKDkHKiUBF36Jjq3hVHygyE7YOvhJwI8xW40Jp-NtGkDU3FmKP4/s320/thomas.hawk.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/31600080/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/31600080/</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">And did you know that vanilla is more expensive than silver?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">about £440 per kilo? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Though of course nowadays</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> you can get foie gras flavour, or horseradish or beetroot or haggis or . . .</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Wait a minute! These are absurd flavours for ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Maybe you'd prefer black sesame ice cream? That's big in Japan. Or crocodile egg ice cream, which has become a favourite in the Philippines.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">That's disgusting. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">How about coronation chicken gelato, which you can get in London, or cheeseburger ice cream in Colombia? Bacon, octopus, horsemeat - they've all been made into ice cream. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meat-flavoured ice cream leaves me cold. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I agree with you there, Seashell, but how about garlic ice cream or basil? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">You'd be surprised how delicious these new flavours are.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtW_WfAq-ThtYTkOYrIToWmQmLhbxvpvNJqeZL0caqi1h71kIHvoPgw7xmK-swn_m0oS0wSEurURGoOmtzJnsvpTThu8mrTMokYmrymWtA4Vtu4axNqBf8UxXVQrzBfG9IeprexMDuG9FA/s1600/george.thomas.hz536n.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtW_WfAq-ThtYTkOYrIToWmQmLhbxvpvNJqeZL0caqi1h71kIHvoPgw7xmK-swn_m0oS0wSEurURGoOmtzJnsvpTThu8mrTMokYmrymWtA4Vtu4axNqBf8UxXVQrzBfG9IeprexMDuG9FA/s320/george.thomas.hz536n.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hz536n/7470251916/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hz536n/7470251916/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What's wrong with a good old fashioned ice cream bar?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3xOa1tXHM_AA7rTlqFLqc4MF1hejV-A7bI7QmXiwSGHzJkuQ8_WgNgA9Ho35or7YBoXOefrvATpEEDPz5LQO_S6cXVAAeBho7fG2pe9tolp5DfLIMtgUkneLWZ_xrDBNh6d3g9GAnKg5/s1600/four+kids+on+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3xOa1tXHM_AA7rTlqFLqc4MF1hejV-A7bI7QmXiwSGHzJkuQ8_WgNgA9Ho35or7YBoXOefrvATpEEDPz5LQO_S6cXVAAeBho7fG2pe9tolp5DfLIMtgUkneLWZ_xrDBNh6d3g9GAnKg5/s320/four+kids+on+B.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishmish/3516676025"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishmish/3516676025</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Nothing. Children love them. </span></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I hope you aren't going to show a lot of kids eating ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Why not? Kids and ice cream go together like . . . strawberries and cream. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I suppose it's best to start them early.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJaAOzWjJgs2HZ6RJvdeQCaiooM2jG__1_XKX6ukeHqv12fN_pZmXgb1rSZ-HDm4uW1rxhp09DFmAi5YUTGzktOC43aRf1XOT8wWBDFlKHVM1y8ZdnkP6LXM54qjE3cPaRMeYsZVuQlmJk/s1600/donnierayjones.donnieray.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJaAOzWjJgs2HZ6RJvdeQCaiooM2jG__1_XKX6ukeHqv12fN_pZmXgb1rSZ-HDm4uW1rxhp09DFmAi5YUTGzktOC43aRf1XOT8wWBDFlKHVM1y8ZdnkP6LXM54qjE3cPaRMeYsZVuQlmJk/s320/donnierayjones.donnieray.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/14581168505/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/14581168505/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">It's never the wrong time to give someone ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxztiJQH7Zts7XGhF5lrJRfXcEbjny1R1atL5r5IA7T5XUbOx1AfVNCgf1x40St0FLWlpeKeiwteUnPwLkVqrch-Apj5TzBlzNcTVlsF-XcipaYQ8R3N-QlXhnADSZHj3kuQ-IsPENDEwO/s1600/jennifer-kecl.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxztiJQH7Zts7XGhF5lrJRfXcEbjny1R1atL5r5IA7T5XUbOx1AfVNCgf1x40St0FLWlpeKeiwteUnPwLkVqrch-Apj5TzBlzNcTVlsF-XcipaYQ8R3N-QlXhnADSZHj3kuQ-IsPENDEwO/s320/jennifer-kecl.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifer-kecl/4045300573/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifer-kecl/4045300573/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm not one to complain but I've noticed that this story is a bit pink, Ursula. The ice cream is pink. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVftJPo_aax2nGraCrapU6zP3KI1pwVE7G0QrDWBIJIdHpz4_WeHsYprMo7MDW-3EwUTldnver38M82Scw4uwUyDnBEaqR-RnVTWhG5ieSSA6Sjkwjz899ZShQmiQiS6qvyaWfJDEVKuu/s1600/3541994035_d7196a074f_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVftJPo_aax2nGraCrapU6zP3KI1pwVE7G0QrDWBIJIdHpz4_WeHsYprMo7MDW-3EwUTldnver38M82Scw4uwUyDnBEaqR-RnVTWhG5ieSSA6Sjkwjz899ZShQmiQiS6qvyaWfJDEVKuu/s320/3541994035_d7196a074f_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/joyosity/3541994035/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/joyosity/3541994035/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lots of the benches are pink. </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYCBT-xN0tvzvpyKxRSL8FVB0XXY2mE25xda41dTb6uht4ysPY6c9Q-Tm7YVUNFy0vP5NdtXyUURjR4vB6RVNZmZGEAfyAxOzMfPWf68TZAqquttYFC-92lmXAt3_T8rUTC8qYSlKft4p/s1600/asianrepplicas.pink.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYCBT-xN0tvzvpyKxRSL8FVB0XXY2mE25xda41dTb6uht4ysPY6c9Q-Tm7YVUNFy0vP5NdtXyUURjR4vB6RVNZmZGEAfyAxOzMfPWf68TZAqquttYFC-92lmXAt3_T8rUTC8qYSlKft4p/s400/asianrepplicas.pink.com.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The ice cream van is pink. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And people are wearing pink.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThSU6QXaZwdsrDYgAhA-KjoNmm4-L4vDta8iK7pIJOcrpMVL37gmDzfV6ZVrot9KI8evPVUlYPOUGkTia6gjcPbMIkm0Yqt8NN7ZHmPtm4hnnUnHkTa3bvqfmXP-fm6mzut-XvQ7q6IBm/s1600/Jessica.Wilson.jek-a-go-go.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThSU6QXaZwdsrDYgAhA-KjoNmm4-L4vDta8iK7pIJOcrpMVL37gmDzfV6ZVrot9KI8evPVUlYPOUGkTia6gjcPbMIkm0Yqt8NN7ZHmPtm4hnnUnHkTa3bvqfmXP-fm6mzut-XvQ7q6IBm/s320/Jessica.Wilson.jek-a-go-go.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/budellison/15993132409">https://www.flickr.com/photos/budellison/15993132409 </a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Have you got something against pink?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No, it's just that here on Benchsite we've already done pink benches. Maybe you could show us some other colours of ice cream benches?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Of course. Here's a lovely multi-coloured popsicle bench. Or ice lolly as you say in the UK. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29eaP6OA-7bujMFQKYMjGXxM2JCCSWTS11babGBZlJOMhRiEWcP5muCdzi88TWDAD_4bpCuRhkUDLHypBlP_ioWVeXcfai604tgfsiio3uhkJyoPp578rxa_CPpTec5ZZMKlF_HFZMqMJ/s1600/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29eaP6OA-7bujMFQKYMjGXxM2JCCSWTS11babGBZlJOMhRiEWcP5muCdzi88TWDAD_4bpCuRhkUDLHypBlP_ioWVeXcfai604tgfsiio3uhkJyoPp578rxa_CPpTec5ZZMKlF_HFZMqMJ/s320/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3716635389">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3716635389</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Delicious!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I was going to explain that the whole idea of ice cream started way back in China in 200 BC. Ice cream has a fascinating history.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNavwgDTPPJ1hMJW1kD4UhX0Y7-kTC_1jOgYNp5i0z-iYUgagMpARI0LKgGZAtHnzrK_3cuWThbmpF7h_NFiwUhbx5UpGhPSNERLK3O0Yj_GcY5qIdNK6bz84oKOTYaTxZuzE_t7jaFaz/s1600/shocked+woman.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNavwgDTPPJ1hMJW1kD4UhX0Y7-kTC_1jOgYNp5i0z-iYUgagMpARI0LKgGZAtHnzrK_3cuWThbmpF7h_NFiwUhbx5UpGhPSNERLK3O0Yj_GcY5qIdNK6bz84oKOTYaTxZuzE_t7jaFaz/s320/shocked+woman.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">source unknown</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Is this going to take long? Because if so, I'll bring a sandwich.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsg0i6sgoYAqxen2FpOVkHC16ogGxPNh6gz6nZk67pT_x7-o5qo7qyMYwnCcAXtApkdmkC2kBKevlOTJpL2i9ofR5zNRlk70WpXtrBC4wFGwgZf0rJ1mY9-HVAYq4oEnD9k5OL30T3mBFC/s1600/kiri_no_hana.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsg0i6sgoYAqxen2FpOVkHC16ogGxPNh6gz6nZk67pT_x7-o5qo7qyMYwnCcAXtApkdmkC2kBKevlOTJpL2i9ofR5zNRlk70WpXtrBC4wFGwgZf0rJ1mY9-HVAYq4oEnD9k5OL30T3mBFC/s320/kiri_no_hana.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiri_no_hana/9674443344/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiri_no_hana/9674443344/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">An ice cream sandwich bench of course.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUWSKyQaeM7JXxLZaQGVi8itA5C7P3wmAPIrmK1tRwWBFWwVZD0F9oMaJf0Yw2YgpH9CgV0A31vEQ-R4b6erExopjj2BGm9zWIPEZHqiSdoIIlRAwuIBD8Ice0BTyL-I0ekJbG-L_mvBK/s1600/jellio.com.ice_cream_bench_l_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUWSKyQaeM7JXxLZaQGVi8itA5C7P3wmAPIrmK1tRwWBFWwVZD0F9oMaJf0Yw2YgpH9CgV0A31vEQ-R4b6erExopjj2BGm9zWIPEZHqiSdoIIlRAwuIBD8Ice0BTyL-I0ekJbG-L_mvBK/s320/jellio.com.ice_cream_bench_l_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.jellio.com/">www.jellio.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I'd like to get on with it now if that's not too much to ask. Otherwise I'm going to the beach and you can do the history yourself.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9LjOjQ6YStnyRbSaBeJc6WSIY51cjl-H8kaRs-WzskArlKiffYKf0slfkWeiEMVBNr3nvMEKhtgPA2cZ2b9ENYfAmzSkZa9YPZZuxqtK3_URopmshX95Cfoq-GDz2kDXtfJJOOoW93Nj/s1600/ursula+summer.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9LjOjQ6YStnyRbSaBeJc6WSIY51cjl-H8kaRs-WzskArlKiffYKf0slfkWeiEMVBNr3nvMEKhtgPA2cZ2b9ENYfAmzSkZa9YPZZuxqtK3_URopmshX95Cfoq-GDz2kDXtfJJOOoW93Nj/s400/ursula+summer.JPG" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/sunny-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/sunny-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Let me guess - ice cream started with snow cones?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: magenta;">Well, yes. In the T'ang dynasty in China the king kept 94 ice men on hand to lug ice to the palace.</span></span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">And in</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> the Roman Empire the emperor sent runners into the mountains for snow, which was then flavoured with fruits and juices. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cool! </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here are some Norwegian women making ice cream I think.</span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVc5HOfkwxZp6nQTYbluWrkrQUWluZA7gI1bqDq_fNa-7mzMYV1iScs3A_g_q4sJHYtsEu9DBclT_OjDs-ijhT9JvQmUXBQYNSEVs5HDiLl84yDKJBXepRObecWRHbTBDLYImQ_NF3UPy0lr8p8dj4VD_JAMqeMLWhBMcQK3caN8pb8nHxsxO9VLIn7_xF/s800/FB_IMG_1687861587449.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="800" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVc5HOfkwxZp6nQTYbluWrkrQUWluZA7gI1bqDq_fNa-7mzMYV1iScs3A_g_q4sJHYtsEu9DBclT_OjDs-ijhT9JvQmUXBQYNSEVs5HDiLl84yDKJBXepRObecWRHbTBDLYImQ_NF3UPy0lr8p8dj4VD_JAMqeMLWhBMcQK3caN8pb8nHxsxO9VLIn7_xF/w400-h246/FB_IMG_1687861587449.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Doing Laundry on the Ice</i>, 1891 by Jahan Ekenaes (1847-1920) </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span style="color: #ff00fe;">No. They are doing laundry. This is an interesting work of art because . . .</span></div><div><span style="color: #ff00fe;"><br /></span></div><div>"Forget art. Put your trust in ice cream."</div><div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Our friends Stanko and Darko are from Snowvenia. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">They're very fond of snow cones though it can be hard to work out what's ice cream and what's just snow.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtvKkAEicHAvze5L6qPtGOYJyi_MDaxg9S67uTeTzmTyAsXdxPwYZglL996lxcQ-oOnefdGW68nsdYUokQ_LPGiq9ESHjvMkViAc1xzzhndsXNKvWqBr6RW4aeG-PCSg-7XzPoSqoI00L/s1600/stanko%2526darko.darksnow.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtvKkAEicHAvze5L6qPtGOYJyi_MDaxg9S67uTeTzmTyAsXdxPwYZglL996lxcQ-oOnefdGW68nsdYUokQ_LPGiq9ESHjvMkViAc1xzzhndsXNKvWqBr6RW4aeG-PCSg-7XzPoSqoI00L/s320/stanko%2526darko.darksnow.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">They're very fond of snow cones though it can be hard to work out what's ice cream and what's just snow.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">You have to look carefully.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndHXnAhZvdSO3XPCwwRV1ffn7hwsJo324qTCpwngCvjQPZmP7poxgyhxbcI4hTgb0NBX3fFsQI_ASsW8-NGYbRNq3D1nAn9lEyp4JHKCPGI1Klbna6ixjg73t4T0MMtQW6qfQFHX4MKE7/s1600/Lynne+is+ice+fishing+%25281%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndHXnAhZvdSO3XPCwwRV1ffn7hwsJo324qTCpwngCvjQPZmP7poxgyhxbcI4hTgb0NBX3fFsQI_ASsW8-NGYbRNq3D1nAn9lEyp4JHKCPGI1Klbna6ixjg73t4T0MMtQW6qfQFHX4MKE7/s320/Lynne+is+ice+fishing+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image by Lynne Woodward</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The <strike>sladoled</strike> ice cream in <strike>Snowvenia</strike> Slovenia is brilliant though - so many gorgeous flavours.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIalvQck7IFzThtmqDdFDtI5DYp9QoIDFQS0TV2rOAhEk0xbIdMEKfm5M2eIHqUPa9GMhKZ2-d-h7GHduI59Y2ugpaZMOADfCqE9XpMDQzV7YwEzWIP9erAa1HU1hrA5PVKJor4awTzpJB/s1600/bohinj.icecream.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIalvQck7IFzThtmqDdFDtI5DYp9QoIDFQS0TV2rOAhEk0xbIdMEKfm5M2eIHqUPa9GMhKZ2-d-h7GHduI59Y2ugpaZMOADfCqE9XpMDQzV7YwEzWIP9erAa1HU1hrA5PVKJor4awTzpJB/s400/bohinj.icecream.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">And the ice cream looks as colourful as the benches!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHzv03IzF5Nr3An6nTxbxKqlMd1XW9LTisfie_BoiPUO94X4sigDb0BDaEciexf-PmkyNMVF9duMuJlWJoEXlhGSFmqGAmp8B3p3wcgnquTZ5u8wAv3aUADB0VuGcihzrty6XHhqvy0N8/s1600/americo.meira.fkcc.loads.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHzv03IzF5Nr3An6nTxbxKqlMd1XW9LTisfie_BoiPUO94X4sigDb0BDaEciexf-PmkyNMVF9duMuJlWJoEXlhGSFmqGAmp8B3p3wcgnquTZ5u8wAv3aUADB0VuGcihzrty6XHhqvy0N8/s320/americo.meira.fkcc.loads.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/60083277@N00/4758515045/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/60083277@N00/4758515045/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I wondered if you were ever going to mention benches, Ursula. I don't want to be critical but you've wandered off the subject a lot. What's happened to your ice cream bench story?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">There were more than a few interruptions.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Alright. Carry on then.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Well, once upon a time there was a Dairy Queen . . . </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5DhCrRf-yUOv3SmXMi8PLboz_DPJmUBicJ5u8jc7oKd7WdCNrNc4Z2rZOTmJbWIAYHlplQq0_hItMS5WujHjJXCiRW2ixay4JP4eD3tUGHDQUDWQ6D_Q5hkF2fkZa2gAqY-6I8OEQBgQx/s1600/9340906101_e4445452b7_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5DhCrRf-yUOv3SmXMi8PLboz_DPJmUBicJ5u8jc7oKd7WdCNrNc4Z2rZOTmJbWIAYHlplQq0_hItMS5WujHjJXCiRW2ixay4JP4eD3tUGHDQUDWQ6D_Q5hkF2fkZa2gAqY-6I8OEQBgQx/s320/9340906101_e4445452b7_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/9340906101/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/9340906101/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Oh, no. No romantic stories this time. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">But there <i>was</i> a Dairy Queen! Still is. It's called DQ now though.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Just give us a potted history of ice cream. Make sure you give credit to the cows who provide it.</div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">You're udderly right, Seashell. We mustn't forget the cows.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYQoLzgRo4uSgPF7-poi9dCf5wkpaaLh-F_mSZSR8tF5d2kn4XCtn6j9sEcIyBkmLZ3k7GZaymvjjwYAyXyhrW8lncVzEoX-W_oLg4VaTi80_WpA4H7tQq2QZ0KmKVcgBTWFJOkWgnbJh/s1600/caden.cow2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYQoLzgRo4uSgPF7-poi9dCf5wkpaaLh-F_mSZSR8tF5d2kn4XCtn6j9sEcIyBkmLZ3k7GZaymvjjwYAyXyhrW8lncVzEoX-W_oLg4VaTi80_WpA4H7tQq2QZ0KmKVcgBTWFJOkWgnbJh/s320/caden.cow2.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">As they say in the States, this cream is a non-dairy product.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">You're right. Lots of what we call ice cream doesn't actually have any cream in it. Or any fresh milk either. A recent survey in the UK found that only half of vanilla ice cream in the UK contains cream, fresh milk and vanilla. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I've worked out a way to know the ones that have everything good though.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Really? How do you know that?</span></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Two words: </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ben and Jerry. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Green and Black. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Haagen and Dazs. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Also Yeo and Valley. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Birch and Deen. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Wait and Rose. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And one of my personal favourites, Kelly and Cornwall. </span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">I think we need to make it clear that this isn't an exhaustive list of quality ice creams. </span></span><span style="color: magenta;">Other brands are available.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">My personal favourite is Butterscotch with Salted Caramel, sold only at . . . </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #ff00fe;">This is not a brand placement blog, Seashell.</span><span style="color: #ff00fe;"> Just saying.</span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK. The best homemade ice cream is my very own Pomegranate and Rosewater, which is a delicious deep pink and made with . . . </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJW3m-8toP5Q51ar4X2uXhLDHffDzFiBCgSdv8c-72f9Wu8hhf5GDZCTF1m3Yz4Wud7sUax4NJLHSJoJSAozn2TPpAJWlI3q9PxAZHYrP99vdJznm7oE9AiR7m2mriKW6OtiuasKG90AOW-76Cow9B7gK4n5sOW9J_riUhwv9yAraiDHdHku0IffQXr8i/s1440/FB_IMG_1687860602906.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1440" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJW3m-8toP5Q51ar4X2uXhLDHffDzFiBCgSdv8c-72f9Wu8hhf5GDZCTF1m3Yz4Wud7sUax4NJLHSJoJSAozn2TPpAJWlI3q9PxAZHYrP99vdJznm7oE9AiR7m2mriKW6OtiuasKG90AOW-76Cow9B7gK4n5sOW9J_riUhwv9yAraiDHdHku0IffQXr8i/w400-h297/FB_IMG_1687860602906.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #ff00fe;">Pretty in pink! </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Does the colour of cow matter I wonder?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSAhCIDfET_Kz4r9opQLZ_yYZOFf30fGc41G93kFgjDhOTZ9Essc76TRFuT5INtjUzCftuDVrjIs3up1kpW-kU6PREu4OvcxWg6_7FUJZ8OFRitlES6U9I5ZJ0GuN1W-BdfeE-eOU8x1z/s1600/800px-Cowstatue.wk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSAhCIDfET_Kz4r9opQLZ_yYZOFf30fGc41G93kFgjDhOTZ9Essc76TRFuT5INtjUzCftuDVrjIs3up1kpW-kU6PREu4OvcxWg6_7FUJZ8OFRitlES6U9I5ZJ0GuN1W-BdfeE-eOU8x1z/s320/800px-Cowstatue.wk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cowstatue.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cowstatue.jpg</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Like blue cow, blue ice cream?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKY22KJ07eNeMZTpwVoTn63QMxV_TIdee11udchCsb_3J_2-aR15_xJhL6mVopeXbPHGSql4vfPrMIeNuu5k2weuq0VYUgnHZudHAhI0YO1khhyo0xai-iuT3PPCcqjh-sSN2kKwinkK9/s1600/399px-Das_kind_im_manne_%2528207561933%2529.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKY22KJ07eNeMZTpwVoTn63QMxV_TIdee11udchCsb_3J_2-aR15_xJhL6mVopeXbPHGSql4vfPrMIeNuu5k2weuq0VYUgnHZudHAhI0YO1khhyo0xai-iuT3PPCcqjh-sSN2kKwinkK9/s320/399px-Das_kind_im_manne_%2528207561933%2529.WK.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/extranoise/207561933/in/photolist-jkNW2">https://www.flickr.com/photos/extranoise/207561933/in/photolist-jkNW2</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I would like to get on with my history if you don't mind.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Whatever <strike>ice cream</strike> floats your boat.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">So centuries ago the Arabs flavoured ice with rosewater, dried fruit and nuts. And the concept of ice cream spread all over the world.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I doubt if their rosewater was as good as mine. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">There are so many different ways of making flavoured ices: granita in Spain, kulfi in Southeast Asia and the Middle East; gelato in Italy.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I had one of the best gelatos ever. It wasn't in Italy though: it was at Glassissimo in Neuhaus in Germany.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Hp3ce2MXejpvwrDXNcdKlfn__ED26t3_LKzVXRjcyp0hjuuBDVthIBVmZGRcZlhxj2S18J-8f0eyCYQF-uR4cSY20p3w7qDL7vlA0Kf3ggeK_A2gv9ibXTN_vq-cr1fmeyw-W0bumL5p/s1600/Glassissimo+Dierhagen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Hp3ce2MXejpvwrDXNcdKlfn__ED26t3_LKzVXRjcyp0hjuuBDVthIBVmZGRcZlhxj2S18J-8f0eyCYQF-uR4cSY20p3w7qDL7vlA0Kf3ggeK_A2gv9ibXTN_vq-cr1fmeyw-W0bumL5p/s400/Glassissimo+Dierhagen.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And when we were at Lake Como we had gelato every day at Lo Scalino.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzqiW-cGoppyZV8cfxs2y9frreOlKAmVW4_9JeQc09dCwlmckaR-ZEgLk1ShhvJCdaXo_zVArzOCBSrFeuBcw9gGr7RVai91tniDMCVnFytLkdQp84XCgnAJAIm8rXjlquEL4O36uPoWfV/s1600/ice+cream.sign.como.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzqiW-cGoppyZV8cfxs2y9frreOlKAmVW4_9JeQc09dCwlmckaR-ZEgLk1ShhvJCdaXo_zVArzOCBSrFeuBcw9gGr7RVai91tniDMCVnFytLkdQp84XCgnAJAIm8rXjlquEL4O36uPoWfV/s320/ice+cream.sign.como.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html</a> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We had limone, tiramisu, pesca, cioccolata, zabaione, pistachio . . . </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Did you try spaghetti ice cream?</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCagp3z6X0lEIOT533dqO02VuyjovCTP2I_9GTnuuoJhV4IsnHA75GWtAI1PXBDDq9yVF1ZYrpPQ2w8UVdMV5JYc3m5U9lsbsyiodX2MZbQiRMFSDrW4oV8fbHPIph5RWankrvFNm5dPrP/s1600/christian.cable.nexus_icon.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCagp3z6X0lEIOT533dqO02VuyjovCTP2I_9GTnuuoJhV4IsnHA75GWtAI1PXBDDq9yVF1ZYrpPQ2w8UVdMV5JYc3m5U9lsbsyiodX2MZbQiRMFSDrW4oV8fbHPIph5RWankrvFNm5dPrP/s320/christian.cable.nexus_icon.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nexus_icon/1191717420/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nexus_icon/1191717420/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No, I'm very conscious of my weight.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaJ1vD5YMkUuyriPRpWtIL5AJ4v2DjVK1vL1JHWcaMma5qruPCZzcRlkb4FzXEhc-8Ij-pqSRTYIwnTcCVgoF-7gn4xdaBKQZ5JpLmmsWZfi0gAJRtDJzLZ4_HwohINsY2sO5UzntpFF_/s1600/kamshots.kamyar.adl.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaJ1vD5YMkUuyriPRpWtIL5AJ4v2DjVK1vL1JHWcaMma5qruPCZzcRlkb4FzXEhc-8Ij-pqSRTYIwnTcCVgoF-7gn4xdaBKQZ5JpLmmsWZfi0gAJRtDJzLZ4_HwohINsY2sO5UzntpFF_/s320/kamshots.kamyar.adl.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/222011993/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/222011993/ </a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And I wouldn't carry my ice cream into the toilets either. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Not in a month of <strike>Sundays</strike> sundaes. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPz0XipQYypEuvRBIALBZmDAGDjGLQ3xIlmsD75DbvhjY2i89bOTxg3XNPcjbkCcnsiKnLQG_WFpmlTFAfepEyI_FCSbHAE0XIlw5K8WbxGRhKiwJPdejhPCDmsQaVf6SF81StUWuZ57c/s1600/asianreplicas.Ice%252520Cream%252520Shop%252520Furniture.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPz0XipQYypEuvRBIALBZmDAGDjGLQ3xIlmsD75DbvhjY2i89bOTxg3XNPcjbkCcnsiKnLQG_WFpmlTFAfepEyI_FCSbHAE0XIlw5K8WbxGRhKiwJPdejhPCDmsQaVf6SF81StUWuZ57c/s320/asianreplicas.Ice%252520Cream%252520Shop%252520Furniture.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">By the mid 18th century ordinary people in the Mediterranean region had access to ice cream. And i</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">ce cream reached the Americas in the eighteenth century. George Washington spent $200 on ice cream in the hot summer of 1790.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cherry flavoured? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No, it wouldn't be. He cut down the tree, didn't he?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Did you know that newly arrived immigrants to the United States were welcomed with ice cream at Ellis Island?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IsY-xc1BcIDo5ce6ANc8OmcFA98Olqsx_-3CKTQUuAq0h2ky3PXSFB0xzVJgdvdEBra0cQ8uq5grZub-Y-hJuOaYsREm5C8S0v2s8gJ81wl5f8R2NQQGpIUZfkUryWP2r4FtB94lXTEB/s1600/450px-Soft_liberty_th.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IsY-xc1BcIDo5ce6ANc8OmcFA98Olqsx_-3CKTQUuAq0h2ky3PXSFB0xzVJgdvdEBra0cQ8uq5grZub-Y-hJuOaYsREm5C8S0v2s8gJ81wl5f8R2NQQGpIUZfkUryWP2r4FtB94lXTEB/s320/450px-Soft_liberty_th.WK.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soft_liberty_th.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soft_liberty_th.jpg</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">With a welcome like that they wouldn't be up, up and away, would they?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmkC_2yXmfr22VFOVO0hDUmYxapxJmmrVU0HIOMvi_NT7kFuCICrCRhITW2_9taSyIv4aTYJUhJqQS9_LcDywqdhAfZ0To0IWRB7-YIUrvU-BOmzMpK-xya0AkzhnQgQVUPIjNnvQV3hk/s1600/balloon+cone.WK.M%25C3%25BCnster%252C_Montgolfiade_2007_--_2007_--_8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmkC_2yXmfr22VFOVO0hDUmYxapxJmmrVU0HIOMvi_NT7kFuCICrCRhITW2_9taSyIv4aTYJUhJqQS9_LcDywqdhAfZ0To0IWRB7-YIUrvU-BOmzMpK-xya0AkzhnQgQVUPIjNnvQV3hk/s320/balloon+cone.WK.M%25C3%25BCnster%252C_Montgolfiade_2007_--_2007_--_8.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%BCnster,_Montgolfiade_2007_--_2007_--_8.jpg">Dietmar Rabich, rabich.de, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Americans are the biggest consumers of ice cream to this day. In 2011 they ate 1.53 billion gallons of ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Must be hard carrying all those gallons of ice cream around. Especially if you have to carry the freezer with you. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">The invention of ice cream cones made ice cream more portable.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7sKcFi1cv5haGxXYtZNF8oinwNwHsGRS0zF4c2P4yT_abbsVInwHjqcCYPMFEeoiNCESrlJjIqK9AqxAngXzjL72ogHmCq-1om8e6MUQ63EJ4UQ6Bom6S-DCMhQWPxdFD1B8tmbT4sB/s1600/petalouda62.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7sKcFi1cv5haGxXYtZNF8oinwNwHsGRS0zF4c2P4yT_abbsVInwHjqcCYPMFEeoiNCESrlJjIqK9AqxAngXzjL72ogHmCq-1om8e6MUQ63EJ4UQ6Bom6S-DCMhQWPxdFD1B8tmbT4sB/s320/petalouda62.fkcc.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/30990153@N03/4564469223/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/30990153@N03/4564469223/ </a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I guess ice cream cones made quite a splash.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40OqXkLuD5eJk31Ecw9K3MsQU0qET4WZii_nH5qul_nsj-cE3ywUkEPm615cliji3mLm2tTfca8crwaDbWA17xZ4syMNU5WEdMhQi2egJP2TGvQYt39KqqfxrboNQypONbTJzSLN9UN6p/s1600/infomatique.william.Murphy.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40OqXkLuD5eJk31Ecw9K3MsQU0qET4WZii_nH5qul_nsj-cE3ywUkEPm615cliji3mLm2tTfca8crwaDbWA17xZ4syMNU5WEdMhQi2egJP2TGvQYt39KqqfxrboNQypONbTJzSLN9UN6p/s320/infomatique.william.Murphy.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6977754833/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6977754833/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Yes, they appeared at the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904. And around the same time, so did sorbet, sherbert, sodas, and ice cream floats. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Nowadays ice cream is wall-to-wall.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYnfiid9TKir6B6WfeKfXubl4pReBdtCnaaN6iejKHFL6BKYsvvqQ9mgPpHCtWYHkbqzA0rIMky_1zeTPl6Pt7sv3Ps7LSMoz0BoGmA847ixfCD81bAWiMrEZQkvlNclo4mw86FUMVvvb/s1600/joel.haas.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYnfiid9TKir6B6WfeKfXubl4pReBdtCnaaN6iejKHFL6BKYsvvqQ9mgPpHCtWYHkbqzA0rIMky_1zeTPl6Pt7sv3Ps7LSMoz0BoGmA847ixfCD81bAWiMrEZQkvlNclo4mw86FUMVvvb/s320/joel.haas.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/macwagen/8261452492/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/macwagen/8261452492/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Young . . . </span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTEFmrBqo6lJgscfyjhcyRFJneIJig289Iq9oR4DTE06hs4DDLylynjyvfA-yHKcI72dO7hIqNuZBBpmTk6jaeVXz1xSOf30rDqM1JOwg3ACoKB8wLUZsGEPw7ZvSigarZwo2S4chIi1K/s1600/birthday+girl+on+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTEFmrBqo6lJgscfyjhcyRFJneIJig289Iq9oR4DTE06hs4DDLylynjyvfA-yHKcI72dO7hIqNuZBBpmTk6jaeVXz1xSOf30rDqM1JOwg3ACoKB8wLUZsGEPw7ZvSigarZwo2S4chIi1K/s320/birthday+girl+on+B.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/makz/3383161472" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/makz/3383161472</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">. . . and old</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikzERRZLwkS6EZB5yiX3JOYuHrt0kBWZFDbJdygYJ6KtpkYNwiRgg9AFR5uwT_udoHdKBCyadkgoLf6ppiZelbgYTDPJuHHzQs8MAAiVZL9savBNAQADDYgxXeiDG5ECuQRF4Mi3WC27UX/s1600/kamshots.kamyar.adl.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikzERRZLwkS6EZB5yiX3JOYuHrt0kBWZFDbJdygYJ6KtpkYNwiRgg9AFR5uwT_udoHdKBCyadkgoLf6ppiZelbgYTDPJuHHzQs8MAAiVZL9savBNAQADDYgxXeiDG5ECuQRF4Mi3WC27UX/s320/kamshots.kamyar.adl.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/2453375667/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/2453375667/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">people all over the world love eating ice cream cones.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpdTO5UWc6ofDUiPADRJ_awK2qq658n8fVpbMSc_oAPT1ijuLxMY0aS1V3rVM9cc4nd5GFwIk4yWUovx2wIIiDiGTmsCHw9WYV-I6k6751sPZ5smdRqY3VajC0tWXJZYe-Hfu4sGA652WZ/s1600/Sharing_Bronze_Sculpture.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpdTO5UWc6ofDUiPADRJ_awK2qq658n8fVpbMSc_oAPT1ijuLxMY0aS1V3rVM9cc4nd5GFwIk4yWUovx2wIIiDiGTmsCHw9WYV-I6k6751sPZ5smdRqY3VajC0tWXJZYe-Hfu4sGA652WZ/s320/Sharing_Bronze_Sculpture.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hankzby/5939523357/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hankzby/5939523357/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes. Licks are unlimited.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIxSxDFLrHLO6BgcP5-GapiXg0gw_tA2a5ebG_tx9TU4vFtZ0UnyRxzzJBByRmT9CQIByKPWxDz-roWpQIvgoH_aObDw9V6ZC23D5CHvKDv7aR407ImY1VM9wc5Xpw5cr_aXZ2MVNM06u/s1600/jpellgen.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIxSxDFLrHLO6BgcP5-GapiXg0gw_tA2a5ebG_tx9TU4vFtZ0UnyRxzzJBByRmT9CQIByKPWxDz-roWpQIvgoH_aObDw9V6ZC23D5CHvKDv7aR407ImY1VM9wc5Xpw5cr_aXZ2MVNM06u/s320/jpellgen.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellgen/7686311858/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellgen/7686311858/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />There's even a <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/a-calendar-of-benches-for-september.html">National Ice Cream Cone Day in September</a>.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Lots of people get themselves an ice cream machine and make their own.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfBQjz3vTDnglJKjf6kDwdPhwlWAe3TZ8NOKBkZoxMdyeK4GSwic9sqM7K_zVUwYN8fFccte4ooGiC_JZYZm9HjiriOdYR0IxqiHmAiC61DzjH6cqbtNEukSz8jscuxlsSVZvqkng3N2Q/s1600/9404723700_fe1af8b894_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfBQjz3vTDnglJKjf6kDwdPhwlWAe3TZ8NOKBkZoxMdyeK4GSwic9sqM7K_zVUwYN8fFccte4ooGiC_JZYZm9HjiriOdYR0IxqiHmAiC61DzjH6cqbtNEukSz8jscuxlsSVZvqkng3N2Q/s320/9404723700_fe1af8b894_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9404723700/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9404723700/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This ice cream machine looks like a gem.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLU4w_GndJBhnIwng82Ja_9wkmC91VEl2mggB6aocSyFJ6S2v1aYb9JOHjs34g8JNx0M_q6t6rPt3pLUm1ijZQ28JZ3NwpOpSsY1yuCvgGxwFBTC0pDAsBD4CiPzLMbgmVZ2vUUyFhIH7j/s1600/9401965547_41c2639d74_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLU4w_GndJBhnIwng82Ja_9wkmC91VEl2mggB6aocSyFJ6S2v1aYb9JOHjs34g8JNx0M_q6t6rPt3pLUm1ijZQ28JZ3NwpOpSsY1yuCvgGxwFBTC0pDAsBD4CiPzLMbgmVZ2vUUyFhIH7j/s400/9401965547_41c2639d74_z.jpg" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9401965547/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9401965547/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">It's a simple recipe.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmkJuiduNCCPLhHL4UE3heJPPV4Ty2VNH7pZjCHoQ2V9dYXXuMg3Kk1iUI0W8WJOu1MzkzqvAuiPXVVRJhsUTHdb6BIYrMC9jIfzQZ_sxnplpYWzXNTj2s-I1y3y9Lw2FS7f6ct1TifzV/s1600/kaytebug.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmkJuiduNCCPLhHL4UE3heJPPV4Ty2VNH7pZjCHoQ2V9dYXXuMg3Kk1iUI0W8WJOu1MzkzqvAuiPXVVRJhsUTHdb6BIYrMC9jIfzQZ_sxnplpYWzXNTj2s-I1y3y9Lw2FS7f6ct1TifzV/s320/kaytebug.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaytebug/16673657845/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaytebug/16673657845/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You don't need a machine though. My imaginary best friend Miggy makes fabulous ice cream without a machine. The only problem is, you have to get there quick.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioykpxdbq8if51iXt54DIT4JZGO47UnyCDzk8m9Pg36cdEaamtbMYgKIv6cS1ZOaFEEF9yxmYmy8gDW3Zge73RPcGNZwptTt4XQwZeR7NDJ3SYiLKR4tZ6YOlnnJEan3hx0FvLxq0N8b2U/s1600/Al__Wielkopolska_Poznan.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioykpxdbq8if51iXt54DIT4JZGO47UnyCDzk8m9Pg36cdEaamtbMYgKIv6cS1ZOaFEEF9yxmYmy8gDW3Zge73RPcGNZwptTt4XQwZeR7NDJ3SYiLKR4tZ6YOlnnJEan3hx0FvLxq0N8b2U/s320/Al__Wielkopolska_Poznan.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al._Wielkopolska_Poznan.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al._Wielkopolska_Poznan.jpg</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You know how some people are very keen on ice cream. They'll sit on an ice cream sundae bench and eat an ice cream cone.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKE4NehrXdo8doO3-iAVhCLkO6Ca91NUSmVm2V35ycX6gXKWHdalfUSV-HL1BBkWJfhX3s2kUc0IqhUwj1ex6gNt1nDZnrAO2F1zt7HnckALkf4-lVOFeUnK9YJGV5SS4iVrluvYS2AtV/s1600/asianreplicas.Fudge%252520Fiberglass%252520Ice%252520Cream%252520Bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKE4NehrXdo8doO3-iAVhCLkO6Ca91NUSmVm2V35ycX6gXKWHdalfUSV-HL1BBkWJfhX3s2kUc0IqhUwj1ex6gNt1nDZnrAO2F1zt7HnckALkf4-lVOFeUnK9YJGV5SS4iVrluvYS2AtV/s320/asianreplicas.Fudge%252520Fiberglass%252520Ice%252520Cream%252520Bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">It's probably better to buy individual cones rather than sharing a cup with someone like that.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTEzUHdtDZ8vY8m_lDZBYVIlFdGhV9fVn6bVLCqSTFV4ludO7Azw_6khukSNqKB8ze1K1LleyRvWLui3ZN5PHT3VF-1QGXiHgVGpANVTeMiYn8urY8VxKlV_q5AUUK-U4elr2gxuBgeaQ/s1600/100_5710.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTEzUHdtDZ8vY8m_lDZBYVIlFdGhV9fVn6bVLCqSTFV4ludO7Azw_6khukSNqKB8ze1K1LleyRvWLui3ZN5PHT3VF-1QGXiHgVGpANVTeMiYn8urY8VxKlV_q5AUUK-U4elr2gxuBgeaQ/s320/100_5710.JPG" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo, Minehead, Somerset</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes, but Miggy often buys two ice cream cones, both for herself.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietnMa2M3Rybp8ZzxUerlSNPPE6SFJBstF5B4ucaHrelre8ACndliUgf4OEAzHyVbrXs3MMfoHRPgiHaG5b_W1wKUbG2J2-lmM6xNMIEWXPwz9SKHSFYr7zCO3fqRUhkIaKH1WxQolgR3i/s1600/ice+creams.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietnMa2M3Rybp8ZzxUerlSNPPE6SFJBstF5B4ucaHrelre8ACndliUgf4OEAzHyVbrXs3MMfoHRPgiHaG5b_W1wKUbG2J2-lmM6xNMIEWXPwz9SKHSFYr7zCO3fqRUhkIaKH1WxQolgR3i/s320/ice+creams.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">You might need to stand up and demand your own.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLT0RlUWxsbwAVVPSO_t2RYdkQy66aUd3g-pwLHVwBOWIjMCJ3g0lNp9HG4ZpA_1JTEJnqKz4hOU0Q4t5oU0sYNxSjuzxYIUxcsktXKjPWsigG94eCSUayXozyrQ_F0Lf8jcoourGklIA/s1600/Jessica.Wilson.jek-a-go-go.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLT0RlUWxsbwAVVPSO_t2RYdkQy66aUd3g-pwLHVwBOWIjMCJ3g0lNp9HG4ZpA_1JTEJnqKz4hOU0Q4t5oU0sYNxSjuzxYIUxcsktXKjPWsigG94eCSUayXozyrQ_F0Lf8jcoourGklIA/s320/Jessica.Wilson.jek-a-go-go.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/3809224475/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/3809224475/</span></a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">After all this, I feel like ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Funny, you don't look like ice cream. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I HATE that joke. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And anyway, some people DO look like ice cream. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FgVS7gL4p05sKhr2R75KlcE_m2Ig7gKcetI3_yxKdxnhH1B9jSIVeYplkpAYMmLCdwQSFYmBz-V6zi4JfgeOmRcQrc5w5ViL2jkxLTyDHUzPw9gS4xV1iks2x-CDdKVGmO25yN3rl1yo/s1600/letsdad.wordpress.comfunny-fat-man-ice-cream2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FgVS7gL4p05sKhr2R75KlcE_m2Ig7gKcetI3_yxKdxnhH1B9jSIVeYplkpAYMmLCdwQSFYmBz-V6zi4JfgeOmRcQrc5w5ViL2jkxLTyDHUzPw9gS4xV1iks2x-CDdKVGmO25yN3rl1yo/s320/letsdad.wordpress.comfunny-fat-man-ice-cream2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://letsdad.wordpress.com/tag/guide-to-dad-jokes/">https://letsdad.wordpress.com/tag/guide-to-dad-jokes/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I like the look of this Polish ice cream. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKlpco9wq7jXVQ4Z5hqtgla6p5UN6vTR7H0CMksLI_urgM84bvC7TQsLqbDfCWpcLcwDFLXup86qmmfixp8vSlf3D9bFsEbCu930kGBVYe4Sb3Rnwgv_QDKvckNeKq_Mf9gv4-yXZNrJJ/s1600/ice+cream+in+Poland.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKlpco9wq7jXVQ4Z5hqtgla6p5UN6vTR7H0CMksLI_urgM84bvC7TQsLqbDfCWpcLcwDFLXup86qmmfixp8vSlf3D9bFsEbCu930kGBVYe4Sb3Rnwgv_QDKvckNeKq_Mf9gv4-yXZNrJJ/s320/ice+cream+in+Poland.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/desperately-seeking-benches-our-summer.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/desperately-seeking-benches-our-summer.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I can recommend the truskawka. Or the czekolada. The wanilia is very nice too.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I've finished this history so I need a cup of coffee and an ice cream</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgFXPAEz0Ay6bf8ND3SXwk1HBtnQS4xwSvEnADM_kBn7_oWt1Qf1f7DzFmF95ajhwQu0l4LpNW7s7Yf-60LBF9nuyNLAYEvpD9S1cu1B-ngGK39XqzMyVXnJPtITsEyS83d5nLS414_uP/s1600/loreshdw.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgFXPAEz0Ay6bf8ND3SXwk1HBtnQS4xwSvEnADM_kBn7_oWt1Qf1f7DzFmF95ajhwQu0l4LpNW7s7Yf-60LBF9nuyNLAYEvpD9S1cu1B-ngGK39XqzMyVXnJPtITsEyS83d5nLS414_uP/s320/loreshdw.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/loreshdw/164346365/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/loreshdw/164346365/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'd like to carry on with the list of quality ice creams. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What about <i>Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Vanilla</i>? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">No! I NEED ICE CREAM!</span></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Me too, Ursula. But have you heard about the newest ice cream flavour in the US? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARuIqksuYGoY751t1uZhII9qbgAOuHZBDjI9Ir1fZa-euN5PE2uyMwvl_DfJlxCnYrdrD-V-5UiRMizb-QGBSqLiFJiGU52NLolHvlHkiYfeX3bzYQo7_bSdB-V9GoiCuDDezQm4XYOVF/s1600/IMG_1382.PNG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARuIqksuYGoY751t1uZhII9qbgAOuHZBDjI9Ir1fZa-euN5PE2uyMwvl_DfJlxCnYrdrD-V-5UiRMizb-QGBSqLiFJiGU52NLolHvlHkiYfeX3bzYQo7_bSdB-V9GoiCuDDezQm4XYOVF/s1600/IMG_1382.PNG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">source unknown</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I'm not sure whether it's peach or mint?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Hey, I think I can hear Tchaikovsky. Must be the ice cream van.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">going to make like a banana and split.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKsODObtkraD7dnVN2jc8bhnysHWy3T8lKkEqaZWOGvbi6ZAT9uThKJWM8aNUYR_vvZqmR2S9HvudxUJQFdTahPeBHFANuH_WE87O8tnmrvqGQnpkNXqJczlEZtJwpDdUzkyKqfgoTLX6/s1600/bananasplit.northside365.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKsODObtkraD7dnVN2jc8bhnysHWy3T8lKkEqaZWOGvbi6ZAT9uThKJWM8aNUYR_vvZqmR2S9HvudxUJQFdTahPeBHFANuH_WE87O8tnmrvqGQnpkNXqJczlEZtJwpDdUzkyKqfgoTLX6/s320/bananasplit.northside365.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/91607162@N04/8387734091/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/91607162@N04/8387734091/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ursula Makepeace is our Unicorn in Residence here in Fribble-under-Par. She edited the story of</span><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Romantic White benches</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif">,</span><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"> which turned into a long-winded fairy tale but with some very romantic white benches. She came back to G<a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/imagine-its-world-peace-day.html">ive Peace Benches a chance </a></span><br /><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieaV4VYNSf-2-BWciLyQSia7qCnZVK971VTdX7YviJSmuZjVp8fRVDzwyJgtPe492w4GWrAx6RguhjYFX3-Li8LGCqU41jS6I3FrG3kxNHUvUdzGFOal08Io8As4a30vYD1kU4SsgQkz97/s1600/100_5852.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieaV4VYNSf-2-BWciLyQSia7qCnZVK971VTdX7YviJSmuZjVp8fRVDzwyJgtPe492w4GWrAx6RguhjYFX3-Li8LGCqU41jS6I3FrG3kxNHUvUdzGFOal08Io8As4a30vYD1kU4SsgQkz97/s320/100_5852.JPG" width="253" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/imagine-its-world-peace-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/imagine-its-world-peace-day.html</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif">and then in February for <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hearty-heart-benches-for-valentines-day.html">a hearty Valentine story about Heart Benches</a>. My own heart was broken so maybe I wasn't as helpful as I could have been. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Unicornament is by UK artist Hannah Lipsey and appeared in her Breath of Fresh Air exhibition in 2023. Amazingly, this is not a 3D ornament, it's a coloured pencil drawing.<br /><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The three ice cream sundae benches at the beginning are from </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Asian Replicas in the Philippines and in this story there are five images of ice cream furniture from their shop</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> <a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/">www.asianreplicas.com</a> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> A</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">sian Replicas make a huge variety of food furniture, including ice cream benches and ice cream cone stools, a </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">pizza bench, a cake bench, and a chicken and chips bench. Miggy says she'd definitely go for the ice cream.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> Their extensive catalog is at <a href="http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip">http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip</a> For more edible benches and an incredible story about a chef from France, see </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html</a></span><br /><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The International Dairy Foods Association website shows a whole history of ice cream and the many activities included in National Ice Cream Month. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.idfa.org/news-views/media-kits/ice-cream/the-history-of-ice-cream">http://www.idfa.org/news-views/media-kits/ice-cream/the-history-of-ice-cream</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And don't forget Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. The last one was February 6, 2022. It was devised by Florence Rappaport from Rochester, New York as a way of raising funds for charities.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I've shown some ice cream benches here on Benchsite in previous stories because benches and ice cream go together like <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/sunny-benches.html">summer and sunshine</a>. And also like <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/summer-bench-days-are-here-again.html">summer and ice cream</a>. The ice cream sundae one was photographed in 2007 by cherry2far and I'm not sure where, though it says Bahamas in the corner, which might be a clue. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/angel2dream/2299534730">https://www.flickr.com/photos/angel2dream/2299534730</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In February 2004 Martyn from Cardiff was travelling in the mountains of Japan with snow all around and totally freezing weather (and this means something coming from a Welshman). He was amazed to see a shop really going for the big ice cream sell with a cone in the car park. I see that it has its own little stool too. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn/99338148/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn/99338148/ </a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The miniature Walls ice cream van in the sand is actually The Ice Cream Van at the End of the Universe. It was photographed by </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Mr Evil Cheese Scientist in 2013. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/evil_cheese_scientist/9279660732/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/evil_cheese_scientist/9279660732/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Why a miniature ice cream van? Because sometimes you're not hungry enough for the restaurant.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The marvelous melting icing bench is by Lauren Doby in Dallas. Her shop is Neko Dahl, which is a curious little shop. At present it has some hair accessories and an iced donut stool. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NekoDahl">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NekoDahl</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The melted ice cream van is an image from <a href="http://jokideo.com/tag/melted-ice-cream-van/">http://jokideo.com/tag/melted-ice-cream-van/</a> And oh isn't it sad? We all love the ice cream van, except possibly those who are irritated by the jingly music.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The arty ice cream flashlight cone is a 2011 design by Yau Hoong Tang, who lives in Kuala Lumpar. At his shop TangYauHoong, there are interesting fine art prints about light and other things. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tangyauhoong/5866805977/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/tangyauhoong/5866805977/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yau Hoong Tang's website is at <a href="http://shop.tangyauhoong.com/">http://shop.tangyauhoong.com/</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Wonderlane from Seattle is simply wonderful. A Photographer Libre, she took some brilliant photographs in Mexico, including a delicious ice cream cup on a multi-coloured bench and a whole <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">fiesta of other Mexican benches</a>. Indeed she has a lot of bench pictures</span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif"> available on Creative Commons at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4162664610/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4162664610/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The melted ice cream cone wearing sunglasses is one of a brilliant window display by a shop called Coblens Eyewear in Oldenburg, Germany. We saw it this summer while we were looking for a place to get ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /><i>Smooth & Smoothie</i> is the bench set by Florent Degourc <a href="http://www.florentdegourc.com/">http://www.florentdegourc.com</a> . Bubble-gum pink and mint green, the benches seem to be melting or dripping - perfect for ice cream. They were first exhibited at the Index interior design show in Dubai in 2010 and have received a lot of internet attention since then. The designer says about his work: <i>Studies aimed or rather confused, an atypical path, opportunism, here is the recipe with which I managed to do what I love. I do not pretend to revolutionize the discipline, far from it, but I try to make a playful and practical approach in my daily observations</i>. See more at <a href="http://degourc.florent.free.fr/about.php#sthash.xpetQYZb.dpuf">http://degourc.florent.free.fr/about.php#sthash.xpetQYZb.dpuf</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The adorable little pig eating ice cream at a picnic bench is an image seen at <a href="http://www.redditpics.com/">www.redditpics.com.6DpGNia</a> I'm always wary of posed animal pictures but this little pig looks like he's enjoying his treat. And as for the piglet-sized picnic bench . . . Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly knows a lot about <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html">picnic benches; let him be your guide</a>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Thomas Hawk is a prolific photographer and amongst many, many others, he happens to a photo of 21 vanilla ice cream cones from 2005. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/9340906101/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/9340906101/</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif">vanilla. </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Hi y'all, I'll be down at the DQ</i><span face="verdana, sans-serif">. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> He also has</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> an album of Dairy Queen photos. Some of them are vintage, featuring the familiar red Dairy Queen sign but some of them use the more modern abbreviation DQ. This one is in Mesa, Arizona, photographed by Thomas in 2013. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/31600080/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/31600080/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">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. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishmish/3516676025">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishmish/3516676025</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The beautiful, surprised little girl eating ice cream is Audrey. She was photographed in 2012 at Skidway Lake in Michigan by George Thomas. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hz536n/7470251916/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hz536n/7470251916/</a> </span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The two little twins were eating ice cream bars on the 4th of July 2014. Looks like it might have been their first Fourth, and possibly even their first bar. The photographed is Donnie Ray Jones at </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/14581168505/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/14581168505/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Jennifer creates <i>The Diary of Danboard</i> (Danboard is the character I think) and there are some very interesting photos of Danboard, including Ice Box 3, in which Danboard (or someone looking remarkably like him) hands someone else a pink ice cream. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifer-kecl/4045300573/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifer-kecl/4045300573/</a></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The closeup of pink ice cream is fresh strawberry, made by Joy Huang, a Taiwanese-American who finds joyosity in cooking. Not that ice cream is cooked. You can see Joy's recipe and more about the Cooking of Joy at <a href="http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2009/05/fresh-strawberry-ice-cream.html">http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2009/05/fresh-strawberry-ice-cream.html</a> The photo also appears on Flickr at </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/joyosity/3541994035/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/joyosity/3541994035/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There's a clear Pink theme going on here, isn't there? We've had plenty of Pink Benches on Benchsite before - <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html">50 Shades of Pink</a>, in fact, including The hungry man in a pink shirt on a pink bench. He's about to enjoy his ice cream on a warm December evening in Puerto Vallarta in 2014. He was photographed by Bud Ellison <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/budellison/15993132409">https://www.flickr.com/photos/budellison/15993132409 </a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Green Tea ice cream sandwich is called Matcha and it's an ice cream dessert from Teanobi in Japan. Latte, pasta, cupcakes - Teanobi makes everything with green tea. And very intriguing it looks too. The 2013 photograph is by Kirinohana at </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiri_no_hana/9674443344/%C2%A0"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiri_no_hana/9674443344/</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span></a> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">For some brilliant Japanese designer benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html</a><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Jellio is a world of fun childhood memories brought back as unique home furnishings: Rubik cube tables, lava lamps, cupcake stools - Jellio makes things to make you smile. Their brilliant ice cream sandwich bench certainly makes me smile. Check out their custom design projects and their really fun Jellio DIY projects to try at home <a href="http://www.jellio.com/">www.jellio.com</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The popsicle stick bench was photographed by Loren Javier at Princess Dot Puddle Park at Flik's Fun Fair in 2009. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3716635389">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3716635389</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Stanko and Darko come from the snow-bound republic of Snowvenia and they visited us in February when, in the depths of my winter despair, I failed to see the sense of their cheerful suggestions for making the most of being Frozen. Try any combination of the words ice, snow, cream, bench and fishing and you'll get the idea. Beware of snowy exclamation marks too! </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html</a><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />The blue person face down on the ice is my friend Lynne Woodward, who lives in Kiruna in Sweden. And she really is ice fishing. That's her sitting on an ice bench. She also took the photo of the beautiful church in Kiruna, and the icy pews inside the Ice Church. Lynne and Rolf run a very friendly B&B and know a lot about local customs and events. Oh, that B&Bs were always like this! Lynne writes a lively blog at <a href="http://www.blog.68degrees.se/">http://www.blog.68degrees.se/</a> It's Everything You Want to Know About Sweden and some gorgeous photos as well. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Slovenia word for ice cream is <i>sladoled</i>. Miggy and Mungo and I visited Slovenia in 2014 looking for benches and did we eat sladoled? We certainly did. Every day. More than once. This photograph was taken at Lake Bohinj, where there is an excellent ice cream parlour right on the lake. There were so many fruit flavours I had to go back twice. The blueberry was something to dream about. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The colourful Slovenia benches are in Ljublijana and were photographed by Américo </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meira in 2010. Americo lives in Portugal and travels widely so his albums are full of brilliant scenes from places like Morocco, Turkey, and Slovenia. He also has a Bench album! </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/60083277@N00/4758515045/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/60083277@N00/4758515045/</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The baby cow is Caden Rand, photographed by his mother for Halloween a few years ago. You may have <strike>herd</strike> heard that we have some mooo-velous cow benches here on Benchsite; let Lord Brassica lead you out to pasture with the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">Cream of Bovine Benches</a>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The blue cow statue was in Budapest in August 2008. The author is </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">(WT-en) Kulmalukko at English Wikivoyage and the photo is in the public domain</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cowstatue.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cowstatue.jpg</a> Should you wish to see more blue benches, see what happened on <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/blue-benches-for-blue-monday.html">Blue Monday</a>.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Back in August 2006 Till Krech, a software developer from Berlin, photographed his friend Peter eating bubble gum ice cream. Although it apparently tasted awful, it gave a nice blue tint to Peter's tongue. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/extranoise/207561933/in/photolist-jkNW2">https://www.flickr.com/photos/extranoise/207561933/in/photolist-jkNW2</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The family Glass make terrific ice cream at Glassissimo, which I think is where they live. It's on the bike path at Neuhaus on the Baltic Coast of Germany. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In Italy Miggy and Mungo and I ate ice cream every day at the unforgettable Lo Scalino in Abbadia Lariana on Lake Como. At Lo Scalino Camilla Candiani makes home made ice cream every morning in her kitchen and sells it at her front door from 2 to 5 pm. Long before 2 pm we were already waiting for her to open the door. Favourite flavour? Grape! For more tasty Italian benches - not just ice cream - see </span><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Christian Cable photographed the dish of spaghetti ice cream in Trier in 2007. Of course it's not really spaghetti and doesn't taste anything like spaghetti: it's</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> vanilla with a strawberry sauce. He assures me it's delicious and I have no reason to doubt it. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nexus_icon/1191717420/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nexus_icon/1191717420/</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Back in 2006 Kevin Trotman asked a question about his photograph taken in the airport in Ulura, Australia: </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Restroom for Fat Couples with Ice Cream? Nice idea but I don't think so. Probably more like a sign showing restrooms for people carrying babies. But these babies sure do look like ice creams. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/222011993/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/222011993/ </a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I keep reading that immigrant arrivals to the United States received ice cream at Ellis Island but I don't know if it's true. Seems unlikely, given the reception that immigrants anywhere receive these days. Still, this is a brilliant collage by Tilman Harte, who comes from Berlin. The source is selbst at <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soft_liberty_th.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soft_liberty_th.jpg</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The BoFrost hotair balloon was at the Montgolfiade 2007 at Aaseewiesen in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The photographer is © Dietmar Rabich Dietmar Rabich, rabich.de, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%BCnster,_Montgolfiade_2007_--_2007_--_8.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%BCnster,_Montgolfiade_2007_--_2007_--_8.jpg</a> His Flickr photostream is at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dietmar_rabich">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dietmar_rabich</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">petalouda62 has gorgeous albums of photographs from Iran. One of them from 2010 concerns <i>bastani </i>(ice cream). </span><i><span face="verdana, sans-serif">On a sunny day in Isfahan, I walked from Khaju bridge to Si-o seh Pol (another bridge). Along the river, the air heavy with the smell of roses and honeysuckle, </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I saw these 2 women enjoying an ice cream</span></i><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/30990153@N03/4564469223/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/30990153@N03/4564469223/ </a> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">William Murphy in Dublin documents all kinds of Irish life, like Teddy's - Famous For Ice Cream. He writes: </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>Since 1950 people have come from all over Dublin and beyond to queue at the hatch at Teddy's in order to purchase an ice cream cone on Sunny days. </i></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>Teddy's is generally regarded as selling the best ice cream in Dublin but there is one problem in that it melts almost quicker than you can consume it</i>. That explains the two cones upside down in the street. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6977754833/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6977754833/</a> For The Top o' the Irish benches, see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/st-patricks-top-o-irish-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/st-patricks-top-o-irish-benches.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The white wall of the building covered with ice cream cones was in Ambridge, Pennsylvania in 2012. It was photographed by Dan Buczynski, who lives in Pittsburg and is founder and Editor-in-Chief of STRONGBOX Magazine, a free, downloadable photography (and more) project aimed at getting people to expand their creative boundaries. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/macwagen/8261452492/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/macwagen/8261452492/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /><i>Triple the Pleasure</i>, 2008 is by Mark Kirchner, who photographs his daughter each year on her birthday (25th July, just a few days after National Ice Cream Day). You'll notice that all three are the same girl at different ages. She's on the same bench at Central Market, eating strawberry ice cream. Mark says that this one was the easiest one to compose, as he had her move around on the bench; earlier attempts required more photoshopping. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/makz/3383161472">https://www.flickr.com/photos/makz/3383161472</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The old woman eating ice cream was photographed in Tairish-Tehran in 2008. The photographer is Oxford resident Kamyar Adl at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/2453375667/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/2453375667/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />The man and boy on a bench with their ice creams is a bronze sculpture by Derek Wernher. It is greatly enjoyed in Cade Park, adjacent to the waterfront of Lake Winnepesaukee, in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. The photographer is Henry Zbyszynski, a photographer currentliy living in Capitola, California. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hankzby/5939523357/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hankzby/5939523357/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">At <i>Licks Unlimited</i> in Excelsior, Minnesota, the top scoop is Mackinaw Island Fudge (vanilla with fudge pieces) and on the bottom is a scoop of Zoreo (chocolate with Oreo and marshmallow). Yummy. They were photographed in July 2012 by jpellgen, a </span><span style="background-color: #fefefe;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Minnesotan with Norwegian heritage. jpellgen is a published author/photographer who has lived in Japan and now works in education, as well as enjoying a variety of hobbies including travel, photography, dining, fitness, and spending way too much time on the internet. </span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellgen/7686311858/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellgen/7686311858/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Gem Ice Cream freezer was The Best in the World round about 1890. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9404723700/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9404723700/</a> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's from the American Machine Company in Philadelphia and these are two of their American trade advertising cards. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9401965547/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9401965547/</a> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The items now live in the Boston Public Library.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Snow Ice Cream recipe is Kaylea Hutson's recipe for Snow Day Fun, sent to her in February 2015 by a reader of the publication she edits. Kaylea is a Missouri gal who now calls the land of Sooners & Cowboys home, but still has a dash of Dorothy and Razorbacks in her soul. Her photostream is at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaytebug/16673657845/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaytebug/16673657845/</a> and she's also at <a href="http://www.myscrappylife.com/">www.myscrappylife.com</a></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The empty ice cream cup on a bench was photographed by Aleja Wielkopolska in Poznan, Poland in June 2013. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al._Wielkopolska_Poznan.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al._Wielkopolska_Poznan.jpg</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The girl on a sundae bench holding an ice cream cone is another image from Asian Replicas </span><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The blue chairs and cone were in Minehead in Somerset when Mungo and I visited in August 2013.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Did you know that <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/a-calendar-of-benches-for-september.html">September is National ice Cream Cone Month</a> and there are loads of fun events throughout the month? Miggy with two ice cream cones is at Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight, where there used to be a very good Minghella ice cream place. Minghella ice cream is made on the island by the Minghella family. Some people claim the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html">Isle of Wight is a paradise island</a>. Why not have a look and make up your own mind. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Jessica Wilson is totally committed to Bench Mondays. That's her, standing on a bench with some brilliant signs and a giant ice cream cone. It's a Vacation Bench, apparently, taken in the town of Lee Vining after visiting Mono Lake. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/3809224475/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/3809224475/</a> For a great time, have a look at jek-a-go-go's Bench Mondays. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There is no getting round it; the man in a lemon sweatshirt is amazingly similar to the lemon ice cream cone. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You know the tired old Dad joke: <i>I feel like an ice cream</i>. <i>Funny, y</i></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>ou don't look like an ice cream</i>. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This man kind of does though. Let's Dad is a blog about Dadding. That includes Dad jokes of course. </span><a href="https://letsdad.wordpress.com/tag/guide-to-dad-jokes/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://letsdad.wordpress.com/tag/guide-to-dad-jokes/</a><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The bench with coffee and an ice cream cone was at the Makanda boardwalk in Makanda, Illinois back in 2006. The photographer is loreshdw, who doesn't even own a digital camera; </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">she borrows one from family and friends, not knowing what the quality will be like. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/loreshdw/164346365/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/loreshdw/164346365/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">As the photographer asks, who doesn't want to eat ice cream while sitting on a banana split bench? The Royal Seat is a </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">commissioned artwork by Northside artist Mary Kwakenat located at the </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Camden Dairy Queen. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/91607162@N04/8387734091/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/91607162@N04/8387734091/</a> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">The photographer is Northside365. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Polish ice cream is a photo from our 2015 bench-finding trip. Here on Benchsite there's a whole<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/an-alphabet-of-dutch-benches.html">alphabet of Dutch benches</a> and also a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/united-in-diversity-28-benches-for.html">bench from each of the countries of Europe</a>. This year we headed for the Baltic and Poland. A 15 year old caravan, a clapped out car, three second-hand bikes and a trio of frayed tempers - what could go wrong? In previous summers we<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><s>ate our way through</s><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>found<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html">the tasty benches of Italy</a>. We<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html">got high on benches in the Alps</a> but<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/greek-bench-mission-impossible.html">Greece was a mission impossible</a>. And then there are the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html">benches of St. Helier</a>, and the benches of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gambling-on-love-in-las-vegas.html">Las Vegas</a>, where Mungo and I gambled on love. If <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region> doesn't tickle the cockles of your heart there are plenty of benches from other countries here on Benchsite.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html">Japan</a>, for example. And a whole<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">fiesta of benches from Mexico</a>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Impeachmint Ice Cream photo was sent to me by a reader in May 2017 and added to the story. Many thanks!</span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The news in the first week of July 2017 was that ice cream sales were down 16.7% from the previous year (2015-2016). This was apparently due to concerns about healthy eating, which is why frozen yoghurts, soya ice cream and flavours like kale and broccoli are coming to the fore. Broccoli? No, I made that one up. But the truth is, we are still screaming for ice cream - 13 billion litres of it in 2016. People falling out of love with ice cream benches? Sounds like fake news to me </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/liars-lies-and-fake-news-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/liars-lies-and-fake-news-benches.html</a><font face=""><br /></font><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><div><br /></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-67159373324524071022023-06-05T00:09:00.004-07:002024-02-05T14:40:27.553-08:00Benches for World Oceans Day 2023<p> Shiver me timbers, World Oceans Day is on June 8th!</p><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">For my guest editor, I chose Mikey the Mariner, known on Paradise Island as The Little Sailor. He carries a baby bottle around. I suspect it's full of rum but I don't like to ask.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwT2WRS5L64Xs9rQz3ldPgsvkIGFd0vPqJ_D5XTpxwKaIM9ulDchHW98BAJTFWISx2V-TLkWOa7ls5IEYQ9nbDcMLNorP1YwKcd1HGIc_nlTzVlF2rAGkoawm26MSgmXHpdpXSnmeL3Zwn/s320/mikey.home.front.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwT2WRS5L64Xs9rQz3ldPgsvkIGFd0vPqJ_D5XTpxwKaIM9ulDchHW98BAJTFWISx2V-TLkWOa7ls5IEYQ9nbDcMLNorP1YwKcd1HGIc_nlTzVlF2rAGkoawm26MSgmXHpdpXSnmeL3Zwn//" /></a></div><span face=""><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="">Mikey's on shore leave from his ship, the HMS Peculiar.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tP3lsQDmg6SFL4wDxKMzHcKzUIyeCHS_hAUfFu7iwJS9zn-OhhhRjwawgzqrGNYhcjlx2CKIBlG-HPIEDPgxtgRNfXlLjANmoxFKHJ_p2RYKAVjNrlUumMot_FhSW9gGRPAl0hL2t0-A/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569613240.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="609" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tP3lsQDmg6SFL4wDxKMzHcKzUIyeCHS_hAUfFu7iwJS9zn-OhhhRjwawgzqrGNYhcjlx2CKIBlG-HPIEDPgxtgRNfXlLjANmoxFKHJ_p2RYKAVjNrlUumMot_FhSW9gGRPAl0hL2t0-A/s320/PhotoFunia-1569613240.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""><i>Has anybody seen our Ship, the HMS Peculiar?</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""><i>We've been on shore for a month or more</i></span></div></span><i></i></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">I first met Mikey when I was swimming off <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-swimming-bench.html">The Plunge</a>. I swim there every day, heading for my special starfish bench.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_v9zDOjdyp_8s_idbW-0ss_YISlQAoLwQZqLlmQZg9EsMcgjjVDRVwNoBG7Xg5kj-2NTZZZDtHgODLJH0v9DsxHxoG1inXHILVuZUt3l0_zhtOltLHyB6yLjuAYpJiXx4odb4vleeeQlm/s1600/swimmer+vg+(2).JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_v9zDOjdyp_8s_idbW-0ss_YISlQAoLwQZqLlmQZg9EsMcgjjVDRVwNoBG7Xg5kj-2NTZZZDtHgODLJH0v9DsxHxoG1inXHILVuZUt3l0_zhtOltLHyB6yLjuAYpJiXx4odb4vleeeQlm/w320-h216/swimmer+vg+(2).JPG" title="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/my-swimming-bench.html" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="color: blue;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/my-swimming-bench.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/my-swimming-bench.html</a></u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Sometimes I'm down at the bottom of the ocean and I'm shivering like a nervous wreck.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Today Mariner Mikey and his ocean friends were having a jolly picnic so I joined them at the underwater picnic bench on Paradise Reef. We all got on well, though I found the penguin a little cold at first.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCZvRidImB95BNESKOarEGjNeNRqAAmAG4gD4Coosq14dXnoblYZAsO0BuxuWVstrx2ZNMGEA8jrdmCr9oWTZ2y8pw_22MTzyBSoh4oT10idru2yBh3TZ9qzT0bemZP7uotspwaoxUztK/s1600/penguin+picnic.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCZvRidImB95BNESKOarEGjNeNRqAAmAG4gD4Coosq14dXnoblYZAsO0BuxuWVstrx2ZNMGEA8jrdmCr9oWTZ2y8pw_22MTzyBSoh4oT10idru2yBh3TZ9qzT0bemZP7uotspwaoxUztK/s320/penguin+picnic.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="color: blue;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/swimming-benches-tribute.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/swimming-benches-tribute.html</a></u></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">So, Mikey, Ahoy there, Matey! Which benches should we show for World Oceans Day? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The Little Sailor suggests we should start with mermaids but I think we should start with waves. </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr_xosuGeRI9uU5HMDVdwVko2yzH3D8yTiorUX0ZEDM-vAZ5uenKkqQPnDyzXqUTSX-RgbB1W2wKQRtU0fN2G-lzECC_VisxRv-uPI8EcFwp80oYrMfGvjXziFgADpVY0gxdoM7siKJkZ/s750/aivazovsky+-between-the-waves-1898.jpg%2521Large+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr_xosuGeRI9uU5HMDVdwVko2yzH3D8yTiorUX0ZEDM-vAZ5uenKkqQPnDyzXqUTSX-RgbB1W2wKQRtU0fN2G-lzECC_VisxRv-uPI8EcFwp80oYrMfGvjXziFgADpVY0gxdoM7siKJkZ/s320/aivazovsky+-between-the-waves-1898.jpg%2521Large+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><font size="1"><i>Between Waves</i> by Ivan Aivazovsky 1898</font></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br />And benches, of course.<br /><br /></span><span face="">Here is a beautiful wave bench from the seaside town of Bermondsey.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKKDxbm94PxMSA5uMpsGZvayrm_EiJTlESvPrzmcG6cJMmU56oK7dr3FSxLFG0whvvAqcFvhDI4rUBSlJ-7frSnaJCeOdxOjt_nGkUZ2Ojb2eEiHiI0ru5fI8YKt18-RLK9NaS0GpIjcq/s1600/zimpenfish.waveB.flickr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKKDxbm94PxMSA5uMpsGZvayrm_EiJTlESvPrzmcG6cJMmU56oK7dr3FSxLFG0whvvAqcFvhDI4rUBSlJ-7frSnaJCeOdxOjt_nGkUZ2Ojb2eEiHiI0ru5fI8YKt18-RLK9NaS0GpIjcq/s1600/zimpenfish.waveB.flickr.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimpenfish">http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimpenfish</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Mariner Mikey is saying that Bermondsey is not a seaside town; it's in south London. OK, sorry. Not a good start. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">These wave benches are definitely on the seafront. They're in St. Helier in Jersey. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOe969qkXJlKSa1AYDdOsaEXtrw0EK1RL0t8cfbPVLoZO5mwXYuyPreWIhBcBhiNrgL6ZmvikCkRuIIZmiIAvwqau8CKnOAntGz3esTelDKX2itcbfANjBuCxrDtYOiv9oxNgfw4zM-BY/s1600/waveB+st+helier.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOe969qkXJlKSa1AYDdOsaEXtrw0EK1RL0t8cfbPVLoZO5mwXYuyPreWIhBcBhiNrgL6ZmvikCkRuIIZmiIAvwqau8CKnOAntGz3esTelDKX2itcbfANjBuCxrDtYOiv9oxNgfw4zM-BY/s320/waveB+st+helier.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="color: blue;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html</a></u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><span face="">You may know that Jersey is in the Channel Islands. That's in the English Channel, which is the Atlantic Ocean, sort of. It's north of the Bay of Biscay, which on car ferries and cruise ships is sometimes referred to as the Bay of Sickbay. Yes, conditions there are rather rough for those who haven't yet found their sea legs. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Speaking of sea legs, here is Princess Rosebud's mermaid bench made by The Tugboat Captain's Wife. Its legs are decorated with enchanted seashells from her Enchanted Seashells website.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uh1rmR8AobE0JZGTTe2NqQA48VGGywrjWfzCkGuJgnqD3CGKn_cLXa_NTwGBLoBGcJ5q2A7pcjwfVsDSXBVuEGpy6iCVIf5DVi710RLjiywITCX6Nj1NaKWr68gyvqFlTdoubpjc4owF/s1600/h.enchantedseashells.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uh1rmR8AobE0JZGTTe2NqQA48VGGywrjWfzCkGuJgnqD3CGKn_cLXa_NTwGBLoBGcJ5q2A7pcjwfVsDSXBVuEGpy6iCVIf5DVi710RLjiywITCX6Nj1NaKWr68gyvqFlTdoubpjc4owF/s200/h.enchantedseashells.com.jpg" width="193" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://enchantedseashells.com/">http://enchantedseashells.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Mikey reminds me that mermaids don't have legs so he'd expect that a mermaid bench wouldn't have legs either. But in that case it wouldn't be much of a bench, would it? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's a beautiful driftwood bench whose legs are quite subtle. Mikey says it's kind of like a supermodel: it's hard to tell where its legs end and other things begin. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-C1uBfOwzDkdljTfZpEbcvW7nppuZoErgvTkkdlgdAh6fAq2NjknHVzKKxQkMkfoc54fT0aqjFNGj1AMuv8jZ2tCnBuQI1L0ciD10h8LvlLvJvPh2DKLVneDSCTJ6t8GlAcvoK5WdVA8H/s1600/carensilvestri.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-C1uBfOwzDkdljTfZpEbcvW7nppuZoErgvTkkdlgdAh6fAq2NjknHVzKKxQkMkfoc54fT0aqjFNGj1AMuv8jZ2tCnBuQI1L0ciD10h8LvlLvJvPh2DKLVneDSCTJ6t8GlAcvoK5WdVA8H/s320/carensilvestri.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/carensilvestri">www.etsy.com/shop/carensilvestri</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Hmmm. I'm going to have to watch it with Mikey I think. His comments on oceans are a bit more </span><span face="">risqué </span><span face="">than I normally allow. I'm not going to say </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">blue:</i><span face=""> we don't have blue comments on Bench Site, even for oceans.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here is <i>A Step into the Blue</i>, which is as blue as we are going to get. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">And yes, I have noticed that the bench is yellow. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAR1cJ6hbhap5d_Ne_LrMGkcYGGhLH5tAk5ITYi_6MsJ0BJb2QZEYrH3HnufXwLPLNsStKnUzn1c6kvr6Z4eugTknu2KJKsRms0_Xw9o7NCeh7u_h5UT8kIUQM_UaHIMx7W32PMRBtAt21/s1600/riaan.vosloo.art&designs.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAR1cJ6hbhap5d_Ne_LrMGkcYGGhLH5tAk5ITYi_6MsJ0BJb2QZEYrH3HnufXwLPLNsStKnUzn1c6kvr6Z4eugTknu2KJKsRms0_Xw9o7NCeh7u_h5UT8kIUQM_UaHIMx7W32PMRBtAt21/s320/riaan.vosloo.art&designs.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/riaanvislooart&designs">www.etsy.com/shop/riaanvislooart&designs</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">On some oceans you can see dolphins.</span></div><div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RDl3KMyCCBxO2OccAVXgZfanDEc7pjEXCTzEgPt1rYs4CIRDF4oasORJEFVIHZkyy4w2nAsmzAvmm1g-R3gWYGp0wrRQqnyTYjqIRmWi0Z95jvVuYHNSDeLj6davSNv9gANR_VbAt3uj/s1600/dolphinB.ShariWeinsheimer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RDl3KMyCCBxO2OccAVXgZfanDEc7pjEXCTzEgPt1rYs4CIRDF4oasORJEFVIHZkyy4w2nAsmzAvmm1g-R3gWYGp0wrRQqnyTYjqIRmWi0Z95jvVuYHNSDeLj6davSNv9gANR_VbAt3uj/s320/dolphinB.ShariWeinsheimer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Shari Weinsheimer at <a href="http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/">http://www.publicdomainpictures.net</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">No, not dolphin benches. Real dolphins. In some oceans they like to play in the wake of the ferries. They come up right next to the boat.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvTV2HZB4ODCk62KKblJf1eR_ieOCofbBvr_ZRF4rBdIYGU7Ans82YOECCgi9to1B4R7xN6JJMzXQjiUHNxjIjWdJQIqhqteqr4caWvxkV7FGDXutGonk5jDWcBqb4YcpA8K35WoCm667/s1600/boatB1.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvTV2HZB4ODCk62KKblJf1eR_ieOCofbBvr_ZRF4rBdIYGU7Ans82YOECCgi9to1B4R7xN6JJMzXQjiUHNxjIjWdJQIqhqteqr4caWvxkV7FGDXutGonk5jDWcBqb4YcpA8K35WoCm667/s320/boatB1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my photo, Wells, Somerset</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Yes, Mariner Mikey, it's true. This boat is on grass. And it's a bench rather than a real boat. But don't let that worry you. It's a very seaworthy bench in Wells in Somerset. That's Wells, not whales. </span><br /><br /><span face="">This dolphin picnic bench could be seaworthy too. Although at present it's landlocked in Gwynedd in Wales, it's not far from Cardigan Bay and is no doubt looking wistfully at the sea. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIgLrXRDvvre_hrCqZcYc9qBJ-kJncRWdxyf4x4TD-sAM7IRoFm2l_40q7wl4qgYUsQEo8gTXmqOssJ_14CwBhbuuU1JXepxYn4kZigEYOmMX8qLQWqHYrGY82WBxUWS-9IxhzJzveVLKm/s1600/Bwrdd_Picnic_Plas_Glyn_y_Weddw_Picnic_Table_-_geograph_org_uk_-_668208.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIgLrXRDvvre_hrCqZcYc9qBJ-kJncRWdxyf4x4TD-sAM7IRoFm2l_40q7wl4qgYUsQEo8gTXmqOssJ_14CwBhbuuU1JXepxYn4kZigEYOmMX8qLQWqHYrGY82WBxUWS-9IxhzJzveVLKm/s320/Bwrdd_Picnic_Plas_Glyn_y_Weddw_Picnic_Table_-_geograph_org_uk_-_668208.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Alan Fryer at <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/">http://www.geograph.org.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Mikey, I'll bet you've got some tales to tell about whales? That's <i>Whales</i> with an h. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZzsXE73R7TPhfh8rdzbo0dW_DAR78BTPlMrubH4E4WhCzGbNJDVqHqMkOcPRyqlvipNObZ1LiwrVmZiHiiVF3A1mL9UqphfRZWEuETPEynnAdyCdhesTQQHcxe3Z7CyQe91dVtut-nTf/s1600/queenofcreativityBS.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZzsXE73R7TPhfh8rdzbo0dW_DAR78BTPlMrubH4E4WhCzGbNJDVqHqMkOcPRyqlvipNObZ1LiwrVmZiHiiVF3A1mL9UqphfRZWEuETPEynnAdyCdhesTQQHcxe3Z7CyQe91dVtut-nTf/s1600/queenofcreativityBS.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://thequeen%20of%20creativity.blogspot.com/">http://thequeen of creativity.blogspot.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Make that <i>tails</i>. There are plenty of Tail of the Whale benches. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="">This one is much photographed. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtdZbx5sX5H7anHLf0hy_BErU2R7Ss4R11LeRZI5z16lbPV0Oloj-wwYEH36O-Gz211e1S0lN43RzQJhi_vc3lr9x5bO_dQ7ljwAHrJUXXB_ROZzeloU1IRciyryyD0GnMng6g7cIvw8l/s1600/whaletaleB.queencashmere.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtdZbx5sX5H7anHLf0hy_BErU2R7Ss4R11LeRZI5z16lbPV0Oloj-wwYEH36O-Gz211e1S0lN43RzQJhi_vc3lr9x5bO_dQ7ljwAHrJUXXB_ROZzeloU1IRciyryyD0GnMng6g7cIvw8l/s320/whaletaleB.queencashmere.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/queencashmere">http://www.flickr.com/photos/queencashmere</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="">So is this one.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSwg_W8_SeAXxTfLU4k30AZ5wQiD5RtoftChCZFXLY3YFJjkIJbHUdHs1vkxcLmOU_x4HeCi-33rLl_aVZ9EO_603W73by7IgjMOCob3erM3RMW15wWjku-rMbE2mvKLhXCW0QyPpk1yv9/s1600/RonClark5329.WhaleBenchWhiteheaven.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSwg_W8_SeAXxTfLU4k30AZ5wQiD5RtoftChCZFXLY3YFJjkIJbHUdHs1vkxcLmOU_x4HeCi-33rLl_aVZ9EO_603W73by7IgjMOCob3erM3RMW15wWjku-rMbE2mvKLhXCW0QyPpk1yv9/s320/RonClark5329.WhaleBenchWhiteheaven.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> Ron Clark at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronclark5329">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronclark5329</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">This one shouldn't have been photographed but was.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVCre_zp67s4LUPgP6fxGOyq8rLtckAk1XK864jUZ8Qv-P9IXU6JVe_VOlBd18IoXJ6ZLb0CIK7uO67pD-gCdTkJ9Uxn9A5uYr3OmVcquDIHGnCyoHZQEkKj9fmqrA8PlH5-aaSyJjRMS_/s1600/whaletail.imgur.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVCre_zp67s4LUPgP6fxGOyq8rLtckAk1XK864jUZ8Qv-P9IXU6JVe_VOlBd18IoXJ6ZLb0CIK7uO67pD-gCdTkJ9Uxn9A5uYr3OmVcquDIHGnCyoHZQEkKj9fmqrA8PlH5-aaSyJjRMS_/s200/whaletail.imgur.com.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">imgur.com</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Mikey says he likes this pink whale tail best. That's just a fluke I think. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">And speaking of flukes, here's the whale watching bench at Hermanus in South Africa.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVo0QWzO2Slpu5Z7HMD38QCOy3Px2M3B6kiqeG7tkCYLCO6S4Ie8EtBTECrnGp67jXIlex-WWCOcKuuHA47tTan_quMNhk7W_FyzPG7NAF1CfvOJvAhvKrpaz7UtKdr6Pudifx8z0Tij-Y/s1600/willem.nabuur.panoramio.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVo0QWzO2Slpu5Z7HMD38QCOy3Px2M3B6kiqeG7tkCYLCO6S4Ie8EtBTECrnGp67jXIlex-WWCOcKuuHA47tTan_quMNhk7W_FyzPG7NAF1CfvOJvAhvKrpaz7UtKdr6Pudifx8z0Tij-Y/s1600/willem.nabuur.panoramio.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> Willem Nabuur at <a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32216155">http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32216155</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><br /><span face="">Heave ho me Hearties, that's enough whales/wales tails/tales now. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face="">Here is a very nice seahorse and dolphin bench which Claire McDonough photographed at Disneyland. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzP7kr-aiLiiyhxpP78lnZErRCBLBwCHvURm1BI3SfBXLiFmHLGLeuUOu_gYPyWHBHFpbhyphenhyphenD2GmwYHxbEV-jje5gWz4eeNPjV5KFW-dtICZS2uxoNk3fOGPerZ4xMR3boQAZ_Y8InRIXJk/s1600/clairemcdonough.seahorseB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzP7kr-aiLiiyhxpP78lnZErRCBLBwCHvURm1BI3SfBXLiFmHLGLeuUOu_gYPyWHBHFpbhyphenhyphenD2GmwYHxbEV-jje5gWz4eeNPjV5KFW-dtICZS2uxoNk3fOGPerZ4xMR3boQAZ_Y8InRIXJk/s320/clairemcdonough.seahorseB.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegren">http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegren</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span face="">What's that, Mariner Mikey? </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-s_MbkkZHiSg5p-Y0GCy1B0canEMKVeSWAoHd6eM5Vtc9JRlYjnItdNtibFzzklVeT2edVqEXdXe5vm4UKHvg07wc7_g01kmeKy41-k1PjP3ZOm5qejJ6rQaI3DWnnVmfp5zoTJ7oNnTC/s600/a-mermaid-1900.jpg%2521Large+waterhouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="417" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-s_MbkkZHiSg5p-Y0GCy1B0canEMKVeSWAoHd6eM5Vtc9JRlYjnItdNtibFzzklVeT2edVqEXdXe5vm4UKHvg07wc7_g01kmeKy41-k1PjP3ZOm5qejJ6rQaI3DWnnVmfp5zoTJ7oNnTC/w278-h400/a-mermaid-1900.jpg%2521Large+waterhouse.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-william-waterhouse/a-mermaid-1900">https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-william-waterhouse/a-mermaid-1900</a></td></tr></tbody></table><font face=""><br /></font><br /><span face="">Mermaids you say? You're always on the lookout for them? </span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKO9Okf-zX9v-eIMXHxKodf9cobJEkPbgtRqAw1tNQQYlNPaRQQEvhHjhYZuVzmlvY0bvVLNWWxQ92XPCURDml8SZZuvrWj0J5HWHvQYnyR1U7ImhqlToGFCTxmu0KRFslB6H_l6iZqRzg02NSlLAjr2aJwKnmDn6jPFuXKm19q1fQiB_U3wujKogRgpQn/s1080/FB_IMG_1707171987124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1080" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKO9Okf-zX9v-eIMXHxKodf9cobJEkPbgtRqAw1tNQQYlNPaRQQEvhHjhYZuVzmlvY0bvVLNWWxQ92XPCURDml8SZZuvrWj0J5HWHvQYnyR1U7ImhqlToGFCTxmu0KRFslB6H_l6iZqRzg02NSlLAjr2aJwKnmDn6jPFuXKm19q1fQiB_U3wujKogRgpQn/w400-h306/FB_IMG_1707171987124.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Will They Make the Bend</i>? 1879, Michael Ancher</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">Well, yes. I'm sure we can find some very nice mermaid benches. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's one from Kid's Cove in the play area next to Lake Michigan. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I know. You're going to remind me that Lake Michigan isn't an ocean. But let's forget that and admire the mermaid. She's splendid.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHckEfUYybttQzRAYZMmqVLl0e9QyxAQvvagfjoI1i4JynZf4W55O92KhDKOFRKKXyvhmf5XtOsxvcDT2zZ7GjdPwzzFrr_YnFeBfJZwYyExMwUgHWCoaVFVpjLmLJFqy1t7P5_uA4IAmn/s1600/tabbi.kat.flickr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHckEfUYybttQzRAYZMmqVLl0e9QyxAQvvagfjoI1i4JynZf4W55O92KhDKOFRKKXyvhmf5XtOsxvcDT2zZ7GjdPwzzFrr_YnFeBfJZwYyExMwUgHWCoaVFVpjLmLJFqy1t7P5_uA4IAmn/s320/tabbi.kat.flickr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/43067379@NOO">http://www.flickr.com/people/43067379</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Oh, you know her already. I suppose you meet a lot of mermaids in your line of work? </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="">You carry a photo of your favourite mermaid in your wallet? Very nice.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUWuroq_c3VcmHTwPl_7YTjin4TOvOwwXzCCRNgQhFh4R11Un8mg-YQyT8WFeDwqDZ7omW9gkIuE0rt02skkFE9p6Pe8V7jnESE-C_CALrxJliiRXO2jBM7CE926Tu0nVVyjogJQg4BHR/s1600/creaturesofimagination.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUWuroq_c3VcmHTwPl_7YTjin4TOvOwwXzCCRNgQhFh4R11Un8mg-YQyT8WFeDwqDZ7omW9gkIuE0rt02skkFE9p6Pe8V7jnESE-C_CALrxJliiRXO2jBM7CE926Tu0nVVyjogJQg4BHR/s320/creaturesofimagination.com.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.creaturesofimagination.com/">www.creaturesofimagination.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Miss Mermaid. Yes, she's lovely. Pretty bench too. I guess this is a bench-based mermaid. The best kind.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">No, frankly I'm not interested in what you get up to under a scallop with mermaids. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">No, I do not want to know. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Yes, I can imagine it <i>would</i> make a fish blush.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGkmGlmFiLEgAWtiNGp50iSufWOkHBlcNYNmvk8APbPrJksmzl4lWwY59Htg7F6UNFPFO3d_3izjdkctoVmFkHvxMDMRnmKPG_7nYTKljYvbjvSppzEdH911RKtXsyADM128A-JujlOM1/s1600/amygaines.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGkmGlmFiLEgAWtiNGp50iSufWOkHBlcNYNmvk8APbPrJksmzl4lWwY59Htg7F6UNFPFO3d_3izjdkctoVmFkHvxMDMRnmKPG_7nYTKljYvbjvSppzEdH911RKtXsyADM128A-JujlOM1/s1600/amygaines.etsy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/amygaines">www.etsy.com/shop/amygaines</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><br /><span face="">Yes, I'm sure Kissing Fish are very common at twenty thousand leagues.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkjlbKYMzkx_2uPQ1aAywGvFlWz-cDc0KzAzHbH160P0FH0WHNqxtszunmGkcAJGwXlHM9aCcDa4x4btqYxNMDxmA6UZSrCsPFqtyN-vjcbas4Z8gs4UWLtHQ-zopAQH96qWq7e8-7e2L/s1600/kissingfish.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkjlbKYMzkx_2uPQ1aAywGvFlWz-cDc0KzAzHbH160P0FH0WHNqxtszunmGkcAJGwXlHM9aCcDa4x4btqYxNMDxmA6UZSrCsPFqtyN-vjcbas4Z8gs4UWLtHQ-zopAQH96qWq7e8-7e2L/s1600/kissingfish.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/43067379@NOO">http://www.flickr.com/people/43067379</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">I'm going to change the subject now. We've got other fish to fry.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9NOrGnzj32UJ2kqLh5CnU3I22cEZ_ivu7m0kHk8PAxpDgLj3x5fkS4dmCM85H3QbscgFTqLBuznYsL-dxgMrjbHHGiN4KZSDOlD1pUyLGgMlm0eSLPF2RjWVVsnW88PIA7ydtR-sraoTO/s1600/Dordrecht+fish+bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9NOrGnzj32UJ2kqLh5CnU3I22cEZ_ivu7m0kHk8PAxpDgLj3x5fkS4dmCM85H3QbscgFTqLBuznYsL-dxgMrjbHHGiN4KZSDOlD1pUyLGgMlm0eSLPF2RjWVVsnW88PIA7ydtR-sraoTO/s320/Dordrecht+fish+bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo, Dordrecht, South Holland</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="">Let's look at some other lovely seaside things that are beside the ocean rather than in it. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Like this pretty beach bench from Cocoa Beach in Florida.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbK8xXPccPMeoB73p-NFjC1vbAKCNUEje_N4Kkgbl3vNwKXxrQ4Ou1QwItuMy7edvGhNOkdsbMSyrAX3iKewR4D-3H9fFsf-wxbWgfLH1cF3wVmNWgqaWlQKEdJj0B_0RkFL7mQ-L6cZph/s1600/jeanos+art.etsy+(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbK8xXPccPMeoB73p-NFjC1vbAKCNUEje_N4Kkgbl3vNwKXxrQ4Ou1QwItuMy7edvGhNOkdsbMSyrAX3iKewR4D-3H9fFsf-wxbWgfLH1cF3wVmNWgqaWlQKEdJj0B_0RkFL7mQ-L6cZph/s320/jeanos+art.etsy+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://jeanscoastalart.com/" style="font-family: "times new roman";">http://jeanscoastalart.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table></span><br /><br /><span face="">And here's a beautiful shell bench which was originally in the garden of Strawberry Hill House near London. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjce_FLGIP2Nye0ir2COfY78m7H6YZGx8chZnBjr7oP5jN_PQZLcjwm9S_n8vxFAVkL25HCTwisMEG2JtoVTcVlrWdDLm6lJLltB-7ecccQkbEVl4BdA4CQ7RtbqOC-a3CkxjruXp3mK4s6/s1600/shellB.strawberryhillhouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjce_FLGIP2Nye0ir2COfY78m7H6YZGx8chZnBjr7oP5jN_PQZLcjwm9S_n8vxFAVkL25HCTwisMEG2JtoVTcVlrWdDLm6lJLltB-7ecccQkbEVl4BdA4CQ7RtbqOC-a3CkxjruXp3mK4s6/s1600/shellB.strawberryhillhouse.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/">http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">It's true that Strawberry Hill House is not beside the sea. But isn't it a fabulous bench?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">This shell bench is more contemporary. It seems to have washed up on a patio, which is jolly useful. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0_W6BBCRRRABIjVTilGvmbM4zZ9mc8XrLcNtAiTTSjz8zNe7eojqsFvXcH5RasdBbOrGuvMzelL8YIq8PE-rb_HWpjAwsJ1kDd-zanC5nEbnayrB_LALgpG_hEKZRyBNYGIWZ_tnvlwL/s1600/shellB.urbis.design.sad.seashell.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0_W6BBCRRRABIjVTilGvmbM4zZ9mc8XrLcNtAiTTSjz8zNe7eojqsFvXcH5RasdBbOrGuvMzelL8YIq8PE-rb_HWpjAwsJ1kDd-zanC5nEbnayrB_LALgpG_hEKZRyBNYGIWZ_tnvlwL/s320/shellB.urbis.design.sad.seashell.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.urbisdesign.co.uk/">http://www.urbisdesign.co.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's a very nice caracol bench from Chula Vista in California. That's the Pacific Ocean of course. And very close to the Gulf of Mexico, which isn't really an ocean.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3-iq2sOXBPJFMM0rcsBX0mWxgtpKHdZe427lfD3gzr_iJWfWPJzEQa79kJwfyJLNHD8vTJJzEJuSTyDftKcV9EDUeOgvswefpNvNzTNZN1uUY-ogrNUiWN2oocT3-zWRthGP-ERbAohc/s1600/WholesaleWorldPotteryCaracolBench_M04B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3-iq2sOXBPJFMM0rcsBX0mWxgtpKHdZe427lfD3gzr_iJWfWPJzEQa79kJwfyJLNHD8vTJJzEJuSTyDftKcV9EDUeOgvswefpNvNzTNZN1uUY-ogrNUiWN2oocT3-zWRthGP-ERbAohc/s200/WholesaleWorldPotteryCaracolBench_M04B.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.wholesaleworldpottery.com/">www.wholesaleworldpottery.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">I'm something of an expert on shell benches myself, being named Seashell. In fact, I am lucky enough to have my own seashell throne here on Paradise Island.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1NZAxqiSWASvS9p-SEvFf2623whCoXIxl_MY3ixE6NFCRYwMRNKdoCqkIaitOYwy5LFpROGZIJXIjrtGOxg42dAtlpszFHUlR6Mq70ocxvVCIIpT0gdaV95eKtKPzncdvbByde0hhMnj/s1600/mine.seaview.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1NZAxqiSWASvS9p-SEvFf2623whCoXIxl_MY3ixE6NFCRYwMRNKdoCqkIaitOYwy5LFpROGZIJXIjrtGOxg42dAtlpszFHUlR6Mq70ocxvVCIIpT0gdaV95eKtKPzncdvbByde0hhMnj/s400/mine.seaview.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font color="#0000ff"><u><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/lord-brassicas-right-royal-thrones.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/lord-brassicas-right-royal-thrones.html</a></u></font></p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">There's a lot of sea weed on Paradise Island but sea weed is actually very good for you because if you're in trouble you can sea kelp.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">Now the Little Sailor is telling me he has a girlfriend in the Pacific. </span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="text-align: center;"><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>All the nice girls love a sailor</i></span></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="text-align: center;"><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>All the nice girls love a tar;</i></span></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="text-align: center;"><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>For there's something about a sailor,</i></span></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="text-align: center;"><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Well, you know what sailors are.</i> </span></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQR-2nSiYdWMBcyz96JbguX_p47DrXsw4_k0YPKibbEJIMYtR57bvFkUXjZrPj75AyqUxIniGfH7Unzct0QOEC3VAlWe0O5D0h5riAxNpj_RJaBnstALBxHk6DUa631lMT3G-CFomUPst/s748/Albert_Henry_Collings_-_Corsaire.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQR-2nSiYdWMBcyz96JbguX_p47DrXsw4_k0YPKibbEJIMYtR57bvFkUXjZrPj75AyqUxIniGfH7Unzct0QOEC3VAlWe0O5D0h5riAxNpj_RJaBnstALBxHk6DUa631lMT3G-CFomUPst/s320/Albert_Henry_Collings_-_Corsaire.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Buccaneer</i> by Albert Henry Collings</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><font face=""><div><br /></div></font><span face="">Yes, I'm beginning to see how sailors are. If I can just put my oar in here, Mikey . . .</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9npIiytaulwB9H46lUHhKAl8dicnW-u4tOzvdrimJVHyL0bYDBoFb8ahEsBp4Vp0-T_jsgcQ8l6rvCD063jclpC1V5RqWGgxLsW2kUr-GRfQSSLjxIt0qahWrstO76kMOyTVBmmhpDjwf/s1600/Shelly-bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9npIiytaulwB9H46lUHhKAl8dicnW-u4tOzvdrimJVHyL0bYDBoFb8ahEsBp4Vp0-T_jsgcQ8l6rvCD063jclpC1V5RqWGgxLsW2kUr-GRfQSSLjxIt0qahWrstO76kMOyTVBmmhpDjwf/s320/Shelly-bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.seanasmith.com/">www.seanasmith.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /><br /></span></div><div><span face="">Yes, this oar bench is at Shelly Beach near Cronulla, which Seana Smith says is the best playground beach in Sydney. Seana has a blog about such things as good beaches and good playgrounds.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">This picture you are showing me of your Pacific Ocean girlfriend . . .</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJ2JOUIY74lXyvI5csVcD1CXJHyhUhFqx1mpVMqU_DrOu3cluISpOvasfL-iOPw-7bKzxSDrSVjDTOrrasuG85HTDoPbzMr5oF1L6MwjJZDzefX55mUbI_yfED_1jZcMaagcvUpPHMAdn/s1600/All_Saints_Churcwikimedia.org.upper.sheringham.norfolk860.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJ2JOUIY74lXyvI5csVcD1CXJHyhUhFqx1mpVMqU_DrOu3cluISpOvasfL-iOPw-7bKzxSDrSVjDTOrrasuG85HTDoPbzMr5oF1L6MwjJZDzefX55mUbI_yfED_1jZcMaagcvUpPHMAdn/s320/All_Saints_Churcwikimedia.org.upper.sheringham.norfolk860.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> John Salmon at<a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/815860"> www.geograph.org.uk/photo/815860</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">Yes. That one. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I think you're telling me a bit of a Fish Tale here, Mikey, because I happen to know this mermaid. She's from All Saints Church in Upper Sheringham in Norfolk. That's a seagoing place, of course, but it's not the Pacific Ocean: it's the North Sea. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Yes, I've been on a ferry across the North Sea. And the English Channel too. Why do you ask?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTwDNKra1ynRcG_vNhS4WjhOzf71owhugqGLOwFxfoo1AxDkVMvq98oJ01ssI2QfOvXQDvRxo2z4JW6oIJw93QNE8j5zyi6FW315sP9e3Le81YvJ3UF9L5lPWWapId7r8zwJ4gKMe3Gcgv/s1600/Caen+ferry+bench+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTwDNKra1ynRcG_vNhS4WjhOzf71owhugqGLOwFxfoo1AxDkVMvq98oJ01ssI2QfOvXQDvRxo2z4JW6oIJw93QNE8j5zyi6FW315sP9e3Le81YvJ3UF9L5lPWWapId7r8zwJ4gKMe3Gcgv/s400/Caen+ferry+bench+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo, Brittany Ferries</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Brassieres? Whatever are you on about, Mikey? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Did I have to put one on? Well, that's none of your business. And anyway, what has that got to do with the sea?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iHS7uavVS9qjg0FBwgMeurESQzXnWEnCzlbITql64RJjdFK7YqbRWA1rfMucmF7qmEJXPllvt79cXllWvl2Ww07wWY3hRlQYQjLejagrYh5cbqyJrFJoYEIz5dFmSBaTV28qHVagfzr5/s1600/brassiere+bench.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iHS7uavVS9qjg0FBwgMeurESQzXnWEnCzlbITql64RJjdFK7YqbRWA1rfMucmF7qmEJXPllvt79cXllWvl2Ww07wWY3hRlQYQjLejagrYh5cbqyJrFJoYEIz5dFmSBaTV28qHVagfzr5/s320/brassiere+bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">OK, fair enough. <i>Brassieres de sauvetage</i>. Otherwise known as life jackets.</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">You don't wear one? </span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgREKq7B5QfdFU9e7HAWS1XNHqnQwa-ObCUx_-W67YqMTioqWPNFXpj415wNCAvRpKeffyJaEt7JatA8YHm8P2N7n2svllku3xnvO5XnimGEAF9ZauxWzwhUq_rWSpzH3H1kfUegcxryV9/s750/shipwreck-1854.jpg%2521Large.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgREKq7B5QfdFU9e7HAWS1XNHqnQwa-ObCUx_-W67YqMTioqWPNFXpj415wNCAvRpKeffyJaEt7JatA8YHm8P2N7n2svllku3xnvO5XnimGEAF9ZauxWzwhUq_rWSpzH3H1kfUegcxryV9/s320/shipwreck-1854.jpg%2521Large.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Shipwreck</i> by Ivan Aivazovsky 1854</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">You might want to think again about that.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">So what else might we find by the sea? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's Ali. Or rather, Ali's shutters from alibythesea. Now these really <i>are</i> by the sea. They've got that saltsea-battered look about them. And so has the bench. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVrxg1k8babMQkEGc4X76cgOdBvW3V3N852xO-f2SBaGyXhOA6vEY1kItV5Sh3XsgqcWnFhZHpaXKPKX61VTYwbdxY7z3-tc4B0r4BOFBr3sjVMC1YmmmLHIlbF7vs_AUA54XSJzViaXh/s1600/alibythesea.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVrxg1k8babMQkEGc4X76cgOdBvW3V3N852xO-f2SBaGyXhOA6vEY1kItV5Sh3XsgqcWnFhZHpaXKPKX61VTYwbdxY7z3-tc4B0r4BOFBr3sjVMC1YmmmLHIlbF7vs_AUA54XSJzViaXh/s320/alibythesea.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/alibythesea">www.etsy.com/shop/alibythesea</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Mariner Mikey is saying he loves the Caribbean and those tropical island benches under the palms.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUMtT8aPnGmgM65Cluqa7x9mFzUYZ_rLcP4pLTA8LCWdUFw2yBA5IUoK0XFkUx5YT96XwwPwSAyLvlS2d_zDDF0i6BMAEXjW3TQEvJnW9RfWgPoyA06UO4dBJnQKAdWy2NJCKhQSS4CPk/s1600/josephadamsdesigns.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUMtT8aPnGmgM65Cluqa7x9mFzUYZ_rLcP4pLTA8LCWdUFw2yBA5IUoK0XFkUx5YT96XwwPwSAyLvlS2d_zDDF0i6BMAEXjW3TQEvJnW9RfWgPoyA06UO4dBJnQKAdWy2NJCKhQSS4CPk/s320/josephadamsdesigns.etsy.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/josephadamsdesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/josephadamsdesign</a>s</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span face="">Speaking of the Caribbean, here's a rather elaborate lifeguard bench at Magen's Beach in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifDGznE01TIYoYI2uuDXqm_1dNQ_tjaK-GPyQI127F5Q85uak-EAjThZJLYmnKB-GxB9NkDz_B7ZYBuSxhtCLkmiQigvuECmwU87TxBrbNnJQNk3KZdoV7LgznB9ASiNuasaknfk1q3YD/s1600/lifeguardBs.artbysharianetsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifDGznE01TIYoYI2uuDXqm_1dNQ_tjaK-GPyQI127F5Q85uak-EAjThZJLYmnKB-GxB9NkDz_B7ZYBuSxhtCLkmiQigvuECmwU87TxBrbNnJQNk3KZdoV7LgznB9ASiNuasaknfk1q3YD/s200/lifeguardBs.artbysharianetsy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbysharianne">www.etsy.com/shop/artbysharianne</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /><br /></span></div><div><span face="">I'm not going to repeat the story Mikey told me about his voyage to the Virgin Islands. The less said about that the better.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">And now he's going on about the beauty of Flabellina Goddardi; is this one of his Mediterranean girlfriends off the coast of Italy somewhere? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">No, it turns out it's the name of the Seat Slug, a creation of Studio Rael-San Fratello in California.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbZfoQxnkbKeAP4rW2nIIacLFz_NJVLaky9eer3G3yggrvJSRUw3zFDoPV3gfFvWG9DOCfmZRXRzLltM_y3LAI_oVfOmDoY7Peb3Le1Thgi0qQOsC4C8KeM0WzE0VKSmP26WrFy4L_Blx/s1600/slug1_virginia.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbZfoQxnkbKeAP4rW2nIIacLFz_NJVLaky9eer3G3yggrvJSRUw3zFDoPV3gfFvWG9DOCfmZRXRzLltM_y3LAI_oVfOmDoY7Peb3Le1Thgi0qQOsC4C8KeM0WzE0VKSmP26WrFy4L_Blx/s320/slug1_virginia.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/">www.rael-sanfratello.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">A new species of sea slug was discovered in California in 2010 and given the name Flabellini Goddardi. This inspired the making of the Seat Slug bench by designer Ronald Rael San Fratello. Nothing whatsoever to do with Mariner Mikey's underwater exploits. That's a relief because there are a lot of sharks about. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Not shark benches, just sharks. I didn't find any shark benches. The closest I came to a shark bench is this:</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg8BlnZytuXjWYy5DsvmOYoNn525pVoDtHqS26wkUTJMaCjaz2ldMgrew-gpx5z0izflHBJlBcI5GW3FIivvJpDipPX4xI5G4wvApRu87kiPoQ2J-M-Baw9b4d8fU4hDykj8_7OT_bH_B/s1600/Kerri.kreativecorner.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg8BlnZytuXjWYy5DsvmOYoNn525pVoDtHqS26wkUTJMaCjaz2ldMgrew-gpx5z0izflHBJlBcI5GW3FIivvJpDipPX4xI5G4wvApRu87kiPoQ2J-M-Baw9b4d8fU4hDykj8_7OT_bH_B/s320/Kerri.kreativecorner.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/kreativecorner">www.etsy.com/shop/kreativecorner</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Golly. I'd think twice about using the loo if there are sharks in it.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">But apparently some people find sharks cuddly. Have you hugged your shark today? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAN0OeyyxwLUJbeX3QI7QfZT5LVdmfUWlT5zZrwH15w_ptdb_Eh5JpZ0FwD8nyZrdx-mIReBCYeMoYYZubxPxe0hnU09yOlai9mmLq5A3zlEjyq-nHoul-8y-FnrbV3qiSzWkcGGD9AGY/s1600/untitled.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAN0OeyyxwLUJbeX3QI7QfZT5LVdmfUWlT5zZrwH15w_ptdb_Eh5JpZ0FwD8nyZrdx-mIReBCYeMoYYZubxPxe0hnU09yOlai9mmLq5A3zlEjyq-nHoul-8y-FnrbV3qiSzWkcGGD9AGY/s200/untitled.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91562291"> http://www.flickr.com/photos/91562291</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">OK. We've done dolphins and whales and seahorses and fish and sea slugs and sharks. We've seen more than enough mermaids. Hmmm. Is there anything else in the sea, Mikey? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Really? There are lots of girls on benches in the sea? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2oVXY6hkcUGrZ7dKSeX0_mJw9vAQk6I46IqtGj1IU5GrKVrDb2Vb-Kkojt5EdEhDj8CPJdo5T6kuC1hZYQxFcTQxPJv1b8KNXuMNATVWfPSdiY8EXKUkThlZki1ObTrNyyRuqM9-bjE2e/s1600/bobdicksetsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2oVXY6hkcUGrZ7dKSeX0_mJw9vAQk6I46IqtGj1IU5GrKVrDb2Vb-Kkojt5EdEhDj8CPJdo5T6kuC1hZYQxFcTQxPJv1b8KNXuMNATVWfPSdiY8EXKUkThlZki1ObTrNyyRuqM9-bjE2e/s320/bobdicksetsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bobdix">www.etsy.com/shop/bobdix</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Interesting. An octopus and an owl. And extra large glasses too!</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Oh, the glasses are for reading. With an octopus. On a bench. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Well, that's brilliant. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">What's this? Another octopus girl.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Looks like she's having a relaxing time with her book and her friend.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2AQoNr-mCvDpeORJb5_p1lxvlhl5IfdiWxB5zjrccAQoyJqYby6SguTd_zVwNWgJNla0d-Tk0p1vbD6sQLtYpX8rlDZqCsAmFSrAqDaNTqfkoJafv5I5EdVMJQNzDMNY5uWmMFRg6gpG0/s1600/eightfingerstudioetsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2AQoNr-mCvDpeORJb5_p1lxvlhl5IfdiWxB5zjrccAQoyJqYby6SguTd_zVwNWgJNla0d-Tk0p1vbD6sQLtYpX8rlDZqCsAmFSrAqDaNTqfkoJafv5I5EdVMJQNzDMNY5uWmMFRg6gpG0/s320/eightfingerstudioetsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/8fingerstudio">www.etsy.com/shop/8fingerstudio</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">So this is the girl who broke your heart huh? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">What happened?</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcwADXNBKiDCkR9ddoCDPh1CPelXb7ihIAWlqPbGjm3oBj46JgyfrEvWTuqY1Rjfz2dTYB_qegcYrY92j1tYszjXvbx1FfjDXdm4cvuF0XzsBt9Yw5rwyE0ApDGivjKfZl9ksbl4vCeLj/s1600/benchybenches.etsy.dorset.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcwADXNBKiDCkR9ddoCDPh1CPelXb7ihIAWlqPbGjm3oBj46JgyfrEvWTuqY1Rjfz2dTYB_qegcYrY92j1tYszjXvbx1FfjDXdm4cvuF0XzsBt9Yw5rwyE0ApDGivjKfZl9ksbl4vCeLj/s320/benchybenches.etsy.dorset.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/benchybenches">www.etsy.com/shop/benchybenches</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">You just drifted apart. Like driftwood. </span><span face="">Yeah, I get it. Must happen a lot with ocean-going relationships.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Why are you showing us this?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOD0cXQkPcKZbPb5R8qAXp64X6oOfwpc7Ctp9ifeGNdZaqfMLMFpF4rqkjd85JNH1TixXMg7Qj_SF6Q55XxLnw_fYUVmIU1BbwDEJIoAQaS2pZaoXHMMXrAPkI_54VsnTql7esPoUnGH-o/s1600/J0076232.GIF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOD0cXQkPcKZbPb5R8qAXp64X6oOfwpc7Ctp9ifeGNdZaqfMLMFpF4rqkjd85JNH1TixXMg7Qj_SF6Q55XxLnw_fYUVmIU1BbwDEJIoAQaS2pZaoXHMMXrAPkI_54VsnTql7esPoUnGH-o/s1600/J0076232.GIF" /></a></div><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><br /><span face="">Plenty more fish in the sea. Yes, of course. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1lfjjBxg4FKIiUsDfVrrDzdWJB4rkc8lnQLoJ3Fv62kChIek_hfgwZZhDZ27PO1MC4KuwyrAlFAWQO8Wr6hp4LsABqRbrEeg9laBb5btEDI5I2wf7k1HvFfikt8UhNe6X13pUC8QPYUE/s1600/terence.faircloth.fkcc5838668875_9e1bafca22_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1lfjjBxg4FKIiUsDfVrrDzdWJB4rkc8lnQLoJ3Fv62kChIek_hfgwZZhDZ27PO1MC4KuwyrAlFAWQO8Wr6hp4LsABqRbrEeg9laBb5btEDI5I2wf7k1HvFfikt8UhNe6X13pUC8QPYUE/s320/terence.faircloth.fkcc5838668875_9e1bafca22_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/atelier_tee/5838668875/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/atelier_tee/5838668875/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">There are some splendid fish benches around.</span><br /><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKe_Q9i1HyjoP47Fxlfyr5uHaRZsSZReumSW86H1cIjIfwbQqT3Wh0peXpla2TDWo20zQughylWV9m0oyTzFD5ayPqnX5gTYZLZJIPWGVAbt1LzOhFQ_xRK7q6ZGtydXNi8mtpPHfvqbs/s1600/stainedglass4u.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKe_Q9i1HyjoP47Fxlfyr5uHaRZsSZReumSW86H1cIjIfwbQqT3Wh0peXpla2TDWo20zQughylWV9m0oyTzFD5ayPqnX5gTYZLZJIPWGVAbt1LzOhFQ_xRK7q6ZGtydXNi8mtpPHfvqbs/s1600/stainedglass4u.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.stainedglass4u.com/">http://www.stainedglass4u.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">A stained glass fish bench from Boise. Lovely. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I'd welcome this with open arms.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYMqg1D0bXeRsJYoaXgv6-fMfF3kacn8KXw9Tvyf72iG1IMbkrzfpC1MGgy6OQ4wo0f3jL7_XcE1EUoZhGok-X2J-la2Pp5yQ3nS20Azq_vGWFFsaz6kEz-IgTABdsvSr6H5FvyO5jJfG/s1600/mine.brighton20170218_131624.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="963" data-original-width="1600" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYMqg1D0bXeRsJYoaXgv6-fMfF3kacn8KXw9Tvyf72iG1IMbkrzfpC1MGgy6OQ4wo0f3jL7_XcE1EUoZhGok-X2J-la2Pp5yQ3nS20Azq_vGWFFsaz6kEz-IgTABdsvSr6H5FvyO5jJfG/s320/mine.brighton20170218_131624.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo of Steve Boyle's photo</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">You're right, Little Sailor, there's no ocean in Boise. These fish must be from the Snake River. And rivers feed into oceans, so that's relevant. Golly, I feel like I'm swimming upstream here.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Uggue97k5k5roHN_7wRHAcfjIuiAmwcVvbJObfYPbMgMKuYNx-D656igJwydQdIf_D0x8RaP9GOU3eagmzi9Zkj-wP_sW8n5YyHCkJ-zkR_VAC7ptzDxf9xqRmY3dOXA2F-BDfft47FI/s1600/seaford.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Uggue97k5k5roHN_7wRHAcfjIuiAmwcVvbJObfYPbMgMKuYNx-D656igJwydQdIf_D0x8RaP9GOU3eagmzi9Zkj-wP_sW8n5YyHCkJ-zkR_VAC7ptzDxf9xqRmY3dOXA2F-BDfft47FI/s320/seaford.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo Seaford, East Sussex</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">We won't get too hung up on where the fish come from. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's a tiled sea bench from California which pretty much covers everything sea-going.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhDVX7lFZM3GOoudPbS4dKZ84veni-8YNBLs75OFNrIlMpVzPWXRhxvolfS4OM5pp1L0b3-yz0bFJguhL4zHk9DgTfIoev33O1OnWujGximVJ3iQwqNJkWkPw9n0qLqbkZVePj4EwywmS/s1600/Matthew.E.Cohen.seatileB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhDVX7lFZM3GOoudPbS4dKZ84veni-8YNBLs75OFNrIlMpVzPWXRhxvolfS4OM5pp1L0b3-yz0bFJguhL4zHk9DgTfIoev33O1OnWujGximVJ3iQwqNJkWkPw9n0qLqbkZVePj4EwywmS/s1600/Matthew.E.Cohen.seatileB.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> Matthew E. Cohen at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mister_goleta" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.flickr.com/people/mister_goleta</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Tell me, Little Sailor, have you ever sailed one of the colder seas? Like the Baltic Sea, for instance. Or the South Atlantic? </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWabI6mDL4hNmlbpZJfQad3Lz4QxrOU9UJCxXiwvN48TKFA3uRRMkGJDGU0IfwVoy_7Z1jMvNYGB1zWx7zGVL-VqUu744hT0FFQoYa0L7hnm2TwUTOe-wpNVR0bcWyWKGgSVx5vDnykCfC/s1024/Wrath+of+Seas+Ivan+Aivazovsky.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWabI6mDL4hNmlbpZJfQad3Lz4QxrOU9UJCxXiwvN48TKFA3uRRMkGJDGU0IfwVoy_7Z1jMvNYGB1zWx7zGVL-VqUu744hT0FFQoYa0L7hnm2TwUTOe-wpNVR0bcWyWKGgSVx5vDnykCfC/s320/Wrath+of+Seas+Ivan+Aivazovsky.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Wrath of the Seas</i><span face="" style="font-size: x-small;"> by Ivan Aivazovsky 1886</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><font face=""><br /></font><span face="">Wow! Looks like you incurred the wrath of the seas. And no life jacket?</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">You were lucky to make it to shore.</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvKzZNAmkCnQlcwA_cFHzElfTi_cOi8RDXUDSyCD-CQjQ2E19_ypPdjgPO7WVlQEH7l2pGhN0fgLHiqok1TR6vocnk22D0f-FQ11rVXUtRnGV7Owv2qzOl68IYtB08_mjdEoo0JcU6Khf5/s320/Mikey+portrait2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvKzZNAmkCnQlcwA_cFHzElfTi_cOi8RDXUDSyCD-CQjQ2E19_ypPdjgPO7WVlQEH7l2pGhN0fgLHiqok1TR6vocnk22D0f-FQ11rVXUtRnGV7Owv2qzOl68IYtB08_mjdEoo0JcU6Khf5//" /></a></div><span face=""><br /><br /></span><span face="">You went to a penguin wedding in Antarctica huh?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHNTUqSc7M8hfCt3bl481GwzKjtMQnFt1MRXf1SI2UWl3LxZPPjIewYi-U5q4mRIgZ2_on0FeaYtSd8MTCeYD3f25UetD-xPbEJd_aUIcotmD2GJetJBboYp4dlFIMYdfR4QE-9MpYQzu/s1600/2sweetformedear.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHNTUqSc7M8hfCt3bl481GwzKjtMQnFt1MRXf1SI2UWl3LxZPPjIewYi-U5q4mRIgZ2_on0FeaYtSd8MTCeYD3f25UetD-xPbEJd_aUIcotmD2GJetJBboYp4dlFIMYdfR4QE-9MpYQzu/s320/2sweetformedear.etsy.jpg" width="241" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/2sweetforyou">www.etsy.com/shop/2sweetforyou</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">A snow-cone cake? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Well, I hope there was a warm reception.</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Who is this you're showing me?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnbeuMHeALQW9ZAn7JGjgIdfrPpmZnNn0rNw4lWXbKK20WoGgXhnEiLNULhNhe13U7jtAeMRN06CiX9hkvH6P2Qkh183wcpmEa3Vr5fHsE8BNLuKJQUT61Kqw265jGLbKLe8mLJ1NfE0x/s1600/Lucy+Beaver.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnbeuMHeALQW9ZAn7JGjgIdfrPpmZnNn0rNw4lWXbKK20WoGgXhnEiLNULhNhe13U7jtAeMRN06CiX9hkvH6P2Qkh183wcpmEa3Vr5fHsE8BNLuKJQUT61Kqw265jGLbKLe8mLJ1NfE0x/s320/Lucy+Beaver.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/coyoterimstudio">www.etsy.com/shop/coyoterimstudio</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Lucy Beaver. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">On an icefloe bench in the Bering Strait. Yes, that really is unusual.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">You loved Lucy and gave her a seaglass bench necklace? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Very pretty. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUe3hoQKWLDTTp_AOVY5k7tubtMv2xRBKmoeEmbMzLnVCmQiiEQ7ViveGwRD6-PkiCV3tA0JQhyPPkPefb8x46SHddFwQYL_UaqClJRoWMlWMjhljrBh7syRenO5kPuEwIBMrTzBhUED_T/s1600/seabeachglassetsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUe3hoQKWLDTTp_AOVY5k7tubtMv2xRBKmoeEmbMzLnVCmQiiEQ7ViveGwRD6-PkiCV3tA0JQhyPPkPefb8x46SHddFwQYL_UaqClJRoWMlWMjhljrBh7syRenO5kPuEwIBMrTzBhUED_T/s200/seabeachglassetsy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/seabeachglass">www.etsy.com/shop/seabeachglass</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Seabeach Glass is in Toronto. Quite a few miles from the ocean then.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">But say, Little Sailor, you seem to have a girl in every port.</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPGqh4q1Ac6E9jZqB4KYPE6ev44lSLAmxh2WsTjE36wvK2IqLwEpFT58yrEid45wwdhHUa4WzYU-wZv52QsLmN2mjR61KBkQX_MjQTxBsiSf40Q3Y0-IvBQmp27MVwdPEFcKprjyRefI1/s831/Nautical%252C_but_nice%2521_USN-20_%2528NBY_428645%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="831" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPGqh4q1Ac6E9jZqB4KYPE6ev44lSLAmxh2WsTjE36wvK2IqLwEpFT58yrEid45wwdhHUa4WzYU-wZv52QsLmN2mjR61KBkQX_MjQTxBsiSf40Q3Y0-IvBQmp27MVwdPEFcKprjyRefI1/w400-h254/Nautical%252C_but_nice%2521_USN-20_%2528NBY_428645%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nautical but Nice</i> 1941 from Curt Teich archive<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">A mermaid at Piccadilly Circus? Well, that's something.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0IMZAYkLBZOm4dkTfz6moUW_FAGz5l-R9erO5Ex72am5EjdlHY359iu3qC06ZOPDlOV-XzESGaQYU-UoI3AS_OcZjRykckhjlVdCoJYr8-4aS5P9_fKAmSc8VzF2kS6z2f2BlJ4tjH3-E/s2304/mikey%2526mermaid.picadilly.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="1728" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0IMZAYkLBZOm4dkTfz6moUW_FAGz5l-R9erO5Ex72am5EjdlHY359iu3qC06ZOPDlOV-XzESGaQYU-UoI3AS_OcZjRykckhjlVdCoJYr8-4aS5P9_fKAmSc8VzF2kS6z2f2BlJ4tjH3-E/s320/mikey%2526mermaid.picadilly.JPG" /></a></div><font face=""><br /></font><br /></div><div><span face="">Have you ever been to the Sea of Japan? The reason I ask is that they have an extraordinary eel bench there. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQgllAUZ9_D0J_P845D4Cbl9-YQPy2xSt44GLTDSKJYTWxFG4co5oZP3ZgOLIWlUCf-ewgUsotwsv0ZR-I4YAJxl82m9sevO9cxcmzgCJe-3YvwUZMp9HiBFXLkKKyCFI37poe68QyDxQ/s1600/eelB.zoomingjapan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQgllAUZ9_D0J_P845D4Cbl9-YQPy2xSt44GLTDSKJYTWxFG4co5oZP3ZgOLIWlUCf-ewgUsotwsv0ZR-I4YAJxl82m9sevO9cxcmzgCJe-3YvwUZMp9HiBFXLkKKyCFI37poe68QyDxQ/s320/eelB.zoomingjapan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://zoomingjapan.com/">http://zoomingjapan.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">At Nakatsu Station, that's right. In Oita Prefecture. So you know it!</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I've recently found out that there is quite a surfing community in Japan. Which reminds me to show you some surfboard benches.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's one from the Gold Coast in Australia. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Q7BQbIxwnMCN_1MU_AL3bh6JSJ6Xt-Mx_tnsoq_JZ1ZJvEkevBNNVvBbjwvC06nYUE7bLeg23WL3nX-B1ubA7Y6cKfSFbqtDU_sG2sptFtZ958A6khzZxO4BxX8a1n_XayVX3uWizwon/s1600/www.tigerlim.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Q7BQbIxwnMCN_1MU_AL3bh6JSJ6Xt-Mx_tnsoq_JZ1ZJvEkevBNNVvBbjwvC06nYUE7bLeg23WL3nX-B1ubA7Y6cKfSFbqtDU_sG2sptFtZ958A6khzZxO4BxX8a1n_XayVX3uWizwon/s320/www.tigerlim.com.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.tigerlim.com/">http://www.tigerlim.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">And here we have the <i>creme de la creme</i> of surfboard benches, made by Joel Sokolov for a sea-themed room in California. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwWW0VcwzPT1guM7n1bYuNOAF0-85TTZIs23yjCR2uJzGpMvF1HeI-CMIDM-zWtEy5jkmPQIerTpJqjeDixtnsh20Sr-dnmeIWYQ7cZoRWunZYdbPM15s6-9eBaNFH-HEFayVeTPe6C7Ac/s1600/joel.sokolov.california.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwWW0VcwzPT1guM7n1bYuNOAF0-85TTZIs23yjCR2uJzGpMvF1HeI-CMIDM-zWtEy5jkmPQIerTpJqjeDixtnsh20Sr-dnmeIWYQ7cZoRWunZYdbPM15s6-9eBaNFH-HEFayVeTPe6C7Ac/s400/joel.sokolov.california.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.joelsokolov.com/">www.joelsokolov.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Just look at those lifeguard stations! </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face="">What, you've had enough benches?</font></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face=""><i>You must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky</i></font></div><div><font face=""><i>And all you ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,</i></font></div><div><font face=""><i>And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,</i></font></div><div><font face=""><i>And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.</i></font></div><div><br /><span face="">Well, I hope your sea voyages go well for you, Mikey. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Really? You'd like to settle down now and fall in love with a landlubber? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I guess a bachelor's life is no life for a single man. </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnoToYCXrKv1B6J7OIESG78JWQZnO0xz8UDDo1ED8IW6e-ZSX7S55S1OmszCQo43JI6E2ci9gzb_zavM7smz2x_ru52Dy64-PZOsnmOwWQlQwAyeIBKmWWTgfRPySvjinjArfkKR25Awo/s1884/100_8329.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="1884" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnoToYCXrKv1B6J7OIESG78JWQZnO0xz8UDDo1ED8IW6e-ZSX7S55S1OmszCQo43JI6E2ci9gzb_zavM7smz2x_ru52Dy64-PZOsnmOwWQlQwAyeIBKmWWTgfRPySvjinjArfkKR25Awo/s320/100_8329.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><font face=""><br /></font><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here then. I'll put you in touch with SeaBench Lovers.com They match up people who love the sea with people who love benches. You get the best of both worlds. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's a little poem for you, Mikey. It's by Christina Rosetti, written in 1893: </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="" style="color: #3d85c6;">What are heavy? sea-sand and sorrow:</span><br /><span face="" style="color: #3d85c6;">What are brief? to-day and to-morrow:</span><br /><span face="" style="color: #3d85c6;">What are frail? spring blossoms and youth:</span><br /><span face="" style="color: #3d85c6;">What are deep? the ocean and truth.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Please note the importance of <span style="color: #3d85c6;">truth</span> here, Mikey.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Good luck, Little Sailor! I hope you find true love on a bench by the sea.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKzMTIB9Tv7hR-ymj9sa8IaWkTOomOhV3cf0ajVwq-oUtkSc2REVDYRkm5UtQCwo3WQer5YDHuMKpBKyqSDoy_-RS-gh-GYMm2iO7X_Dz-LgFcQBTewaIHfmVkD9EED7_WUons1AJX4BI/s1600/kathleen.etsy.beachstonecouple.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKzMTIB9Tv7hR-ymj9sa8IaWkTOomOhV3cf0ajVwq-oUtkSc2REVDYRkm5UtQCwo3WQer5YDHuMKpBKyqSDoy_-RS-gh-GYMm2iO7X_Dz-LgFcQBTewaIHfmVkD9EED7_WUons1AJX4BI/s320/kathleen.etsy.beachstonecouple.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/naturalware">www.etsy.com/shop/naturalware</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""><b>Credits </b></span><br /><span face=""><b><br /></b></span><span face="">Mariner Mikey has proven to be a less-than-reliable narrator for this post. 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</span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><span face="">If you're keen on boat benches and/or mermaids, </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/boat-benches.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Mikey's back for International Maritime Day</a><span face=""> I made the mistake of giving him free reign on this so, as you might expect, there are whale tails and mermaids galore. </span><font face=""><br /></font><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">If you'd like to know what became of Mikey's quest for love, see what happened next at the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/three-weddings-and-some-benches.html">Three Scottish Weddings</a> in July 2013. Did it last? You can check up on Mikey again on <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hearty-heart-benches-for-valentines-day.html">Valentine's Day, 2014</a>. After that I just gave up. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I'm a keen sea swimmer and I have a very special swimming bench on The Plunge here on Paradise Island. You can read all about it at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-swimming-bench.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-swimming-bench.html</a></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">I like some classical art on Benchsite so there are three glorious sea paintings by Russian artist Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900.)</span><span face=""> Born in the Crimea at Feodosiya, Aivazovsky is one of Russia's foremost artists and painted more than 20,000 paintings, mainly of the sea. He paints seas so fearsome that no one with any sense would be without a <strike>brassiere</strike> life jacket. <i>Between Waves</i> was painted in 1898, one of his late works. It is now in the National Gallery at Feodosiya. </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Wrath of the Seas</i><span face=""> was painted in 1886 and <i>Shipwreck</i> in 1854.</span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face=""><i>Buccaneer</i>, sometimes called <i>Corsaire</i>, is by English portrait painter Albert Henry Collings (1868-1947). Collings was born in London and lived all his life there. This painting sold at auction in the United States in 2018. </font></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face="arial"><font>All the nice girls love a sailor is the chorus from <i>Ship Ahoy!</i>, a poem by AJ Mills. This was set to music by Bennett Scott and became a music-hall song. </font><br /></font><br /><span face="">Zimpenfish's beautiful London wave bench is near Bermondsey station in London. Zimpenfish has a huge assortment of surprising and fascinating photographs at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimpenfish">http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimpenfish</a> </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I travel to the Channel Islands regularly and I took this picture of the St Helier wave benches. They're right down on the Jardin de la Mer by the beach. St. Helier is a great bench town and with the help of Meredith, my feline editor, I documented them all. Well, most of them. See </span><span face=""><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">The Enchanted Seashell bench is from a blog which is the confessions of a tugboat captain's wife. He travels the world while she does all manner of things including writing this lively blog. The tugboat captain's wife would like to make it clear that although she loves seashells and rocks, she is most definitely not a mermaid. You can see her seashell encrusted creations at </span><a href="http://pinterest.com/enchantedcshels/seashell-encrusted-and-embellished-tables/"><span face="">http://pinterest.com/enchantedcshels/seashell-encrusted-and-embellished-tables/</span></a><br /><br /><span face="">The blue dolphin bench is by Shari Weinsheimer. It is on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/=%22http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=4488&picture=dolphin-bench%22%3EDolphin%20Bench%3C/a%3E%20by%20Shari%20Weinsheimer">http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=4488&picture=dolphin-bench">Dolphin Bench</a> by Shari Weinsheimer</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Recently I attended a wedding at 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 thing to find.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The picnic table (bwrdd) suggests a dolphin to me. It's in Plas y Wedd in Gwynedd in Wales and was photographed by Alan Fryer at <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/">http://www.geograph.org.uk</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Kate Robertson from Idaho Falls is the Queen of Creativity. She photographs all kinds of stuff wherever she goes on her creative pursuits. This included the whale bench which she saw at Cannon Beach, Oregon. Kate is a Kaizen-Muse creativity coach and she has loads of ideas on how to get your creative mojo working. She has various blogs; I first saw her at <a href="http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com/">http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The first whale tail bench is at Malibu in California. It was photographed by Trudy, aka Queen Cashmere, who is from Pfalz in Germany. Trudy's profile claims that '<i>Everyone is an artist</i>' and she quotes (convincingly) from Joseph Beuys in both German and English. Her photographs are featured in Flickr's Signifying the Whale group at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21045605@NO31">http://www.flickr.com/photos/21045605</a> If you like whales, check out this project. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The second whale tail bench is at Whitehaven in Cumbria; that's the Irish Sea, for anyone keeping tabs on our theme. It's by Ron Clark, also at Flickr. There are quite a few whale benches around the harbour in Whitehaven, which harks back to its past as a whaling port. Ron has an eye for All Things English and he has an amazing collection of pub signs in his photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronclark5239">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronclark5329</a> </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The pink whale tail thong comes from <a href="http://imgur.com/">http://imgur.com</a>. There are no contact details for this site; maybe that's just as well. In my defence, I can only say this image is included as a result of a rare moment of poor judgement; the Little Sailor seems to have been a bad influence. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The white whale tail bench is at the whale watching viewpoint in Hermanus on the Western Cape of South Africa. A lot of whale watching goes on there during the southern winter and spring. And a lot of photography. This picture is by Willem Nabuurs at Panoramio. <a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32216155">http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32216155</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The yellow <i>Step into the Blue</i> bench was photographed by Riaan Vosloo from Capetown, South Africa. He took the photograph while working on the Sun Princess. <i>"I had to take this photograph because the scene almost looked staged, with the bright yellow, wooden steps set against the blue ocean and sky."</i> The image is available as a photographic limited edition print at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/riaanvoslossartdesign">www.etsy.com/shop/riaanvoslossartdesign</a> </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">John William Waterhouse RA (6 April 1849 – 10 February 1917) was an English painter whose artworks were known for their depictions of women from both ancient Greek mythology and Arthurian legend. Waterhouse's painting </span><i style="color: #202124; font-family: roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Mermaid</i><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> may have been inspired by Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem 'The Mermaid' (1830). Tennyson's poem goes on to describe the mermaid seeking and finding love among the mermen but when the work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1901 the Art Journal noted her 'wistful-sad look' and the review remarked that '</span><i style="color: #202124; font-family: roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">it tells of the human longings never to be satisfied … The chill of the sea lies ever on her heart; the endless murmur of the waters is a poor substitute for the sound of human voices; never can this beautiful creature, troubled with emotion, experience on the one hand unawakened repose, on the other the joys of womanhood</i><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">'. </span><a href="https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-william-waterhouse/a-mermaid-1900">https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-william-waterhouse/a-mermaid-1900</a><font face=""><br /></font><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The pretty blue seahorse bench was photographed by Claire McDonough. Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Claire has a lot of seaside pictures on her photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegren">http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegren</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">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. Kat also photographed the kissing fish here. She has eclectic interests, shown in her wonderful photos at <a href="http://www.flick.com/people/43067379@NOO/">http://www.flick.com/people/43067379</a> </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The beautiful driftwood bench looking out to sea is on the California coast at Cambria. It was photographed by Caren Silvestri, a Southern California native, who loves landscapes and macro photos of nature subjects in the garden and at the beach. Oceans, mountains, deserts - as she says, in Southern California they have it all. Her shop is at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/carensilvestri" target="_blank">http://www.etsy.com/shop/carensilvestri</a><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Miss Mermaid now resides not in the ocean but in a gallery in Manteo, North Carolina. She is the creation of Carol Willett, who sculpts a wide variety of Creatures of Imagination from papier and cloth mâché. Carol's favorite subjects are sea creatures as well as those from legend and myth. Her menagerie can be seen at: <a href="http://www.creaturesofimagination.com/">www.creaturesofimagination.com</a> and she's back on Benchsite again in 2014 for <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/boat-benches.html">International Maritime Day</a>. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The delightful crocheted goldfish is by Amy Gaines in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Love the fish, love the bubbles. Amy became frustrated with the lack of good knit toy patterns available so she now designs her own amugurumi knit and crochet patterns. There are delightful animals of every kind, and various Little Knitted Creatures.</span><span face=""> Her shop is at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/amygaines" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/amygaines</a><br /><br /><span face="">Jeano Roberts is a surfer and an artist who loves shabby chic coastal styles. Maybe that's not surprising since she grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida. She works with wood, canvas, paint, seashells, feathers, twine - all kinds of materials for making coastal-style signs and upcycled old furniture. Her handpainted beach bench at the start of the Oceans post was created from an old wooden twin headboard and footboard. The seashells were painted from actual shells placed on the bench and recreated by hand painting them to get the best "fool the eye" effect. The seagulls were painted using a bird identification guide: </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">"I always try to make sure the shells and birds in my work look like the real thing." </i><span face="">Her blog is at </span><a href="http://jeanscoastalart.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://JeansCoastalArt.com</a><span face=""> and she also has a shop at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jeanosart" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/jeanosart</a><br /><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The Strawberry Hill shell bench is at Strawberry Hill House, a gothic revival villa in Twickenham near London. The house was built by Horace Walpole in 1749 and included extensive gardens reflecting Walpole's eccentricities. The bench faced the Thames and was carved to resemble a Rococo-style seashell. The house was restored in 2010 and a drawing of the original shell bench survived so it has been recreated as part of the garden revival. You can read all about it at</span><span face=""> <a href="http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/">http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">The white shell bench on the patio is from Urbis Design in the UK. It's made from white and grey glass-reinforced concrete, one of the many materials used by designers at Urbis to create a contemporary look to furniture, plant containers, and modular garden systems. <a href="http://www.urbisdesign.co.uk/shell_bench.html">http://www.urbisdesign.co.uk/shell_bench.html</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Perla Ponce is the owner of Wholesale World Pottery at Chula Vista in California. That's right down there on the Mexican border near San Diego. Not surprisingly, she sells colourful Mexican pots, large pot containers, metal animal sculptures, and forged iron furniture like the delightful seashell bench. <a href="http://www.wholesaleworldpottery.com/">www.wholesaleworldpottery.com</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Alibythesea is Alison Sargeant in Delray Beach, Florida. So you see, she really is bythesea. Ali collects beads, shells, rocks and lots of other stuff, such as scary people in an attic. She takes lovely photographs, such as the sea-battered bench and shutters in Savannah, Georgia. She also has a Sorrento mermaid in her shop and I'm pretty sure Mariner Mikey will know her. Ali's shop is at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/alibythesea">www.etsy.com/shop/alibythesea</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">The lovely tropical palm tree bench is from Joseph Adams II, who </span><span face="">is a graduate of University of South Carolina Beaufort and is currently studying for a Masters in Fine Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design. He specialises in metal work - iron, steel, stainless steel, aluminium, copper, etc. and makes a wide variety of furniture and other things from metal. </span><span face=""><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/josephadamsdesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/josephadamsdesigns</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">The Lifeguard station in the Virgin Islands is one of the favourite places of Shari Anne, who photographed it. Shari Anne lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. Her artwork fuses together her two equal passions - world exploration and fine art. Her photographs and paintings are from her travels and</span><span face=""> the list of places she has visited makes The Little Sailor look like a local boy.</span><span face=""> Her shop is at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbysharianne">www.etsy.com/shop/artbysharianne</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The Seat Slug bench was designed by Studio Rael San Fratello in Oakland, California. Inspired by the discovery of the flabellina goddardi sea slug in California in 2010, it is constructed of 230 unique rapid-manufactured (and very strong) building components developed by Ronald Rael Fratello through his research at the University of California Berkeley. Using digital software modelling and cement-based polymer components, the Seat Slug is a new synthesis of design and production. Here's how it looks up close. For more details of the process see <a href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/">www.rael-sanfratello.com</a></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-Dse_rgxlwbcUzJi8aiBHUg5ep1l15wkbCKkkj1EpdgRerL9ztTURnJUUH_Sw34yuE3tD-RooDY8GyO93y6Uw84JtpJSjVDT-npSx6GIKmjc503BUVQfmMd59E4gECDNQFpZPc9nF7_e/s1600/slug3_rendering.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-Dse_rgxlwbcUzJi8aiBHUg5ep1l15wkbCKkkj1EpdgRerL9ztTURnJUUH_Sw34yuE3tD-RooDY8GyO93y6Uw84JtpJSjVDT-npSx6GIKmjc503BUVQfmMd59E4gECDNQFpZPc9nF7_e/s200/slug3_rendering.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/">www.rael-sanfratello.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I honestly didn't find any good shark benches, apart from the San Jose Sharks hockey team. This was not really in keeping with our Oceans theme so I chose the toilet with sharks from Kerri, who lives in Idaho, a place not known for its shark-infested waters. But these vinyl decals of sharks can bring the ocean into any bathroom where sharks are wanted. Kerri does a huge range of clever custom vinyl decals and other home decor items at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/kreativecorner">www.etsy.com/shop/kreativecorner</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">Have you hugged your shark today? is a photograph from Eye of the Jen at Flick. Jen's daughter was hugging a shark at the aquarium apparently. Not the real thing. Jen's photostream is at <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.flickr.com/photos/91562291">http:/www.flickr.com/photos/91562291</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The Girl with Big Glasses is a delightful painting by Robert Dix at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bobdix" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/bobdix</a><span face=""> His inspiration begins from a nightmare, a memory, or an odd 'Bobservation'. Monsters, hotrods, cartoons, , comic books, surreal killers, horror movies, old advertisments, low brow and traditional artists, sealife ...anything can inspire his ideas. </span><br /><br /><span face="">A girl on a bench with an octopus and a book: I felt so lucky to find this. It's by Joseph Hasenauer at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/8fingerstudio">www.etsy.com/shop/8fingerstudio</a> After graduating with a degree in visual communications and illustration, Joseph worked as an illustrator, a graphic designer, and a film maker. Fifteen years after packing away his paint brushes, Joseph has jumped headlong back into traditional art: paint, ink, photography, oils, pencil. There are lots of fantastic eight-fingered creatures featured in his work, some of whom are on benches.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The driftwood bench on the beach is by Martyn Cook from Benchy Benches in Dorset. He makes original handcrafted driftwood furniture, including benches, from the wood he finds on the beautiful Jurassic coast. The bench pictured costs £250 and is finished with Danish oil for either indoor or outdoor use. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/benchybenches">www.etsy.com/shop/benchybenches</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">The splendid fish bench was outside the Bass Pro Shop at the Gulf Coast Town Center mall in Ft Myers, Florida back in 2011.Terence Faircloth photographed it. Terence has a massive photostream with albums from all over the world, plus architectural abstracts, machinery, art, signs, family events, and lots of other surprises. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/atelier_tee/5838668875/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/atelier_tee/5838668875/</a> </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The pretty stained glass fish bench is from <a href="http://www.stainedglass4u.com/">http://www.StainedGlass4u.com</a> in Boise. It's by PJ McDonald, who has been a Stained Glass Artisan for over 30 years. She has work in</span><span face=""> Las Vegas hotels like</span><span face=""> the Mandalay Bay, the Marriott, and the Gold Coast. She also does stained glass for churches, and custom designs and commissions. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">On a sunny day in February 2017 we went to Brighton, where there was a brilliant exhibition of photographs on the beach. One of the photos which caught my eye was by Steven Boyle. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Matthew E. Cohen is Mistergoleta. Goleta is a town near Santa Barbara, California. I happen to know that because I went to a university not a million miles from there. Matthew photographs architecture, scenic and urban landscapes, neon signs, murals, sculptures, and benches that he sees on his travels. He didn't have to travel far to see the tiled sea bench as it's in Santa Barbara. His photostream is at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mister_goleta" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/people/mister_goleta</a></div><div><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The penguins are wedding cake toppers for Michelle and Tom or, in the case of the Antarctic wedding, possibly it's the penguins who are Michelle and Tom. They come from an etsy shop selling wedding cake toppers, ornaments and jewelry with the delightful name of <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/2sweetformedear">www.etsy.com/shop/2sweetformedear</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Lucy Beaver is a fibre art sculpture by Kelly Riley in Bend, Oregon. Kelly does a wide range of wool watercolours, handfelted scarves, felted tapestries, sculptures and needle felting kits. Lucy and others are for sale at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/coyoterimstudio">www.etsy.com/shop/coyoterimstudio</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I don't know if we can trust Mariner Mikey to tell us the truth about his relationships. Did he give a lovely necklace to Lucy Beaver? I'd like one myself. The pretty mint green seaglass necklace shown in the story is from Tati D. at Sea Beach Glass in Toronto, which is on Lake Ontario. The shop at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SeaBeachGlass" target="_blank">http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeaBeachGlass</a> has </span><span face="">Sea Beach Glass Pendants, chains, charms, and jewelry of all kinds. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">My seashell throne was a gift from Lord Brassica, who helped me find all the best <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/lord-brassicas-right-royal-thrones.html">throne benches</a> around the world. I saw the seashell throne in Seaview, Isle of Wight, which is, um, by the sea and has a sea view. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Seana knows a thing or two about fresh air and family fun in Sydney. Her website is a comprehensive look at fun stuff to do in Sydney and beyond. Best playgrounds, best beaches, best famiy-friendly cafes - she's got it all. She has also found the best playground benches. The lovely oar bench is at the gorgeous Shelly Beach Playground near Cronulla; Seana and her kids agree that this is the bestest bench ever. <a href="http://www.seanasmith.com/sydneys-best-playground-bench/">http://www.seanasmith.com/sydneys-best-playground-bench/</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The All Saints mermaid is a bench end in the 15th century All Saints church in Upper Sheringham in Norfolk. She was photographed by John Salmon at <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/">http://www.geograph.org.uk</a> Apparently the little mermaid was swimming in the sea off Sheringham when she decided to visit the church. Without legs, it was a difficult journey from the sea to the church but she arrived, exhausted, at the North Door of the church. A service was going on and when she pushed open the door and peered in, she was told that mermaids were not allowed in the church and the door was slammed in her face. Eventually she got back into the church and sat on the outside edge of the pew nearest the door; she's there to this day. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The ferry bench was on the deck of our Brittany ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, France in October 2016. The safety brassieres, aka lifejackets, were on the same deck, nicely stored inside the benches. </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><i style="font-family: verdana;">Nautical but Nice</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> (1941) is an English postcard from Curt Teich & Co.'s archive. It was donated for use under a Creative Commons license and is available on wikimedia. </span><br style="font-family: verdana;" /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The eel bench is from Jasmine Blossom, who is a blogger, photographer and teacher in Japan. She speaks Japanese and blogs (very interestingly) about life in Japan at <a href="http://.zoomingjapan.com/">http://.zoomingjapan.com</a> The Nakatsu City eel bench is the longest eel bench in Japan. Then again, I'm not sure how many eel benches there are in Japan. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The surfboard bench is on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. It was photographed by Tiger Lim, who calls himself The Number 1 Broken-English Blogger. (I'm glad that hyphen is there, otherwise we'd have to assume he's English, and broken). He gets around, does Tiger Lim. Follow his travels at <a href="http://www.tigerlim.com/">www.tigerlim.com</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The <i>creme de la creme</i> surfboard bench with lifeguard station cushions is by Joel Sokolov in California. Joel designed the bench in 2012 for his friend's themed room (I'm guessing that the theme was Oceans). The bench is made from three surfboards: that's the bench, and two that are cut in half to make the back of the bench, within a wooden structure. He padded the surfboards and made covers for them.The fabrics were all designed by him and digitally printed; he digitally altered photos of California lifeguard stations to include their names. Terrific! </span><span face="">Joel's website is at </span><a href="http://www.joelsokolov.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.joelsokolov.com</a></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""></span><font face="verdana">The well known lines of the poem at the end of the story are from Sea-Fever, by John Masefield. </font><br /><br /><span face="">The pretty stone couple on a bench are from Kathleen in Philadelphia. Kathleen makes one-of-a-kind natural beach stone art, such as this framed couple who are</span> <span face="">wave-tumbled beach stones she gathered along the shores of Lake Erie (not the ocean then). The natural, unpolished stones are arranged and securely mounted in a frame. She's got beach stone families, buttons, hearts, jewelry, wedding couples - you'd be amazed what she can do with beach stones. Her shop is at</span> <span face=""><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/naturalware">www.etsy.com/shop/naturalware</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">For statistical purposes I did a quick tally of this post to see how many Oceans are represented here. We've got both sides of the Atlantic, the South Atlantic, both sides of the Pacific, the Caribbean, the North Sea, the Irish Sea, the Mediterranean, the Sea of Japan, the Bering Strait, the English Channel, Cardigan Bay, and the Bay of Biscay. OK, fair enough, those last three are probably counted as the Atlantic. And we've not done badly for other bodies of water either. We've got Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, the River Thames, the Snake River, and a pond in Somerset. Oh, and The Plunge, here on my very own Paradise Island. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">To commemorate World Oceans Day, Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, commissioned a Penguin Bench and donated it to the community. All of us from Fribble-under-Par turned out for the launch. Here's the new bench, christened by April and her Parallel Selves, May and June. Mariner Mikey was Master of Ceremonies, of course. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTc6emZx2Ftmh8R3S3UIsz_ka-yN8NBNfrvpqLinaHb_T7KAEdB355xPkPsmakbyEqRz4jro9WvFBXWzYEgEWH1hTs9IFRqAqxVQsJKdvzhBWFtO2LfKPf9-KJdCWbUqKyeD9jpb2yJ__e/s1600/penguinB.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTc6emZx2Ftmh8R3S3UIsz_ka-yN8NBNfrvpqLinaHb_T7KAEdB355xPkPsmakbyEqRz4jro9WvFBXWzYEgEWH1hTs9IFRqAqxVQsJKdvzhBWFtO2LfKPf9-KJdCWbUqKyeD9jpb2yJ__e/s320/penguinB.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-69234274667002534572023-04-17T07:22:00.000-07:002023-04-17T07:23:20.312-07:00In Praise of Nurse Benches<p> Nurses work very hard and sometimes they need a bench for some off-duty rest. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzwgUdysu6f9sruMwtsKFree3JrV8GLisiSnt5khZL5DtSmHt_y5034elSRchuhY2b4Jkisnsu-DprRXv-D_Xi84vyK3b09wR_vw5CyW9-25KWhrLiTpVsvjxuLSGapvbpERccqXsU-iw/s512/FB_IMG_1596466512047+resting+duty.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="512" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzwgUdysu6f9sruMwtsKFree3JrV8GLisiSnt5khZL5DtSmHt_y5034elSRchuhY2b4Jkisnsu-DprRXv-D_Xi84vyK3b09wR_vw5CyW9-25KWhrLiTpVsvjxuLSGapvbpERccqXsU-iw/w400-h314/FB_IMG_1596466512047+resting+duty.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rest After Duty</i> 1956, Lev Kotlyarov</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>It's International Nurses Day on May 12th.</p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFX9YPOwJoRi5l9pxUEo-TgniTKcuNmS2BeMICiVBJhZ_qCnbSqfGv-fC8_OngKwTlqUO4sXKKvRk4P9KlslPp8CRkquAbKz8Q5Q4vljawCXWjgZiMIGI1doRDfUI_mL7vPT7iDaL-7elx/s1600/Gabriel_Nicolet_-_Portrait_of_a_Nurse_from_the_Red_Cross.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFX9YPOwJoRi5l9pxUEo-TgniTKcuNmS2BeMICiVBJhZ_qCnbSqfGv-fC8_OngKwTlqUO4sXKKvRk4P9KlslPp8CRkquAbKz8Q5Q4vljawCXWjgZiMIGI1doRDfUI_mL7vPT7iDaL-7elx/s320/Gabriel_Nicolet_-_Portrait_of_a_Nurse_from_the_Red_Cross.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Good Samaritan 1914, Gabriel Emile Edourd Nicolet</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes, it's the anniversary of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, she of The Lamp.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSSbZMdoiBa-yhP9QRXSNIW69VtwhEmcduInvYRKVZ2nEej9pzO2Wt6SK6wfF2vV_s1oIcVLPrLg6Kq814bU7vQQD4u1e2iFOAcn3Ivqks9j10hrbaGqpXxEhAHFeywWcrzeFql3uOWN4/s1600/florenceNdebbieritter%252Cetsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSSbZMdoiBa-yhP9QRXSNIW69VtwhEmcduInvYRKVZ2nEej9pzO2Wt6SK6wfF2vV_s1oIcVLPrLg6Kq814bU7vQQD4u1e2iFOAcn3Ivqks9j10hrbaGqpXxEhAHFeywWcrzeFql3uOWN4/s320/florenceNdebbieritter%252Cetsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.uneekdolldesigns.etsy.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.uneekdolldesigns.etsy.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And here in the UK nurses are much in the news these days. But strike or no strike, it's time to celebrate the unique skills of nurses and, of course, nurse benches.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnWOxzjKyUq77KT_m_y454JkOgV_I7T3h3_CZG1czLKHUGLYO2TfTW5HYY91stYXMN2UAvT-bYYUIhl-mWlFhs8j06v8PxRUeN8szJPjRTih_6E98DQHsIMRQ2nRASkyVdF_668wULeDA/s1600/pasukaru76.323.365.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnWOxzjKyUq77KT_m_y454JkOgV_I7T3h3_CZG1czLKHUGLYO2TfTW5HYY91stYXMN2UAvT-bYYUIhl-mWlFhs8j06v8PxRUeN8szJPjRTih_6E98DQHsIMRQ2nRASkyVdF_668wULeDA/s400/pasukaru76.323.365.fkcc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5967748825/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5967748825/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">As it happens, we're a bit short of nurses here in the UK. It's going to be a push to get new five thousand nurses by next month.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo__i_J9qMH6i7v9nNkzKRIlUbcoR68RfoDTFO6pdJSRu61oOyof157Qd0CQaBNM_f9oC6yDIbZtn_76eDNoOQLGsYSP1h2MB3Bq_5e0RAqFeLbLayJ9p09heRiFjL9pRGoHHxJ4Uq2yF0/s1600/nationallibraryofmedicine.nlmhmd.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo__i_J9qMH6i7v9nNkzKRIlUbcoR68RfoDTFO6pdJSRu61oOyof157Qd0CQaBNM_f9oC6yDIbZtn_76eDNoOQLGsYSP1h2MB3Bq_5e0RAqFeLbLayJ9p09heRiFjL9pRGoHHxJ4Uq2yF0/s320/nationallibraryofmedicine.nlmhmd.fkcc.jpg" width="222" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlmhmd/4647690041/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlmhmd/4647690041/</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><div>There's all that training to go through.</div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRG0APsANmwi0J8cYjb-MTdu1nwdt3dWv1C_UxtiFB-WZWC49-HLt_1zF3vWi4WPnxLFOcIF5AyX5MGmQ4asnTgfj_oz0AxRmkLWUfqsN56cvtUNsMqe-ge7cA4pTKUP3NVcDP-X4kP1H/s1600/579px-Schoolgirl_Into_Nurse-_Medical_Training_in_Britain%252C_1942_D8602.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRG0APsANmwi0J8cYjb-MTdu1nwdt3dWv1C_UxtiFB-WZWC49-HLt_1zF3vWi4WPnxLFOcIF5AyX5MGmQ4asnTgfj_oz0AxRmkLWUfqsN56cvtUNsMqe-ge7cA4pTKUP3NVcDP-X4kP1H/s320/579px-Schoolgirl_Into_Nurse-_Medical_Training_in_Britain%252C_1942_D8602.jpg" width="309" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schoolgirl_Into_Nurse-_Medical_Training_in_Britain,_1942_D8602.jpg" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schoolgirl_Into_Nurse</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Nursing isn't just about love and bandages you know.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgIPX5AZQBmb00OpcRvDxhd9MrYj9C9YrUAycir27fdl9nWX6KeTwONwd6UY26QmiHtz-KLJ9LPzH0VJmhgwnZJJ-toGAcA2lcCyOIX8ONQ9KGiG73doHWWK2fpLMGC_og_I5tVhOrD360/s1600/heart_bandaid.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgIPX5AZQBmb00OpcRvDxhd9MrYj9C9YrUAycir27fdl9nWX6KeTwONwd6UY26QmiHtz-KLJ9LPzH0VJmhgwnZJJ-toGAcA2lcCyOIX8ONQ9KGiG73doHWWK2fpLMGC_og_I5tVhOrD360/s1600/heart_bandaid.png" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If you want to be a nurse you have to understand anatomy and physiology, of course.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH8Il0Fngb1dbL-rAl3esIOJA1H-FvAk1nNXKUr1OFq4pCH7jwOK02tLUffQnlr_-3NVBEr5IE1Yh4CTp4T3pN9uzg4OTZ9zjIhdX86pP6lXTkAOh0-1B4oSD8-m-VX8Nio8PrE65iYTvu/s1600/Travis.baggis.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH8Il0Fngb1dbL-rAl3esIOJA1H-FvAk1nNXKUr1OFq4pCH7jwOK02tLUffQnlr_-3NVBEr5IE1Yh4CTp4T3pN9uzg4OTZ9zjIhdX86pP6lXTkAOh0-1B4oSD8-m-VX8Nio8PrE65iYTvu/s320/Travis.baggis.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/baggis/4329993236/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/baggis/4329993236/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You have to do chemistry.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5S4eMLSzIuesDrPCtdx4AbXDfEZDfwpAj3F2HIkYfg98jA6Qdmt1LkSA3IG2gmoPQ2RgVnCRT8V1wC7jIPoIdLL4BOI3abZP1Y_9y7nmyNg_ylpVbI8jYuzM0oIqlIOTduEjnp8r6eAS/s1600/larrywfu.fkcc.2027115602_954f3321de_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5S4eMLSzIuesDrPCtdx4AbXDfEZDfwpAj3F2HIkYfg98jA6Qdmt1LkSA3IG2gmoPQ2RgVnCRT8V1wC7jIPoIdLL4BOI3abZP1Y_9y7nmyNg_ylpVbI8jYuzM0oIqlIOTduEjnp8r6eAS/s320/larrywfu.fkcc.2027115602_954f3321de_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrywfu/2027115602" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrywfu/2027115602</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You have to prepare and deliver medicines, wearing a uniform that looks like a frightful waitress or a badly dressed French maid. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_Z8b9juzEvRvlgFcpbDcjp1LbY3mcAFVmhu0zM1XeMKusmzkWLxf1ZHdXrziLYsZjkq1uAWwfAuDra3c3fdkqyEd7SobMacTWZjoyDz09zpCKWfr2WPfiyup86tAE8mswf15GjO3B84M/s1600/Nurse_uniform_in_1900.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_Z8b9juzEvRvlgFcpbDcjp1LbY3mcAFVmhu0zM1XeMKusmzkWLxf1ZHdXrziLYsZjkq1uAWwfAuDra3c3fdkqyEd7SobMacTWZjoyDz09zpCKWfr2WPfiyup86tAE8mswf15GjO3B84M/s320/Nurse_uniform_in_1900.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Nurse_costumes?uselang=en-gb#/media/File:Nurse_uniform_in_1900.jpg" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Nurse_costumes</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You have to stay awake through long boring night shifts.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCI8YwjCdxs9HHIAZdg6g98OXn65eU_do7WAnKrzNP3Z8IPA6YfdNQELe5nHlxCY8hMhkJO0LnpagY6hwFLzv4eamZHGa0Ep-Lvk1m_wKOk0ZwhMi3KDu0U0gCxOpEubDFrsQYfiUyGEC0/s1600/night+nurses.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCI8YwjCdxs9HHIAZdg6g98OXn65eU_do7WAnKrzNP3Z8IPA6YfdNQELe5nHlxCY8hMhkJO0LnpagY6hwFLzv4eamZHGa0Ep-Lvk1m_wKOk0ZwhMi3KDu0U0gCxOpEubDFrsQYfiUyGEC0/s320/night+nurses.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You have to know how to bake medically-themed cakes that you can bring in to share at breaktime.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO89Sq-gzmhTya7V-IKq6AWF-77t03cLOCHzbGfGOWPySGxjhtZccgzXSyZMSwCbpWGH-bRZoj0_HUmePXn5D7K-JVt59asHeOeYI6NVBaXFkCoaXz1dW7R3G9UaLyLrILYfM5PMAPDEm_/s1600/cutiecakes.mindy.nortz.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO89Sq-gzmhTya7V-IKq6AWF-77t03cLOCHzbGfGOWPySGxjhtZccgzXSyZMSwCbpWGH-bRZoj0_HUmePXn5D7K-JVt59asHeOeYI6NVBaXFkCoaXz1dW7R3G9UaLyLrILYfM5PMAPDEm_/s320/cutiecakes.mindy.nortz.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cutiecakes/7330613276/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/cutiecakes/7330613276/</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You will learn how to make beds so that corners are tucked in and the sheet is taut enough to bounce a coin. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndgFkengjpj14XbwRVwO1k1YRVKFSY5ZV13q0Hx5Fxzs24u8hCUH-Y_9VDJINO08Dzt76VxOV7Qh7E-M5LxOR8c2wMJyMjp7RWfZ0A5cdzcug1CV18dQXyqeQO5wKXHsnvdi5KzAYyrhr/s1600/14579944807_e025b33c48_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndgFkengjpj14XbwRVwO1k1YRVKFSY5ZV13q0Hx5Fxzs24u8hCUH-Y_9VDJINO08Dzt76VxOV7Qh7E-M5LxOR8c2wMJyMjp7RWfZ0A5cdzcug1CV18dQXyqeQO5wKXHsnvdi5KzAYyrhr/s400/14579944807_e025b33c48_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14579944807/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14579944807/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Once you have made the bed you have to have a good bedside manner. And good spelling and punctuation in case you need to write letters or register complaints. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOkPqtmUGSlCaCil4GvYMDau13yoZLgw_rEP1dwyc3oacv9giBQjcZ-e_HMJAZosCW0i5FbtE3eU3VgPsiW70JPpbHiWuXK7l5JASaZRuMheOH1no1cKcaSPgPiPn9K7Yj8CFm7S0rrYK/s1600/nursegutenberg.org.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOkPqtmUGSlCaCil4GvYMDau13yoZLgw_rEP1dwyc3oacv9giBQjcZ-e_HMJAZosCW0i5FbtE3eU3VgPsiW70JPpbHiWuXK7l5JASaZRuMheOH1no1cKcaSPgPiPn9K7Yj8CFm7S0rrYK/s320/nursegutenberg.org.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.projectgutenberg.org/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.ProjectGutenberg.org</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And you can't escape numbers; you will need to monitor patient progress by reading complicated graphs and tables. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgECGKnkuTpHNsnlcm80IPdZqT0CfzxzviPGeM0RyoEkl0_xOuYMAeak37wYHBvuh_rBe41QScfjq6l0JuXfh5oU6sk2jsfD2dqlc8oJRHj84d4me_Hb0xLgqeswUi1V9PUhpm9j1WocGAh/s1600/AG00114_.GIF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgECGKnkuTpHNsnlcm80IPdZqT0CfzxzviPGeM0RyoEkl0_xOuYMAeak37wYHBvuh_rBe41QScfjq6l0JuXfh5oU6sk2jsfD2dqlc8oJRHj84d4me_Hb0xLgqeswUi1V9PUhpm9j1WocGAh/s1600/AG00114_.GIF" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Above all, you need to be kind and patient in all circumstances. You have to deal with sick people, colleagues, and patients' friends and relatives. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You can't afford to get ratty.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEits9ZsnF-5EQRUjrYcnIeAoTAjeJ_ngFIs3gIxQ8TB5yD-PBmdB2UPCs_Oxre8KxLn2vQIu3GuVeca4dBR0iyepdlBwtkuH1bW75BL3h5Z7D0Qje0gRg8dc0vuYMvHF87JE59vWaCWmdjQ/s1600/ratty+nurse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEits9ZsnF-5EQRUjrYcnIeAoTAjeJ_ngFIs3gIxQ8TB5yD-PBmdB2UPCs_Oxre8KxLn2vQIu3GuVeca4dBR0iyepdlBwtkuH1bW75BL3h5Z7D0Qje0gRg8dc0vuYMvHF87JE59vWaCWmdjQ/s400/ratty+nurse.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />You must be professional and smartly dressed at all times.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqaPno7R_SUlMoQ5WY95z8932sguBsdWS-zlj6jdkp516zOXm-iQlbXE14LnzqHuGT6BL3QLAIT4z5Y6vpEoGF6qbPkibsmG4LCnBNLp9SrdgWLZp_kXptqYuvBOq60Y4gQ_1BwgIeI_4b/s1600/chrismillett.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqaPno7R_SUlMoQ5WY95z8932sguBsdWS-zlj6jdkp516zOXm-iQlbXE14LnzqHuGT6BL3QLAIT4z5Y6vpEoGF6qbPkibsmG4LCnBNLp9SrdgWLZp_kXptqYuvBOq60Y4gQ_1BwgIeI_4b/s400/chrismillett.fkcc.jpg" width="155" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismillett12/8732093410/in/dateposted/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismillett12/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You will offer helpful information and advice. For example, you may need to motivate someone to lose weight. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5knlW3Z79QSJclOeAXqOzcA93P95B-djE9zzknkVky7ikwTFvRGCYk_JYNvBFiviB-9hCMrMmxLerrMKnlWiqUxw5dQCJxeEX2SKRde_ATDX3wHysxb-bg-U_9-AkKMuyyyQTbH-LI0Gi/s1600/untitled.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5knlW3Z79QSJclOeAXqOzcA93P95B-djE9zzknkVky7ikwTFvRGCYk_JYNvBFiviB-9hCMrMmxLerrMKnlWiqUxw5dQCJxeEX2SKRde_ATDX3wHysxb-bg-U_9-AkKMuyyyQTbH-LI0Gi/s320/untitled.png" width="237" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And you mustn't panic when your patient goes a funny colour.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNWf1pWVQa8fGnP6r78VAiWuhSa6X60zrDC_fuz1nYiP3TeN5OI1pPyFRd4BGNo9IOhIcP78q_gyzBNdbYILlmG-qT1KlT0bDXs737Uq7NPHxL0aXaOBjC6Rt1CKQNjYoFSODSUkaghmc/s1600/hagerstowncc.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNWf1pWVQa8fGnP6r78VAiWuhSa6X60zrDC_fuz1nYiP3TeN5OI1pPyFRd4BGNo9IOhIcP78q_gyzBNdbYILlmG-qT1KlT0bDXs737Uq7NPHxL0aXaOBjC6Rt1CKQNjYoFSODSUkaghmc/s400/hagerstowncc.fkcc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagerstowncc/8475676041/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagerstowncc/8475676041/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You have to think on your feet and remember huge amounts of information. Nursing mnemonics can help. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">For learning bones of the wrist try:</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Some Lovers Try Positions That They Can't Handle</span></div><br /><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">That's Scaphoid Lunare Triquetrum Pisiform Trapezium Trapezoid Capitate Hamate to you and me. </span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Quick! What are the muscles of the rotator cuff?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tarts in silk stockings </span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes. But what are the muscles?</span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sometimes you just have to pray that you get it right. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhb0sfFEHwAPL3cD6gZByJ8aVBAg-VTAKMk-sP-uhaDf0jI2c5phabLhjOPWKcqe1-8LlG6ZUN-l4Dum4-Tk3KpMqZ-ZC5nW04DTyFYHcHckB3Fi-Zmot9KfmwfOV64_jXNtMn_fBmD4T_/s1600/ratty+nurse+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhb0sfFEHwAPL3cD6gZByJ8aVBAg-VTAKMk-sP-uhaDf0jI2c5phabLhjOPWKcqe1-8LlG6ZUN-l4Dum4-Tk3KpMqZ-ZC5nW04DTyFYHcHckB3Fi-Zmot9KfmwfOV64_jXNtMn_fBmD4T_/s320/ratty+nurse+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">As a nurse you are not just a nightingale in a fancy hat.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyw2oQk9LE-_J6CgjVgZzAL4MVofE6Q827kvhy-F5DSDTS75Y_qWdAlrkkaZmEiw-a-sHgWzdE0IQ6s3hyphenhyphenEsHQSQ3wDPfKK15u4Fit2SRB1Otu40WvBOKQ4m5AGBU6rshfYyIjvnA46rOh/s1600/birdsinhats.estsy.il_570xN.782215431_pet2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyw2oQk9LE-_J6CgjVgZzAL4MVofE6Q827kvhy-F5DSDTS75Y_qWdAlrkkaZmEiw-a-sHgWzdE0IQ6s3hyphenhyphenEsHQSQ3wDPfKK15u4Fit2SRB1Otu40WvBOKQ4m5AGBU6rshfYyIjvnA46rOh/s320/birdsinhats.estsy.il_570xN.782215431_pet2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/birdsinhats" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/birdsinhats</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Whatever happens, you have to honour the Nightingale Pledge and do what you can to stop people dying. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKbD-OPn0k1tZWUoRo1gUCz8PCcsiEuhgODaR6v0WmmKbwOgM5dvAZjhzkODfi1dKxon-iAkHce6hg0QpEq_-L2XV5toquopWFomP6_VTcxzFaYbcqJWeTni_sfNPitby6E0fG8zvIFak/s1600/signfail.etsyil_570xN_358437933_i8uf.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKbD-OPn0k1tZWUoRo1gUCz8PCcsiEuhgODaR6v0WmmKbwOgM5dvAZjhzkODfi1dKxon-iAkHce6hg0QpEq_-L2XV5toquopWFomP6_VTcxzFaYbcqJWeTni_sfNPitby6E0fG8zvIFak/s400/signfail.etsyil_570xN_358437933_i8uf.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail</a> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here on Paradise Island we have St. Smiley's Hospital, a tiny cottage hospital where Innocent did her training. Innocent was very demure in those days.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdc3vJW9PJ0wItalxGcB2_zV4PYt-eYTc01Ze3DPnyeyIdflys27geK-P8H5oMNqopPMuznl_pXtEsePR0GUbtXJiOAQCExhHn6ihcIViDZE4LHUOlW3GTAzcBqtALOXTNx_wADL1WS_vT/s1600/Innocent.hsp+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdc3vJW9PJ0wItalxGcB2_zV4PYt-eYTc01Ze3DPnyeyIdflys27geK-P8H5oMNqopPMuznl_pXtEsePR0GUbtXJiOAQCExhHn6ihcIViDZE4LHUOlW3GTAzcBqtALOXTNx_wADL1WS_vT/s400/Innocent.hsp+%25282%2529.JPG" width="358" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/smiles-of-benches-not-for-world-smile.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/smiles-of-benches-not-for-world-smile.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">She sat quietly by the bedside and looked at herself in the mirror.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkse9zybUYzV3yzEbVYGP7p4JREZxIRqfXUhYNgQntEGFGwZG3AZsyJoUVqXO1245S1rfka5mwxNpnrtt_FNwnTPoD7cbuV1PxanZpWvTEc25HqpJiBcFwdvYam2AvEoHQgegn7IRuJfqT/s1600/nurse+5.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkse9zybUYzV3yzEbVYGP7p4JREZxIRqfXUhYNgQntEGFGwZG3AZsyJoUVqXO1245S1rfka5mwxNpnrtt_FNwnTPoD7cbuV1PxanZpWvTEc25HqpJiBcFwdvYam2AvEoHQgegn7IRuJfqT/s400/nurse+5.JPG" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/three-weddings-and-some-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/three-weddings-and-some-benches.html</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">She did a stint in Accident and Emergency. She was there the night Lord Brassica's horse Tonks came in with bad gas.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPI5_l0XEc8LnITBga7i0fB4BW2j1X3HnKelwb6CJGeZdpijifX2gJTL7cri_juNY0IqNTW0OyFJo_5ZDD8-vZu8YwAXk_oE1FKnkS-vBWFRrkp5WrVxXHObxfkLGqBzUSwSiP-r2XHAEH/s1600/tonks+in+hsp.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPI5_l0XEc8LnITBga7i0fB4BW2j1X3HnKelwb6CJGeZdpijifX2gJTL7cri_juNY0IqNTW0OyFJo_5ZDD8-vZu8YwAXk_oE1FKnkS-vBWFRrkp5WrVxXHObxfkLGqBzUSwSiP-r2XHAEH/s320/tonks+in+hsp.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">She was there when Cora Boran assaulted the Imodium bench.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgymIv9FoX06vhG2UvwB7d1HVM9GaxrZyPC2fqxf4jba3hx3Sh3l7PDLve95nXjqHiXy4WFxeaWglPAw6SGKzlMFre0qxKlpCvzpgFcD8ljAJkD67tBnPRtepnHvxtL6cYbux1OS1FSDA3n/s1600/cora+break+imod+B.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgymIv9FoX06vhG2UvwB7d1HVM9GaxrZyPC2fqxf4jba3hx3Sh3l7PDLve95nXjqHiXy4WFxeaWglPAw6SGKzlMFre0qxKlpCvzpgFcD8ljAJkD67tBnPRtepnHvxtL6cYbux1OS1FSDA3n/s400/cora+break+imod+B.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whos-who-in-fribble-under-par.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whos-who-in-fribble-under-par.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And she was there when Root Brassica was admitted for stupidity.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSEIPrfqnkkEXTQMBzxMPorDJkrRanTUPJyUKfCO04FiHc6SRosJ4GQKf8Feo61UCAqn0FagbQuZ5VtfahyphenhyphenkBNu06oCkJuxuyt3AH-5MpPetzCbDtSEKB8LUbY8WuubDwvZMbsvgESiTZ/s1600/root+in+hsp.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSEIPrfqnkkEXTQMBzxMPorDJkrRanTUPJyUKfCO04FiHc6SRosJ4GQKf8Feo61UCAqn0FagbQuZ5VtfahyphenhyphenkBNu06oCkJuxuyt3AH-5MpPetzCbDtSEKB8LUbY8WuubDwvZMbsvgESiTZ/s320/root+in+hsp.JPG" width="297" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">So grateful was Lord Brassica for her nursing care that he handed over a sizeable cheque to save St. Smiley's from the same fate as other UK cottage hospitals. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKIvOe53fOBC5UqWaafq46_W4c_sU-bsXLrtqUAMtn7fVkihs_mSInHKIO0HMoNnskbZVMFs8BuDNDyDwMZgrT9V7k8ETDC2zMq0cCo0uNsIY7raVP1QKm5m_t35gM0o02qx6BxfdqzGl/s1600/hspLordB%25C2%25A3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKIvOe53fOBC5UqWaafq46_W4c_sU-bsXLrtqUAMtn7fVkihs_mSInHKIO0HMoNnskbZVMFs8BuDNDyDwMZgrT9V7k8ETDC2zMq0cCo0uNsIY7raVP1QKm5m_t35gM0o02qx6BxfdqzGl/s320/hspLordB%25C2%25A3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">So that's how Innocent came to marry Root and become the sixth Lady Brassica of Drizzly. Nowadays, unlike many ex nurses, she lives a life of luxury in Drizzly Manor. Does she miss nursing? Sometimes. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">When long night shifts as Lady Brassica get her down, she self-medicates to get through it.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHTGid4pC0FvL65W9jVKvF_w2F6w6xp4_kA2PjvLnx0NQwqq3DN9SEcMuzzJ7vuJYYW1Hj6J1IY1pJdc9MUBc59DQilxMJLCBjs-WWMiE7nzI-EqcKsqQ5BNHUoRpY4cQcXf_7PVgGXJ4/s1600/night+shift.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHTGid4pC0FvL65W9jVKvF_w2F6w6xp4_kA2PjvLnx0NQwqq3DN9SEcMuzzJ7vuJYYW1Hj6J1IY1pJdc9MUBc59DQilxMJLCBjs-WWMiE7nzI-EqcKsqQ5BNHUoRpY4cQcXf_7PVgGXJ4/s320/night+shift.JPG" width="210" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Nursing requires skill and patience and emotional labour. It can be very stressful. In your training you need to learn how to save lives without taking your own.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You must always give 100% (though not when you're a blood donor yourself.) </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Of course there are perks. You get to work with dishy doctors.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHROoWilUZTnxGHlBaQVmrPt50yiTlhAqsVxhDYpnl104lzXWhIiV5kiIGT1hY2Y-5JvWIy_uvr4SmomnpxFeChrUwbyVRE3X8_WzOX48VZ-MwqaXiQJpBcr9hy9kjd5t2ShV5Im0NjCw/s1600/dogdrunnaturalinsp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHROoWilUZTnxGHlBaQVmrPt50yiTlhAqsVxhDYpnl104lzXWhIiV5kiIGT1hY2Y-5JvWIy_uvr4SmomnpxFeChrUwbyVRE3X8_WzOX48VZ-MwqaXiQJpBcr9hy9kjd5t2ShV5Im0NjCw/s320/dogdrunnaturalinsp.jpg" width="289" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://unaturaliinspiration.etsy.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">unaturaliinspiration.etsy.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Nice lab coat. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here is our own Dr. Skill here on Paradise Island. Who wouldn't want to ponder a medical question with him? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZQ_tm6qPm3UNHjus3kb7UYx_fayMFXJiGpfKdHhZLKA5Rum0gNV6URXRypv0O4T16cB7wKc73R5a5igbVV6q2QltH39263ku1yHcbzliUmKKkInGowYsboHmZn-df2VrSfiJ2kPsdWiI/s1600/dr+Skill.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZQ_tm6qPm3UNHjus3kb7UYx_fayMFXJiGpfKdHhZLKA5Rum0gNV6URXRypv0O4T16cB7wKc73R5a5igbVV6q2QltH39263ku1yHcbzliUmKKkInGowYsboHmZn-df2VrSfiJ2kPsdWiI/s320/dr+Skill.jpg" width="262" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><i>Dr. Skill</i> from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan 1678</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In matters of the heart it's wise to know your cardiology. As every nurse can tell you, the quickest way to a man's heart is through the sternum.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It can be very satisfying working with congenial colleagues.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.wenchesintrenches.co.uk/memorial-bench-finally-done/%C2%A0"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbjbEc6hOGtQdUDeh7s8KIqLWzf2q4bqNxD5i-uQZhSBOKG8wiZvtfOFQuG-D-En61cz1Syim0GBdILaIbxS1-olqOCwwVSeNGibr3G2JHEWQi9pNmrsQ4tweBVm-eZCmvmZL7-yP_apEq/s1600/wenchesfrance0615_104-215x300.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.wenchesintrenches.co.uk/memorial-bench-finally-done/%C2%A0">http://www.wenchesintrenches.co.uk/memorial-bench-finally-done/ </a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Most of them are decent people - ultrasound. </span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And of course, nursing requires professional skill and judgement. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjYES69RJkfZ5a6BROV2uLgFV_Vew3XzftlpZx-dTpCUP7RCd0FrlpsFGE37-7eLsfFz4v2v9jZohmdF_JufwSvHsNG-wJslZKjDo5mjbZAiy_VW0JyJ8hzCHeIid1YXBBirQGIrCeRNJi/s1600/The_Canadian_nurse_%25281955%2529_%252814591778139%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjYES69RJkfZ5a6BROV2uLgFV_Vew3XzftlpZx-dTpCUP7RCd0FrlpsFGE37-7eLsfFz4v2v9jZohmdF_JufwSvHsNG-wJslZKjDo5mjbZAiy_VW0JyJ8hzCHeIid1YXBBirQGIrCeRNJi/s320/The_Canadian_nurse_%25281955%2529_%252814591778139%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14591778139/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">As a nurse you are in a position of power.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsbMH7ake_lLkEjEddZqsBWYilo6RlKgG15EYM7bEbYHdx3_hPfxhw34Dv5MCkjnEwn5h7en1HXVg2DYQp2IzOLVUAcWDc_4Q87yr3kofxpdoTdVwMOlWEp-XGrYTbcHWyx_QB5lLZo2lK/s1600/4110300499_6f6f25d41f_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsbMH7ake_lLkEjEddZqsBWYilo6RlKgG15EYM7bEbYHdx3_hPfxhw34Dv5MCkjnEwn5h7en1HXVg2DYQp2IzOLVUAcWDc_4Q87yr3kofxpdoTdVwMOlWEp-XGrYTbcHWyx_QB5lLZo2lK/s400/4110300499_6f6f25d41f_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kricket/4110300499/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kricket/4110300499/ </a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />Nursing takes a very special person. For example, you might want to work with children. Here is a very nice little school nurse</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb303Usfjuv7wrSKbt23Cqjl1xdUaFguFg1SVFFMcmXAFWD7a3KNGuTpFOx1uU0VyV1WxwZIy4t_ro_mdNhP4OrZht3IjWHiyqK73lGLCY0ZvfDT-Dwa2A6RLCjmRLbP7cbqdRWAxI56x-/s1600/schoolnurselittlewoodetsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb303Usfjuv7wrSKbt23Cqjl1xdUaFguFg1SVFFMcmXAFWD7a3KNGuTpFOx1uU0VyV1WxwZIy4t_ro_mdNhP4OrZht3IjWHiyqK73lGLCY0ZvfDT-Dwa2A6RLCjmRLbP7cbqdRWAxI56x-/s320/schoolnurselittlewoodetsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.littlewoodpeople.etsy.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.littlewoodpeople.etsy.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">These children know her as The Nit Nurse. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuH3GnTE3_mBjCz_P6t560GlXUXdbd_DAQqhxvDHKvWQUMhAFpQzv2KLarkIAm94ZCYq-WWZ4m6cHF1Yehrk4s4ZtJMuNQpViiUQ5Vcr8A1FczEHKN8Z4CSZ2wvcqHEZjeqObuSTmEogV/s1600/570px-Diphtheria_Immunisation_Scheme%252C_London%252C_England%252C_1941_D3182.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuH3GnTE3_mBjCz_P6t560GlXUXdbd_DAQqhxvDHKvWQUMhAFpQzv2KLarkIAm94ZCYq-WWZ4m6cHF1Yehrk4s4ZtJMuNQpViiUQ5Vcr8A1FczEHKN8Z4CSZ2wvcqHEZjeqObuSTmEogV/s320/570px-Diphtheria_Immunisation_Scheme%252C_London%252C_England%252C_1941_D3182.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diphtheria_Immunisation_Scheme,_London,_England,_1941_D3182.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diphtheria_Immunisation_Scheme</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Once you get experience, you might want to be a nurse manager who uses your own practice to think up intelligent research questions.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjArYC022Rv4z5NoBnL-Ti7pDcjlJRpnEZVDizmAGQGqW4i2AYoDI7fnZMR4fsNR5OY2XJ0tXCeCkpgw2SvAJkaZtAjQHHZmOT0j0V1dpabk_07DYQqC-zfmVqegcClQ6gE8ujoQ7SuXEMF/s1600/fringepop.etsy.il_570xN.298478164.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjArYC022Rv4z5NoBnL-Ti7pDcjlJRpnEZVDizmAGQGqW4i2AYoDI7fnZMR4fsNR5OY2XJ0tXCeCkpgw2SvAJkaZtAjQHHZmOT0j0V1dpabk_07DYQqC-zfmVqegcClQ6gE8ujoQ7SuXEMF/s400/fringepop.etsy.il_570xN.298478164.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fringepop" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fringepop</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Or you might want to work in public health. Remember the Covid vaccination programme?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQmKJxJ7VUcd3yJtAdwg__R1ZC8_xnGizb01ch3amXQJ5NSMXODG1-a-zCROA5vo_iBiktIDN5uBh9psNWkj-hjeIp6560hIbi7sA0bdaGE_6W-uaPbaeZZXgxaGrUwXsAbSVOvWX4poZ/s1600/pasukaru76.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQmKJxJ7VUcd3yJtAdwg__R1ZC8_xnGizb01ch3amXQJ5NSMXODG1-a-zCROA5vo_iBiktIDN5uBh9psNWkj-hjeIp6560hIbi7sA0bdaGE_6W-uaPbaeZZXgxaGrUwXsAbSVOvWX4poZ/s400/pasukaru76.fkcc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/4642811593/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/4642811593/</a> </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes, when it comes to jabs, nurses call the shots.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_R3RlAtJ0I5pSOQ-q9gqTFwUpd1N0mYPKf74UIZ_1CyYXnlzxexR2tMG9mnfZdxBhIXq-PxodfYVI3twAafXyxYDG53ZxDHaqut7BhZzGdrafEhj20kFkEiJztiLFTFmAsgsFqwiQBHw/s1600/Lanasprintables.etsy.il_570xN_918068158_27pp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_R3RlAtJ0I5pSOQ-q9gqTFwUpd1N0mYPKf74UIZ_1CyYXnlzxexR2tMG9mnfZdxBhIXq-PxodfYVI3twAafXyxYDG53ZxDHaqut7BhZzGdrafEhj20kFkEiJztiLFTFmAsgsFqwiQBHw/s320/Lanasprintables.etsy.il_570xN_918068158_27pp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/267187837/nurses-call-the-shots-printable-quote?campaign_label=convo_notifications&utm_source=transactional&utm_campaign=convo_notifications_010170_10683759063_0_0&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&email_sent=1462150628&euid=VuKcd2fweG2OMxT95Ov252Izypl3&eaid=5183692006&x_eaid=ebf3bc3465&link_clicked=4" target="_blank">www.etsy.com/listing/267187837/nurses-call-the-shots-printable-quote?</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Wherever you work these days, medical places are very busy. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There could be a lot of people in the waiting room.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqiyJYJqmmMwEHODunU74QDL6gmoJ0edgBoDGNFxGQxXE8CDd0Wo7n1IEznCNBINAFI1ahaykWpFQdY-sI3vbLBoDlxuFp2vvmBmZGmtpKU-2YE1Y7RdIZXKPydkLuH_vzvCWAX3ekOzaS/s1600/internetarchiveimages.canada.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqiyJYJqmmMwEHODunU74QDL6gmoJ0edgBoDGNFxGQxXE8CDd0Wo7n1IEznCNBINAFI1ahaykWpFQdY-sI3vbLBoDlxuFp2vvmBmZGmtpKU-2YE1Y7RdIZXKPydkLuH_vzvCWAX3ekOzaS/s640/internetarchiveimages.canada.fkcc.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14768261941/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14768261941/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You will have to be firm at times, even when people have mental health issues. For example, if the man who thinks he's invisible turns up, you must tell him you can't see him today.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sometimes in medicine you have to be cruel to be kind. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8qvk6PqF39uSdK0IVVa2zypdL3I9UjyNuTOjRXHyrPd3ETnG8cmiHbFb3wkxrXSMsNuoKw0KutaUMjyG9Yy-tCbmQqGNlUxnwEXo_Wfv6buUiWq9Q_W1ic4plWdRtTldflD6Yn76fm1ju/s1600/fringepop.etsy.il_570xN_298343459.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8qvk6PqF39uSdK0IVVa2zypdL3I9UjyNuTOjRXHyrPd3ETnG8cmiHbFb3wkxrXSMsNuoKw0KutaUMjyG9Yy-tCbmQqGNlUxnwEXo_Wfv6buUiWq9Q_W1ic4plWdRtTldflD6Yn76fm1ju/s320/fringepop.etsy.il_570xN_298343459.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fringepop" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fringepop</a></span><br /><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's all very exhausting. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You may spend your lunch break trying to catch up on paperwork. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhas_lsuPF_N35j_KPIekHnCKfJw0L9Fw_DzwWMbHp3ljSRkIYwYYLgnpu2PMxmv5SAK_gcptPfTPfgykcJxe_tYWV_fAHNLgEIAzhtSbIiVrQZ60CNpGL5SBtA3pL9KdnhWUuwmLOmQ9/s1600/AG00281_.GIF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhas_lsuPF_N35j_KPIekHnCKfJw0L9Fw_DzwWMbHp3ljSRkIYwYYLgnpu2PMxmv5SAK_gcptPfTPfgykcJxe_tYWV_fAHNLgEIAzhtSbIiVrQZ60CNpGL5SBtA3pL9KdnhWUuwmLOmQ9/s1600/AG00281_.GIF" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If you're lucky, you might just have time to pop down to the hospital cafeteria for the special of the day.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgqmPIAalhMdZOq6qpi2aqrd8fsCQDJV7_T-RAwTr6DJt635O8tX6A2laLaFVQkFxDsNVoImMAt7zabemwRl7B2pML7JJZOPvyLMCqurWKVHz8NwT23s8W_LHDSGOQQiSesnCZM3QK1YL/s1600/signfail.etsy.il_570xN_416990689_p62k.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgqmPIAalhMdZOq6qpi2aqrd8fsCQDJV7_T-RAwTr6DJt635O8tX6A2laLaFVQkFxDsNVoImMAt7zabemwRl7B2pML7JJZOPvyLMCqurWKVHz8NwT23s8W_LHDSGOQQiSesnCZM3QK1YL/s320/signfail.etsy.il_570xN_416990689_p62k.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail </a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In reality, medical people rarely get a break. The last time nurses took a break was 1956. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8w6iTBTZRoOWRYM1wwKD82givSngXMOfxdE0wFket7fR-sK77CvsfjQ39FNIp0kBknEP2HdFrWa0F-teOPCs4olKpw1kMFMaPHOkjQVTcJmFF2btiYOfYkBlQYrO3mR0yCWP63utUew8H/s1600/navymedicine.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8w6iTBTZRoOWRYM1wwKD82givSngXMOfxdE0wFket7fR-sK77CvsfjQ39FNIp0kBknEP2HdFrWa0F-teOPCs4olKpw1kMFMaPHOkjQVTcJmFF2btiYOfYkBlQYrO3mR0yCWP63utUew8H/s320/navymedicine.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/navymedicine/8144753582/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/navymedicine/8144753582/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Or maybe even earlier than that.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhReT0V_Or5_x5kGDb_PyYDBJDHP0-D-02cCR6En8J8U79dIxZA1Qhjm3XrxeNGkhiiUG5OHFVDj01lELBAECJUF-3F8j8f3tnCSv5EhecPmE_mQF7-jUYaKaX03KrBJKThyphenhyphenjsrNlIiT-dA/s1600/dg_OB10467_D04620_Lg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="860" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhReT0V_Or5_x5kGDb_PyYDBJDHP0-D-02cCR6En8J8U79dIxZA1Qhjm3XrxeNGkhiiUG5OHFVDj01lELBAECJUF-3F8j8f3tnCSv5EhecPmE_mQF7-jUYaKaX03KrBJKThyphenhyphenjsrNlIiT-dA/s320/dg_OB10467_D04620_Lg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://digitalgallery.nlm.nih.gov/gallery/picturesofnursing/browse/item/162/a/">https://digitalgallery.nlm.nih.gov/gallery/picturesofnursing/browse/item/162/a/</a> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Nurses these days are rushed off their feet as patients become more and more demanding. Hoards of them clamour around the ward shouting for attention. (That's patients, not nurses.) </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3sHuuzz2xqflsNrf9ViYOsO5zwXCi2X_eUgjQPV7JzBp0RyVFGdItLxdyxeHeEUFYFBk01gc6_rkdDjivEEijg919SjctQOtxS_L2KdsBXCI1hr-zkQ-MiFp46ryphU6UBgVVnOD4KAGE/s1600/gutenberg%252C.orgnursepic045.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3sHuuzz2xqflsNrf9ViYOsO5zwXCi2X_eUgjQPV7JzBp0RyVFGdItLxdyxeHeEUFYFBk01gc6_rkdDjivEEijg919SjctQOtxS_L2KdsBXCI1hr-zkQ-MiFp46ryphU6UBgVVnOD4KAGE/s400/gutenberg%252C.orgnursepic045.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.projectgutenberg.org/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.ProjectGutenberg.org</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Gone are the days when a nurse had time to offer cigarettes and sympathy.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpJQimiuChhcqFCY4yvcKWd6TGtccd8zAOKgWW9KezhvDuKz79mHcHRyph9yeXr2W4JOK5Q_aYa0xWnRHHL89LlxA-HE0-JNeYv1sjO4LjuO179jyRg6AwCZTfQxUu4gqAOhOmWzRVIq8/s1600/RetroReveries.etsy.il_570xN_936448920_mvww.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpJQimiuChhcqFCY4yvcKWd6TGtccd8zAOKgWW9KezhvDuKz79mHcHRyph9yeXr2W4JOK5Q_aYa0xWnRHHL89LlxA-HE0-JNeYv1sjO4LjuO179jyRg6AwCZTfQxUu4gqAOhOmWzRVIq8/s400/RetroReveries.etsy.il_570xN_936448920_mvww.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RetroReveries" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RetroReveries</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">While she's lighting his cigarette, queues of people are forming outside.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU25ULehfMt5MBVr3fiDHEJ3PqeMKkIKncFtvsEZbF2cFXewjLk7OYq_n5E_boSW0eEC6xfdzGZLxWierM9RnX8Z5k9Waynvovgz0RYUAx-3S8Yz_-V23mEVTO0r9udPCq2RyBYOv3_-gk/s1600/UNIDO_donates_benches_for_Amisom_KDF_Medical_center-7_jpg_%252815772596165%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU25ULehfMt5MBVr3fiDHEJ3PqeMKkIKncFtvsEZbF2cFXewjLk7OYq_n5E_boSW0eEC6xfdzGZLxWierM9RnX8Z5k9Waynvovgz0RYUAx-3S8Yz_-V23mEVTO0r9udPCq2RyBYOv3_-gk/s400/UNIDO_donates_benches_for_Amisom_KDF_Medical_center-7_jpg_%252815772596165%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UNIDO_donates_benches_for_Amisom_KDF_Medical_center-7.jpg_(15772596165).jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UNIDO</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some of them will be women and children.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWWM8VU6hIYVhnzwydsTHQW6DNG12VJucTbfMxFgxoXVs3_2L_9h-0MsWOhGzjv4MtR7jx6qv4_wbC0rsC5n4valwhpNzD4miEsRxJ3yEiK2wyGEWg5bfY_k9Queymg0_1uiVetcWyeTq/s1600/UNIDO_donates_benches_for_Amisom_KDF_Medical_center-6_jpg_%252815748893556%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWWM8VU6hIYVhnzwydsTHQW6DNG12VJucTbfMxFgxoXVs3_2L_9h-0MsWOhGzjv4MtR7jx6qv4_wbC0rsC5n4valwhpNzD4miEsRxJ3yEiK2wyGEWg5bfY_k9Queymg0_1uiVetcWyeTq/s400/UNIDO_donates_benches_for_Amisom_KDF_Medical_center-6_jpg_%252815748893556%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UNIDO_donates_benches_for_Amisom_KDF_Medical_center-6.jpg_(15748893556).jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UNIDO</span></a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If you're a paediatric nurse, you can't afford to play around. And if you're an obstetric nurse, you must always deliver. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijt__e9Cq0dDl4GNjr-W_Wxokh8W3XN694VdmtSaRdg7NHSkvpkQnc2Juk1XO18F5h2DmN6Uoqb7CWPY8uqCrUjNJLRxt4AFRsK8nIfYnC2Rpo8elnpUKfdvQTQ6t99aMD-oT2ZbcBeSZN/s1600/5680140682_45b6e32e44_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijt__e9Cq0dDl4GNjr-W_Wxokh8W3XN694VdmtSaRdg7NHSkvpkQnc2Juk1XO18F5h2DmN6Uoqb7CWPY8uqCrUjNJLRxt4AFRsK8nIfYnC2Rpo8elnpUKfdvQTQ6t99aMD-oT2ZbcBeSZN/s400/5680140682_45b6e32e44_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/5680140682/in/photolist-9CYcat-9DTk5i-9DWcMW-9DTkax-7oyPYf-5VX9K6-5VX9cM-9DTk6K-5W2vdq-9CYcrZ-9DWcE3-9DWcH3-9byQQt-5VX9gR-81z7Ub-5uCq2j-9DTke2-5uy3vD-9DWcW3-9CYcnx-9DWcYy-5VXaYM-5VXaGa-5VXaLD-6Kv9uK" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/5680140682/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Like buses, babies have a habit of all arriving at the same time. These eleven babies were born on the same New Years Day. As obstetrics nurses are fond of saying, meconium happens. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You will need to bend over backwards to find out what is best for your patient.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgwRvVfyDZ29F0GQrru6aaJZe73_zb6hpn7Aw6YhhwVEaInvC8T_zwtnKQc6WW9VNmIM5PK-B1kRHBXa4j9ao-5deOvw52tsiscmoanVaCftwWidHgDEi3ABA2SpwGp7BRssQCQm3wLJZ/s1600/bendoverbackwards.bmp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgwRvVfyDZ29F0GQrru6aaJZe73_zb6hpn7Aw6YhhwVEaInvC8T_zwtnKQc6WW9VNmIM5PK-B1kRHBXa4j9ao-5deOvw52tsiscmoanVaCftwWidHgDEi3ABA2SpwGp7BRssQCQm3wLJZ/s200/bendoverbackwards.bmp" width="152" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some patients will need urgent attention.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtO1_LExzgKqLTwJfhwf-OFmf2cC8hWS_XV7UiIDqppoZucEbp6k8YiSoOvh6shTh4I8utTX0jCNgrBZKvE0HC27MR6_PEYw39TTB9ZV8Ocfrj3usZEGi1yvkPG4Of-JaNuNO3VXpEA6m-/s1600/The_Receiving_Room-_the_42nd_Stationary_Hospital_Art_IWMART2952.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtO1_LExzgKqLTwJfhwf-OFmf2cC8hWS_XV7UiIDqppoZucEbp6k8YiSoOvh6shTh4I8utTX0jCNgrBZKvE0HC27MR6_PEYw39TTB9ZV8Ocfrj3usZEGi1yvkPG4Of-JaNuNO3VXpEA6m-/s400/The_Receiving_Room-_the_42nd_Stationary_Hospital_Art_IWMART2952.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Receiving_Room-_the_42nd_Stationary_Hospital_Art.IWMART2952.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Receiving_Room</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">As a triage nurse you must make quick decisions. You can't afford to throw up your hands.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1MHclVvNC5D7sqxaDI9KTHwVE_jCGrv_qYMbfVbCIGnWVtfDCWvJin28I827tBkEwDOCdsqoTwMqn-c-sAfi1V6D2aH3WGozXoucjuC5W0lQuAn0nkOM_bGTgpMmNy5-9OAYAZjBD40h/s1600/wubomei.meghan.weber.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1MHclVvNC5D7sqxaDI9KTHwVE_jCGrv_qYMbfVbCIGnWVtfDCWvJin28I827tBkEwDOCdsqoTwMqn-c-sAfi1V6D2aH3WGozXoucjuC5W0lQuAn0nkOM_bGTgpMmNy5-9OAYAZjBD40h/s400/wubomei.meghan.weber.fkcc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wubomei/2090309044/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/wubomei/2090309044/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And speaking of throwing up, you'll have to tolerate other people's vomit.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzojb3bH7DzrFzM52AfEvgMf1Vlh-lF8GadtgktNFB8YQxtcnI3To_S6i-0D7Xl2WpPR5hzkFtFOf2PeyAWWONSDzHH9afIg5Dnp4h9XQ3IJU_dCkezCQGAN-3CLvnHCItQVChl6syV5xZ/s1600/manssandstrom.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzojb3bH7DzrFzM52AfEvgMf1Vlh-lF8GadtgktNFB8YQxtcnI3To_S6i-0D7Xl2WpPR5hzkFtFOf2PeyAWWONSDzHH9afIg5Dnp4h9XQ3IJU_dCkezCQGAN-3CLvnHCItQVChl6syV5xZ/s320/manssandstrom.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/manssandstrom/4044103672/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/manssandstrom/4044103672/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You'll need to be ready to glove up at any time.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ZJ97Nl5rkexXVVgo_PrhQE0yYZGI0PK0msHzpbJSGKnvanb1t4kxls9C4PsAb8ev6rnanCmnJeUd5MYg8rhXBCJ3tBEfvM4QNGrlLghPG_7T1m0D5yEz1__s70z2mLXzej4zBdkJmOiB/s1600/J0178951.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ZJ97Nl5rkexXVVgo_PrhQE0yYZGI0PK0msHzpbJSGKnvanb1t4kxls9C4PsAb8ev6rnanCmnJeUd5MYg8rhXBCJ3tBEfvM4QNGrlLghPG_7T1m0D5yEz1__s70z2mLXzej4zBdkJmOiB/s320/J0178951.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">National Student Nurses Day in May is a good time to celebrate the achievements of students who come into the profession from a wide variety of backgrounds. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6w2pxR2UbfRm0N8zj7JaMpsAME0dECBcV_jBp_3uQuEgmrPK8sfwoEykHOfQIcdY1YKGMnuL3sFQ1K4XxtN36CrErMT4_Dlro_kQVWFvQ20hX4Aot47rIiKX-7SQ6DuXeVifT1sUUtFs/s1600/ki8nd8XdT.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6w2pxR2UbfRm0N8zj7JaMpsAME0dECBcV_jBp_3uQuEgmrPK8sfwoEykHOfQIcdY1YKGMnuL3sFQ1K4XxtN36CrErMT4_Dlro_kQVWFvQ20hX4Aot47rIiKX-7SQ6DuXeVifT1sUUtFs/s320/ki8nd8XdT.png" width="312" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://cliparts.co/cliparts/ki8/nd8/ki8nd8XdT.png" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://cliparts.co/cliparts/ki8/nd8/ki8nd8XdT.png</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here is Mary Mahoney, the first black woman to complete nurse's training in the United States. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjMVsS3URM0cmW8FmIJe-1eaXoaGT9qfCcleNpPHXsPyJ5Tpvnv7mtIRxBHHHMBXAraNhpi-Mdh2FQB9HFkMpZQAFKQ3sRyP0zJh2uU6hpvrC-lt6xPUYcaQe4yLTqQEtNpe_BjAIIVGcL/s1600/220px-Mary_Eliza_Mahoney.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjMVsS3URM0cmW8FmIJe-1eaXoaGT9qfCcleNpPHXsPyJ5Tpvnv7mtIRxBHHHMBXAraNhpi-Mdh2FQB9HFkMpZQAFKQ3sRyP0zJh2uU6hpvrC-lt6xPUYcaQe4yLTqQEtNpe_BjAIIVGcL/s1600/220px-Mary_Eliza_Mahoney.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Eliza_Mahoney" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Eliza_Mahoney</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In recent years men have come into nursing in increasing numbers. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRXKzarEz8RMui1BhRZoEBBKzz3T3oCn1QOEV27He4Bci9Frle_K3AtrfSkCxgnNUKjnrEw90RcZkuNezD8hfGpltY1gReEUnheTrxDCs831m3jTGEB-XDAf_bMXDorfUPrdz2hYKvaQJ/s1600/male+nurse.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRXKzarEz8RMui1BhRZoEBBKzz3T3oCn1QOEV27He4Bci9Frle_K3AtrfSkCxgnNUKjnrEw90RcZkuNezD8hfGpltY1gReEUnheTrxDCs831m3jTGEB-XDAf_bMXDorfUPrdz2hYKvaQJ/s320/male+nurse.JPG" width="275" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In the US and the UK they're more than ten percent of the nursing workforce, including hipsters with little beards. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Older people are also being recruited back into nursing.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTlznNbEDwgJpf_1zyO2YP6yJ902HiudD5PS6xdPxaneRz96WHvfqgXF4aVX50l_YWD0yDIufF1ZxVcBu7ovDUJ6fJ6Y3ilsq6qRJTyj06te2jRjVhkb1q0V0ASbyCQee3-dtD0yHLG8T/s1600/Noah+nurse.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTlznNbEDwgJpf_1zyO2YP6yJ902HiudD5PS6xdPxaneRz96WHvfqgXF4aVX50l_YWD0yDIufF1ZxVcBu7ovDUJ6fJ6Y3ilsq6qRJTyj06te2jRjVhkb1q0V0ASbyCQee3-dtD0yHLG8T/s320/Noah+nurse.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benchesl</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">After a spell of veterinary work on The Ark, Old Noah is over two thousand years old. And yes, he is still smoking but some things have to be overlooked in order to recruit enough nurses.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Volunteer carers can be very helpful in supporting hospitals too. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Innocent: Voluntary work? I wouldn't do it if you paid me. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">But of course, not everyone is suited to nursing. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some people can't remember the mnemonics. Not even the easy ones like</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tarts In Silk Stockings</span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some lack the necessary sensitivities.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghzuxUKhSvtHf4ihDrMMCI8Ay7zh5vVaq97tL_ai_5IiNA2UEGrW29aU3ET1MxK3FCGcGJkI79LoQ-CZvzOmJILriVG_8z1GirTs7PdmKSQzdfJERh3OUhgeat0JPoHauNr0O57k50ZJbm/s1600/fringepop.initforthedrugs.etsyil_570xN_586258385_4dda.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghzuxUKhSvtHf4ihDrMMCI8Ay7zh5vVaq97tL_ai_5IiNA2UEGrW29aU3ET1MxK3FCGcGJkI79LoQ-CZvzOmJILriVG_8z1GirTs7PdmKSQzdfJERh3OUhgeat0JPoHauNr0O57k50ZJbm/s400/fringepop.initforthedrugs.etsyil_570xN_586258385_4dda.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fringepop" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fringepop</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some think it's all about the uniform.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-akvfPD1GHYi9jpJMG6gY_LDVa_9YebS-7YVoewT5KHDfJjJWGluTZ_im2vJjtB4j9PMSJXce1lC-rORxE-PHxpVZa9UYeKGTU-gRa_MWMiuiRxmqfSShGClqZE0U5vUvxs1eBheUNe0l/s1600/800px-Girls_dressed_up_as_nurses.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-akvfPD1GHYi9jpJMG6gY_LDVa_9YebS-7YVoewT5KHDfJjJWGluTZ_im2vJjtB4j9PMSJXce1lC-rORxE-PHxpVZa9UYeKGTU-gRa_MWMiuiRxmqfSShGClqZE0U5vUvxs1eBheUNe0l/s400/800px-Girls_dressed_up_as_nurses.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nurse?uselang=en-gb#/media/File:Girls_dressed_up_as_nurses.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nurse?</a></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I think this happened with Innocent. Here is the nurses uniform she designed and wore to work in the week before her training ended.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTvRRyAic2JLocZBTr26QZfQOHMg4jvW9nfH3FR_-slcmbZpJZ98dC49e8uaimcGzoPWFXWOXf7tUunHrTCU8C2Bv3Q7xLbgCQC28Q2IqXdEP3R30dEVreWfGnnpsiXS67roki3gWEzgJ/s1600/nurse+best.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTvRRyAic2JLocZBTr26QZfQOHMg4jvW9nfH3FR_-slcmbZpJZ98dC49e8uaimcGzoPWFXWOXf7tUunHrTCU8C2Bv3Q7xLbgCQC28Q2IqXdEP3R30dEVreWfGnnpsiXS67roki3gWEzgJ/s400/nurse+best.JPG" width="236" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Revealing, yes. Yet some of the consultants thought it appropriate for ICU. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There are other reasons why people might not be suited to nursing. The words <i>scab</i> and <i>pus</i> come to mind.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqI_yuuHKP0bpyksB6wHKNbPFMoTV-PotNB7dHC5S1FuijqfAn7NbLkKlucOHZQMVlrBk9nprEMzHr0rMUwvE4mG7m4uYOVEwWAy7u-WTwOYOeLOYpwMwgdkZLhHcPtdJLY8W77hOgB2B/s1600/hsp+cake.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqI_yuuHKP0bpyksB6wHKNbPFMoTV-PotNB7dHC5S1FuijqfAn7NbLkKlucOHZQMVlrBk9nprEMzHr0rMUwvE4mG7m4uYOVEwWAy7u-WTwOYOeLOYpwMwgdkZLhHcPtdJLY8W77hOgB2B/s400/hsp+cake.jpg" width="377" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'll spare you the gory details: nursing involves bodily functions. Florence Nightingale knew that. But quite a few people are just too soft and cuddly to bear it.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9uZMtJpi1u4ilqICO6PvKIfi9QjJCyd-Gvh82zw7Fqo7uw4YFCaX1JIZUdgJINODppH-YQTTJHFhXTZvEaa7S7MkCCWX0-mY2ligTXBuZk3jMB9kCDJuvQOF-KRDTy9zT3njWmzvRvoZW/s1600/nurse+bear+%2526+book.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9uZMtJpi1u4ilqICO6PvKIfi9QjJCyd-Gvh82zw7Fqo7uw4YFCaX1JIZUdgJINODppH-YQTTJHFhXTZvEaa7S7MkCCWX0-mY2ligTXBuZk3jMB9kCDJuvQOF-KRDTy9zT3njWmzvRvoZW/s320/nurse+bear+%2526+book.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">On the other hand, some people are just too fond of blood.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFNiSJblREGGR8Fz_LMi76usvEsDDMMjCc0bEYBeYe6Sd5gAo4_5iZI7XK8mnREqYJUC-gimTzy5c7wJNXf-9PyGrdHerVNGZggfyNEdhK6Abo9txx99azC_7BGDYSS90CrqmynLRR8cb/s1600/theslap.james.jardine.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFNiSJblREGGR8Fz_LMi76usvEsDDMMjCc0bEYBeYe6Sd5gAo4_5iZI7XK8mnREqYJUC-gimTzy5c7wJNXf-9PyGrdHerVNGZggfyNEdhK6Abo9txx99azC_7BGDYSS90CrqmynLRR8cb/s320/theslap.james.jardine.fkcc.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/theslap/4711974796/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/theslap/4711974796/</a></span></div><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm aware that this blog is called Benchsite and there haven't been many benches in this story. If you're a surgical nurse you'll know there is such a thing as bench surgery. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It apparently involves a lot of scissors. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitK1qSitqIQVkrRmWs5ctfUumd8w53g00DPF0rD1zFtr31FhA1Oylng-5t8QkuBwU0npTwy4uinpoqs3Obu9kmrpD5JVF_jK5xhG0fjuiq12g49QbGXomZm7KHyRLFl-y8fg8sE8VHX43X/s1600/348ab42615f23505d0e3ae3ca0d26d46.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitK1qSitqIQVkrRmWs5ctfUumd8w53g00DPF0rD1zFtr31FhA1Oylng-5t8QkuBwU0npTwy4uinpoqs3Obu9kmrpD5JVF_jK5xhG0fjuiq12g49QbGXomZm7KHyRLFl-y8fg8sE8VHX43X/s1600/348ab42615f23505d0e3ae3ca0d26d46.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470657863.html">http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470657863.html</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The truth is, nurse benches are few and far between. The best I can do is to show you some of the benches which celebrate the work of great nurses.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Remember Florence Nightingale? In 1837, when she was 17, she sat on this bench in Hampshire and realised she wanted to be a nurse. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQm_Qq-4X-LbnLLt9tNVribMKDw5a1cwBavZg19kTFkbTx6bbln5oBJ7SoQQDzm9I6f30eTZRgc9fHdzVzVuFexfBpn_RN9gpfH_YiUfVxH1Ni-BwwP09Wu3JNc4CalNA1bxMZDO6ntMx/s1600/aahn.org+florence+night.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQm_Qq-4X-LbnLLt9tNVribMKDw5a1cwBavZg19kTFkbTx6bbln5oBJ7SoQQDzm9I6f30eTZRgc9fHdzVzVuFexfBpn_RN9gpfH_YiUfVxH1Ni-BwwP09Wu3JNc4CalNA1bxMZDO6ntMx/s1600/aahn.org+florence+night.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.aahn.org/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">http://www.aahn.org </a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">She became well known for her work in the Crimean War and for her management skills, which turned nursing into an organised profession.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This is Edith Cavell, the heroic nurse who saved the lives of WW1 soldiers in German-occupied Belgium.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4qClkQxFbkuaDrvTQGIzlrxDPViMz8Nd1c3OXPsoFktY7-V1SqxxJpHYtBe1TwdS1nx8IS70Qzk5DdnUQFXuhX4zYghuc4b5Jap_Zkx7QI-TOWBvEoeiWknMickMswAuLphd4e109OdU/s1600/uneekdolldesigns.cavell.etsyil_570xN_851003721_rntz.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4qClkQxFbkuaDrvTQGIzlrxDPViMz8Nd1c3OXPsoFktY7-V1SqxxJpHYtBe1TwdS1nx8IS70Qzk5DdnUQFXuhX4zYghuc4b5Jap_Zkx7QI-TOWBvEoeiWknMickMswAuLphd4e109OdU/s320/uneekdolldesigns.cavell.etsyil_570xN_851003721_rntz.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.uneekdolldesigns.etsy.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.uneekdolldesigns.etsy.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">She was arrested and executed for helping 200 allied soldiers escape. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMfupCaOp_UxvKoNwkKMq3AVrRV7sXxp_HBxcdJBeMQeyCbRJddQEaBUZZrp8hnqmGKgE8UWpKXvkGHKyomSN0zcDIJtUQ89qc1qDn5xSW1UNutSo-SDSHn8P-0LZHjKeMSaHKgkZfd5y/s1600/cavelllondoniscool.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMfupCaOp_UxvKoNwkKMq3AVrRV7sXxp_HBxcdJBeMQeyCbRJddQEaBUZZrp8hnqmGKgE8UWpKXvkGHKyomSN0zcDIJtUQ89qc1qDn5xSW1UNutSo-SDSHn8P-0LZHjKeMSaHKgkZfd5y/s320/cavelllondoniscool.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Cavell_Memorial" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Cavell_Memorial</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's her memorial bench at St Edmunds Chapel in Hunstanton, UK.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPBv2I4SP0xJLGsE7GG9vtUDEZA0ZD4Ii2J6DrW2nbG78BDI4yXZod0c8qgROa5pujw2uFEwA42r8Xwibwcsc5VdsAq6kl24QvSDdLDbgwmrV8g5U9TSfSmtgC8_e6HiFkW8CTPO5waxX/s1600/warmemorialsonline.org.uk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPBv2I4SP0xJLGsE7GG9vtUDEZA0ZD4Ii2J6DrW2nbG78BDI4yXZod0c8qgROa5pujw2uFEwA42r8Xwibwcsc5VdsAq6kl24QvSDdLDbgwmrV8g5U9TSfSmtgC8_e6HiFkW8CTPO5waxX/s320/warmemorialsonline.org.uk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/163812" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/163812</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This is the memorial bench of Jane Delano, founder of the Red Cross Nursing Service. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh21V3komYAhRn1Zy7xuDgeg0_tmjplZrfG3yxcWtXmTnqD0qQvpIJ54Y9J5UPrVEzE8tFpecW4gvLUuOq52uQ3aHUTOoqR8gIHTo81mWDcYGCHnN9Tb23bVeo-tGm0OK3sg0JAG3r2w_h9/s1600/Jane_Delano_Memorial.redcross.nurse.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh21V3komYAhRn1Zy7xuDgeg0_tmjplZrfG3yxcWtXmTnqD0qQvpIJ54Y9J5UPrVEzE8tFpecW4gvLUuOq52uQ3aHUTOoqR8gIHTo81mWDcYGCHnN9Tb23bVeo-tGm0OK3sg0JAG3r2w_h9/s320/Jane_Delano_Memorial.redcross.nurse.WK.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/28567825@N03/3371384822" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/28567825@N03/3371384822</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This bench was commissioned by the Wenches in Trenches, a group dedicated to the memory of nurses and VADs of WW1. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.wenchesintrenches.co.uk/memorial-bench-finally-done/%C2%A0"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq80fjTnsGAaUAn7qq8sgJaT2cLeP-dx_JOm9PKTMEuVi7pgbmSnC_MinKMndDFsNijRv_GdpdvAMNKInr5zVacj2EzEXGHnqdMb6BkPOwoOrfEJfqZ4C8PPVOYX1xlG1eEla9CE-7n2Hk/s320/wenchesfrance0615_114-300x200.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.wenchesintrenches.co.uk/memorial-bench-finally-done/%C2%A0">http://www.wenchesintrenches.co.uk/memorial-bench-finally-done/ </a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And here are some benches to commemorate ordinary nurses who do an extraordinary job every day:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Mollie Spalding, a practice nurse in Torbay</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZISMOI0gZYHHdTdPB3_UKPJmqHdt99aalChYJP6k4sfoSNFvI9_WGATrfwojF2zOIeW3lCEGG9qJ4hd7jTgkZkPiYie1WU4bToLWG2KG74VrSFIycqHKBEFPAp2jc5wb5xb1XIRqhW68/s1600/Molly+Spalding.untitled.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZISMOI0gZYHHdTdPB3_UKPJmqHdt99aalChYJP6k4sfoSNFvI9_WGATrfwojF2zOIeW3lCEGG9qJ4hd7jTgkZkPiYie1WU4bToLWG2KG74VrSFIycqHKBEFPAp2jc5wb5xb1XIRqhW68/s320/Molly+Spalding.untitled.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://memorialbench.wordpress.com/page/19/"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">https://memorialbench.wordpress.com/page/19/ </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span></span></a></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://memorialbench.wordpress.com/page/19/"><br /></a></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Doris Wilcox, an RN at Garden City Hospital in Michigan</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0U4LZCrTXxwU31LxrvjYq-tQE6IkpF9iWBywW_QpTZvlOQnSlBbC3ScL4fDkNtiRBwQGgHgpogNWxZqCcW_Uw-cw-24b0sFM9qL8gJx0Wpf-tEawg-wYQfI3KW9a25OacjZNRejiZ3E1B/s1600/Doris-Wilcox-Bench-003.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0U4LZCrTXxwU31LxrvjYq-tQE6IkpF9iWBywW_QpTZvlOQnSlBbC3ScL4fDkNtiRBwQGgHgpogNWxZqCcW_Uw-cw-24b0sFM9qL8gJx0Wpf-tEawg-wYQfI3KW9a25OacjZNRejiZ3E1B/s400/Doris-Wilcox-Bench-003.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.gch.org/About-Us/GCH-in-the-Community/Memorial-Bench-Doris-Wilcox.aspx" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.gch.org/About-Us/GCH-in-the-Community/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ron Evans, a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Wales</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPbR8kCnm6G9kwf6O-AaVNe7S2xH2MNnCknEDPjfaintfygQs7Oxm3-9UNH7liYCGscCECCmoIAgPHYErF_jG62atjQTs6_UjZ-xGPRciOoQlauPrvtLDJ_tUZi5glyJ0HeYBXK_8DRAl/s1600/Ron%252520evans%252520Dedication.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPbR8kCnm6G9kwf6O-AaVNe7S2xH2MNnCknEDPjfaintfygQs7Oxm3-9UNH7liYCGscCECCmoIAgPHYErF_jG62atjQTs6_UjZ-xGPRciOoQlauPrvtLDJ_tUZi5glyJ0HeYBXK_8DRAl/s320/Ron%252520evans%252520Dedication.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/863/news/27659" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/863/news/27659</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Judy Soverel, an RN, OCN who clearly loved nursing for all the right reasons. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA7jHf5G8lu_L9gpROJyxOXGZoFkR8WVlhXVLFa9UQZztUMx65gmMZcAwdEUlPK9DPMgn-5gtL4rTwqqDSUyponYx9TZsh_nlbk76pevnHDIwP7IXmdEPh6yiL9RBynVEKCOhyFdz8fZ14/s1600/800px-Judy_Soverel_001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA7jHf5G8lu_L9gpROJyxOXGZoFkR8WVlhXVLFa9UQZztUMx65gmMZcAwdEUlPK9DPMgn-5gtL4rTwqqDSUyponYx9TZsh_nlbk76pevnHDIwP7IXmdEPh6yiL9RBynVEKCOhyFdz8fZ14/s320/800px-Judy_Soverel_001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judy_Soverel_001.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judy_Soverel</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">She would have known that Tarts in Silk Stockings stands for Teres minor, Infraspinatus, Supraspinatus and Subscapular. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">So this blog is in appreciation of all nurses. They are having a rough time of it right now. The least we can do is say thank you. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">Many thanks!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWEcAV2AwPz45ZoctgqP5QsPYLBwHCCOW7Tut7eAZymJX8IAA_gn07k3dW5Dx1LuS0iUJLXdBO5tBP47KwPLQ9pWAm86teS103W5P1JjDpcQB9McMOW-9sJzEIMkc0N7dIfBVD3VnaXUxk/s1600/tulips+Apr+2016.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWEcAV2AwPz45ZoctgqP5QsPYLBwHCCOW7Tut7eAZymJX8IAA_gn07k3dW5Dx1LuS0iUJLXdBO5tBP47KwPLQ9pWAm86teS103W5P1JjDpcQB9McMOW-9sJzEIMkc0N7dIfBVD3VnaXUxk/s320/tulips+Apr+2016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">International Nurses Day, on May 12th each year, has been celebrated since 1965. Its purpose is to mark the contribution nurses all over the world make to society. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In the US and Canada it is also National Nursing Week. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This isn't the first time Benchsite has done medical benches. For some Feelgood Medical Benches, including doctors and nurses, see the World Health Day story at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>The Good Samaritan</i> is by Swiss artist Gabriel </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Émile Édouard Nicolet (1856-1921)</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> It is a portrait of a WW1 Red Cross nurse, seen at </span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nurse#/media/File:Gabriel_Nicolet_-_Portrait_of_a_Nurse_from_the_Red_Cross.jpg" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nurse#/media/File:Gabriel_Nicolet_-_Portrait_of_a_Nurse_from_the_Red_Cross.jpg</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Rest After Duty (1956) is a painting by Russian artist Lev Kotlyarov, who dedicated it to doctors. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; line-height: 0.64cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #212121;">Nursing shortages and high turnover are a problem in many countries because, frankly, nursing is an exhausting job. But how to keep nurses happy and refreshed in their work so that they don't burn out? </span></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #212121;"> A 2018 study in Portland, Oregon suggests</span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #212121;"><b> </b>that a 30-minute break in a garden can do a great deal more to relieve stress and restore nurses’ equilibrium than the same time spent indoors in a break room.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #212121;"> The study is published in </span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #212121;">The American Journal of Critical Care: Cordoza, M et al (2018) <i>Impact of Nurses Taking Daily Work Breaks in a Hospital Garden on Burnout</i>, Nov 27(6), pp 508-512. <b> </b></span></div><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Florence Nightingale and Edith Cavell dolls are from Debbie Ritter at Uneek Doll Designs. Debbie makes dolls for all sorts of people and quite a few of them feature on Benchsite. Florence and Edith are available from <a href="http://www.uneekdolldesigns.etsy.com/">www.uneekdolldesigns.etsy.com</a> Debbie's blog about her work as an artist is at <a href="http://uneekmusings.blogspot.co.uk/">http://uneekmusings.blogspot.co.uk/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Florence Nightingale's childhood home was Embley Park near Romsey in Hampshire. Her call to nursing came in 1837 when she was 17 years old; she was sitting on a bench under a tree at the time. She became well known for her work in the Crimean War and for her management skills, which turned nursing into an organised profession. Though she was a recognised statistician, she is best known as the founder of modern nursing and her image from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Santa Filomena (<i>The Lady with the Lamp</i>.) She died in 1910 and is buried in East Wellow in Hampshire. The bench photo is from the American Association for the History of Nursing at <a href="http://www.aahn.org/">http://www.aahn.org </a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Pasukaru is a regular here on Benchsite. His <i>Nurse in Training</i> is photo number 323/365 in 2011. He says the crash test dummy probably doesn't approve. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5967748825/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5967748825/</a> On Day 291/365 in 2010 his clones experienced a slight stinging sensation when receiving their injections. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/4642811593/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/4642811593/</a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The <i>Five thousand by June</i> poster is by C. Rakeman. It was contributed by the </span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">American Association of the Red Cross and dates from 1918. It is on the Flickr National Library of Medicine photostream at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlmhmd/4647690041/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlmhmd/4647690041/</a> What else happens in <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/a-calendar-of-benches-for-june.html">June? Have a look at the Benchsite calendar</a>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>Schoolgirl into Nurse</i> medical training in Britain 1942 is a photograph from the Ministry of Information's World War collection at the Imperial War Museum on the IWM Non commerical Licence. The image (Imperial War Museum number D8602) is considered Crown Copyright, now expired as the photograph was taken prior to 1 June 1957. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schoolgirl_Into_Nurse-_Medical_Training_in_Britain,_1942_D8602.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schoolgirl_Into_Nurse-_Medical_Training_in_Britain,_1942_D8602.jpg</a> If you're interested in education and training benches, you'd better have a look before <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/schools-out-for-summer-benches.html">school's out for summer</a>. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Borracho is a drunk skeleton on a bench, seen by Travis at the Museum of Natural History in Santa Barbara, California. Travis is an archaeologist, originally from Long Beach, but he's moved around a lot. He's in the process of attempting to integrate hobbies into a practical future job: scuba diving and photography with archaeology - good luck with that. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/baggis/4329993236/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/baggis/4329993236/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In 2003, two students, Nazila Alimohammadi and Anna Clark, built a picnic table in the shape of the periodic table of elements. It was created as a sculpture for a public art course and is accurate in every detail, right down to the auxiliary lanthanides and actinides tables that constitute the table's bench. The table is located, er, right by the Chemistry building at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. It was photographed in 2007 by Larry, who lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrywfu/2027115602">https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrywfu/2027115602</a> From December 30, 2015 there are four new elements added to the seventh row of the periodic table. They are temporarily named as ununtrium, (Uut or element 113), ununpentium (Uup, element 115), ununseptium (Uus, element 117), and ununoctium (Uuo, element 118). Just so you know. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The nurse delivering medicines is wearing a nurse uniform from the 1900's. The photo is from photographer </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Valerie Everett, who currently lives in Shelbyville, USA <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Nurse_costumes?uselang=en-gb#/media/File:Nurse_uniform_in_1900.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Nurse_costumes?uselang=en-gb#/media/File:Nurse_uniform_in_1900.jpg</a> </span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The marvelous medical cupcakes are by Mindy Bortz back in 2012. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cutiecakes/7330613276/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/cutiecakes/7330613276/</a> Mindy is a baker and graphic designer from Cheyenne, Wyoming. She must know that cake (and cookies and doughnuts) are very much part of working life. In fact, <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/log-benches-just-logs-and-cake.html">cake is part of all aspects of life, even benches</a>. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Back in the day Matron used to make sure that nurses made the beds properly. This meant tucked-in corners, straight lines, and taut sheets. The bedmaking image is from page 176 of <i>Obstetrics for Nurses</i> (1922). The author is Everett Dudley Plass (1886) and the book was published by D. Appleton and contributed to Internet Archive Book Images by the University of California Libraries. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14579944807/in/photolist-odo2CK-oePHPc-">https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14579944807/in/photolist-odo2CK-oePHPc-</a></span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14579944807/in/photolist-odo2CK-oePHPc-odihBW-odiXyd-owoWbY-ocazDw-ouzezX-oda2zN-owNTRa-odaP8S-oda1D9-ouz8vn-r2QGNZ-ouX4RD-ous3JL-iSrMKM-odscMB-owpgfE-9p7oB3-outqab-oeXX1C-agom49-owpLoF-ox4n7p-osV6id-owhwss-rQKHA8-ov8pxc-d68Qj-ouCoFN-ouDBxj-osQwSE-osULPu-oeZX3C-ov48Qt-odzEFo-ocBi44-oxdG4p-of15sg-8afCyi-ox4dcR-eg83eT-odhgpV-ouRQ1T-ow5icx-wJ3652-owxjja-odiUJL-of2XVx-ot2atf"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">odihBW-odiXyd-owoWbY-ocazDw-ouzezX-oda2zN-owNTRa-odaP8S-oda1D9-ouz8vn-r2QGNZ-ouX4RD-ous3JL-</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">iSrMKM-odscMB-owpgfE-9p7oB3-outqab-oeXX1C-agom49-owpLoF-ox4n7p-osV6id-owhwss-rQKHA8-ov8pxc-</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">d68Qj-ouCoFN-ouDBxj-osQwSE-osULPu-oeZX3C-ov48Qt-odzEFo-ocBi44-oxdG4p-of15sg-8afCyi-ox4dcR-</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">eg83eT-odhgpV-ouRQ1T-ow5icx-wJ3652-owxjja-odiUJL-of2XVx-ot2atf</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The two cartoons are from the January 19, 1916 volume 150 edition of Punch, made available by <a href="http://www.projectgutenberg.org/">www.ProjectGutenberg.org</a>. Their statement reads: 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 or online at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/">www.gutenberg.org</a> The terms of the license are that I publish the statement. Which I have done. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Chris Millett has been photographed in his Flickr photostream wearing a very wide variety of costumes and uniforms. His nurses uniform is particularly clean and smart. He is wearing black tights and black shoes, which are worn in the UK. In the past, American nurses were only allowed to wear white tights and white shoes with their (white) uniform. Now it seems that any colour will do. Remember the apricot coloured uniforms in ER?<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismillett12/8732093410/in/dateposted/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismillett12/8732093410/in/dateposted/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The nurse and the dummy patient in bed are from the Hagerstown Community College Public Information collection in 2011. They have some good photos of nursing practice on this site. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagerstowncc/8475676041/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagerstowncc/8475676041/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Birdsinhats is your one-stop shop for Birds in Hats paper goods. All birds in hats, like the Nightingale Nurse A3 print, are illustrated by Alice Tams in her studio in London with the humble crayon. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/birdsinhats">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/birdsinhats</a> Alice is also at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/birdsinhatsillustration">www.facebook.com/birdsinhatsillustration</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>Dying right here is strictly prohibited</i>. <i>Try the fried pork bacteria sauce</i>. I'm a great fan of Sign Fail, an etsy shop at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail </a>. These are funny sign replicas inspired by real-life hilarity, the best of Chinglish & Engrish on handmade funny signs, cards & magnets. The signs are handmade to order in Melbourne, Australia by Michael Bancroft and there are many which are just right for Benchsite.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Innocent is the daughter-in-law of Lord and Lady Brassica, married to their hapless son Root, who is known for getting drunk and sleeping on benches. Since her <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/three-weddings-and-some-benches.html">wedding in 2013</a>, Innocent has emerged from her convent nursing dress into something of a fashion icon, usurping her more famous mother-in-law and causing <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html">uproar on the fashion forums</a>. Her nurses uniform design caused much controversy at St Smiley's. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Root</span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">is the son of Lord and Lady Brassica of Drizzly. Whilst Lady B is gorgeous and Lord B is wealthy and personable, Root has none of these qualities. In fact, he has no qualities whatsoever, as became apparent in my</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/bus-stop-benches-around-world.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Bus Stop benches</a><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: verdana;"> story. For a full account of Root's Stupidity condition, including his medical notes, see</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html</a> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yeah, I know it's not ethical to publish someone's medical chart but honestly, he doesn't mind.</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Dog Doctor illustration is a print from unNaturalinspiration at <a href="http://unaturaliinspiration.etsy.com/">unaturaliinspiration.etsy.com</a>. They have amazing stuff to do with animals. For some barkingly brilliant dog benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html</a> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">If you prefer cats, there's a Cat Doctor too. And a Benchsite blog about <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html">cat benches, edited by the ever difficult beautiful Meredith</a>. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Dr. Skill is from John Bunyan's <i>The Pilgrim's Progress</i> (1678). He's well known in Fribble, where there's someone who fancies him. It's Ursula, our Unicorn in Residence. Did he send her that <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hearty-heart-benches-for-valentines-day.html">hearty Valentine</a> download? Dr. Skill correctly diagnosed Lady Brassica's Shopilius Extremis a couple of years ago. There's a lot of it about. And remember that <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/just-x-shopping-benches-til-christmas.html">Shopping is Not Just for Christmas</a>. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Roses of No Man's Land, aka Wenches in Trenches, are a group of like-minded women who do a sponsored walk once a year, usually in September somewhere on the Western Front. They aim to have as much fun as they can while raising awareness and funds for military causes. In 2015 a memorial bench was placed at Lochnagar Crater on The Somme in France, where the group proudly laid a wreath on behalf of all the Nurses and VADs of WW1. The event was attended by people from all over the world. The bench itself is a hand-crafted nine seater with each seat back centred with a red cross and a memorial in both English and French across the top. For more about their work and the lovely ceremony see <a href="http://www.wenchesintrenches.co.uk/memorial-bench-finally-done/%C2%A0">http://www.wenchesintrenches.co.uk/memorial-bench-finally-done/ </a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">David O'Doherty's joke about decent people being ultrasound is one of the Best of the Edinburgh Fringe jokes in 2004. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Speaking of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/we-remember.html">memorial benches</a>, we have lots of those here on Benchsite. And peace benches too. Just imagine it's <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/imagine-its-world-peace-day.html">World Peace Day</a>. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The very smart looking Canadian nurse is from an advertisement for Noxzema skin cream. The image is from the <i>The Canadian Nurse</i>, published by the Canadian Nurses' Association and contributed by the University of Ottawa. </span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14591778139/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14591778139/</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Kricket lives in Arlington, Virginia and has lots of lovely animals in her photostream. She took a photograph of an </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">enema poster. That's all I know. </span><br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kricket/4110300499/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kricket/4110300499/ </a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Does anyone remember The Nit Nurse? </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Old School Nurse is just two inches tall.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Barbara Hart from Buffalo, New York makes all sorts of unique and whimsical handmade wood dolls called Little Wood People. Though the Little Wood People are currently on a break, Barbara's shop is at </span><a href="http://www.littlewoodpeople.etsy.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.littlewoodpeople.etsy.com</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The children sitting on a bench are Ronald Ford (aged 7) and a friend, who await their turn with the nurse. They are about to be immunised against diphtheria at Argyle Street School Clinic in London on 7 May 1941. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diphtheria_Immunisation_Scheme,_London,_England,_1941_D3182.jpg?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diphtheria_Immunisation_Scheme,_London,_England,_1941_D3182.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Source <a href="http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//41/media-41489/large.jpg">http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//41/media-41489/large.jpg</a> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The strict-looking nurse who wants a cure for stupid, the nurse who's only in it for the drugs, and the little prick nurse are all from Fringepop, an etsy shop in Atlanta, Georgia. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fringepop">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fringepop</a> . It's full of 8x10 art prints including hipster, pin ups, zombies, steampunk, mermaids, witches, Edgar Allan Poe, Abraham Lincoln, cabinet cards, owls, taxidermy, flappers, octopus, fine art, lowbrow art, and surreal art. Fringepop also has a large selection of roller derby, horror goth, retro kitsch, and circus sideshow. They also love art deco, flapper, and art nouveau pinups and gorgeous deco mermaid art. They specialize in Victorian, medical, sideshow, and other oddity art along with many whimsical animals including squirrels, owls, deer, and ravens. As if this weren't enough, Fringepop loves macabre gothic themes such as skulls and anatomical art. Favorites also include funny designs with retro sayings and a kitsch quality. </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lana Searfross is a former nurse from Fort Wayne, Indiana. She loves making Instant Printables </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">for her etsy shop Lanasprintables at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LanasPrintables">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LanasPrintables</a> The shop </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">features, among other things, quotes for every occasion, monograms, wedding printables, nursery </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">and watercolor wall art and, yes, the print about nurses calling the shots. </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">People waiting on a bench to see the nurse is an image from page 135 of The Canadian Nurse (1905). Authors are Canadian Nurses' Association and the contributing library is the University of Ottawa. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14768261941/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14768261941/</a></span></div><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">A photo from August 23, 1956 shows nurses relaxing in a lounge by reading and drinking coffee. They are Nurse Corps at USNS Sangley Point Hospital, Philippine Islands and I reckon this might be the last time any nurse relaxed in the lounge. The photo is from the Flickr photostream of the US Navy's Bureau of Surgery and Medicine 2012 Navy Medicine </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Historical Files Collection - Facilities - Sangley Point </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/navymedicine/8144753582/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/navymedicine/8144753582/</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The two nurses on a bench are lay sisters from World War I. <span style="border: none; display: inline-block; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #513601;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><em>Soeurs laïques</em></span></span></span></span></span>were painted by <span style="color: #9b423e; font-size: 12pt;">Charles Henry Tenré (1864–1926) in about 1915, </span><span style="color: #513601; font-size: 13pt;">portraying an image of nurses as comforting beauty on the battlefield. The painting is exhibited at the US National Library of Medicine </span></span><a href="https://digitalgallery.nlm.nih.gov/gallery/picturesofnursing/browse/item/162/a/">https://digitalgallery.nlm.nih.gov/gallery/picturesofnursing/browse/item/162/a/</a></div><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>Lighting His Cigarette</i> is a collectible print from Beth, who does fun vintage advertisements and </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">magazine cover art. Her shop is full of retro reveries </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RetroReveries">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RetroReveries</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The 1943 US Navy nurse lighting a cigarette for her patient is by artist Jon Whitcomb and it </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">featured as the cover of the Saturday Evening Post magazine on </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">October 23, 1943. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In 2014 benches were donated to the AMISOM KDF Medical Center by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Kismayo, Somalia, for use by patients coming to the free clinic at Kismayo's International Airport. The two photos are by AMISOM Photo <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UNIDO_donates_benches_for_Amisom_KDF_Medical_center-7.jpg_(15772596165).jpg?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UNIDO_donates_benches_for_Amisom_KDF_Medical_center-7.jpg_(15772596165).jpg?uselang=en-gb</a> (men)</span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">and </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UNIDO_donates_benches_for_Amisom_KDF_Medical_center-6.jpg_(15748893556).jpg?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UNIDO_donates_benches_for_Amisom_KDF_Medical_center-6.jpg_(15748893556).jpg?uselang=en-gb</a> (women and children)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span>Nieuwjaarskinderen are the 11 babies born in New Year's Day in January 1933 in a hospital in Berlin. The photo is from the wonderful Netherlands National Archive Spaarnestad at </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/5680140682/in/photolist-9CYcat-9DTk5i-9DWcMW-9DTkax-7oyPYf-5VX9K6-5VX9cM-9DTk6K-5W2vdq-9CYcrZ-9DWcE3-9DWcH3-9byQQt-5VX9gR-81z7Ub-5uCq2j-9DTke2-5uy3vD-9DWcW3-9CYcnx-9DWcYy-5VXaYM-5VXaGa-5VXaLD-6Kv9uK">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/5680140682/in/photolist-9CYcat-9DTk5i-9DWcMW-9DTkax-7oyPYf-5VX9K6-5VX9cM-9DTk6K-5W2vdq-9CYcrZ-9DWcE3-9DWcH3-9byQQt-5VX9gR-81z7Ub-5uCq2j-9DTke2-5uy3vD-9DWcW3-9CYcnx-9DWcYy-5VXaYM-5VXaGa-5VXaLD-6Kv9uK</a></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>The Receiving Room</i> is art from 1917 in the first world war. It depicts three wounded or injured British soldiers waiting on a bench in the receiving room of the 42nd Stationary Milirary Hospital in France. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Receiving_Room-_the_42nd_Stationary_Hospital_Art.IWMART2952.jpg?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Receiving_Room-_the_42nd_Stationary_Hospital_Art.IWMART2952.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The source is <a href="http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//178/media-178237/large.jpg">http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//178/media-178237/large.jpg</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meghan Weber's cat is Nurse Keeny, wearing a costume her mother made for her dog. Meghan is a youngish lady who loves her cats. She loves other things too, but doesn't take so many pictures of them. Meghan's step-dad is a nurse so that's ok then. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wubomei/2090309044/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/wubomei/2090309044/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The puking pumpkin is by Mans Sanstrom, who is a software developer in Stockholm. Mans likes Halloween and it's from his 2009 Halloween album. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/manssandstrom/4044103672">https://www.flickr.com/photos/manssandstrom/4044103672</a>/ He also has a lot of lovely baby photos. If it's Halloween benches you're after, we have some <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/spine-tingling-benches-for-halloween.html">spine-tingling</a> ones here on Benchsite. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The three Clip Art nursing students are from </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #0000ee; font-size: x-small; text-decoration-line: underline;">http://cliparts.co/cliparts/ki8/nd8/ki8nd8XdT.png </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #0000ee; font-size: x-small; text-decoration-line: underline;"><u><br /></u></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Why is there no bench for Mary Mahoney? Born in 1845, Mary Mahoney was the first black woman to complete nurse's training in the United States. That was in 1879, just fourteen years after the Civil War; her parents were freed slaves from North Carolina. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Along with her nursing, Mary was one of the first women to register to vote in Boston following the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women's suffrage on August 26, 1920. Having spent four decades as a nurse, she died in 1926 and was inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame in 1976. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Eliza_Mahoney">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Eliza_Mahoney</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Male nurses are sometimes proud to be called Murses, but some men hate this term.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Noah is the oldest resident here on Paradise Island. I'm not sure he's going to make a very good nurse but he certainly did a good job saving our animal benches </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Dressing up as nurses is very popular apparently. These girls dressed up as nurses were photographed by Szater in 2007. The photo is in the public domain at <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nurse?uselang=en-gb#/media/File:Girls_dressed_up_as_nurses.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nurse?uselang=en-gb#/media/File:Girls_dressed_up_as_nurses.jpg</a></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The nurse zombie was photographed by James Jardine in 2010. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/theslap/4711974796/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/theslap/4711974796/</a> James has an album of Melbourne people, apart from the many zombies in his photostream. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I have resisted the temptation to say that transplant nurses can feel rejected. If you want to appreciate the complexity of transplant surgeries, here is <i>Abdominal Organ Retrieval and Transplantation Bench Surgery</i> by Gabriel Oniscu (Editor), John Forsythe (Editor), and John Fung (Editor). Published in 2013 by Wiley-Blackwell, it </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">covers all aspects of retrieval and bench surgery of the abdominal organs. Coverage includes organ retrieval logistics and organ preservation; retrieval and bench surgery of the kidney, liver, pancreas and intestine; in situ and ex situ liver splitting; multi-organ retrieval; paediatric age-specific aspects of retrieval and bench surgery. <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470657863.html">http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470657863.html</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Edith Cavell was born in Norfolk, England in 1865. She trained at the Royal London Hospital and worked as a matron at the Berkendael Medical Institute in Brussels, where she looked after and saved the lives of many WW1 soldiers, both Allied and German. In October 1915 she helped 200 Allied soldiers escape German-occupied Belgium, for which she was arrested and executed by a German firing squad in Brussels on October 12, 1915. Her memorial is near Trafalgar Square in London <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Cavell_Memorial">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Cavell_Memorial</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">A memorial bench for Edith Cavell is at St Edmunds Chapel, Cliff Parade in Hunstanton in Norfolk. <a href="https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/163812">https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/163812</a> The photo is by J. Websper, taken in 2013. In Jaspar National Park in Alberta, Canada there are some splendid benches on Pyramid Island, which look out to Mount Edith Cavell. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Jane Delano Memorial is a photo by Cliff, who writes: . . . the memorial pays homage to the founder of the Red Cross Nursing Service and to Red Cross nurses. By physician and sculptor, Tait McKenzie, the memorial honors the 296 nurses, including Delano, who gave their lives as the result of World War I. Sponsored by American nurses, it was dedicated in April 1933, making it the first sculpture to be placed on the grounds of Red Cross Square. A curved stone wall and continuous bench embrace this monumental bronze figure of a veiled and draped woman who reaches with outstretched arms to those in need. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/28567825@N03/3371384822">https://www.flickr.com/photos/28567825@N03/3371384822</a> The inscription, a verse from the 91st Psalm reads: <i>Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday</i>. <a href="http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/square.asp">http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/square.asp </a> </span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Mollie Spalding's memorial bench honours her work as a practice nurse at Mayfield Medical Centre in Torbay, Devon. She died in 2011. <a href="https://memorialbench.wordpress.com/page/19/">https://memorialbench.wordpress.com/page/19/ </a></span><a href="https://memorialbench.wordpress.com/page/19/"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">https://memorialbench.wordpress.com/page/19/</span></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">A carved marble bench outside the main entrance to Garden City Hospital in Michigan is a memorial to Doris Wilcox, who worked at the hospital for 45 years in the Emergency Room and in Community Education. Donated by Doris's three children, the bench has a scene of the Maine coast with a lighthouse and a photograph of Doris. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.gch.org/About-Us/GCH-in-the-Community/Memorial-Bench-Doris-Wilcox.aspx">http://www.gch.org/About-Us/GCH-in-the-Community/Memorial-Bench-Doris-Wilcox.aspx</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ron Evans, born in 1954, was working as a Mental Health Liaision nurse in Wales when he passed away in 2013. A Clinical Nurse Specialist at Morriston Hospital, his colleagues, friends and family raised money to purchase a memorial bench. <a href="http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/863/news/27659">http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/863/news/27659</a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The memorial plaque for Judy Soverel is on a bench on the second floor of the Martin Memorial Cancer Center in Stuart, Florida. Judy was an RN, OCN (Oncology Certified Nurse), 1949-2002. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The photo was put on Wikimedia in 2011 by Stephen B Calvert Clariosophic. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judy_Soverel_001.jpg?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judy_Soverel_001.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-23165980781526970072023-04-01T15:05:00.004-07:002023-04-04T09:13:49.984-07:00Sunny Bunny Easter Benches in the Year of the Rabbit<p><br /></p><p>Now THIS is the kind of picture we want for a Benchsite Easter.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4rZgemB07A8HsUD3wts7ovQg_560PzyLTu2Zn1rXNh_qvkNHuU63o4TbnSXWR6QggkBGbgaFpKGtvd_iS8yMSn8uaVDEwzgZjTIMXnhkad-euWTwnrQ1gLsok0Txve7fXbV-1ojgWXMTTiPs96sJQr-sFWG1KWHKnlYkJxtEQFi9EvejEW3MtLUqwAw/s960/FB_IMG_1680624389317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="736" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4rZgemB07A8HsUD3wts7ovQg_560PzyLTu2Zn1rXNh_qvkNHuU63o4TbnSXWR6QggkBGbgaFpKGtvd_iS8yMSn8uaVDEwzgZjTIMXnhkad-euWTwnrQ1gLsok0Txve7fXbV-1ojgWXMTTiPs96sJQr-sFWG1KWHKnlYkJxtEQFi9EvejEW3MtLUqwAw/w306-h400/FB_IMG_1680624389317.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Easter Eggs</i>, Pierre Outin (1840-1999)</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Not this kind of thing.</p><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9ok6YucQLKOt_p1h4ttndmVujSvX7wDPRfb_d67Kyxi1IsJ6sWs7pZ25jTM0_qAPAe0xS2VYPTBj0n8a3B-0zL6feSCGxw4jeg6sXT2p8a6FFJ_r6QXIKNVZgj5Dg09oLgGXSqVBhJAS/s861/D4ioqrkW0AAS0as.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="639" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9ok6YucQLKOt_p1h4ttndmVujSvX7wDPRfb_d67Kyxi1IsJ6sWs7pZ25jTM0_qAPAe0xS2VYPTBj0n8a3B-0zL6feSCGxw4jeg6sXT2p8a6FFJ_r6QXIKNVZgj5Dg09oLgGXSqVBhJAS/w298-h400/D4ioqrkW0AAS0as.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vintage photo, 1907</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div>It's Easter and our thoughts are turning to bunnies, especially as 2023 is The Year of the Rabbit. Here is April, age six, on a bright yellow bench, along with her parallel selves, May and June.</div><div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf839uRtlmdsAoK-NtjiqB9G8VY-CosizhyphenhyphenM0dcRga5VE6oimcgem24B5K1M77Ux1kys0JgOPzHQ3BrdfB5hY3f6ifxlU0emoFiushS8lF-vBX5dzKI_9hL-PDGegrn0sJr6aGWDF-Ga52/s1600/easter.bunny.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf839uRtlmdsAoK-NtjiqB9G8VY-CosizhyphenhyphenM0dcRga5VE6oimcgem24B5K1M77Ux1kys0JgOPzHQ3BrdfB5hY3f6ifxlU0emoFiushS8lF-vBX5dzKI_9hL-PDGegrn0sJr6aGWDF-Ga52/s1600/easter.bunny.JPG" width="308" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The three girls are thrilled to meet The Easter Bench Bunny. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He has brought along quite a few friends; you know how rabbit benches multiply.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here is a lovely straw bunny on his Easter bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLfp7ne1mWBD9Cmyul65SYXkmrdWUb_CvrwMlTtyYK18RQIa8KJ2zs0DxsU4Y_UDtFPNufk7w5KZXE1inWp78woyjpOL0G_4Wd0wNpfJ06A20GHoDnkdFbPhgEES-3u-t4zh1Ko0-1sUT/s1600/Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.wk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLfp7ne1mWBD9Cmyul65SYXkmrdWUb_CvrwMlTtyYK18RQIa8KJ2zs0DxsU4Y_UDtFPNufk7w5KZXE1inWp78woyjpOL0G_4Wd0wNpfJ06A20GHoDnkdFbPhgEES-3u-t4zh1Ko0-1sUT/s1600/Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.wk.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.JPG?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw</a><br /><div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">Those born in The Year of the Rabbit are, like rabbits, gentle, elegant, and alert. Milo has found this bench just a bit too small to meet her Easter needs. Where on earth is she going to put her chocolate bunnies? </span></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLunkzH92Ux2Sw1TOEJZjjDqTbM4ewLJed9IhyNX6UWuj_B2w4iThjqurNnDHlY3ufTcHKAWVwV64nmNMG0V1mZOZXa9DHwiHc7UY7U_FpWAsg_DspspSKvQq6tlAjgt9n4CmhHgZ4Nem/s1600/sara.fk.milo.benchtoosmallforme.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLunkzH92Ux2Sw1TOEJZjjDqTbM4ewLJed9IhyNX6UWuj_B2w4iThjqurNnDHlY3ufTcHKAWVwV64nmNMG0V1mZOZXa9DHwiHc7UY7U_FpWAsg_DspspSKvQq6tlAjgt9n4CmhHgZ4Nem/s1600/sara.fk.milo.benchtoosmallforme.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/milorabbit/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/milorabbit/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rabbits are wood, fire, earth, metal or water, and they all have different personality traits. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">These bunnies from Switzerland seem to have found a nice roomy bench of their own. They're Wood Rabbits, so perhaps a wee bit selfish. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8lGZLlxuFS0nPEHX8V6w0yetB2_5sUCwbvzCPhhAb20j1B1SZ12DCcKfPaFYTrdRfBE4r3T2Z8wisFJpBn5WLtLOwAnX7ikKrW5mKm17ii-64QaalVX9ilSzLwww4njs22DtKTprC7Vtv/s1600/boomerang.rabbits.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8lGZLlxuFS0nPEHX8V6w0yetB2_5sUCwbvzCPhhAb20j1B1SZ12DCcKfPaFYTrdRfBE4r3T2Z8wisFJpBn5WLtLOwAnX7ikKrW5mKm17ii-64QaalVX9ilSzLwww4njs22DtKTprC7Vtv/s1600/boomerang.rabbits.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And here's a lovely rabbit couple on their bench. She's wearing her Easter bonnet and her best green dress.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvnp-2EAwz8Gy7cMGPtPX6D5iRT6dIX-FfJbwsJwXDwx8Be8QQtqLCyfWXI17PqoVKadSOgIDmP1QftJJI6X-XWahWasBOcOQj89HMBwSHoEnAHYYvo1pdkTeCvDaSKdCZ2-56nerloFU4/s1600/clayworkshop.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvnp-2EAwz8Gy7cMGPtPX6D5iRT6dIX-FfJbwsJwXDwx8Be8QQtqLCyfWXI17PqoVKadSOgIDmP1QftJJI6X-XWahWasBOcOQj89HMBwSHoEnAHYYvo1pdkTeCvDaSKdCZ2-56nerloFU4/s1600/clayworkshop.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/clayworkshop/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/clayworkshop/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They're setting out with their shopping basket to get some Easter treats. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A carrot bench maybe?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37kuDh2bCi_wYYDR1xhPvROU8agoCNbk1ULA7saUehzqX1yAmameUvObNlI4Ukk7Fbf3N4AEKDFlBtzYTmu-rEW4eWsyvhZSYIlkEtaIMJyv4CSJmlmFtK5PKSJ3xRce1aGCo2xcQiuuk/s1600/KingKong911.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37kuDh2bCi_wYYDR1xhPvROU8agoCNbk1ULA7saUehzqX1yAmameUvObNlI4Ukk7Fbf3N4AEKDFlBtzYTmu-rEW4eWsyvhZSYIlkEtaIMJyv4CSJmlmFtK5PKSJ3xRce1aGCo2xcQiuuk/s1600/KingKong911.FK.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonypic/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonypic/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">April, May and June prefer cupcakes. Here they are hanging out at Miggy's <i>Make a Wish Cafe</i>. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiyovseJO2Z065ZGIUTt7mkPpCaLdP1IOAuqCLyvELWzK2V3Ei4gVFxeXuebWns9KuGC51iL3SXOX0Ze2Fc9d81zItIQcqXN0foAHMrBeb69KGaJDW45EibIKtxQqLclWvWzr23TThxuC5/s1600/girls.door.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiyovseJO2Z065ZGIUTt7mkPpCaLdP1IOAuqCLyvELWzK2V3Ei4gVFxeXuebWns9KuGC51iL3SXOX0Ze2Fc9d81zItIQcqXN0foAHMrBeb69KGaJDW45EibIKtxQqLclWvWzr23TThxuC5/s1600/girls.door.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whos-who-in-fribble-under-par.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whos-who-in-fribble-under-par.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">As you can see from the door, the word 'cafe' isn't very accurate since mainly Miggy's <i>Make a Wish</i> is about cake.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I explain to the girls that cake is no treat for rabbits; rabbits prefer carrots.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcu8H_2ZpZEBGHSR6kuTQbCNfQATnx1EEdbipEq9U3R7bJyX3Nv5A0HtcxcFE_SpSveDhWraBpjJpDK44K31BMz8jEbeA9-VSGIdovBTg2BFYe-RH5GYxUZkK5Uirz-KGJE1pEOhWWIHC/s1600/easter+honey+bch.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcu8H_2ZpZEBGHSR6kuTQbCNfQATnx1EEdbipEq9U3R7bJyX3Nv5A0HtcxcFE_SpSveDhWraBpjJpDK44K31BMz8jEbeA9-VSGIdovBTg2BFYe-RH5GYxUZkK5Uirz-KGJE1pEOhWWIHC/s1600/easter+honey+bch.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/5644086363/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/5644086363/</span></a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">April is saying there is something odd about this rabbit. Her ears are rather too pink.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And this one is purple. Which is just as well, because pink and purple are Lucky Colours this year. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdAOWEb6Tjih8OAHqZHz5C6MN5_vvAR6hkAl0bxFK2hdNkOFkL80O7q0xdXMwIGRpuZvA2xsJWwWZPi-HvBq03cij6aJQrMoTxmEtdzdebYAPFsN5N81Ojv4Oz12tJuaFiqkID0mr6NDNX/s1600/easter+heidi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdAOWEb6Tjih8OAHqZHz5C6MN5_vvAR6hkAl0bxFK2hdNkOFkL80O7q0xdXMwIGRpuZvA2xsJWwWZPi-HvBq03cij6aJQrMoTxmEtdzdebYAPFsN5N81Ojv4Oz12tJuaFiqkID0mr6NDNX/s1600/easter+heidi.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/120929906/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/120929906/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This one too seems a little unusual. Do many rabbits wear sunglasses?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Indeed it seems they do.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3ZtC7LGYsDABCiGbCQ6xgnyepVJ48wb3Ax0CxuT6FewfBxoKPi_QC6-19YDgB8g1RgdSzEJ9hdKqtKHBIK4gZPsBk5ZCIUIJ6W6A9H96zvvx24YZuxS0JenDHz5js3_OpUaYBTANfSty/s1600/marc.murk.fkcc149780825_683636eda1_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3ZtC7LGYsDABCiGbCQ6xgnyepVJ48wb3Ax0CxuT6FewfBxoKPi_QC6-19YDgB8g1RgdSzEJ9hdKqtKHBIK4gZPsBk5ZCIUIJ6W6A9H96zvvx24YZuxS0JenDHz5js3_OpUaYBTANfSty/s320/marc.murk.fkcc149780825_683636eda1_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/murk/149780825/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/murk/149780825/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64VweQNU_ybHF3GrAkY0thOTP21sxRroJwTPEh-R3jxGRtub-5xsfrOjSP58BhOMGnPBecSGEFGcS6WL6OLHLUpROqlOW2VGqHPCTM6idIZSqHMTUPvuOV8Ska7Vd312odrG9RTECfrxX/s1600/Easter_riley.wk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64VweQNU_ybHF3GrAkY0thOTP21sxRroJwTPEh-R3jxGRtub-5xsfrOjSP58BhOMGnPBecSGEFGcS6WL6OLHLUpROqlOW2VGqHPCTM6idIZSqHMTUPvuOV8Ska7Vd312odrG9RTECfrxX/s1600/Easter_riley.wk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_riley_006_%28Medium%29.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_riley</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">May is pointing out that this little white rabbit isn't on a bench. And in fact the rabbit with the pink ears isn't on a bench either.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">June is saying she thought this was meant to be a blog about benches. Rabbits, yes, but benches. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">She wants to know where the rabbit benches are. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Perhaps we can find some.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcbvzjYvdIMxvra2parmRdXVcKOmlxyFvLIHSOWWKeLRL1YVp5RxZtrb35_DN-C4uVCBHzr5pe_2cgyMdZPX7UicrTR0Eey8ROhslqrvh9sySWBR1cXkXX5ZbjtTQbAY_sAM2zmXek7El6/s1600/deepwarren.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcbvzjYvdIMxvra2parmRdXVcKOmlxyFvLIHSOWWKeLRL1YVp5RxZtrb35_DN-C4uVCBHzr5pe_2cgyMdZPX7UicrTR0Eey8ROhslqrvh9sySWBR1cXkXX5ZbjtTQbAY_sAM2zmXek7El6/s1600/deepwarren.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fuzzhead/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/fuzzhead/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, there is no shortage of rabbit benches, that's for sure. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a lovely bunny under a bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuHrmt1f1pJmpWDaE9pq5ztxSTlArGvVP3GQqsdAIB832pQepxKvy2MohFSzoNQHPcjKOjKZdVHSBvmvuJElUyufgAeZdyzf-BObGcuAL4V3-KVaf7MQFk2uD30AYPk8in1UIz3N8qkiFs/s1600/Big.Penguin.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuHrmt1f1pJmpWDaE9pq5ztxSTlArGvVP3GQqsdAIB832pQepxKvy2MohFSzoNQHPcjKOjKZdVHSBvmvuJElUyufgAeZdyzf-BObGcuAL4V3-KVaf7MQFk2uD30AYPk8in1UIz3N8qkiFs/s1600/Big.Penguin.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/7523456@N06/437259241/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/7523456@N06/437259241/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And here's a romantic bunny couple who have come prepared for rain.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqns2-AmAg3DU4ca76W0dfPwBMdDc_x_8iPI040nDr0dFX9xaxrtR9I56T-YItiUQN0VnvBJVOMAk80Yn0DfslHofonPEVRil5-daVQSVVVzW6LkJj6nkxQA2iKwj4axj-IGMm0nGCOX0/s1600/bunny+lovers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqns2-AmAg3DU4ca76W0dfPwBMdDc_x_8iPI040nDr0dFX9xaxrtR9I56T-YItiUQN0VnvBJVOMAk80Yn0DfslHofonPEVRil5-daVQSVVVzW6LkJj6nkxQA2iKwj4axj-IGMm0nGCOX0/s1600/bunny+lovers.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span><a href="http://www.spi-home.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">www.spi-home.com</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Years pass and the couple get older and not quite so loved up. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6rxx-2Vxs5iU1VrmEV2Wmtf-A0wCW7AiegSJLPo_ZZb6mV2shYwy0yD8nsvojkBVjDSu7IgcYNFXdN9z84XkUG3BYML8MkduRMUHaCSRKesnB4CuHw1H234T_GwOfzY5uwjcMZUXIPHF/s1600/happycat.gaby.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6rxx-2Vxs5iU1VrmEV2Wmtf-A0wCW7AiegSJLPo_ZZb6mV2shYwy0yD8nsvojkBVjDSu7IgcYNFXdN9z84XkUG3BYML8MkduRMUHaCSRKesnB4CuHw1H234T_GwOfzY5uwjcMZUXIPHF/s1600/happycat.gaby.FK.jpg" width="274" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/happycat/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/happycat/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The girls are protesting loudly now. They demand to see some rabbit benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">April: Not rabbits <i>on</i> a bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: lime;">May: Not rabbits <i>under</i> a bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #8e7cc3;">June: An <i>actual</i> rabbit bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #8e7cc3;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Personally, I think this is just splitting <strike>hares</strike>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #8e7cc3;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkuxoBSeN_ERxtqs9WBltFfmPT2EZ7AGV-U93FV2vQE3pz26kNpZhYpbzBSymwdY3GAiDqR_xIFxQVengrBjiquEl3ngjB_kuYUAn1qAQARPey8xSXdvk5PKgMUq8hkV1MMFPnDCxU4Z-/s1600/paul+sivell+Hare+Bench+007.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkuxoBSeN_ERxtqs9WBltFfmPT2EZ7AGV-U93FV2vQE3pz26kNpZhYpbzBSymwdY3GAiDqR_xIFxQVengrBjiquEl3ngjB_kuYUAn1qAQARPey8xSXdvk5PKgMUq8hkV1MMFPnDCxU4Z-/s1600/paul+sivell+Hare+Bench+007.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.thecarvedtree.com/">www.thecarvedtree.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Did you know that in the past the British hare was <i>the animal that all men scorn</i>? Even saying its name was considered unlucky, which is why there are so many other names for it: <i>dew-beater, grass nibbler, fast traveller, stag of the cabbages</i>. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">April: I didn't know that.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: lime;">May: Me neither.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: purple;">June: We don't want hares. We want <i>rabbits</i>!</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">OK, fair enough, girls. I'll hold up my side of the bargain and show you some rabbit benches.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqflvWwxGWcaNthhuIoSUkFAp0vFhH6NKOE8wIVorW0H-ifPdo9kKqXxhJyoMEYDc3dCmhZTmiBgIWGkKiiHeJyVzWh51N0jArf3BPFCIqAIEkAVevA3T2MUKldbxbAAYehXf5LJptrrI/s1600/axoplasm.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqflvWwxGWcaNthhuIoSUkFAp0vFhH6NKOE8wIVorW0H-ifPdo9kKqXxhJyoMEYDc3dCmhZTmiBgIWGkKiiHeJyVzWh51N0jArf3BPFCIqAIEkAVevA3T2MUKldbxbAAYehXf5LJptrrI/s1600/axoplasm.fkcc.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/axoplasm/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/axoplasm/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">April thinks this bench might be too heavy for this little rabbit. She thinks this bench is rather cruel.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So here's a big strong concrete rabbit. He's a bench that can take plenty of weight. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTV7Q8TKQQGuLLavPSGjqi33lqi-HjfuD_vwVS_Ti0WiIppWQv44ObTAevyaq_vMB5f2Hn68YB-5ZdamkTdZ4E0g3TIgYq154zh1FyIAh-UZNoc4VvpJJ0goWqp09Nr0n5pSMF93nJa2Z/s1600/armadilo60.eric.frommer.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTV7Q8TKQQGuLLavPSGjqi33lqi-HjfuD_vwVS_Ti0WiIppWQv44ObTAevyaq_vMB5f2Hn68YB-5ZdamkTdZ4E0g3TIgYq154zh1FyIAh-UZNoc4VvpJJ0goWqp09Nr0n5pSMF93nJa2Z/s1600/armadilo60.eric.frommer.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadilo60/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadilo60/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And here's a beautiful rabbit bench sculpted from stone. No problems there.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgraVRvhIGHrwDJeilpsww-Q2h-818SIz5TdJB0BhnE1rGmkzCBEOAsjCDm_9RKJCb2LdAbJG4d3NA138Fxhoqs4nIepNMgyEfbPlkYWxy5Of1kak44Pc5jmhoFZam0bT9iIXW7BausE-rV/s1600/georgia.gerber.Rabbit-Bench-web.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgraVRvhIGHrwDJeilpsww-Q2h-818SIz5TdJB0BhnE1rGmkzCBEOAsjCDm_9RKJCb2LdAbJG4d3NA138Fxhoqs4nIepNMgyEfbPlkYWxy5Of1kak44Pc5jmhoFZam0bT9iIXW7BausE-rV/s1600/georgia.gerber.Rabbit-Bench-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.georgiagerber.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.georgiagerber.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">People born in the Year of the Rabbit don't tend to take on heavy jobs though. The best jobs for Rabbits are gardeners, teacher, priest, musician, artist or architect. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm rabbiting on here. But of course Easter isn't just about fluffy bunnies and pretty decorations.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's about the Easter story . . . </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkCIk3ALl1swmzvSOuG65y8svsj2brZ6ITXnBM3W8rmBh9X-PsWTFu30bZvQ6pl4b1xXpeZ7kmUN6ZH2cNy2GRoSYs-sSxH0idqI_SDtoyEthF_I3_-SujqxDcWOubFabcj-WhFDX43G9/s1600/Easter_church_-_geograph_org_uk.+Carol.Walker.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkCIk3ALl1swmzvSOuG65y8svsj2brZ6ITXnBM3W8rmBh9X-PsWTFu30bZvQ6pl4b1xXpeZ7kmUN6ZH2cNy2GRoSYs-sSxH0idqI_SDtoyEthF_I3_-SujqxDcWOubFabcj-WhFDX43G9/s1600/Easter_church_-_geograph_org_uk.+Carol.Walker.WK.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">©Carol Walker @ </span><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_church_-_geograph.org.uk_-_816791.jpg?uselang=en-gb">geograph.org.uk</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and fresh starts . . .</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiisfGFCqYCUh2llTyf8frzJgV05BMGTAZsux4bHoPg7XMRDS-XftLJzLAICmj-ZMKZmfQVYflxOgY7nX8DsA3FDQF0-rFuNNhfzSWL32BU2-jW9qN2UMU9QkOwTcO30bTngrmib9DHfgjY/s1600/severines.attic.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiisfGFCqYCUh2llTyf8frzJgV05BMGTAZsux4bHoPg7XMRDS-XftLJzLAICmj-ZMKZmfQVYflxOgY7nX8DsA3FDQF0-rFuNNhfzSWL32BU2-jW9qN2UMU9QkOwTcO30bTngrmib9DHfgjY/s1600/severines.attic.etsy.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/severinesattic">www.etsy.com/shop/severinesattic</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. . . and giving up things for Lent.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQSsEy3jGb9eD0ZJN2BXUmopnjRhS55hHl9bsh20tkks3X_QsgRJ2I9-dXWdlJitAKRZ580gejSWbNqE6q39H2GEr_4knCxlDIdY8ErQb1AbAQKRz9lxzI-P7DyQJ0dpED04ao_0CCo7o/s1600/JDGordon.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQSsEy3jGb9eD0ZJN2BXUmopnjRhS55hHl9bsh20tkks3X_QsgRJ2I9-dXWdlJitAKRZ580gejSWbNqE6q39H2GEr_4knCxlDIdY8ErQb1AbAQKRz9lxzI-P7DyQJ0dpED04ao_0CCo7o/s1600/JDGordon.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/23235029@N02/2994696729/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/23235029@N02/2994696729/</a> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, April, I've noticed that this Easter bunny is smoking. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, May, I don't think we ought to chase him off the bench.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmUmBkUUTUt2rcXh6h3mQFPNsRXSCudzZ1f8_YWaR0BaFQezQAVNsB7-0de5MFJ2jdbYlbNCojN3Txznt9Lsy68B306TXMi19y8PMMW3VzHf57LcIUtTFA4TWDaZEEcxJGkD47IeuHw8F/s1600/peter27.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmUmBkUUTUt2rcXh6h3mQFPNsRXSCudzZ1f8_YWaR0BaFQezQAVNsB7-0de5MFJ2jdbYlbNCojN3Txznt9Lsy68B306TXMi19y8PMMW3VzHf57LcIUtTFA4TWDaZEEcxJGkD47IeuHw8F/s1600/peter27.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14838/14838-h/14838-h.htm">http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14838/14838-h/14838-h.htm</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What with the benches and the Chinese New Year and all the rabbits, the girls are getting just a tiny bit restless now. They need a cupcake break.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyE_OMwqei8hmADBeShFomLo-xl7a52RdZCimm2Ywb5FtmVM9iMmhI7n8YzfcOetlhrwGLe7CQgXOSRV8D-I2OuxOkoZfq7vfCc0BWrxPQfRxCqR5YVASkRzqtAiae6RmIon1lKPQkUFEb/s1600/Joana.Petrova.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyE_OMwqei8hmADBeShFomLo-xl7a52RdZCimm2Ywb5FtmVM9iMmhI7n8YzfcOetlhrwGLe7CQgXOSRV8D-I2OuxOkoZfq7vfCc0BWrxPQfRxCqR5YVASkRzqtAiae6RmIon1lKPQkUFEb/s1600/Joana.Petrova.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhard/5653930960/%20" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhard/5653930960/ </a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BRaKDb9FNZXVIx6anu1FwUGorK7DyuNVILvePQV-BK2gBtqTHd-RHsVLPAhrAsXR_Pr3ARqWUlmUZ5-xGiRmJBPncwevVoLH49UTJOZ9PTPBeqpCghTUmZyjs1U7CE2KvaV5A__apmM7/s1600/Joana.Petrova2.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BRaKDb9FNZXVIx6anu1FwUGorK7DyuNVILvePQV-BK2gBtqTHd-RHsVLPAhrAsXR_Pr3ARqWUlmUZ5-xGiRmJBPncwevVoLH49UTJOZ9PTPBeqpCghTUmZyjs1U7CE2KvaV5A__apmM7/s1600/Joana.Petrova2.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhard/5653930960/%20" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhard/5653930960/ </a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or how about a white chocolate bunny bench?</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_oRTBs1q1hykoNci01W6SxwBgcibdQ5OE5E423m5mCmcmX0bJUk0EiYqfRQP43Xyj6-kj_br7S7roqKHybQ4dR4sL6gCqkHtsUs8wD92HYVSpOH64CBSASFTm4He2J1_cYtA_kIE-FSa/s1600/Patrick.Scholl.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_oRTBs1q1hykoNci01W6SxwBgcibdQ5OE5E423m5mCmcmX0bJUk0EiYqfRQP43Xyj6-kj_br7S7roqKHybQ4dR4sL6gCqkHtsUs8wD92HYVSpOH64CBSASFTm4He2J1_cYtA_kIE-FSa/s1600/Patrick.Scholl.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickscholl/8604617848/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickscholl/8604617848/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">June says she doesn't like the snow in this one. No bunny should have to sit out on a snowy bench. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, ok. How about a nice warm rabbit-log fire?</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDGAbEIoPYKmb8EFKrJzknpvMA6GgUAhykRG2Fqt2lXDyCofqWIhO-jC24lZ8vcG8WKnkbdgOyrjPErU5GiG6LUvHEfNL52sRzvxTYh0HQPJyUYqPOoZG_AZoGfwlfWGRbbDzOUalgAewS/s1600/log.bunnies.Linda.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDGAbEIoPYKmb8EFKrJzknpvMA6GgUAhykRG2Fqt2lXDyCofqWIhO-jC24lZ8vcG8WKnkbdgOyrjPErU5GiG6LUvHEfNL52sRzvxTYh0HQPJyUYqPOoZG_AZoGfwlfWGRbbDzOUalgAewS/s1600/log.bunnies.Linda.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulri/5612926233/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulri/5612926233/</span></a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The girls are in tears at the thought that these lovely log bunnies would get burned up. Sorry, girls. Sorry. I wasn't thinking. Of course we won't burn the log bunnies. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gosh, I'm walking on eggshells here. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And speaking of eggs, here are some lovely Ostern eggs from Germany. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw4mjuf0EbS_kadx-ZzQ4NghBruaOCjwkbMzM_LVq0gZfOa8hWPOKeBYC5Qrk0fbDT6Br_k_WghHrhtGiIC3H57psKBTqBxaaGEkkZbakhzdAOnJI3RwOU3GzuUxkbuIV5IrVQ0t49hzjy/s1600/Linda's+eggs.+FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw4mjuf0EbS_kadx-ZzQ4NghBruaOCjwkbMzM_LVq0gZfOa8hWPOKeBYC5Qrk0fbDT6Br_k_WghHrhtGiIC3H57psKBTqBxaaGEkkZbakhzdAOnJI3RwOU3GzuUxkbuIV5IrVQ0t49hzjy/s1600/Linda's+eggs.+FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulri/5614287830/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulri/5614287830/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The girls are squealing with delight at the beautiful eggs. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Me too. There's something so nice about painting Easter eggs.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrNs4NsIo4KBSolNc5a7KCJpHG0IOvggDT-_x0fX6JpgxE5q3GjHZqDffwe6peUEWnImPtin8VIHdFiY8Kd4LF27FXfkLsn1szCA5aJLBAijo4UzpwEuRcFaa7PiCWQoz6k_AIUKyIELA5/s1600/Painting_Easter_Eggs2000.black.milly.wk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrNs4NsIo4KBSolNc5a7KCJpHG0IOvggDT-_x0fX6JpgxE5q3GjHZqDffwe6peUEWnImPtin8VIHdFiY8Kd4LF27FXfkLsn1szCA5aJLBAijo4UzpwEuRcFaa7PiCWQoz6k_AIUKyIELA5/s1600/Painting_Easter_Eggs2000.black.milly.wk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Painting_Easter_Eggs.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Painting_Easter_Eggs</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rabbits love them. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1x4f4YJJeNuuaIwH7SLEt_rXRZdOms7_Q0d6XjpFK7HipCf6Fe64vQ5Poxej6SU_pIB11CPWKhwV9Kc39DKCnp45Q5V1GTsv_BDuQdijIAaHdEgfd4pEnqq5oEO1Wu0xpyhA2dHZfWLkz/s1600/victorian1920.2.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1x4f4YJJeNuuaIwH7SLEt_rXRZdOms7_Q0d6XjpFK7HipCf6Fe64vQ5Poxej6SU_pIB11CPWKhwV9Kc39DKCnp45Q5V1GTsv_BDuQdijIAaHdEgfd4pEnqq5oEO1Wu0xpyhA2dHZfWLkz/s1600/victorian1920.2.etsy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But April is saying we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9_YYYg54DXCqx6MIEgb2OagpBilm4Bwsk6kzG5-U_wHhfG_un6aO7XLfb0M4Ci8njGuBzPT2KuQPxf0uZWq4cgaW_cuQ7llwCj6tRCphIKxN33iBIVw_IYJJHPPBCVamv4v1ELoIJjhoZ/s1600/Jessie.Pearl.2007.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9_YYYg54DXCqx6MIEgb2OagpBilm4Bwsk6kzG5-U_wHhfG_un6aO7XLfb0M4Ci8njGuBzPT2KuQPxf0uZWq4cgaW_cuQ7llwCj6tRCphIKxN33iBIVw_IYJJHPPBCVamv4v1ELoIJjhoZ/s1600/Jessie.Pearl.2007.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/terwilliger911/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/terwilliger911/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">She thinks we ought to look at some other benches associated with Easter. A sweet little chick maybe?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8mhPClbo7pYMXjjZZF3F6QHc4uhBgLbYuAETkySZ_vqx1Iht4TAtEBk27CAja1EQXvAgKpO18IbeFHyykucyuoxp7fG44_ntwiRn1yDiWTMrhhr8S9d1Dx-p5qTnA6DOtWUtwB2SBkttAT__P_IS3jzPmiwE8tnWGOc1vnS-C1pvOZyMPypXU0AP6EA=s654" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="460" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8mhPClbo7pYMXjjZZF3F6QHc4uhBgLbYuAETkySZ_vqx1Iht4TAtEBk27CAja1EQXvAgKpO18IbeFHyykucyuoxp7fG44_ntwiRn1yDiWTMrhhr8S9d1Dx-p5qTnA6DOtWUtwB2SBkttAT__P_IS3jzPmiwE8tnWGOc1vnS-C1pvOZyMPypXU0AP6EA=w281-h400" width="281" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Costume-works.com</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a lovely crocheted chuk family on their very own bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2HXeAW5lPnI7YCjBqIfKyMi1OeO9o6QhnMQImrqoFYpavEmiPaQgyd7u1ytx6cPPZAEE7pk0iGIR4elAChbSvIoGqcE7qCzerAfUkxbEv_Fv47vx7Qt_I-cHuQdpFswTRJQdxwyIXcJLE/s1600/chuk.chuks.israel.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2HXeAW5lPnI7YCjBqIfKyMi1OeO9o6QhnMQImrqoFYpavEmiPaQgyd7u1ytx6cPPZAEE7pk0iGIR4elAChbSvIoGqcE7qCzerAfUkxbEv_Fv47vx7Qt_I-cHuQdpFswTRJQdxwyIXcJLE/s1600/chuk.chuks.israel.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ChukChuks" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ChukChuks</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">April is saying she'd like to see some chicken benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: lime;">May: Not just chickens <i>on</i> benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">June: Actual <i>chicken</i> benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, sorry, girls, but </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">chicken benches aren't as plentiful as rabbit benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I only found two. This one:</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZfQF0toP_oOQpmn9uD2XZJP-iBIl6HRi4DeT__su4w1VKm2XYjjJ9mrzUCSqCfZrpLqLvyfRkn5t7IR_rgCjYYPLslvS4LLFwDTT067iLmQcPVzNVLw9TtnVet1eIWPu5fCzdaCMi_op/s1600/bessescape.com._Chicken%2520_Bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZfQF0toP_oOQpmn9uD2XZJP-iBIl6HRi4DeT__su4w1VKm2XYjjJ9mrzUCSqCfZrpLqLvyfRkn5t7IR_rgCjYYPLslvS4LLFwDTT067iLmQcPVzNVLw9TtnVet1eIWPu5fCzdaCMi_op/s1600/bessescape.com._Chicken%2520_Bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://belleescape.com/painted-country-rooster-hen-bench.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.bellesscape.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And this one:</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVDqrifBF2sCKmNgIE9hFBfAAngH-2G-uBXmVg5qovo7lGmIyzKMyg9z0wStoBZ3lMtICPbSfYVi09mLRseJjfEAXkN4FgEb3b6XUJ2rccwKZxuE2BUXYov2Dk0ywIPDq8qm-q-iZ0O0z/s1600/Jimmy.Emerson.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVDqrifBF2sCKmNgIE9hFBfAAngH-2G-uBXmVg5qovo7lGmIyzKMyg9z0wStoBZ3lMtICPbSfYVi09mLRseJjfEAXkN4FgEb3b6XUJ2rccwKZxuE2BUXYov2Dk0ywIPDq8qm-q-iZ0O0z/s1600/Jimmy.Emerson.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/5094669843/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/5094669843/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, you're right, June; this is Colonel Sanders. He's much associated with chickens, but maybe not for all the right reasons.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The girls are hopping mad. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sorry. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I shouldn't have put The Colonel here. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I thought you might like the <strike>yolk </strike></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2l0OIotJ8dQrnBngVDVHozVa64pcbcKh4k3yUTDPh0UShQYzZbPHuAZR-jJ_099Eg857I4ZM_zOpCSw3cXmu8aUpg6ERQRIZunYyFK87ftLf37VaFwsYYj-ZUFkCHkrNU8kz7XJXFtads/s1600/jpt11.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2l0OIotJ8dQrnBngVDVHozVa64pcbcKh4k3yUTDPh0UShQYzZbPHuAZR-jJ_099Eg857I4ZM_zOpCSw3cXmu8aUpg6ERQRIZunYyFK87ftLf37VaFwsYYj-ZUFkCHkrNU8kz7XJXFtads/s1600/jpt11.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/26615859@N05/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/26615859@N05/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm a bad egg.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUK2uxSaBaBCYMmat2sNqVBx8WMucWyoJjC4n3HpZR3oBpAWROZxAXGdukro6DWT9GKHuuMDnL0PjLmA4kz44oVKLIuWd64aw6g4iMaY3PTuYP72JrHNw0_MYTG4LNYW_rH7wLcA3jmCUI/s1600/BadEgg.RonMcNeilFK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUK2uxSaBaBCYMmat2sNqVBx8WMucWyoJjC4n3HpZR3oBpAWROZxAXGdukro6DWT9GKHuuMDnL0PjLmA4kz44oVKLIuWd64aw6g4iMaY3PTuYP72JrHNw0_MYTG4LNYW_rH7wLcA3jmCUI/s1600/BadEgg.RonMcNeilFK.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/63488526@N07/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/63488526@N07/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Like Humpty Dumpty, I'm heading for a fall.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikmFXJpqrmqqW4q7om6XtAtsYuR9E4w0S_zLpA7jiCLBrusgpSXiWnjZaHJuh1WCE3PFhlox2Z2U7HEUC30hl7DVj30ox4qrHvOh4jdcIfJHcl4qzPYc10EuXE8p63KbQiLEFZr4jxsEgP/s916/FB_IMG_1616681220046.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="687" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikmFXJpqrmqqW4q7om6XtAtsYuR9E4w0S_zLpA7jiCLBrusgpSXiWnjZaHJuh1WCE3PFhlox2Z2U7HEUC30hl7DVj30ox4qrHvOh4jdcIfJHcl4qzPYc10EuXE8p63KbQiLEFZr4jxsEgP/w300-h400/FB_IMG_1616681220046.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Year of the Rabbit is one of those years which is inauspicious in aspects of health and safety. I need to be more careful.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But wait a minute, I've hatched a plan!</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVUjMhymkMyml0ulCa1rbvvbmdzNvAQhEG5FjQ3aU69Dw12lTxulLqpv7GopMlrlDvprGKc5ROpgD7YyyePr_D2BGNTBL9MHPMPP8zEc442vlSdYeNYjxg_9bfNrEJgQjHpyR50mkxvlum/s2048/FB_IMG_1616681788066.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1691" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVUjMhymkMyml0ulCa1rbvvbmdzNvAQhEG5FjQ3aU69Dw12lTxulLqpv7GopMlrlDvprGKc5ROpgD7YyyePr_D2BGNTBL9MHPMPP8zEc442vlSdYeNYjxg_9bfNrEJgQjHpyR50mkxvlum/w330-h400/FB_IMG_1616681788066.jpg" width="330" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div>The girls are saying this is seriously creepy. </div><div><br /></div><div>Why don't we forget about The Year of the Rabbit and start again with spring lambs?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4m4y-nbpmeQsR-ifd8GU7Njf_TtFOBWyThky7f_7RxbYwSXgCkicWfW88RV4RWUD05APFsUiSf04I30L1OlcwHp-CHLLxhJdaqna5Sx7nf0McfqGB1canraW6Tw1Pl2lXKRIXoesS05AJ/s5312/20200511_164146.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5312" data-original-width="2988" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4m4y-nbpmeQsR-ifd8GU7Njf_TtFOBWyThky7f_7RxbYwSXgCkicWfW88RV4RWUD05APFsUiSf04I30L1OlcwHp-CHLLxhJdaqna5Sx7nf0McfqGB1canraW6Tw1Pl2lXKRIXoesS05AJ/w225-h400/20200511_164146.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div>No, not Larry the White Chocolate Lamb. </div><div><br /></div><div>REAL lambs. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9vgdZUhAOmfaN4xozlLZv7NlevQu81xZUR8s596B9m7g7Sdaik_zFS8vcPMFa5Guyrhec4k6Yi3yJ-fzMyqUtBh3oNPyR4sWhV2HS3Xqdqv7fqxmCOEQ-Qmnznva8CJMjvZUMgX_DBHc/s1600/Scorpions&centaurs.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9vgdZUhAOmfaN4xozlLZv7NlevQu81xZUR8s596B9m7g7Sdaik_zFS8vcPMFa5Guyrhec4k6Yi3yJ-fzMyqUtBh3oNPyR4sWhV2HS3Xqdqv7fqxmCOEQ-Qmnznva8CJMjvZUMgX_DBHc/s1600/Scorpions&centaurs.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sshb/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/sshb/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />The girls don't trust me now; they think they might get fleeced. </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGvasVoSIsyZjPw8w9ETu_8h9M_xC9iPutWHR-7lvfvYqtQsKI_i-rHkl1REhjCSo3anWRuSb_noqcTl7X5TcHdZofhgo2AuEwGBg_QzkXSnp0T0tKhdtg35X4frpyyL1svWvAK09gAWK38YOD9Bztta0UtPRmlO-BrDv4cU4KQ7BKj_x_ecQ3EurjFQ/s1746/sheep%20B.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1319" data-original-width="1746" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGvasVoSIsyZjPw8w9ETu_8h9M_xC9iPutWHR-7lvfvYqtQsKI_i-rHkl1REhjCSo3anWRuSb_noqcTl7X5TcHdZofhgo2AuEwGBg_QzkXSnp0T0tKhdtg35X4frpyyL1svWvAK09gAWK38YOD9Bztta0UtPRmlO-BrDv4cU4KQ7BKj_x_ecQ3EurjFQ/s320/sheep%20B.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miggy's niece Lettie is no stranger to ovines. She has already done a whole blog about <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">baaaad sheep benches</a> for me. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4bZSmIgK8i9nk8bl_v0AOJ3USJ-fwtqdcIqwX-NNmOtgrxIdqelaDduZW5_6lnVpxiAsWvoZ8zq6jyDVrt1LdkLrXJp5TDJ41UJsaEGxbnrn7WwqRXZ5-pqM6HB2HTpzrb2X7Er0RPPp/s1600/amber+sheep.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4bZSmIgK8i9nk8bl_v0AOJ3USJ-fwtqdcIqwX-NNmOtgrxIdqelaDduZW5_6lnVpxiAsWvoZ8zq6jyDVrt1LdkLrXJp5TDJ41UJsaEGxbnrn7WwqRXZ5-pqM6HB2HTpzrb2X7Er0RPPp/s1600/amber+sheep.jpg" width="199" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, you're right, girls. Lamb is not just for Easter.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2l_2ACMZyaXvLlIzaHccZmYCv7ntJ9gExGNqYGyNbu1vqO21AUWOG-h1FvUAVuKJVGuqR80Wy0ycpu9lgzrwNOLiAvCI3nSHG5Ax9LngPd9-I6DwEDdA3edpx-LpJpv4MktkmLn1TvhNz/s1600/kennymatic.fkcc.kenny.louie.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2l_2ACMZyaXvLlIzaHccZmYCv7ntJ9gExGNqYGyNbu1vqO21AUWOG-h1FvUAVuKJVGuqR80Wy0ycpu9lgzrwNOLiAvCI3nSHG5Ax9LngPd9-I6DwEDdA3edpx-LpJpv4MktkmLn1TvhNz/s1600/kennymatic.fkcc.kenny.louie.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kwl/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kwl/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Keeping well away from the subject of m-e-a-t, let's look at some Easter ducks. Here's Donald on a bench in Helsinki.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4b2IQHBMSBxbznCBQigFdFiOgFojLDoLThIonB_kPtoz3-wPohJjyqJuCITNKtWL4ZBL8h3HIn2ZZlvtXgE-Pv5-Ts6hmoP_1-XPoyWI_tAgVFDhDkb9MVC4Nxq9x-ISteMBknF0Rc9HF/s1600/Pekka.Nikrus.Helsinki.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4b2IQHBMSBxbznCBQigFdFiOgFojLDoLThIonB_kPtoz3-wPohJjyqJuCITNKtWL4ZBL8h3HIn2ZZlvtXgE-Pv5-Ts6hmoP_1-XPoyWI_tAgVFDhDkb9MVC4Nxq9x-ISteMBknF0Rc9HF/s1600/Pekka.Nikrus.Helsinki.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/skrubu/5537103496/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/skrubu/5537103496/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">April thinks he looks miserable. He's not having a happy Easter. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Alright, what about this little fellow then? </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVEH32HGNuM2LHaTv_QNucyrnZsy0ZEs7qQveOuOw6eJIoAS08K8LGwy_g3duItcLfIH4UN3rMqfp8uCPQbLTsdeICQ_VJlIoVg5i3HzjObiB3zzXzrIxnTuxeJYHf76wzxaryY1D4qPxH/s1600/JakePJohnson.Bath.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVEH32HGNuM2LHaTv_QNucyrnZsy0ZEs7qQveOuOw6eJIoAS08K8LGwy_g3duItcLfIH4UN3rMqfp8uCPQbLTsdeICQ_VJlIoVg5i3HzjObiB3zzXzrIxnTuxeJYHf76wzxaryY1D4qPxH/s1600/JakePJohnson.Bath.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakepjohnson/5526245589/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakepjohnson/5526245589/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The girls feel sorry for this poor little duck. April is weeping, May is wailing, and June is sobbing her heart out.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It has all ended in tears. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6HR1ujy4DfYcyugjsVLnigbv9sNZ9cPH5yC0hE89s-TeQgsx0ZC-QjThc8uLVGVOHKqfODWvbzHjbGTrxBhcx64wobfeoGKXCW6N6EQtdfJOVfPD-FZ4vMlzxZtHKp_loBB8kodwGbe7/s1600/Loren.Javier.castle%252Ccapes%252Cclones%252Cfkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6HR1ujy4DfYcyugjsVLnigbv9sNZ9cPH5yC0hE89s-TeQgsx0ZC-QjThc8uLVGVOHKqfODWvbzHjbGTrxBhcx64wobfeoGKXCW6N6EQtdfJOVfPD-FZ4vMlzxZtHKp_loBB8kodwGbe7/s1600/Loren.Javier.castle%252Ccapes%252Cclones%252Cfkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">OK, here we go, girls. Look, I'm not trying to duck out of this.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a nice duck pair. They're together, paddling happily along the back of the bench.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKMRaMYndqg1wpw7exATN4LkQgfmsiC1ReSycQMECLxvRCTWi8B3Uoz26bVE5OHxc9MWb_LYdqLUtWLID87OyFEUxsjDS2UMUly8fQjum0g4K1GqodcSjOLt6pVLPepfaxENv73kpZXdu/s1600/Em.Dash!.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKMRaMYndqg1wpw7exATN4LkQgfmsiC1ReSycQMECLxvRCTWi8B3Uoz26bVE5OHxc9MWb_LYdqLUtWLID87OyFEUxsjDS2UMUly8fQjum0g4K1GqodcSjOLt6pVLPepfaxENv73kpZXdu/s1600/Em.Dash!.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/26659870@N00/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/26659870@N00/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">June says this bench is too dull for Easter. She wants to see a nice bright Easter-coloured duck bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">April and May aren't so bothered. It's water off a duck's back to them.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKwvMy3HAvJPSBzb5rxTyA_DdfCjwb4gOmsBa8NDpx7_2rBAI6F5hPY3DDHoSRN9g3vjYJ7zl9evfnWUtnGEqcn4EsfE9Tb9KiRzLzDDnbcQ7pCZA_aZSTOotT0FSkdqMvDjJRQ1r_3y1M/s1600/Bench,_Ward_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_732306.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKwvMy3HAvJPSBzb5rxTyA_DdfCjwb4gOmsBa8NDpx7_2rBAI6F5hPY3DDHoSRN9g3vjYJ7zl9evfnWUtnGEqcn4EsfE9Tb9KiRzLzDDnbcQ7pCZA_aZSTOotT0FSkdqMvDjJRQ1r_3y1M/s1600/Bench,_Ward_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_732306.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1197604061">©Ross @ </a></span><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench,_Ward_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_732306.jpg">geograph.org.uk </a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We hear the rustle of an Easter basket and a very surprising rabbit turns up with a basket of chocolate bunnies. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz6yH0hgDd58xo9NV_C-kP5LFHuNXF1etxpKZgA-qRTr_hVy8myl26vNDekrbcGN0MlpNAqrcS4gSUIkLRwV6wba_OVJRidcoGoTfXCLaalI25RG2Krg9hWcHdWC6DH-D7zX_J8KW_fPN9/s1600/basket2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz6yH0hgDd58xo9NV_C-kP5LFHuNXF1etxpKZgA-qRTr_hVy8myl26vNDekrbcGN0MlpNAqrcS4gSUIkLRwV6wba_OVJRidcoGoTfXCLaalI25RG2Krg9hWcHdWC6DH-D7zX_J8KW_fPN9/s1600/basket2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/eggstatic-egg-benches-for-easter.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/eggstatic-egg-benches-for-easter.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Thanks, Innocent. You came along just in time. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The girls dive into the basket and feast on chocolate. Before you know it, the little Easter bunnies are nothing but piles of shiny paper. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And Innocent has a new dress with a chocolate ribbon belt.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTLX5lx0B4Zl9RSDpBSEJhwXPnJEX9HOyOwBLqUrIi7oRtBqFa8eVwb2peTAN5ShKiZtUbHyEzczteMP6gLJH85C84rMnNkYjZiB7AAQeFJ2yWZtJ3nCaiwOMvjyKFwgRgDI0Bj-0C_W-/s1600/Innocent.chocolate.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTLX5lx0B4Zl9RSDpBSEJhwXPnJEX9HOyOwBLqUrIi7oRtBqFa8eVwb2peTAN5ShKiZtUbHyEzczteMP6gLJH85C84rMnNkYjZiB7AAQeFJ2yWZtJ3nCaiwOMvjyKFwgRgDI0Bj-0C_W-/s1600/Innocent.chocolate.JPG" width="330" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The fashion forums are unkind, saying things like they hope it will melt away.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Innocent has had quite a hard time finding a dress this Easter. She has sacked her designer, Joop, from Overbearing in Holland and is creating the designs herself. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Her first dress was this one, which fashion forums described as The Easter Bunny in drag. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKnG57czBxBNJl093ExqFh0v2csDKFj3pn72hZ8IkjkUUQIqemJlWf0GJrQo1l51gu5KCM0o38YLa8s5N8iyHgh5hb7K0TJqxw_R9dvmI0Y0NeerwqAK45IEzW4lHHThHg3oGGLzFyQdz/s1600/Innocent.Easter.rabbitdress.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKnG57czBxBNJl093ExqFh0v2csDKFj3pn72hZ8IkjkUUQIqemJlWf0GJrQo1l51gu5KCM0o38YLa8s5N8iyHgh5hb7K0TJqxw_R9dvmI0Y0NeerwqAK45IEzW4lHHThHg3oGGLzFyQdz/s1600/Innocent.Easter.rabbitdress.JPG" width="189" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">April: Maybe Innocent has become something like the Mad March hare? </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: lime;">May: Queen of Silly Dresses. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">June: We dare not speak her name.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But what will she wear this year? Her friends from Easter Island can't wait to find out. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHnVGcyt8GmMN0tHoSanayFF3Bc9iiQu1GdkqRRn8jdNAq6qSKAytrhQCRMR0ALnF13M5Vd9lkJEIzAeHWa0m-UN4lwx6cB4qf4D0CHcpzfenwblODmRV6PODKuhrPnMR8cbi_GvWV72c/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569923522.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="516" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHnVGcyt8GmMN0tHoSanayFF3Bc9iiQu1GdkqRRn8jdNAq6qSKAytrhQCRMR0ALnF13M5Vd9lkJEIzAeHWa0m-UN4lwx6cB4qf4D0CHcpzfenwblODmRV6PODKuhrPnMR8cbi_GvWV72c/s320/PhotoFunia-1569923522.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Word has got round that Lady Brassica is going to wear lavender for Easter because that's a lucky colour this year. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Tamsin, ever keen to be fashionable, turns up in what can only be described as The Wrong Colour Purple.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGakelnXRphgo8beSDw3uZTKgKxNBWuNCpACeDLDUk6Ti3aB75pwqnGDWOUMnKUzR94nEPga-idJ76hPfLMwWS-JZFlMOTGpP_xDbMzYmabkTopbZpmbBIVl8oKzMY8COYMb7LgP9mne_/s1600/Tamsin&girls.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGakelnXRphgo8beSDw3uZTKgKxNBWuNCpACeDLDUk6Ti3aB75pwqnGDWOUMnKUzR94nEPga-idJ76hPfLMwWS-JZFlMOTGpP_xDbMzYmabkTopbZpmbBIVl8oKzMY8COYMb7LgP9mne_/s1600/Tamsin&girls.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/im-dreaming-of-purple-christmas.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/im-dreaming-of-purple-christmas.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>While the girls are sitting on a bench by the river I ask them what's the best thing about Easter.</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOmL36eJdJuhe1Nu8Va0AlhCq2-VbpEM1fOUx2VlD1MsuSKBjRmqxsqosQuAo-YB6NijrJK_lFM52GEF4pP5wwXjXGWkEfcv8Obb46eQVyUlj0TZlFn99XQh7OOVTQpV2PGPm1dWudoqK/s1600/girls&cows.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOmL36eJdJuhe1Nu8Va0AlhCq2-VbpEM1fOUx2VlD1MsuSKBjRmqxsqosQuAo-YB6NijrJK_lFM52GEF4pP5wwXjXGWkEfcv8Obb46eQVyUlj0TZlFn99XQh7OOVTQpV2PGPm1dWudoqK/s1600/girls&cows.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I thought they'd say something like not going to school. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF72eRAU0A7HQ1e0nNbiihg3xtw_JblnmUU_ndv0bE9v9BMKfyPOd5tN89gFAwgvQq4CgQNKNm9exPk_xRrvf4ShAykuNoxEnk-IAWR8EtCqAeUwXizmz7Z3r96o42QpKiFQd7BvlUbZu9/s1600/markus.reinhardt.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF72eRAU0A7HQ1e0nNbiihg3xtw_JblnmUU_ndv0bE9v9BMKfyPOd5tN89gFAwgvQq4CgQNKNm9exPk_xRrvf4ShAykuNoxEnk-IAWR8EtCqAeUwXizmz7Z3r96o42QpKiFQd7BvlUbZu9/s1600/markus.reinhardt.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tuxxilla/" style="text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/tuxxilla/</a><span style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or dressing up. When I was a child we used to love wearing an Easter hat.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7e-QM5vcc1eQapGM5SsEZYtLePDkQNqOd5yNuzqHlAspef6rCsCbfh-LO2n1OpiJo05wr-Ghb5vtS_LESifi9saGNbjGoEbGQak6ylZePfKwgR8A1BnyTi6JE1WtMYZUQMmLBwpTd7LxJ/s1600/april+wed2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7e-QM5vcc1eQapGM5SsEZYtLePDkQNqOd5yNuzqHlAspef6rCsCbfh-LO2n1OpiJo05wr-Ghb5vtS_LESifi9saGNbjGoEbGQak6ylZePfKwgR8A1BnyTi6JE1WtMYZUQMmLBwpTd7LxJ/s1600/april+wed2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We dressed up for church in our pretty new dresses.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-waTPgMfX9eg6wDs-UwsSir7Euo2I1DGA1s_Inryf8DimHGkUOWCiQElc_HXTVpSdpsh7dK8-HENbg-Rly7vWSgl_nwP9A03yQGjbrEdMDwQNGmi4Nfq3ngsRApwSs-jjpLIK1JEQa5b/s1600/rabbitBench1991.pamela.silinpalmer..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-waTPgMfX9eg6wDs-UwsSir7Euo2I1DGA1s_Inryf8DimHGkUOWCiQElc_HXTVpSdpsh7dK8-HENbg-Rly7vWSgl_nwP9A03yQGjbrEdMDwQNGmi4Nfq3ngsRApwSs-jjpLIK1JEQa5b/s1600/rabbitBench1991.pamela.silinpalmer..jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="http://www.pamelasilinpalmer.com/">©Pamela Silin-Palmer 2013</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But things have changed and priorities are different. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">April says she is looking forward to the Easter races when the girls drive their cars along the benches on the seafront. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bqO85Bs_i7Vo-jVWQxP2koZNc6bRrT_u3EnO36QdyWKHxG-OnopLxoSZqv0K2nDgd9zuP8D2GR5U8w8B-9UPIkavNT_54INwOCrLiL2qHqU6xGuAwI0-mfnIxxjsVViwYGTxoQQCqHCY/s1600/girlsrace.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bqO85Bs_i7Vo-jVWQxP2koZNc6bRrT_u3EnO36QdyWKHxG-OnopLxoSZqv0K2nDgd9zuP8D2GR5U8w8B-9UPIkavNT_54INwOCrLiL2qHqU6xGuAwI0-mfnIxxjsVViwYGTxoQQCqHCY/s1600/girlsrace.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">May says the best thing about Easter is boys.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpExHdCE6vsoinuciZF6Ht0yGriDVi15z5J01O7RlCkMgeK5aGDrxP2M3sKYZP8pOE6vOC_krEwHHz5HjjMGfaiM5sGkZX7mCA6aWZlUirOt7ot6SBpl_hPFeJ5K2w0dbZomd3ZYQSMXF/s1600/Leo.Reynolds30.FKCC.Boys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpExHdCE6vsoinuciZF6Ht0yGriDVi15z5J01O7RlCkMgeK5aGDrxP2M3sKYZP8pOE6vOC_krEwHHz5HjjMGfaiM5sGkZX7mCA6aWZlUirOt7ot6SBpl_hPFeJ5K2w0dbZomd3ZYQSMXF/s1600/Leo.Reynolds30.FKCC.Boys.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/555901199/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/555901199/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Apparently a lot of boys come to Paradise Island with their families at Easter. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">May says she is going up on Watership Down to look for a boy she met last year. Name of Warren.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROSleFZdLRIPsiugAuB2ucTlR2o2ULkbWw-ZTuChrP6Ft_2t4Ktfo5yS-0xoGEuf6shpsxCrvp0U8NNdBCTFyCtWrPbH1ZRBuA1PIZ2pJhgniPW5EtQaVYUeRRGftmWvZJY8raG1tYxWg/s1600/watershipdown.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROSleFZdLRIPsiugAuB2ucTlR2o2ULkbWw-ZTuChrP6Ft_2t4Ktfo5yS-0xoGEuf6shpsxCrvp0U8NNdBCTFyCtWrPbH1ZRBuA1PIZ2pJhgniPW5EtQaVYUeRRGftmWvZJY8raG1tYxWg/s1600/watershipdown.FK.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Watership_Down.gif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Watership_Down.gif</span></a><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And June says she wants to sit on a bench with a nice boy and his rabbits.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBsH5ePcFdufwIUplIq9C2Smad6niXYv2LPEs_zoAb7i5ibFiWe-SXubASc7YXVO-hMlxkebbeYyP59PZVwBmFHfOVC8M7vfRPr3Egm7HQN5mfjFKKgsOWzmTTnfYRweezqOs4i-s8pM18/s1600/victorian1920.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBsH5ePcFdufwIUplIq9C2Smad6niXYv2LPEs_zoAb7i5ibFiWe-SXubASc7YXVO-hMlxkebbeYyP59PZVwBmFHfOVC8M7vfRPr3Egm7HQN5mfjFKKgsOWzmTTnfYRweezqOs4i-s8pM18/s1600/victorian1920.etsy.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I tell her she needs to be careful. Rabbits disguised as bunnies can take advantage of unsuspecting chicks.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1APQq0pE5MZvpvbPzceRvjk1ga3UNt4H5hgs8FfnA2WnSUyiYelU6NFfWukkXnBhxmXjUrQtH1T80s5dtvzRpPmnQQ5w9VA-NrYeIm8WhGC_qzPAjvaGpncYPT2wXKbetWjTBJvmcPTrD/s1600/romeolovesrose.etsy.sandra..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1APQq0pE5MZvpvbPzceRvjk1ga3UNt4H5hgs8FfnA2WnSUyiYelU6NFfWukkXnBhxmXjUrQtH1T80s5dtvzRpPmnQQ5w9VA-NrYeIm8WhGC_qzPAjvaGpncYPT2wXKbetWjTBJvmcPTrD/s1600/romeolovesrose.etsy.sandra..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RomeoLovesRose">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RomeoLovesRose</a></u></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A word of advice, girls: don't hesitate to tell a randy rabbit to keeps his grubby paws off you.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1wGeBNnieBoO5LSL_o9px5QBU1Q35ZekyGJv7NyC_FuZsHw-McKXMN-S0KTfuHPgdXE3lx9TPJx4Z4oKGgKNn0Sbwub4UJOHxtLLAdA73-zzRsQtuuxg-L6GsR21dOdy2p2tKmulHU6s/s1600/Chi-ryu.FKCC.Blackpool.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1wGeBNnieBoO5LSL_o9px5QBU1Q35ZekyGJv7NyC_FuZsHw-McKXMN-S0KTfuHPgdXE3lx9TPJx4Z4oKGgKNn0Sbwub4UJOHxtLLAdA73-zzRsQtuuxg-L6GsR21dOdy2p2tKmulHU6s/s1600/Chi-ryu.FKCC.Blackpool.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chi-ryu/4850661339/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/chi-ryu/4850661339/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Especially if he's a Snake or a Rooster. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">People born in the Year of the Snake or the Rooster are incompatible with Rabbits. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Most harmonious matches with Rabbits are those born in the year of the sheep, dog, pig or monkey bench.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3PMwOG9xJCY1dQqGeGKMb0XSeWBx0p10jdebGz-PltPNd62qTAiN55PhQa8JMwBoh1VowTfzvw8S5HSdMB_qSNGcqqh3_s7M14DdD_YknX1TJw14j6zr4o9OZEVPdj09_nYTv3jgoZWAPe_MkrVQEc89oNqt7b7iPcE6kFks98qFJnzQJpZZpPzmM-Q/s578/kanmuryoumonkeys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="578" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3PMwOG9xJCY1dQqGeGKMb0XSeWBx0p10jdebGz-PltPNd62qTAiN55PhQa8JMwBoh1VowTfzvw8S5HSdMB_qSNGcqqh3_s7M14DdD_YknX1TJw14j6zr4o9OZEVPdj09_nYTv3jgoZWAPe_MkrVQEc89oNqt7b7iPcE6kFks98qFJnzQJpZZpPzmM-Q/s320/kanmuryoumonkeys.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">kanmuryour.japan</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oh, please, don't get me started on monkey benches.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzWb5A1fsZs6OxN_mSxGKoQqB-j3E__LZTgT6UI5OChtkqjNi14HkTDGWP0KQTknN7jfEWS45gAlipWKEXHdYWV2kVHWgqAYjldbjzG2VAiei8ZK1rI70bt6aHmVTHCybhbPZr2ELj8go7VX7aEw7PA978f6i2wVx9Gx--TDdxhpJD3P8vFax5ADOx5Q/s215/!cid_part4_09010901_05040608@tiscali_co.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="215" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzWb5A1fsZs6OxN_mSxGKoQqB-j3E__LZTgT6UI5OChtkqjNi14HkTDGWP0KQTknN7jfEWS45gAlipWKEXHdYWV2kVHWgqAYjldbjzG2VAiei8ZK1rI70bt6aHmVTHCybhbPZr2ELj8go7VX7aEw7PA978f6i2wVx9Gx--TDdxhpJD3P8vFax5ADOx5Q/s1600/!cid_part4_09010901_05040608@tiscali_co.gif" width="215" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We've had more than enough monkey business here on Benchsite. And</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> now</span> it's Easter and people are making their way to St. Asphyxia's for the Easter service. </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Cora and Dora started at 5 am and have only got as far as the village bench, even with PC Willie Wyme there to hurry them along. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipAwWxcf3GLPXl6Q89Ph4yCUsyw2t9ARwg5ob9PullA4aJsSKHHXHHm-r0rwHMMxIL3EJVaSfhE6-ZmLCZbluvAYVXg2awPa5I6zG554rgX3PvpgRmstM8AoCBPzM0l_-wMEo6h-B9m8Jv/s1600/Willy&Borans.Easter.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipAwWxcf3GLPXl6Q89Ph4yCUsyw2t9ARwg5ob9PullA4aJsSKHHXHHm-r0rwHMMxIL3EJVaSfhE6-ZmLCZbluvAYVXg2awPa5I6zG554rgX3PvpgRmstM8AoCBPzM0l_-wMEo6h-B9m8Jv/s1600/Willy&Borans.Easter.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/smiles-of-benches-not-for-world-smile.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/smiles-of-benches-not-for-world-smile.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On Easter morning Innocent looks around for inspiration and finds the flowers that were delivered to Drizzly Manor.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Ek2DVOUGlLLXtiv5NrgzJp4f5qPtdJpIkCXWpEKxfn51l2PQKAZDHwY3XMCGkSFt9sfQjt2gD011w4IKWnffssaAhid4lK-oFJdQKRJS_gLS9V2TD3_rbNB8t-MoVngOaTBpMMGVonpn/s1600/100_6428.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Ek2DVOUGlLLXtiv5NrgzJp4f5qPtdJpIkCXWpEKxfn51l2PQKAZDHwY3XMCGkSFt9sfQjt2gD011w4IKWnffssaAhid4lK-oFJdQKRJS_gLS9V2TD3_rbNB8t-MoVngOaTBpMMGVonpn/s1600/100_6428.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rather hurriedly, she wraps herself in the plastic that comes off the flowers. And when I say <i>wrap</i>, you can see what I mean. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBrfn8Kngp_TcqM6ezdFne3Pfc9Dj8fY_WFhtav-aju4FdsnpG47_VnW0TWcL068KtO4eBWm4AYRZ2OgOS2HGg0rDvSNmMiP8vDnf6xPMrWLtU-RVKgsZodJOZ2JfIsjVmlXhi2t0zV5rc/s1600/Innocent.Easter.green.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBrfn8Kngp_TcqM6ezdFne3Pfc9Dj8fY_WFhtav-aju4FdsnpG47_VnW0TWcL068KtO4eBWm4AYRZ2OgOS2HGg0rDvSNmMiP8vDnf6xPMrWLtU-RVKgsZodJOZ2JfIsjVmlXhi2t0zV5rc/s1600/Innocent.Easter.green.JPG" width="297" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Her friends from Easter Island keep smiling but they are not the least bit impressed, even though green is apparently one of the Lucky Colours this year. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And then Lady Brassica steps out in a dress from her fashion house in County Offhand in Ireland. She is wearing purple, a lucky colour in this Year of the Rabbit. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNECrVI6V_yM9TdhJpLuEFiYc1K-i5ftK9lyaJ_XFZiAM-1D53P-OHNEqCcW-AgbsGHwgu7s__2lNpw1Zb7RHtPXxLK6ieyc0m81BkKIHJxLKtZ41j5EdRxgbEA2jknB6aX11WXq4KCIh_/s1600/Jess.Easter.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNECrVI6V_yM9TdhJpLuEFiYc1K-i5ftK9lyaJ_XFZiAM-1D53P-OHNEqCcW-AgbsGHwgu7s__2lNpw1Zb7RHtPXxLK6ieyc0m81BkKIHJxLKtZ41j5EdRxgbEA2jknB6aX11WXq4KCIh_/s1600/Jess.Easter.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/the-wearing-o-green-benches-for-st.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/the-wearing-o-green-benches-for-st.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Designed by Lady Jess and hand-crocheted by the good parish ladies of Ballyfrumpy, the dress is an instant success. And Lady Jess is facing southeast, a lucky direction. Northwest, on the other hand, is very unlucky. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Everyone is wearing their Easter finery.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJCnXxWe7v2KfC1cq8Xqpzgx7MzOeQtlWSthMTopoGFF1MboNfD2yi1mQHaqEJ2q84E3pjR7X5-NfAQjhYCponAFhIPu9HMgdJNVOUkHVjEbXzqWH7r_dn6chMIvOgGvcu4DBlW5qyl72b_-35-C-Qt0ZjawX4M9QwQTstsNjgJS-0LoqgMEewBuTmuA/s1727/girlsonyellowB.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="919" data-original-width="1727" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJCnXxWe7v2KfC1cq8Xqpzgx7MzOeQtlWSthMTopoGFF1MboNfD2yi1mQHaqEJ2q84E3pjR7X5-NfAQjhYCponAFhIPu9HMgdJNVOUkHVjEbXzqWH7r_dn6chMIvOgGvcu4DBlW5qyl72b_-35-C-Qt0ZjawX4M9QwQTstsNjgJS-0LoqgMEewBuTmuA/s320/girlsonyellowB.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div>Eddie, my Inner Editor, looks splendid in his Easter bonnet. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxZAee_8VlO5o6F88P_hUhv4xSmzYxtm_uGmZH1ytlBsQVq58UuXk4UyfIjD9CzouN0VEQQDvR-IGA48Wc6GhrFOCK_0DSJg0gferMM9s3Te6F5UXNltpuUrFjrTOYYBt6VDlWGMA1zdiobwfMrkjBUN0one_OG3GMYt6q_-Xwx-sgKDQ05ZsUEOWOQ/s1935/Eddie%20baby.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1935" data-original-width="1386" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxZAee_8VlO5o6F88P_hUhv4xSmzYxtm_uGmZH1ytlBsQVq58UuXk4UyfIjD9CzouN0VEQQDvR-IGA48Wc6GhrFOCK_0DSJg0gferMM9s3Te6F5UXNltpuUrFjrTOYYBt6VDlWGMA1zdiobwfMrkjBUN0one_OG3GMYt6q_-Xwx-sgKDQ05ZsUEOWOQ/s320/Eddie%20baby.JPG" width="229" /></a></div><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Come on now, grab your Easter baskets.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pNNW9DLAJK-kEN1AjMG8Q-BHKXOBCMNOB3q5rOBTrBitU4es2zExwRmLScXi-NEHaZ8V_VwllHC3WA-hbOhu4KkHrztEXg8VxRDp3oxPKeq_kWqMDOrJT6-A1wl4aQtfTMh6FmB3BeBN/s1600/Gary.Scott.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pNNW9DLAJK-kEN1AjMG8Q-BHKXOBCMNOB3q5rOBTrBitU4es2zExwRmLScXi-NEHaZ8V_VwllHC3WA-hbOhu4KkHrztEXg8VxRDp3oxPKeq_kWqMDOrJT6-A1wl4aQtfTMh6FmB3BeBN/s1600/Gary.Scott.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kingary/449495455/%20" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kingary/449495455/ </a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I've hidden lots of Easter eggs in my garden for you.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAp4PwK1OFn1SzfHv0aFC81mTEFbY92givwBd0ZgTUvap5noGGTZylYlkFf1VzUNYbUBhFkSg3bKKhH6kiKenpDQkBbmm6gLE1lavwcIAYzoohxgQLH4dA3NR_VyltT5wn4VByvAFh2WR1/s1600/easter.flowers.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAp4PwK1OFn1SzfHv0aFC81mTEFbY92givwBd0ZgTUvap5noGGTZylYlkFf1VzUNYbUBhFkSg3bKKhH6kiKenpDQkBbmm6gLE1lavwcIAYzoohxgQLH4dA3NR_VyltT5wn4VByvAFh2WR1/s400/easter.flowers.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/welcome-to-casa-perfecta.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/welcome-to-casa-perfecta.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">April? May? June? Don't you want to hunt for Easter eggs?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They don't. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But it's nice to see that at least one bunny girl takes Easter egg hunting seriously, even if she is facing northwest and yellow is an unlucky colour this year. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGQoRWvGojqs_fTZSu2hCjXc-uou8c0-4-HqWsSbRifeicRMvEtAPe4E7ljeyc6lxk5AaG3R-_px4XjikaUl06HI0m4gH7KUQpbFBx1_555tLDnoROEVPSgHBP2HX_3IH6n78GPXXMkm4/s1600/Innocent.bunny.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGQoRWvGojqs_fTZSu2hCjXc-uou8c0-4-HqWsSbRifeicRMvEtAPe4E7ljeyc6lxk5AaG3R-_px4XjikaUl06HI0m4gH7KUQpbFBx1_555tLDnoROEVPSgHBP2HX_3IH6n78GPXXMkm4/s1600/Innocent.bunny.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/eggstatic-egg-benches-for-easter.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/eggstatic-egg-benches-for-easter.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's the Year of the Rabbit, a good time to hop onto a bunny bench. </span>The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) was introduced into Britain more than 2,000 years ago during the time of the Romans.<b> </b>Rabbits are thought to bring good luck and indeed rabbits are extremely prolific: in 1859 just 24 animals introduced into one location in Australia resulted in 600 million rabbits a hundred years later. In 1953 the disease myxomatosis wiped out 99% of the UK rabbit population but now in winter there are about 40 million rabbits, rising to as many as 300 million in summer. They are one of the most frequently seen wild mammals in Britain, and one of the most loved. If you doubt it, you should have seen me hopping around through thousands of rabbit and bunny photographs to make this blog. <br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Easter bunny made of straw is sitting on the market well in Neckargemund in Germany in 2009. As it happens, Mungo and I have stayed in Neckargemund and have cycled along the lovely Neckar in the area around Heidelberg. The bunny was photographed by Nemracc and can be seen on Wikicommons at <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.JPG?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.JPG?uselang=en-gb</a> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At Easter 2015 we were eggstatic when we celebrated with some sprightly Spring Chicken benches </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/no-spring-chicken-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/no-spring-chicken-benches.html</a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">April, age six, lives here in Fribble-under-Par with her parallel selves, May and June. The girls always turn up together to community events and are among the very few children here on Paradise Island. They love Tamsin's baby, Isambard, and they have a pet lemon called Squeezy, who looks a little sinister but maybe he's just a sourpuss. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUHXXf88PcaAhZUuOuL_dAvSc7-OQY8XHuHcl9JZSGZCn33UBkic2yrlKyQULfQ2cS8lOTIi0iOSCUrOxaD14PjhMtpYQVt8iOrCQFmpHFHIB-Mvdjt5-k6A86qVivawM96r2FqPAXHyaJ/s1600/pet+lemon.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUHXXf88PcaAhZUuOuL_dAvSc7-OQY8XHuHcl9JZSGZCn33UBkic2yrlKyQULfQ2cS8lOTIi0iOSCUrOxaD14PjhMtpYQVt8iOrCQFmpHFHIB-Mvdjt5-k6A86qVivawM96r2FqPAXHyaJ/s1600/pet+lemon.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Lady Jessica Brassica is married to Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly. Innocent is their daughter-in-law. Lady B and Innocent are what you might call <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html">competitive in the fashion stakes</a>. For many years Lady Brassica modelled for Studio Joop from Overbearing in Holland but now has her own fashion house in County Offhand in Ireland. See her St Patrick's outfits and more Irish benches at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/st-patricks-top-o-irish-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/st-patricks-top-o-irish-benches.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Innocent has emerged from her convent nursing dress into something of a </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/woolly-warm-autumn-benches.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">fashion icon</a>.<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> But just how innocent is Innocent? Just a couple of weeks ago in the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html">Springy Yellow Bench</a> post she turned up to a party in rabbit ears and ended up dressed as a <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">Mexican flag</a>. Is this a bit of fun or a careful strategy to unnerve the Easter Bunny? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Cora and Dora Boran are twins and life-long residents of Fribble-under-Par, both christened at St. Asphyxia's. If you're new to Benchsite, let Dora and Cora explain </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whos-who-in-fribble-under-par.html">who's who and what's what on Paradise Island</a> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UNvDxerdulZWAekMbxpsft1sv7niu_zne1zJhj9SN0FHxNY4M9yXOp6-UsPcBcmwEBgGuMg83zSqTlLQ4yhtEf10DN2r2ltzkqHEPhqxIyrn4XpsuopeT0vK69zVMQodKZCGdsG4LoU5/s1600/Borans.Easter.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UNvDxerdulZWAekMbxpsft1sv7niu_zne1zJhj9SN0FHxNY4M9yXOp6-UsPcBcmwEBgGuMg83zSqTlLQ4yhtEf10DN2r2ltzkqHEPhqxIyrn4XpsuopeT0vK69zVMQodKZCGdsG4LoU5/s1600/Borans.Easter.JPG" width="227" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sara lives in Naples, Italy and has a menagerie of very charming creatures, including Milo the dwarf rabbit. Born in 2007, Milo is described as half kitten, half bulldog, and an aspiring actress. Milo and her companions are very willing subjects for photographs; they will wear anything and hold any posture. But Milo does protest that this bench is just a little bit too small, even for a dwarf rabbit. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/milorabbit/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/milorabbit/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two bunnies on a bench with plants are The Boomerang Bunnies. I found them in Switzerland when Miggy and Mungo and I went bench-hunting last summer. They were in the immaculate toilet block of Camping Boomerang in the gorgeous Poschiavo Valley <a href="http://www.camping-boomerang.ch/">www.camping-boomerang.ch</a> You can read all about our alpine bench adventures at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Shintaro Oda in Japan runs Clayworkshop with his wife Kaori, who makes lovely clay figures like the rabbit couple with their shopping basket. Judging from their photostream, Kaori and Shintaro like gardening, spring blossom, and very nice little clay figures on benches. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/clayworkshop/%20%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/clayworkshop/ </a> I thought this well-dressed couple made a perfect pair for Easter.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">KingKong911 loves taking pictures and sharing her photos. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonypic/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonypic/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> She took the photo of the Rabbit and Carrot Benches in the park back in 2008. The park was (is still?) in Kissimmee, FL. KingKong and her daughter and granddaughter went to the <i>Give the Kids the World</i> fair in Kissimmee, and stayed at a house with this rabbit mailbox. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheT85xH3hX_MLlIeEhGJG5AAox38iIN8O2tSSlueWxx4V8ej_LzvpP0FYbLGJqiNVEGnNHi3YaI-svTNymjtqMO5LHuCcxnv5QHlbn_FyZlwLc9im_WxpvZGkrP_78DxbnMfqIv5_JNBpd/s1600/KingKong911.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheT85xH3hX_MLlIeEhGJG5AAox38iIN8O2tSSlueWxx4V8ej_LzvpP0FYbLGJqiNVEGnNHi3YaI-svTNymjtqMO5LHuCcxnv5QHlbn_FyZlwLc9im_WxpvZGkrP_78DxbnMfqIv5_JNBpd/s1600/KingKong911.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonypic/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonypic/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Liz Kearley from Charlotte, North Carolina, loves photography and dachshunds. She used to run the Comment on Cuteness Flickr group, (now disbanded). Heidi (2000-2007) was not just a dog; she was a very convincing Easter rabbit. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/120929906/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/120929906/</a></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Liz's other dog is Honey Bunny, who also makes a very attractive rabbit. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/5644086363/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/5644086363/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Pod the rabbit is soaking up some UV on his red bench. He was photographed by Murk, who notices that Pod sits in the blazing sun WITHOUT applying any product. Marc needs SPF 26.8, Anti-Midge Spray and Desluggit before he'll even step foot in the garden whereas Pod just puts on his shades. Marc is a technical writer from Brighton UK. He writes The Blog of Murk and also takes photos of stuff. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/murk/149780825/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/murk/149780825/</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The little white bunny baby is Riley Cole Hinkle at Easter 2009. It was bright and he needed to wear his sunglasses, along with his bunny ears. The photograph was taken by Hinkle.Riley and available at <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_riley_006_%28Medium%29.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_riley_006_(Medium).jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.8px;">Deepwarren lives in Sydney. The Found Rabbit sign is in Deepwarren's photostream at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuzzhead/" style="background-color: white; color: #848484; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.8px;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuzzhead/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.8px;"> Deepwarren's photostream includes lots of friends, parties, travel, and a melon wrapped in clingfilm. For a real feast of art, philosophy and general brilliance, see The Daily Warren at </span><a href="http://deepwarren.tumblr.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #848484; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 16.8px;">http://deepwarren.tumblr.com/</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Big Penguin 2000 is an evil genius plotting world domination. He has started this process by photographing nature, flowers, farms, dogs, machinery, landscapes and clouds. Nothing sinister about that. But then there's a set called Robot Life; is this something to worry about? The lovely rabbit under a broken bench was photographed by Big Penguin 2000 in 2008. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/7523456@N06/437259241/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/7523456@N06/437259241/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The loving rabbit couple are from </span><a href="http://www.spi-home.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.spi-home.com</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> There are lots of cute animal lovers on benches around but this couple are convincingly love-struck. They</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">have appeared on Benchsite before. In fact, they were inspirational when I met my imaginary husband Mungo and we decided to get <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gambling-on-love-in-las-vegas.html">married in Las Vegas</a> on the spur of the moment. Well, it wasn't a rash judgement: we had met that same morning and had a few hours to consider it.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gaby is happycat. She lives in Jena in Germany. She loves landscapes, cats and benches: I think she and I might be twins? She has a photoset of 355 benches (I'm in heaven) and the most beautiful photographs of landscapes, animals, blossoms and pretty German houses. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/happycat/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/happycat/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The hare bench was made by Paul Sivell, who</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> makes intriguing chainsaw sculptures and is inspired by nature, local traditions, and mythology. His distinctive style is well known around the Isle of Wight though he also works throughout the UK and abroad. The hare bench is one of his many functional sculptures (benches!) which can be seen at </span><a href="http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You've heard of Mad March hares? It's true that the hare was once the MacBeth of the British animal world: even saying the word <i>hare</i> was considered unlucky. A 13th century verse lists 77 names to avoid saying its name. Now, however, the hare is considered a noble creature and there are around 800,000 of them in the British countryside.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Paul Souders is axoplasm, a web designer living in Portland <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/axoplasm/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/axoplasm/</a> He likes taking pictures of people and pets and little statues like the rabbit holding up all the benches in the park. Axoplasm notes that sadly, most have lost their ears, hats, tails, etc.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eric Frommer is armadilo60 (that's armadilo with one L). He lives in Everett, Washington and has several different blogs, including a bluegrass one and a Photographer of the Day.<a href="http://www.photographeroftheday.com/%20">http://www.photographeroftheday.com/ </a> His photo sets includes loads of music festivals, landscapes, and even a few armadillos. Also the sturdy concrete rabbit bench. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadilo60/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadilo60/</a> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Georgia Gerber sculpted the beautiful bronze rabbit. Georgia creates bronze sculpture primarily working with life size animal and human figures, often incorporating architectural or abstract elements with an emphasis on creating accessible public art which encourages viewer interaction. She has an amazing studio and garden at Whidbey Island, Washington. Her bronze sculptures can be seen at </span><a href="http://www.georgiagerber.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.georgiagerber.com/</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">St Mary the Virgin is a church in Cleobury Mortimer, a small market town in Shropshire. It was photographed by Carol Walker for Geograph, at a time when on every pew there was an Easter bonnet made by the children of the local school. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_church_-_geograph.org.uk_-_816791.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_church_-_geograph.org.uk_-_816791.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span><br /><br /> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">JD Gordon is a creative director of an advertising agency in Sioux City, Iowa. <a href="http://www.jdgordonadvertising.com/">http://www.jdgordonadvertising.com/</a> Among other things, he photographs food, people, trains, and rabbits who smoke asking for a light. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/23235029@N02/2994696729/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/23235029@N02/2994696729/</a> </span><br /><br /> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>The Tale of Peter Rabbit</i> is by Beatrix Potter, published in 1902. <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14838/14838-h/14838-h.htm">http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14838/14838-h/14838-h.htm</a> In this illustration Mr. McGregor is once again looking for ways to get rid of the clever Peter: '<i>Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees planting out young cabbages, but he jumped up and ran after Peter, waving a rake and calling out, 'Stop thief!'</i></span><br /><pre><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">
<span style="white-space: normal;">The image comes from the Project Gutenberg ebook of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. </span>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 or online at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.net/">www.gutenberg.net</a></span></pre><pre> </pre><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are soooooo many gorgeous Easter cupcake photos around! I pasted in one after the other, finding it impossible to decide. I consulted my imaginary best friend <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/log-benches-just-logs-and-cake.html">Miggy, who is something of a Cupcake Tsar</a>. She eventually chose these glorious creations from Joana Petrova in Sofia, Bulgaria. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhard/5653930960/%20" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhard/5653930960/ </a>Even then, Miggy and I couldn't choose which picture, so I put in both. Joana Petrova's culinary blog, including recipes, is at <a href="http://www.kulinarno-joana.com/">http://www.kulinarno-joana.com/</a></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Patrick Scholl is a cartographer living in Wismar in Germany. He specialises in photographing the German autobahn network but on this occasion he has made a photomontage of a rather delicious-looking chocolate rabbit on a snowy bench. <a href="http://www.autobahnatlas-online.de/">http://www.autobahnatlas-online.de/</a> and <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickscholl/8604617848/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickscholl/8604617848/</a> Frohe Ostern! If this isn't enough snow for you, have a look at the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">Snowvenian benches we had this winter; they're Frozen</a>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Linda lives in the little village of Bürden in Thuringia/Germany. She takes most of her pictures on her daily walks or on short tours by bus or train. Her photos show the stunning landscapes and life of the Thuringian area, including the celebration of holidays like Easter. The log bunnies and beautifully painted Easter eggs are from Bad Koningshofen. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulri/5614287830/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulri/5614287830/</a></span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Mykhaylo Chornyi (b. 1933) is a Ukranian painter and graphic artist who made <i>Painting Easter Eggs</i>, a work of oil and canvas. Its author on Wikicommons is the mysterious Black Milly whose roots I cannot trace. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Painting_Easter_Eggs.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Painting_Easter_Eggs.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I have used two beautiful images from Victorian1920, an etsy shop featuring creative designs by Colette in Connecticut. <i>Bunnies I Love</i> is a digital collage greeting card featuring a beautiful little boy and his favourite rabbits. <i>Easter Bunny Walking in the Park</i> is another digital collage greeting card featuring a lot of wonderful rabbits and chickens on and around a park bench. The shop is full of delights and the loveliness just goes on and on. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jessie Pearl from Yucapia, California is a Boss level photographer. Her website is at <a href="http://terwilligerphoto.com/">http://terwilligerphoto.com/</a> She has a photostream full of colourful Easter eggs, one of which is the basket of eggs shown in this story. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/terwilliger911/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/terwilliger911/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I really did have a hard time finding good chicken benches. Anat and Gila from Israel made the lovely chuks family - rooster, chicken and hen - on a bench together in fellowship and love. Their shop features lovely crocheted stuff - chickens, of course, but also bears and stuffed dolls. According to Anat and Gila, there is nothing like a hen house to say "I really really love you!"</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ChukChuks">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ChukChuks</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sheila Roper from Ipswich runs Severine's Attic, an etsy shop full of vintage postcards and ephemera. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SeverinesAttic">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SeverinesAttic</a> There are many beautiful vintage Easter cards, including the newborn chicks playing on a bench. With a purchase from Severine's Attic you can save the image to your computer and print out multiple copies for your own use. They're ideal for scrapbooking, decoupage, altered art, greetings cards etc.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The charming rustic rooster and chicken bench is from <a href="http://www.bellesscape.com/">www.bellesscape.com</a> in Los Gatos, California. <a href="http://belleescape.com/painted-country-rooster-hen-bench.html">http://belleescape.com/painted-country-rooster-hen-bench.html</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The bench features a special hand-painted rooster and chicken design on the back rest. The papaya finish has been lightly distressed to add an antique feel. It's available for $2,295.00. Belleescapes has just about every kind of chic furniture you can imagine: farmhouse, industrial, cottage, bohemian, cosmo, Provence, vineyard and even shabby chic. Cottage style? They've got coastal, earthy . . . I'll stop there. You can have a look for yourself.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jimmy Wayne Emerson lives in Dalton, Georgia. He enjoys travelling and photographing county courthouses and post offices. As a personal mission he has set out to visit all 3,143 counties or county equivalents in the United States. On a visit to Corbin, Kentucky Jimmy also photographed Colonel Sanders on his bench at the Colonel Sanders museum <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/5094669843/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/5094669843/</a> Corbin is where Harland Sanders established his diner in the 1940s, and which became finger lickin' good across the world.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jeff Turmelle has only 23 photos on his photostream, which include landscapes, a penguin, a puff adder, and the egg yolk bench which he saw on Tallman Mountain in 2009. Well, if you're going to have a very small photostream, one of the pictures ought to be a bench. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/26615859@N05/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/26615859@N05/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ron McNeil is an artist based in the Scottish highlands, working in both Pop Surrealist and abstract genres of painting and drawing. He has degrees in fine art printmaking, fine art painting, and photomedia. Bad Egg is one of his wonderful graphite illustrations</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/63488526@N07/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/63488526@N07/</a> His other work can be seen at <a href="http://www.spanglefish.com/ronmcneilart">http://www.spanglefish.com/ronmcneilart</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Shawndra and Simon are Scorpions and Centaurs - I'm not sure which is which. Shawndra is from Denver, Simon is from Brighton UK, where they both now live, taking pictures of all kinds of things. Apparently their airplane meals are popular (the pictures, not the meals themselves). They also took the picture of the sheep standing around a bench. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sshb/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/sshb/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Lettie is the niece of my imaginary friend Miggy. Lettie comes from a family of sheep and turned into a sheep herself at the age of eight. She has a good eye for sheep, lambs, wool, and all things ovine, which is why I let her help me with the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">Baaaaa Sheep Bench post</a>. Unfortunately, Lettie is rather critical of my own sheep bench designs and after a lot of tears and Words, I decided I would never again work with children. Now here I am again with April, May and June, getting into another mess. Come to think of it, working with <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html">cats</a> is just as bad as working with children. And as for working with <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html">monkeys</a> . . . The best luck I've had on Benchsite is working with <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html">unicorns</a>. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Kenny Louie from Canada is a software developer, an Apple fanatic, rider of bikes, and a fan of Lego. He took the Easter greeting found on a bench on the Queensborough seawall in Vancouver in 2012. Kennymatic's photostream is at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kwl/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kwl/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Pekka Nikrus from <st1:place w:st="on">Helsinki has an eclectic photostream, including benches and Donald Duck on a bench </st1:place><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/skrubu/5537103496/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/skrubu/5537103496/</a> He also has a very interesting photo blog at <a href="http://snapshots.skrubu.net/">http://snapshots.skrubu.net/</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jake P Johnson is from Bristol. He took the photo of the lonely little duck on a visit to Bath <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakepjohnson/5526245589/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakepjohnson/5526245589/</a> He also has a great black and white picture of people sitting on a bench overlooking the Clifton Bridge in Bristol. This is a favourite bridge view seen before on the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/emilys-well-engineered-bridge-benches.html">Benchsite Bridges post</a>. </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.8px;">Loren Javier lives in LA and photographed the crying rabbit on a bench. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/</a></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.8px;"> I think it's crying, isn't it? Maybe it's just resting? Loren has an annual pass at Disneyland and h</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.8px;">e has loads of photos from Universal Studios too, including a whole collection of Norman Bates and the Bates Motel. That's why he's been on Benchsite before; if you want to have the wits scared out of you, see the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/spine-tingling-benches-for-halloween.html">spine-tingling Halloween</a> post. </span> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Em Dash! took the photo of the wooden duck bench! in 2010. Besides exclamation marks, Em likes parades and parties and weddings and travel to places like New Zealand and New York and Peru. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/26659870@N00/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/26659870@N00/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench,_Ward_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_732306.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench,_Ward_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_732306.jpg</a> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The wonderful <i>Wednesday in Easter Bunny School</i> was photographed by Markus Reinhardt, a software engineer from Forchheim in Germany. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tuxxilla/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/tuxxilla/</a> It uses the blurring Bokah technique in photography; apparently egg bokah is quite popular as a way of creating an abstract image. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Pamela Silin-Palmer is a decorative artist, fine artist, and illustrator who now lives in Ireland. She makes magical paintings, greeting cards, dolls, paper products, and glorious hand-painted fantasy furniture. From renaissance rabbits to royal boars, her website is full of fun and fantasy - a real delight! </span><a href="http://www.pamelasilinpalmer.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.pamelasilinpalmer.com</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> In a previous Benchsite story Pamela's rabbit and sow benches were lucky enough to make it onto </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Noah's Ark</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> in time for World Animal's Day. Her Bandito Bench features in the long and intriguing story of Mexican Benches. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Watership Down</i> is the title of a well-known book about rabbits by Richard Adams. It's an heroic story about a group of buck rabbits led by Hazel and his brother Fiver. It is also a well-loved film (<i>Watership Down</i>) and a much-loved song (<i>Bright Eyes</i>). And Watership Down is a real place, near Kingsclere in Hampshire. I found several photographs of the same view, claimed by different photographers. I'm going for this 1975 one, from pseudo-librarian Terry Ballard on Wikicommons: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Watership_Down.gif">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Watership_Down.gif</a> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Leo Reynolds, from Norwich, has been taking photographs for many years. He photographed the Boys bench in Kensal cemetery in London. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/555901199/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/555901199/</a> Leo is a geek after my own heart. His photostream is incredibly well organised into labelled and categorised sets. Among them are selfies, stick figures in peril, vintage graphics, and, of course, benches. I'm fascinated by it all, especially 1,141 photos of the letter E. And if this isn't convenient enough, you can get all the letters of the alphabet, and numbers, organised by colour. Oh bliss. Finding a site like this just makes my day. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sandra from Hemet runs Romeo Loves Rose, an etsy shop with many vintage art and illustrations that can be used for scrapbook work, decoupage, or printed out to make signs, gift and note cards, totes, or even add a printed square to a baby quilt. One of her greeting cards is the suspicious-looking rabbit who is sitting on a bench beside a rather vulnerable-looking young chick. Sandra has loads of cards for Easter, plus vintage frogs and dogs. </span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RomeoLovesRose">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RomeoLovesRose</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />Christian Cooper lives in Manchester. He took the photo at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, which is clearly dated 31 July 2010 so we know exactly what that rabbit was up to and when. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chi-ryu/4850661339/%20">https://www.flickr.com/photos/chi-ryu/4850661339/ </a> On his website he lists 138 very specific interests <a href="http://chi-ryu.livejournal.com/profile%20%C2%A0">http://chi-ryu.livejournal.com/profile </a></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gary Scott is kingary, a teacher. Among other things, he takes lots of pictures in Poland and lots of pictures of holidays, including Easter. The pretty white Easter baskets on a bench were photographed in Asheville, North Carolina in 2007. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kingary/449495455/%20" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kingary/449495455/ </a> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This is a picture from my garden at La Casa Perfecta. The garden at La Casa is rather splendid, but it depends on which way you are looking. For the good, the bad and the ugly perspectives on my house and garden, see <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/welcome-to-casa-perfecta.html">Welcome to La Casa Perfecta</a>.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Neal Sanche is a software developer living in Calgary. He has a lot of ideas for unique art projects, for which hs is always seeking ambitious people to help. His photo sets show some of the ideas that have come to fruition, and also a bunny butt which came in handy for the very end of this story. Apparently Neal's neighbourhood is just one big rabbit warren. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thorinside/136193352/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thorinside/136193352/</a></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ji2cphuBbGUhkdj9zBdrHRzXGM-mN-uFA7Jyi2S-bSm4r1WyCUpg4Kif2Rxt0awNIqqt4qTglek53gpEpVJNdYSIDxLLaxAx8ocTeKK1ZlCOiH2pQr_vy8qWqZDPscFNiaKad9HgAAIr/s1600/bunny+butt%252C+Neal.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ji2cphuBbGUhkdj9zBdrHRzXGM-mN-uFA7Jyi2S-bSm4r1WyCUpg4Kif2Rxt0awNIqqt4qTglek53gpEpVJNdYSIDxLLaxAx8ocTeKK1ZlCOiH2pQr_vy8qWqZDPscFNiaKad9HgAAIr/s1600/bunny+butt%252C+Neal.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thorinside/136193352/" style="text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thorinside/136193352/</a></span><br /><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-4640547479314755372023-03-04T02:24:00.011-08:002023-08-31T11:35:07.963-07:00Grammar, Punctuation, Benches <p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ho<span>w's </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">your grammar and punctuation?</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="528" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHv3lMsT791BW_h4VzX_zzAn8Wbl1x9sGFY-jXvHK3t349RagEkZUtvPxQTr3YEnjG_OCy0LrsvQkcei1dL7h7P9W8xeQvUdHDkuVkL_g1ya42lI9JOKvZwARJvsto4TN_uGikK-isARqSvBNzfpehvKV5MzEAnJ42p5I-2gmQvz2iVL9XLvyx_yMa8Q/w400-h235/FB_IMG_1677925642257.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tombili, the Istanbul Station cat</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p></p><span style="font-family: verdana;">You may wonder why I ask.</span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl8Uv8rw9r6kRS4_Xb8d28iNxJf_QuJn0zhYBDjCCycFUYFctDYL18NJlhTsOb-oU9b91Z81XwLpsARAw0EI5q80Funq6lSEVPdhoIf3OBUhvLioB4Wdz9MaUhxojPpEaI7OsbqMwSnIq/s1600/alexanderhenningdrach.drachmann.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl8Uv8rw9r6kRS4_Xb8d28iNxJf_QuJn0zhYBDjCCycFUYFctDYL18NJlhTsOb-oU9b91Z81XwLpsARAw0EI5q80Funq6lSEVPdhoIf3OBUhvLioB4Wdz9MaUhxojPpEaI7OsbqMwSnIq/s320/alexanderhenningdrach.drachmann.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302</span></a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Do you know what quotation mark benches are for? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3P54YcLjmMN3uwPdgFMDVXDLO4MFjn8U_sgsflhPBc0P-U-sHaPVnuesBc7r4zG7pbCTK0wDIbf3U61IRRNOFmT5ekmvIyrCJnu7pBA12IicGP05XM5YNuZxlRKH1ypJ2pPM3qM6lBEQb/s1600/TABISSO-YOU.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3P54YcLjmMN3uwPdgFMDVXDLO4MFjn8U_sgsflhPBc0P-U-sHaPVnuesBc7r4zG7pbCTK0wDIbf3U61IRRNOFmT5ekmvIyrCJnu7pBA12IicGP05XM5YNuZxlRKH1ypJ2pPM3qM6lBEQb/s320/TABISSO-YOU.gif" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.tabisso.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: verdana;">www.tabisso.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Have you made your peace with apostrophes?</span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeCS2c6U8e5BpXPqpu16b0Q0DHaRJmo9skg-hlKA4V8Mpj7PShxMQDOM8Rz1OwkN3K5uNS1gEaIuVekb0PXHfpBjqzAVAGGmOcNJuWwo6s6vE-Nv76PRojPn2Elr-Mw3EGPqs6ZVtXUk-/s1600/Rachel.K.kimonomania.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeCS2c6U8e5BpXPqpu16b0Q0DHaRJmo9skg-hlKA4V8Mpj7PShxMQDOM8Rz1OwkN3K5uNS1gEaIuVekb0PXHfpBjqzAVAGGmOcNJuWwo6s6vE-Nv76PRojPn2Elr-Mw3EGPqs6ZVtXUk-/s320/Rachel.K.kimonomania.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimonomania/474758933/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimonomania/474758933/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie, my Inner Editor, who just happens to be a primate: You refer to apostrophes here but then you show a question mark. That's confusing.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sorry, Eddie. I'm just trying to introduce National Punctuation day, which is on September 24th. And National Grammar Day, which was on March Forth.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Eddie: Wrong <i>forth</i>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sorry, Eddie. Your right. It's <i>fourth</i>. As in 4th. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: red;">Eddie: Wrong <i>your</i>. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Right again! It's YOU'RE, short for you are.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: red;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Eddie: I know that. I'm a grammar guy. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's best to begin with a picture of me.</span><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's the (inevitable) picture of you.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ1vhRJFPKlwes8KzDpI3ZYymCsz1jEvvtVrvLdf2s04y10CaStMKnWYaVNucSBs9bxN4SXvmFiGVkyUT_R6BU5S_0by3Mit7MS7cVbxyKs13zG-MJS-tGRqTivQj2nDNsNZsKsZUSGtD/s1600/Eddie.writing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ1vhRJFPKlwes8KzDpI3ZYymCsz1jEvvtVrvLdf2s04y10CaStMKnWYaVNucSBs9bxN4SXvmFiGVkyUT_R6BU5S_0by3Mit7MS7cVbxyKs13zG-MJS-tGRqTivQj2nDNsNZsKsZUSGtD/w200-h185/Eddie.writing.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: I notice that you've used parentheses here.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes. As regular readers of Benchsite will know, I'm very fond of good grammar and correctly-used punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODum82EvOc-G5tpIAuWbf-gPcLql3DaO6zTNThd7NgqSttvxGDM0UFNAS-Bp5DvMo5cwcDeu-ocw6oCCHQmlpW8YEKMHNn9HfMFxzYF6zFwq41DluP3w3Z33pKHxhI9DOB1uSM_cAgYng/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570097489.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODum82EvOc-G5tpIAuWbf-gPcLql3DaO6zTNThd7NgqSttvxGDM0UFNAS-Bp5DvMo5cwcDeu-ocw6oCCHQmlpW8YEKMHNn9HfMFxzYF6zFwq41DluP3w3Z33pKHxhI9DOB1uSM_cAgYng/s320/PhotoFunia-1570097489.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency, one of my husbands: This looks like it's going to be a heavy punctuation crossing.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1vFckf00qyg-wrPAZv2Ul8UTyIbkztvfjkTqpLncBKh1JDgOvr21WMScJXsHRjH07dBFBUl8jcx9s35CJbptEQPfFLZ1dM8S1cr6zZtpB7TOV5AwvJ-FdBlIEKVIWZZQkr3JHTGy-PYp/s1600/kevin.trotman.fkccdonotuse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1vFckf00qyg-wrPAZv2Ul8UTyIbkztvfjkTqpLncBKh1JDgOvr21WMScJXsHRjH07dBFBUl8jcx9s35CJbptEQPfFLZ1dM8S1cr6zZtpB7TOV5AwvJ-FdBlIEKVIWZZQkr3JHTGy-PYp/s320/kevin.trotman.fkccdonotuse.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/in/photolist-LNrP" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin, a local girl who works in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy: I've never understood punctuation. I have a lot of questions about it. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0IiYDumG4ueXBwqFhmJxaTCeYPUsfkX_5L2LOEPn1oLLURWRaMxp3_xXU1ZyKKhMkt-kKqrzzTPDB0xbqi7SZSYktEkElD4QLBuFl5XHpgI2Yn-M4AEzUtHuSwfTUik8paO-nbJCzm8D/s1600/tsahi.levent-levi.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0IiYDumG4ueXBwqFhmJxaTCeYPUsfkX_5L2LOEPn1oLLURWRaMxp3_xXU1ZyKKhMkt-kKqrzzTPDB0xbqi7SZSYktEkElD4QLBuFl5XHpgI2Yn-M4AEzUtHuSwfTUik8paO-nbJCzm8D/s320/tsahi.levent-levi.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/" style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, then you're like lots of people, Tamsin. That's what National Punctuation Day is for. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly: Do we really need a whole day for it? I'd have thought a minute or two would do.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There's a lot of punctuation to get through, Lord B. There's the colon and the semi-colon and hyphens and exclamation points and ellipsis . . .</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: And of course the question mark, which is often used incorrectly.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lrmG95z3K9UzpQ0PNITbsR5_y3udF15AP26JP5aK4wf0jryP63FOmXCZfbdu_Ixz3UC7NP_PzHP1ucW0Et32xwnnqCcpWUMf7IMW1dUPMVeO4BJ8bLHg6GDiIYCUAVhNmo3JYgO1O2py/s1600/Raymond.Bryson.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lrmG95z3K9UzpQ0PNITbsR5_y3udF15AP26JP5aK4wf0jryP63FOmXCZfbdu_Ixz3UC7NP_PzHP1ucW0Et32xwnnqCcpWUMf7IMW1dUPMVeO4BJ8bLHg6GDiIYCUAVhNmo3JYgO1O2py/s320/Raymond.Bryson.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: I see you are illustrating this with a cross-section of the public.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: He doesn't look cross to me. He looks like a topnotch chap.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: This is President Obama, my long-standing friend.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Really? How long has he been standing?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: You have your work cut out for you on this one, Seashell.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I know. But I dream of a world where subjects and nouns agree, where homonyms are used properly. Where there are no dangling participles. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cutnhPpy9tTGWi_S69CX6Ft1Jr-21-Zbx42lOxei6ufBnbSZKmNFLqDVMujvMDUMp0fGF2entPu7Nai5OncIcjlG8xuyfLw_7lZUVEsHzmZuHukz-W7X8L_UBGbPp0Rrb8Zl6uYhiXWi8lpz_4K_KaS_sR8-t8zE7-fEX3nGnCHRgPPSVfhreWajAg/s2048/FB_IMG_1677928277476.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1725" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cutnhPpy9tTGWi_S69CX6Ft1Jr-21-Zbx42lOxei6ufBnbSZKmNFLqDVMujvMDUMp0fGF2entPu7Nai5OncIcjlG8xuyfLw_7lZUVEsHzmZuHukz-W7X8L_UBGbPp0Rrb8Zl6uYhiXWi8lpz_4K_KaS_sR8-t8zE7-fEX3nGnCHRgPPSVfhreWajAg/w338-h400/FB_IMG_1677928277476.jpg" width="338" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dreams</i> 1896, Vittorio Corcos (1859-1933)</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">His Excellency: I share your dream. This woman is beautiful, thoughtful, and well read. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica: I'm no reader but I do fancy a woman on a bench. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Readers of this blog should be assured that they will not be judged on their beauty. Or their use of grammar and punctuation.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;">Eddie: Yes, they will.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4C7NGAxO5axspe6m7LIiT98rfCsgm-BeCJ-gtDW73MNIEfWA3Gj-SS0AwDjNhFEz3pLlHw4a7wYJCzYwbLkecTOYDWyc7Ni-FUDEXCkLo4fJClKuovDFBoLfJ-UwKyeFliTdLTY0RQh_7o2Sa5AvS70qEVSyOtARi_G3y0TwoMmkRS5tiPh_H95g9Mg/s1100/FB_IMG_1677925564329.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1100" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4C7NGAxO5axspe6m7LIiT98rfCsgm-BeCJ-gtDW73MNIEfWA3Gj-SS0AwDjNhFEz3pLlHw4a7wYJCzYwbLkecTOYDWyc7Ni-FUDEXCkLo4fJClKuovDFBoLfJ-UwKyeFliTdLTY0RQh_7o2Sa5AvS70qEVSyOtARi_G3y0TwoMmkRS5tiPh_H95g9Mg/s320/FB_IMG_1677925564329.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Monkeys As Art Judges</i>, Gabriel von max, 1889</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Golly, I'd better find a book and look up some questions. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord Brassica: I read a book once. It was blue.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: I have a philosophical question to pose.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6V5SLV2hPymy7QhMgkmdkn93JY75snziKJjwsuZaxl_ojlwNNZfd4uBRG6vrALKghG75HDwxSmMuWJgURvlgHSVfg6BQivcKTQQoNTBgbAaPyhSjg1HNxqVSeC9mcs5M4gqHkzGM3SD8NCwoYRuY3Z8LFOB7VGRFrS88gNy4VLJINXM-wQ6hvX9QJfQ/s1280/FB_IMG_1677925817838.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6V5SLV2hPymy7QhMgkmdkn93JY75snziKJjwsuZaxl_ojlwNNZfd4uBRG6vrALKghG75HDwxSmMuWJgURvlgHSVfg6BQivcKTQQoNTBgbAaPyhSjg1HNxqVSeC9mcs5M4gqHkzGM3SD8NCwoYRuY3Z8LFOB7VGRFrS88gNy4VLJINXM-wQ6hvX9QJfQ/s320/FB_IMG_1677925817838.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I have a question <strike>to two</strike> too. Is it ok to stand on a bench with a question mark on your head?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOfXFsvqoM-iFfVmIF772hXjlrdA5SkJ9ksVsPppgwwm8I-2EVfUG7AaCCi0NCE_tA6A4-OPVDlJnFYgg2URScofF7NZX57J3U26swEgojusjxyMsWuzuszec3CqD7x3L7PVV37Ivp13f/s1600/marco.belluci.FK3534516458_48e4e8595f_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOfXFsvqoM-iFfVmIF772hXjlrdA5SkJ9ksVsPppgwwm8I-2EVfUG7AaCCi0NCE_tA6A4-OPVDlJnFYgg2URScofF7NZX57J3U26swEgojusjxyMsWuzuszec3CqD7x3L7PVV37Ivp13f/s320/marco.belluci.FK3534516458_48e4e8595f_z.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Of course not. Standing on furniture is always bad manners what?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You can't have a question mark here, Lord B because t</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">he word 'what' is not a question in this context. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I can jolly well have a question mark wherever I please. If Her Majesty doesn't bestow one on me, I am in a position to purchase one. Harrods do a nice line in question marks I'm told. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Maybe we should have some Q&As. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: In my day it was Ps and Qs. You had to mind them or you'd get a clip around the ear. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Let's just stick with the <b>and</b> then.</span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYY36wa2R3_wcj-emH8OMsCpIpnd-TItYA57_Ef_MHrJSaV5pDF4jkOsbO5XG-V3fsen38BFADf4Q6BiMjAx471LXC1D5Nd1ycEwTsecmCcqQ0WtvVdwShZKD2NDoZmhfVKx1RsPcTJ_yL/s1600/edgeplot.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYY36wa2R3_wcj-emH8OMsCpIpnd-TItYA57_Ef_MHrJSaV5pDF4jkOsbO5XG-V3fsen38BFADf4Q6BiMjAx471LXC1D5Nd1ycEwTsecmCcqQ0WtvVdwShZKD2NDoZmhfVKx1RsPcTJ_yL/s320/edgeplot.fkcc.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This is the kind of hour-glass figure I enjoy seeing on the female form. My wife has a figure like this. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-MIy9xE1o86w9QXioHPv4Mtcab0C6S-i5ZmdIqnAsInM-gheiVKzebFDM4DKNpE3EkAHMWqV7yyaBXeFWqPdGN0WtSDYWxPo89pxLTD7RypaM0J1vxkQ6pddCGw6IllJ-IgzWYHpP2Iu7/s1600/ladybcasualbest.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-MIy9xE1o86w9QXioHPv4Mtcab0C6S-i5ZmdIqnAsInM-gheiVKzebFDM4DKNpE3EkAHMWqV7yyaBXeFWqPdGN0WtSDYWxPo89pxLTD7RypaM0J1vxkQ6pddCGw6IllJ-IgzWYHpP2Iu7/s320/ladybcasualbest.JPG" width="104" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Punctuation <b>please</b>.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency, my husband: There are different levels of punctuation. I, of course, am highly conversant to the highest level of the Punctuation Pyramid.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWgBOaHCiinKux7PwgziiQvW6uAZGXBvQ1bhxQ1HOiDVOeGQwEqtnYO8K-NRmA0OlVPqo2DMmuruQk7KqsgODaE5Ar9xkBOw5ZZGi9Mf-O0AL5hYMgda4UFkrzEyXC3nsqKHVNVk24EGr/s1600/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWgBOaHCiinKux7PwgziiQvW6uAZGXBvQ1bhxQ1HOiDVOeGQwEqtnYO8K-NRmA0OlVPqo2DMmuruQk7KqsgODaE5Ar9xkBOw5ZZGi9Mf-O0AL5hYMgda4UFkrzEyXC3nsqKHVNVk24EGr/s320/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">May I quote you on that?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaFsvc0RMIz_uDWXpcf1fTJiMNUL_d70Ijo5XWRWNhDb-Q_HygknG2Lvq4ETS6ysb-98PXlNJPUvKkPL90i3KT32ivLSIv0us7ek8Z603wjfErv20ZeFNmp1C66q4xYLa_yPzu8x-kzBt/s1600/plainkacyjane.FKNOTCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaFsvc0RMIz_uDWXpcf1fTJiMNUL_d70Ijo5XWRWNhDb-Q_HygknG2Lvq4ETS6ysb-98PXlNJPUvKkPL90i3KT32ivLSIv0us7ek8Z603wjfErv20ZeFNmp1C66q4xYLa_yPzu8x-kzBt/s320/plainkacyjane.FKNOTCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/plainkacyjane/2254145743/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/plainkacyjane/2254145743/ </span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some people are sticklers for punctuation. The self-confessed punctuation geek Lynne Truss had a hit in 2004 with a book about punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I know that joke: a panda bench walks into a restaurant. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9tGSVFGqclfeLcTBnIs9hydCRTTfF58bMQGodVHcfdMnlt4q4sJ0fR6pvAjtWLTOKJACkpYxNxKrFOYiBG6rJzlmLEx0qn-RiF0T1UDSwobPGp8TtfTeghnwHhsgL0JiFZvhNqZFRapg/s1600/krittervilleusa.fkr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9tGSVFGqclfeLcTBnIs9hydCRTTfF58bMQGodVHcfdMnlt4q4sJ0fR6pvAjtWLTOKJACkpYxNxKrFOYiBG6rJzlmLEx0qn-RiF0T1UDSwobPGp8TtfTeghnwHhsgL0JiFZvhNqZFRapg/s320/krittervilleusa.fkr.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">He orders a bamboo sandwich and he eats shoots and leaves.</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Eddie: No. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">A panda walks into a restaurant . . . </span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFEAlJHQBpGGRZD-tJrRMqdXJqFsV-Lo8-J-vDe1PLdoW0YOjGS8QPdsARJ1kOQiQK85fX638p3jmoKZEa6GqqWxqDffYu8xMZUM1NsX7nPH7Gszja1EC1nYCG6ndRICnx_olyw41XsaD/s1600/_campana_panda_banquete_chair_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFEAlJHQBpGGRZD-tJrRMqdXJqFsV-Lo8-J-vDe1PLdoW0YOjGS8QPdsARJ1kOQiQK85fX638p3jmoKZEa6GqqWxqDffYu8xMZUM1NsX7nPH7Gszja1EC1nYCG6ndRICnx_olyw41XsaD/s1600/_campana_panda_banquete_chair_1.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">http://www.larcobaleno.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Golly, Eddie, this is some panda bench!</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: These pandas are soooooo cute!</span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: orange;">His Excellency: This is a Panda Banquette.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: I'll start again.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">A panda banquette walks into a restaurant and orders a sandwich, after which he takes out a gun, fires two shots into the air, and exits. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">In other words, he eats, shoots and leaves.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I'd have that blighter arrested if he's going to fire a gun in restaurants. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I guess he didn't like the sandwich?</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You're missing the point. Whether that panda is bamboo-eating or gun-toting all depends on a single comma. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">His Excellency: I am partial to wildlife but I detest violent commas. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: As a professional editor I advocate a Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Me too. I hate it.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: The Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa argued that even to have touched the feet of Christ is no excuse for mistakes in punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I think you'd better find a bench and do your punctuation sudoko.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineHZS1G_AcKawitgAtG6aAGs1EUkDrpHZ9DOcPSoYkZyZiTkpjv3X9I6ReLLkJTGTLY7ud_Rod12NmCdIJMRESnMx20Y_PCiaGtk-xBlkPKFJgxZuwu13JLpaUv18CR3B-SzSOiTbrQ5P/s1600/purplepenning.dawn.mcilvain.stahl.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineHZS1G_AcKawitgAtG6aAGs1EUkDrpHZ9DOcPSoYkZyZiTkpjv3X9I6ReLLkJTGTLY7ud_Rod12NmCdIJMRESnMx20Y_PCiaGtk-xBlkPKFJgxZuwu13JLpaUv18CR3B-SzSOiTbrQ5P/s320/purplepenning.dawn.mcilvain.stahl.FKCC.jpg" width="315" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Good heavens! I don't think we had all this when I was at school.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Of course you did. Grammar and punctuation have been around as long as written language.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: We had it. My school was a Centre of Excellense. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: This would be a good opportunity to show a pencil bench.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmNqhOddnCJ3nbr1Bd9djr0ngATZKzg3OIMSaUG5Jv5krfFQEAXs_DFcWNSJInt092PvFEgMwyyntzhhMa4q6Z3euHVikJxIIgD0qQ1EC2SznsDMoGktMttqSMXzGokFJlHIh6DPM7f1s/s1600/Hanneorla.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmNqhOddnCJ3nbr1Bd9djr0ngATZKzg3OIMSaUG5Jv5krfFQEAXs_DFcWNSJInt092PvFEgMwyyntzhhMa4q6Z3euHVikJxIIgD0qQ1EC2SznsDMoGktMttqSMXzGokFJlHIh6DPM7f1s/s320/Hanneorla.FK.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006" style="text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Good point, Eddie. You're very sharp.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: Yes. I'm</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> the Keeper of the Apostrophe.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And I'm the Queen of Commas.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: What exactly is a comma?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Here's a little verse to help you remember:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana;"><i>A cat has claws at the ends of its paws.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana;"><i>A comma's a pause at the end of a clause.</i></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Cats are so cute and fluffy! </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNHMtBGJGLs15nJ1vqTZHOxgmgJOipUXbA1J8nWkDMkmFZXmbIdaWh-CdijRG8pT1zcLxMEc7qaIqgOEQpVbBpXR4lSLXAstrnSZ9nOXkL80kdzcCNRyV0mVj-i2iyviFAJc7a9cpCZOLCtduJSjaOMZwadDyc7TdmUFDsOakazkk8iId-wnWQzubIw/s750/FB_IMG_1677925673973.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="750" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNHMtBGJGLs15nJ1vqTZHOxgmgJOipUXbA1J8nWkDMkmFZXmbIdaWh-CdijRG8pT1zcLxMEc7qaIqgOEQpVbBpXR4lSLXAstrnSZ9nOXkL80kdzcCNRyV0mVj-i2iyviFAJc7a9cpCZOLCtduJSjaOMZwadDyc7TdmUFDsOakazkk8iId-wnWQzubIw/s320/FB_IMG_1677925673973.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tombili again</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: What's all this nonsense about cats? I've got milking to do. Let's bring this chat to a stop.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">A full stop?</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #f9cb9c;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: How do you feel about fullstop benches?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHzwfEDz67sWqGESViZQrWPcFcxDU17FF9Hvx92yi6nFmfbMsPRQBFPbrUWn6MGByVU3NwF7ywMbSb9RpYk8BYeD9pWYvaqac6dspI1CW4-WcIEWlNwIwd3_RQMePsO3Sz83vkGuuLvv1/s1600/B+logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHzwfEDz67sWqGESViZQrWPcFcxDU17FF9Hvx92yi6nFmfbMsPRQBFPbrUWn6MGByVU3NwF7ywMbSb9RpYk8BYeD9pWYvaqac6dspI1CW4-WcIEWlNwIwd3_RQMePsO3Sz83vkGuuLvv1/s1600/B+logo.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This is not a sentence so there is no reason whatsoever that it should have a fullstop. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: You're ok with the capital B though. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Of course. Capital letters are for proper nouns. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: In my house hounds behave quite properly.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1IOiPn1riE7BB1081v0SsJG2yLFY92wZ7afQf2e1fJ5bRp4C-vYFxtlaLi657IMUR-aX2FNSEYyksFGYe9EpBjJC0RsjfumM-JfTx9BUsdwdhVQoNr2yWgBXHyTYFqw_0QjlJfOkxjbeE/s1600/100_8436+Lord+B+in+den.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1600" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1IOiPn1riE7BB1081v0SsJG2yLFY92wZ7afQf2e1fJ5bRp4C-vYFxtlaLi657IMUR-aX2FNSEYyksFGYe9EpBjJC0RsjfumM-JfTx9BUsdwdhVQoNr2yWgBXHyTYFqw_0QjlJfOkxjbeE/s320/100_8436+Lord+B+in+den.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;">I said <b>NOUNS</b>! </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: You're getting quite worked up, Seashell. You need a break.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm-V0sJyO0bh-PChfqAGnGXBVZROdI2NQ6ZU8-DvJvFRw4O3kxi5EpI915_BfKmRZRh3Km1plgXkSRqXGNALkN2nmJ_ex8QN-_orvtyLznjwbJrT1vE2yubifxZuWx6mm6cKZN_Z-0aWR/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569523215.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm-V0sJyO0bh-PChfqAGnGXBVZROdI2NQ6ZU8-DvJvFRw4O3kxi5EpI915_BfKmRZRh3Km1plgXkSRqXGNALkN2nmJ_ex8QN-_orvtyLznjwbJrT1vE2yubifxZuWx6mm6cKZN_Z-0aWR/s320/PhotoFunia-1569523215.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No, I want to finish the punctuation benches. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAghrHePhGDT0KzHWyQEwWLfPpAK0lusvdkaIm0IRp_oK-L5CgAjZgPZeAGhPDUVTfo6TItWLrinNIB_mhAz4Nsfd3SDJCBOezLKXOKRYAGv2QNdckAYtuBamST5ileQaYJr5qHektq6xB/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570097315.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="607" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAghrHePhGDT0KzHWyQEwWLfPpAK0lusvdkaIm0IRp_oK-L5CgAjZgPZeAGhPDUVTfo6TItWLrinNIB_mhAz4Nsfd3SDJCBOezLKXOKRYAGv2QNdckAYtuBamST5ileQaYJr5qHektq6xB/s320/PhotoFunia-1570097315.jpg" width="258" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">My husband, His Excellency: It's unlikely that you w</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">ill find a bench to illustrate each of the marks of punctuation. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">You'll soon come to a fullstop.</span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWvlAdQfLrCCssfukTdWvLNxTK9bJ4uo71cQYY-FgSRf6AVcy3xBwy0JE7SpFm9Ulc8AeVssA01w0HdjW3O_sqlDDP3W79WTpK_CfoTEuRyqoQVl-wZz-Rcn8slJVcFhk9HY8PNhNuIyz/s1600/leo.reynolds.fullstop.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWvlAdQfLrCCssfukTdWvLNxTK9bJ4uo71cQYY-FgSRf6AVcy3xBwy0JE7SpFm9Ulc8AeVssA01w0HdjW3O_sqlDDP3W79WTpK_CfoTEuRyqoQVl-wZz-Rcn8slJVcFhk9HY8PNhNuIyz/s320/leo.reynolds.fullstop.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/85990435/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/85990435/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'll be fine. I have plenty of benches stacked up.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jguMp03sOYYMw1dWKQSO2JWApa_z9hZEuERFgCoc9Jt-T4NtgFS2yVWaADnKhJeEOkGeJvyCxU8my1moIAkzyIMY5I5xVhyrHwd5unhuvSFqQCh6K105FOi10_tFhKKOCOqnlrGOtArV/s1600/SB22+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jguMp03sOYYMw1dWKQSO2JWApa_z9hZEuERFgCoc9Jt-T4NtgFS2yVWaADnKhJeEOkGeJvyCxU8my1moIAkzyIMY5I5xVhyrHwd5unhuvSFqQCh6K105FOi10_tFhKKOCOqnlrGOtArV/s320/SB22+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">photo by Sheila B</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: That's what I'm afraid of. I'm getting bored.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Go back to your bench and wait then, please. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisE8lmEopM88R-7LnRAfo_Ex8bpXA3UNBF9uFes3GATBQz9-1qtEfYrsyj9Y-obRR0l0zG0N5uLH5MTzdqrVkiKzLRWDf87MOipePjV1ROV8FvukE8GLCeZgCgUFCo40EjBho6kYzeUr6y/s1600/iluvcocacola.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisE8lmEopM88R-7LnRAfo_Ex8bpXA3UNBF9uFes3GATBQz9-1qtEfYrsyj9Y-obRR0l0zG0N5uLH5MTzdqrVkiKzLRWDf87MOipePjV1ROV8FvukE8GLCeZgCgUFCo40EjBho6kYzeUr6y/s400/iluvcocacola.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/</a></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">His Excellency: I'd like to make it clear that this is not me.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Poor chap, I wonder how long he's been waiting? </span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: red;">Eddie: According to the punctuation on the sign, this is just one husband's bench. It's not a bench for all husbands.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">True. This is the catastrophe of the apostrophe.<span style="color: #990000;"> <br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This chap looks chilly. He wants taking down to the Duck and Dog Collar for a Ploughmans and a warming pint. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Is that Ploughman's belonging to one ploughman or Ploughmans' belonging to all who plough? Just asking.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Unless this bench belongs to just this one husband, it's not properly punctuated.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The same with this guy's bench:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-R9-mYAXGvEalfcsOe1qxl83dIf9P47yzzQX-QK2pWaScDsN_Q1NVjPi5lXWX0f0EnMYvXXiJLWy1xn2DVLxVIKPfq7cNWoZfUNZoqexdHe-DOcHuqwdEX9TFCMMSgpB5xpJ1DRYCW-4/s1600/sarahbrowning.smichael.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-R9-mYAXGvEalfcsOe1qxl83dIf9P47yzzQX-QK2pWaScDsN_Q1NVjPi5lXWX0f0EnMYvXXiJLWy1xn2DVLxVIKPfq7cNWoZfUNZoqexdHe-DOcHuqwdEX9TFCMMSgpB5xpJ1DRYCW-4/s320/sarahbrowning.smichael.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smichael/3863185306/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/smichael/3863185306/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: So are you saying I can't sit on this bench because I'm not a guy?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: red;">Eddie: No one can sit on it, except a guy named Guy. It's Guy's bench.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If it's for other guys, it would need different punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: red;">Eddie: Or indeed no punctuation at all. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKsgpGKvA3PgFVdCudwD-2A6D3nkZMoPltnECKzHaA47LipNoIZtZgSqFX_cqr-yuukXNSRk7fi3kUEzFFNmtWYbRID2phBHqR9inT5k1bd_HfyVhJhX2yJdlA2VBSyn6NMZPOMdoCFpt/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570097375.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="720" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKsgpGKvA3PgFVdCudwD-2A6D3nkZMoPltnECKzHaA47LipNoIZtZgSqFX_cqr-yuukXNSRk7fi3kUEzFFNmtWYbRID2phBHqR9inT5k1bd_HfyVhJhX2yJdlA2VBSyn6NMZPOMdoCFpt/s320/PhotoFunia-1570097375.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Wow, I'm getting more and more confused. My head is full of questions.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUdDSw2LpSRvZgdE5IIDZ-oRMfITg-mZObj1Ue6BqT_9qNYAPBFsH2yAuICLK76JA-VEvfjSSqZFS0dUK_IyTU7q2LyBdH1aa9KiQAIS_v-fAxRnbf35qmxebmRrSOvafIEYO7KG8yqEk/s1600/scott.mcleod.mcleod.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUdDSw2LpSRvZgdE5IIDZ-oRMfITg-mZObj1Ue6BqT_9qNYAPBFsH2yAuICLK76JA-VEvfjSSqZFS0dUK_IyTU7q2LyBdH1aa9KiQAIS_v-fAxRnbf35qmxebmRrSOvafIEYO7KG8yqEk/s320/scott.mcleod.mcleod.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, Tamsin, tell me your three favourite things.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I like cooking babies and puppies. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Cooking babies? That's not so bad. But cooking puppies! What kind of monster are you?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: black;">I think you mean you like cooking, babies, and puppies.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: That's what I said.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I can't see what all the fuss is about. I didn't get where I am today by knowing where to put a semi-colon. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;">Well, excuse me, Lord B, you got where you are through inherited wealth. Drizzly Manor is inherited.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAV2LKMlrMOHqAWmkTfI8NVsYzx6_VwUxn0vijJ0wqdlDZtPqcJo-My8vSDbtPjoHBvX07CrgZhumMOdYKxjejZlTbEjDydYRTbzN8CoQG_5S7Wg-J3tf4NAiEwfpX2Q9qJvy9FfuqciPT/s1600/100_8425+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAV2LKMlrMOHqAWmkTfI8NVsYzx6_VwUxn0vijJ0wqdlDZtPqcJo-My8vSDbtPjoHBvX07CrgZhumMOdYKxjejZlTbEjDydYRTbzN8CoQG_5S7Wg-J3tf4NAiEwfpX2Q9qJvy9FfuqciPT/s320/100_8425+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Is it? By jove, I guess it is. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;">As is Castle Broccoli. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldciPuKu5DuIW-IZh75Kzdq7AkldKURqKOU_F8vva4Fmf8Y_LWxKpRzRMUhH_Kv4_oKbD1ufyf4pimggOIUXxTuOsF17erp60v-x7AlghH0ACHGE283u-wMkIuwC9Mv2NVxvHGjJFClXo/s1600/royals%2526castle.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldciPuKu5DuIW-IZh75Kzdq7AkldKURqKOU_F8vva4Fmf8Y_LWxKpRzRMUhH_Kv4_oKbD1ufyf4pimggOIUXxTuOsF17erp60v-x7AlghH0ACHGE283u-wMkIuwC9Mv2NVxvHGjJFClXo/s320/royals%2526castle.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: The words 'entitled' and 'twit' come to mind.</span></span><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica: That was my great grandfather: Manley Randolph Godfrey de Puking Entwit. </span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;">Eddie: I've looked him up.</span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFBjn0-yYQ5blL-0GTGjom3HvHmSXh13Is5nb3Fi5iQTku8NgjSrcQ2JXSSgTjrRgWSNTjo5XVF87dIXgN00_e2l4fpzufVp7-SegnqnfwwK3xdFMVpo-DaUFyqvOQqXSmWIAKCt4lATb/s2015/FB_IMG_1603228737052.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2015" data-original-width="1435" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFBjn0-yYQ5blL-0GTGjom3HvHmSXh13Is5nb3Fi5iQTku8NgjSrcQ2JXSSgTjrRgWSNTjo5XVF87dIXgN00_e2l4fpzufVp7-SegnqnfwwK3xdFMVpo-DaUFyqvOQqXSmWIAKCt4lATb/s320/FB_IMG_1603228737052.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Scholars</i>, Gabriel Ritter von Max </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;">Eddie: He was known as De Puking Entitled-Twit.</span><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #ff00fe; font-family: verdana;">Tamsin: So hyphenated words have a hyphen? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes, it's only non-hyphenated words that don't have a hyphen.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: I note an irony in the spelling of the words hyphenated and non-hyphenated. </span></div><br /><span face="" style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: I still don't see why we need spelling. Or punctuation. </span><span face="" style="color: magenta;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Because meanings change where punctuation is not used properly. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxpXkITYf2jXBJNkeDlaSEljmtNX1EfvdDBHXAtT4X6dEdZE1rhQZAFDs3wPbJ_2JgEV8st0mEv7jn4euaKQnk1qiS8UB1UbSvyRq6Ydhcx5QntAICdNyoJ1rzA1olG1Nr6JUDQCRZXVz/s1600/20140921_133721.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxpXkITYf2jXBJNkeDlaSEljmtNX1EfvdDBHXAtT4X6dEdZE1rhQZAFDs3wPbJ_2JgEV8st0mEv7jn4euaKQnk1qiS8UB1UbSvyRq6Ydhcx5QntAICdNyoJ1rzA1olG1Nr6JUDQCRZXVz/s1600/20140921_133721.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">my photo, Wiltshire</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: red;">Eddie: Shouldn't Starbucks have an apostrophe?</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">His Excellency: This isn't Starbuck's. This is St. Arbuck's, a different thing altogether. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span style="color: red;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Eddie: Their cappuccino is excellent.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"></span><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFJnmUDfbIzTwqJFCi9-P34aP7ncZT9HOjZ46o1mdQrgXyM8YMwL_WjeJ8AP8yTD04gdMYTNrlBMtGDWngxH3FeZ2TyxPGX_6DSzBzRd5lSXWoUmzIrqCtn55a-OW6-7XZ-9B3AeJ6Me_/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFJnmUDfbIzTwqJFCi9-P34aP7ncZT9HOjZ46o1mdQrgXyM8YMwL_WjeJ8AP8yTD04gdMYTNrlBMtGDWngxH3FeZ2TyxPGX_6DSzBzRd5lSXWoUmzIrqCtn55a-OW6-7XZ-9B3AeJ6Me_/s320/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Either way, you need an apostrophe to make the meaning clear. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's another example for you:</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUNrXJcnuLje5tkh6eUlW_A9pJ15FcXdXfvIfxCRF6vIxKYFyH3bJ11qU7fo8_FMgM1Zp6tafflk4tVnaFpaEGMF8YgQRIySeQS_9WyRAkZ-IBqF5T5R9IermguOvGhQghhNiHxr9OHJ8/s1600/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUNrXJcnuLje5tkh6eUlW_A9pJ15FcXdXfvIfxCRF6vIxKYFyH3bJ11qU7fo8_FMgM1Zp6tafflk4tVnaFpaEGMF8YgQRIySeQS_9WyRAkZ-IBqF5T5R9IermguOvGhQghhNiHxr9OHJ8/s320/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4294873069/"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4294873069/</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: My own polo ponies drive rather faster than most. One of them has six penalty points for speeding. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Ohhhhh, I LOVE ponies! </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's another sign for you from the drive-through safari park. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V-QEgx44qV2shB2CTwxF1LP4U1VrJIOsHBgAE1dgBFqGhFIWufeg8QuZbqUmS9XJrC8Z6Wsm8FXbRrtqleP1u12u8pHti_x3nnno5FqYwQx1cJBvcN3W8kRXJmHY7h1a3DQOqG1k4gGa/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570094967.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="373" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V-QEgx44qV2shB2CTwxF1LP4U1VrJIOsHBgAE1dgBFqGhFIWufeg8QuZbqUmS9XJrC8Z6Wsm8FXbRrtqleP1u12u8pHti_x3nnno5FqYwQx1cJBvcN3W8kRXJmHY7h1a3DQOqG1k4gGa/s320/PhotoFunia-1570094967.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Quite. You don't want elephants roaming free. They're much safer in cars. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I think you'll find this is the imperative form in which the 'you' is implied. </span><br /></span><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I don't want a ruddy elephant in my Land Rover. I've already got a cow and a couple of dogs in there. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVPBBNQ0yeX0Q3TbePemdAPQyjWqUVAWozu9eVH3XOmgDUGEV4UC0sScqI5FZpHK8SWmKHJrE-T1WPEL0kWO-bH9OKE6OtAvO8sFyMbl9jMqAarNkv6OsI4-Q9ADgfNIiVZAlixAfnY1x/s1600/LordB1+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="1171" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVPBBNQ0yeX0Q3TbePemdAPQyjWqUVAWozu9eVH3XOmgDUGEV4UC0sScqI5FZpHK8SWmKHJrE-T1WPEL0kWO-bH9OKE6OtAvO8sFyMbl9jMqAarNkv6OsI4-Q9ADgfNIiVZAlixAfnY1x/s320/LordB1+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;">My horse Tonks has to ride in the carriage.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW4ohH3hi-TqCN6WfCF5ZLvB9VezeiYXYsBKo8VV6OZVXkHI5QOtUP_JvLAQ5hKL49bwKfzw1VSm3vIMKic7cQTu6qMo0Luu4fFBh59M82vR8nlfyLmv5QpZaTPoHkmo3dqf29Qy2Zn2J/s1600/tonks+in+carriage.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1316" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW4ohH3hi-TqCN6WfCF5ZLvB9VezeiYXYsBKo8VV6OZVXkHI5QOtUP_JvLAQ5hKL49bwKfzw1VSm3vIMKic7cQTu6qMo0Luu4fFBh59M82vR8nlfyLmv5QpZaTPoHkmo3dqf29Qy2Zn2J/s320/tonks+in+carriage.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Let's try again. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJWQZbJpUbeD-xAp47EoG-cedJZWbZfWBi5dPvzj1l5WvlgtA8_8_4_G1Omu4x8Mhms4mehmV1RlfETRxWDdMzb2ku3yDn_1mUHrQmzFxJGe7TzOLNBwvqN6J7fO_Z1Wq5Y8b2KcJj2o4/s1600/TeenieTees.etsy.il_570xN_655741873_inb3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJWQZbJpUbeD-xAp47EoG-cedJZWbZfWBi5dPvzj1l5WvlgtA8_8_4_G1Omu4x8Mhms4mehmV1RlfETRxWDdMzb2ku3yDn_1mUHrQmzFxJGe7TzOLNBwvqN6J7fO_Z1Wq5Y8b2KcJj2o4/s400/TeenieTees.etsy.il_570xN_655741873_inb3.jpg" width="318" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/teenietees"><span style="font-family: verdana;">www.etsy.com/shop/teenietees</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Good Lord. What sort of people eat their ancestors? </span></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Not to put too fine a point on it, punctuation saves lives. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Speaking of points, in some places the fullstop is known as a period. It goes at the end of a sentence. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Unless the sentence is a question. </span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqQgzghB0S_5t_iHKgrxbjWO_CkSoQtzkCNALgIW_FSiyVTi89-Ai6tGdTzeOoqYAQ9YyF39LacNtbmG_vuftJiOarflsZtTd-eHpLC8AYQfhyphenhyphenGOrZpOqPuVnmbDMkuJxRMGxJa2GKQoJ/s1600/mauro.un+gatto.fkcc+IT.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqQgzghB0S_5t_iHKgrxbjWO_CkSoQtzkCNALgIW_FSiyVTi89-Ai6tGdTzeOoqYAQ9YyF39LacNtbmG_vuftJiOarflsZtTd-eHpLC8AYQfhyphenhyphenGOrZpOqPuVnmbDMkuJxRMGxJa2GKQoJ/s320/mauro.un+gatto.fkcc+IT.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: This cat is sooooo cute!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Punctuation is quite straightforward; I hope you're not going to bore us with a lesson. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Good use of the semi-colon here, HE.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MeovY6DJ5CXO3KBTLdjySgdb82aGQx_W7znI5E1uyUjpuqlCqtnOf6cUFol_kvuEqdyp7mEMOagNQKo_6FoEXMEvmbS0KhmoTqjJJJzpdfzREEhlYqGN4eaDwNlNoyw8oKsRF_NnpsBx/s1600/rebecca.wilson.saucysalad.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MeovY6DJ5CXO3KBTLdjySgdb82aGQx_W7znI5E1uyUjpuqlCqtnOf6cUFol_kvuEqdyp7mEMOagNQKo_6FoEXMEvmbS0KhmoTqjJJJzpdfzREEhlYqGN4eaDwNlNoyw8oKsRF_NnpsBx/s320/rebecca.wilson.saucysalad.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/ </span></a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Oh, I know this one! It's the winky face! ;</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: No. Just NO. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdCZkh3Yn9k1dzzLUeFq0An5r4ULk5vUtienY-Q8DmyhAY2oBw3taa3vqOqp57I3KDV3XQOb3Gjkvq-q_LTjA0jXRjA8DKiiM6lZV2oMn0et9z4DIxXiGdQsETXDeEePZ4WGF2OF4ii5h/s1600/grammaticalt.etsy.il_570xN_676053398_13pq.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdCZkh3Yn9k1dzzLUeFq0An5r4ULk5vUtienY-Q8DmyhAY2oBw3taa3vqOqp57I3KDV3XQOb3Gjkvq-q_LTjA0jXRjA8DKiiM6lZV2oMn0et9z4DIxXiGdQsETXDeEePZ4WGF2OF4ii5h/s200/grammaticalt.etsy.il_570xN_676053398_13pq.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: What on earth is going on here? Polo ponies. Winky faces. This discussion is making me feel quite befuddled. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">I suppose you're going to say there's a punctuation mark for that? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Indeed there is, Lord B. This is the interrobang. It's a combination of an exclamation and a question.</span><br /></span><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHdEzDmiE7n-YyuxByJHFGp2X5W4DM8MRWEYPCuTsKWzKV-GQkoHSwl4rQ3KTarelHJPZqYVqrfbk6EHONwO0eGPXUT5gHjoCqeZSlZwG2W0i9Nm3bKN0uTQEAv1nfpFepKPmTWgnnwv7/s1600/larry.tenney.fkcc..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHdEzDmiE7n-YyuxByJHFGp2X5W4DM8MRWEYPCuTsKWzKV-GQkoHSwl4rQ3KTarelHJPZqYVqrfbk6EHONwO0eGPXUT5gHjoCqeZSlZwG2W0i9Nm3bKN0uTQEAv1nfpFepKPmTWgnnwv7/s320/larry.tenney.fkcc..jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I love little squiggles like this! lol What am I like?! </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, done, Tamsin. This is proper use of the interrobang.<span style="color: magenta;"> </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Punctuation is brill!!!! I think I've nailed it!!!!</span> </span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCfJgfHa6DfbZsLthgvDucYM4JiDb8PqryMYsmBon9sMeXmH7ii4WOQsh1VL89VUIuspVYnHEB7x1ZbNsP1uGgIA_mneiuWwx3rPOxxrhD1BGrkqth4-wi0J2Y9yimZdd-tWxTnSXTCA6/s1600/borispumps.NeilMilne.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCfJgfHa6DfbZsLthgvDucYM4JiDb8PqryMYsmBon9sMeXmH7ii4WOQsh1VL89VUIuspVYnHEB7x1ZbNsP1uGgIA_mneiuWwx3rPOxxrhD1BGrkqth4-wi0J2Y9yimZdd-tWxTnSXTCA6/s320/borispumps.NeilMilne.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: You haven't. Multiple exclamation points are always incorrect. They </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">should only be used in situations of extreme excitement, for example a 30th birthday party.</span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqI5gjCmbVt2OmNU4gZDWAbc_3hRA95VTRFBYldyGP3Rh2sA-CeLAmvtnRIlhkb7qP5mF_KmfFVWraxFvFZKYGlTLIBFjA2i_YAq1yKQZIQ-9ohkGNvyR8tEGe0yV75ojTqzPNNyFq4pHh/s1600/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqI5gjCmbVt2OmNU4gZDWAbc_3hRA95VTRFBYldyGP3Rh2sA-CeLAmvtnRIlhkb7qP5mF_KmfFVWraxFvFZKYGlTLIBFjA2i_YAq1yKQZIQ-9ohkGNvyR8tEGe0yV75ojTqzPNNyFq4pHh/s320/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Parties are fab!!!</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I go to as many as I can!!!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: As illustrated here, the exclamation point is seriously over-used. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I agree, Eddie. There are too many exclamation points around.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5D5-nl6pcn9HKtAlMqhPGque8F1I711jJ0dyajl2RsEMVFRn94F-pibSmzcWV8hEpfgCCAPkmmtr8FHueCBt_beq29mbclNwxPYUJgY-w-mifYh_gXXdOohq5i3lPw9ruiR9vDaN6ee-/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569524930.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5D5-nl6pcn9HKtAlMqhPGque8F1I711jJ0dyajl2RsEMVFRn94F-pibSmzcWV8hEpfgCCAPkmmtr8FHueCBt_beq29mbclNwxPYUJgY-w-mifYh_gXXdOohq5i3lPw9ruiR9vDaN6ee-/s320/PhotoFunia-1569524930.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">These days you can't find a bench without sitting on an exclamation mark. </span><br /><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbczF_f0ZtzzI2S6730opzbi8HdN74BXxe7FAyAiHcTysgj3xmcl15g6OxIHz9PCA-IW1QlubZ32drKzjNfjgiCQKCZY6UFrKlxWk3BhstrUrGCrpMwvjMMfzxtpjd0x1XqUQjPlnZEo6d/s1600/loonatic.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbczF_f0ZtzzI2S6730opzbi8HdN74BXxe7FAyAiHcTysgj3xmcl15g6OxIHz9PCA-IW1QlubZ32drKzjNfjgiCQKCZY6UFrKlxWk3BhstrUrGCrpMwvjMMfzxtpjd0x1XqUQjPlnZEo6d/s320/loonatic.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoscribe/4246687403" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoscribe/4246687403</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Snow is sooooo lovely!!!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Exclamation points leave me cold. People are far too free with them.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lord Brassica: Giving away things for free makes people lazy and lacking in motivation. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Nothing should be free.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What, even air?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54S81UF17h0B2TQidvp8rubMNMwCZ7qn9ViF53K55c6EcTz3w5eH5SbO4gDgNo1dRtZldNf4mRJZMqlV_mCZKTu5v4HPJlY4EfPIzd3oM9fDqHUPCzv2LehEDnOUV2zsYbqVvgQ3SaltN/s1600/robwatling.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54S81UF17h0B2TQidvp8rubMNMwCZ7qn9ViF53K55c6EcTz3w5eH5SbO4gDgNo1dRtZldNf4mRJZMqlV_mCZKTu5v4HPJlY4EfPIzd3oM9fDqHUPCzv2LehEDnOUV2zsYbqVvgQ3SaltN/s320/robwatling.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I personally can afford all the air I need, and for that matter, all the punctuation. I'd like to see people pay for punctuation if they need it. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: What price the exclamation point?</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: About £3.75 I think. </span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Golly, I've run up quite a bill!!!!! </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: red;">Eddie: We're not making much progress. Punctuation Day is in September. It's going to be here before we've finished. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Punctuation isn't very sexy, is it?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It depends, Tamsin. I've seen some rather racy correspondence about quotation marks.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ik6eTdCEdEQsL5FnF6f1y5q6_2aiWFis9VS7uzxbrU0me-s-FCXBtvsdcrv0XRAiB05TUMHwOodWxCgwEcz0LFsrIY1Vk57xV1A0qwyrjgMB7YFQGyaKjfHf_ru8P7qnPJn8KsKRHE0Z/s1600/saplingpress.etsy.il_570xN_676589944_l77m.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ik6eTdCEdEQsL5FnF6f1y5q6_2aiWFis9VS7uzxbrU0me-s-FCXBtvsdcrv0XRAiB05TUMHwOodWxCgwEcz0LFsrIY1Vk57xV1A0qwyrjgMB7YFQGyaKjfHf_ru8P7qnPJn8KsKRHE0Z/s400/saplingpress.etsy.il_570xN_676589944_l77m.jpg" width="343" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">His Excellency: And then there's the Comma Sutra . . . </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiDLEQazokvumuMXAvHWz65eHRqEt1LNtsSqnwo9yxPNW8WobqxhrtUqygcgaHEkyKiIhxjOZnkezf3hoe9q2jWT2q0G886u-dtAejpA8c2b1cQexaB4PiFUfEhaUKiE80S6oFdVa0Y3o/s1600/seeminglee.FKCC.commasutra.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiDLEQazokvumuMXAvHWz65eHRqEt1LNtsSqnwo9yxPNW8WobqxhrtUqygcgaHEkyKiIhxjOZnkezf3hoe9q2jWT2q0G886u-dtAejpA8c2b1cQexaB4PiFUfEhaUKiE80S6oFdVa0Y3o/s320/seeminglee.FKCC.commasutra.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/8378437207/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/8378437207/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I hope they're practising safe text.</span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: An illustration from The Joy of Punctuation is more than I can bear. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, let's move on. I want to show you what happens when punctuation goes bad.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jKq_69dZDg6nZgtD0Pjo-U6SE7kU0pV5Ltu77srsG9bkjAgsvMy7ObXm1MNjp_cV0PxgwahGJKK8iVfJQUiqe-E7PG9soBtDWCws3sEkgLIApHMcaG9fzg0rwcufZdmRGQa-vJig2K9R/s1600/bad+comma.dlanham.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jKq_69dZDg6nZgtD0Pjo-U6SE7kU0pV5Ltu77srsG9bkjAgsvMy7ObXm1MNjp_cV0PxgwahGJKK8iVfJQUiqe-E7PG9soBtDWCws3sEkgLIApHMcaG9fzg0rwcufZdmRGQa-vJig2K9R/s320/bad+comma.dlanham.FKCC.jpg" width="282" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This German comma chap seems to have run amuck, as Europeans are wont to do. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Do the words <i>British</i> and <i>Empire</i> mean anything to you?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: As editor-in-chief of this post I suggest we avoid politics.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Your not wrong there</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's YOU'RE, Tamsin, not YOUR! <span style="font-size: large;">YOU ARE!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica: Hold your horses, Seashell, it doesn't do to get worked up. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #ff00fe; font-family: verdana;">Tamsin: I love horses, especially ponies. There so cute and . . .</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: verdana;">His Excellency: This may not be the best time to point out that THERE and THEY'RE have very different meanings.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">So. Deep breaths. Start again. <br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">My bêtes noir</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> is the comma splice, that's where independent clauses are joined by a comma, it's a thing that happens a lot these days, it's really irritating it doesn't make any sense, and I wish it would stop. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotYSvfztubR0pHpocg8QJ_keEXHSey-yqa7rKIIAH8FYJPSoTsniMtLooE1jX0D_Y3Hdq-L-IgOlrxkh2vSnEIEjaWyQc_wxGA60Io-pWZMcYOzvYu3EDIQGsrNLlrXFyufxYJbL0kFPm/s1600/grammaticalArt.Etsy.il_570xN_830896447_hp72.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotYSvfztubR0pHpocg8QJ_keEXHSey-yqa7rKIIAH8FYJPSoTsniMtLooE1jX0D_Y3Hdq-L-IgOlrxkh2vSnEIEjaWyQc_wxGA60Io-pWZMcYOzvYu3EDIQGsrNLlrXFyufxYJbL0kFPm/s320/grammaticalArt.Etsy.il_570xN_830896447_hp72.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: This is an excellent example, Seashell. The three ways of avoiding the comma splice are . . .</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sorry, HE, this isn't a punctuation lesson. We're not at Oxford, you know.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I personally dislike the Oxford comma even though I went to Oxford.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqYdzZlxw6ThNMcAwJsr6f7KytRhDJhddEN8HHwEM_lMkoXM1oHA_fql4di5f8KIW3HUHzQBpR_2leG1TzCia8SZ9BWErw0uwPMiKs2jSIr85RE1j_skLBmRujdtWRZZQmn4w10346cf4/s1600/RedHedgePhotos.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqYdzZlxw6ThNMcAwJsr6f7KytRhDJhddEN8HHwEM_lMkoXM1oHA_fql4di5f8KIW3HUHzQBpR_2leG1TzCia8SZ9BWErw0uwPMiKs2jSIr85RE1j_skLBmRujdtWRZZQmn4w10346cf4/s320/RedHedgePhotos.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos</span></a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I disagree. The Oxford Comma has its place. And so does good grammar. </span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh90Iu_5SYqz5aco74VvFemhMcZmTMAD39rl6jnlkNUmNqQMCoj_2VSjJJP5pkn0IqvBkxMvDQbQ1tm9e9vCBK0O712verwgdL_F7C_Yk5FU5UOTuNg8UY_6kAqnaUTzf2U8l6CYNCABz-/s1504/20200611_095208.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1301" data-original-width="1504" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh90Iu_5SYqz5aco74VvFemhMcZmTMAD39rl6jnlkNUmNqQMCoj_2VSjJJP5pkn0IqvBkxMvDQbQ1tm9e9vCBK0O712verwgdL_F7C_Yk5FU5UOTuNg8UY_6kAqnaUTzf2U8l6CYNCABz-/w256-h222/20200611_095208.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">many online sources</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#0f9d58" face="verdana">Lord Brassica: Never saw a dog! By jove that's an unlucky girl.</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#ff00fe" face="verdana">Tamsin: Never smiled. She must have been miserable.</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#0b8043" face="verdana">Lord Brassica: Why couldn't someone just show this poor woman a dog?</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is called an amphiboly; because of poor grammar, you're misunderstanding the meaning.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;"><font face="verdana">His Excellency: She couldn't see a dog without smiling. That in itself is a pro</font><font face="verdana">blem.</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now we need to tackle the most misunderstood punctuation of all - the apostrophe.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I know this place! They have really nice pastries!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYUfLAC9ALmWIjIDT_XpMP3QPDVybPtPVvZY4o7aLxbPjWoHY-eLlBlDYPJx7ciYszzOpJaxwWJMdy8CDosSdE87NlvbzG1RGM1hSBxVS__Gyi26WbDklNlPrm1gq4RO5Jw2QmBLs4MxK/s1600/apostrophe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYUfLAC9ALmWIjIDT_XpMP3QPDVybPtPVvZY4o7aLxbPjWoHY-eLlBlDYPJx7ciYszzOpJaxwWJMdy8CDosSdE87NlvbzG1RGM1hSBxVS__Gyi26WbDklNlPrm1gq4RO5Jw2QmBLs4MxK/s320/apostrophe.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: They make great cappuccinos.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsix9mI0bRwcQEkq7stP5y-XoigJS9QOCq5xE93Gy_OzrAP9lyyzh8FW2eLfNcrcXRDIovforH7SoTtUrvY_rY86NNzBIlccakTTiEzGYmas4aQuRnRWJC4auW0LOrrMbUOy3ZHTmL6Vh/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsix9mI0bRwcQEkq7stP5y-XoigJS9QOCq5xE93Gy_OzrAP9lyyzh8FW2eLfNcrcXRDIovforH7SoTtUrvY_rY86NNzBIlccakTTiEzGYmas4aQuRnRWJC4auW0LOrrMbUOy3ZHTmL6Vh/s320/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We're talking about punctuation here, not coffee shops.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Wow, this is fun!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vRrayN2eQxq2lP0L47WVOh_1Lr6qH-FQ0qogpgOdCGsd0fUdIoCSNIHdhiEKVbMIjiXtzcCVVkw08KTFvKAG327n1_Yz-SslxGr9DHaMRXkm1L06bb-LWV06Ktaju-_c9PPxG9TIM353/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570094736.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="849" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vRrayN2eQxq2lP0L47WVOh_1Lr6qH-FQ0qogpgOdCGsd0fUdIoCSNIHdhiEKVbMIjiXtzcCVVkw08KTFvKAG327n1_Yz-SslxGr9DHaMRXkm1L06bb-LWV06Ktaju-_c9PPxG9TIM353/s320/PhotoFunia-1570094736.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">His Excellency: Looks like we've got some way to go on apostrophes.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We begin with a simple fact.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwGatUNuyrXJdQ6P8ukUF_OTo41o5kvWeDvn_Fhyphenhyphendn8Lwh8NPq9XTr5FVNuuru7U78us1fIo42K66PRl-6q6k4DGYZQDe43aCoChaT7hyphenhyphenztJMPqvwDSiKBoqxE9WeeK7_hlcn7APFYDXxD/s1600/shopsaplingpress.etsy7514963986_859a0b5987_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwGatUNuyrXJdQ6P8ukUF_OTo41o5kvWeDvn_Fhyphenhyphendn8Lwh8NPq9XTr5FVNuuru7U78us1fIo42K66PRl-6q6k4DGYZQDe43aCoChaT7hyphenhyphenztJMPqvwDSiKBoqxE9WeeK7_hlcn7APFYDXxD/s320/shopsaplingpress.etsy7514963986_859a0b5987_z.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Let me make this clear:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitiS6Q-gc8ddokQ3TfmtO9kpM1ASOcpxI1evoR4zbSA5VG88grM0Ch2MOn5pVhYJtTbvxnSTIGIye2EVL48tAXPVIjlQC3_L4FRpvtTpcRUvcOR3WkTF4JTODCxJoGSeNVdyOZkAGvbWL7/s1600/BookFiend.etsyil_570xN_650457337_4a6p.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitiS6Q-gc8ddokQ3TfmtO9kpM1ASOcpxI1evoR4zbSA5VG88grM0Ch2MOn5pVhYJtTbvxnSTIGIye2EVL48tAXPVIjlQC3_L4FRpvtTpcRUvcOR3WkTF4JTODCxJoGSeNVdyOZkAGvbWL7/s320/BookFiend.etsyil_570xN_650457337_4a6p.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />The incorrect apostrophe is sometimes known as the Grocer's Apostrophe, as in banana's, lemon's, potatoe's. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here in Fribble-under-Par, </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Squeezy, our pet lemon, gets sour about apostrophes.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirP688D-UvrrjKpJCpvxsI41eWnRAM_LHFmUaFCXWVH2ddYMbMV2_7isRRDOnI5IV0EgCiDT8IZYh0pV1E5IywBRwJ0A_vIJUluwJ7uGY2HK6wsZMowvoZHpw20O_lcuc17fyG3vnRatiG/s1600/100_7523.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirP688D-UvrrjKpJCpvxsI41eWnRAM_LHFmUaFCXWVH2ddYMbMV2_7isRRDOnI5IV0EgCiDT8IZYh0pV1E5IywBRwJ0A_vIJUluwJ7uGY2HK6wsZMowvoZHpw20O_lcuc17fyG3vnRatiG/s320/100_7523.JPG" width="318" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span style="color: purple;"> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">Squeezy: The Grocer's Apostrophe shows no respect whatsoever for lemons.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw855C6QuV3VNkn08sSNQgmr2_libM2WQoIZrTuMKdTvlrOBi8sHTgMKvbvLnUTHT9ceCzG_vM1jraIlj1PNBfzd-txwedojOWJ7-Sz1XWSlw6SqLZOjQEuVF1uYDo0-h-Inp0ZkQ3Nqp/s1600/fishcakesoboy.etsy.il_570xN_799871360_78yy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw855C6QuV3VNkn08sSNQgmr2_libM2WQoIZrTuMKdTvlrOBi8sHTgMKvbvLnUTHT9ceCzG_vM1jraIlj1PNBfzd-txwedojOWJ7-Sz1XWSlw6SqLZOjQEuVF1uYDo0-h-Inp0ZkQ3Nqp/s320/fishcakesoboy.etsy.il_570xN_799871360_78yy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I say, this little fellow doesn't look much like a grocer. </span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: It's a hedgehog I think. Or in the plural, <i>hedgehogs</i>.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: How hard is it to just add an s?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, English spelling <i>is</i> quite tricky. People seem to have a lot of problems with plurals. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjkrSjdQ_2aBIcZ-0LBIfCXuC1h5cXF5neurdiculcWVrYeH-Ggt6jX8wad3qAtWpPl_J0L8iA38OJAMAX7dUqFaXu76F8yivShecjXSr7mJAr1Dv8YT7Jqf29ed1v8Yh4YMf_AICubO-/s1600/20141101_152746.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjkrSjdQ_2aBIcZ-0LBIfCXuC1h5cXF5neurdiculcWVrYeH-Ggt6jX8wad3qAtWpPl_J0L8iA38OJAMAX7dUqFaXu76F8yivShecjXSr7mJAr1Dv8YT7Jqf29ed1v8Yh4YMf_AICubO-/s400/20141101_152746.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: A pre-loved baby? Does that mean the baby isn't loved anymore? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Cheekie. WRONG. And Monkies. Just WRONG. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Like a multi-storey carpark, it's wrong on so many levels.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord Brassica: I've told my chauffeur never to park in those structures.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: You know what though? I don't care about the proper use of apostrophe's.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9X9oy1UM8sIaOHxZ282P-sXCjfzbprmGbhQCAdX7I6hwir2LSRvmWiqELecD4NOE-jWHg1lea4NhWJAkxee2lruU8cheBXoIiwvQJ1B7cfkbbL-TqfHGSUPg34X5e0Ljwn4B9q-zO01re/s1600/odysseyroc.etsy.il_570xN_627435476_ju1v.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9X9oy1UM8sIaOHxZ282P-sXCjfzbprmGbhQCAdX7I6hwir2LSRvmWiqELecD4NOE-jWHg1lea4NhWJAkxee2lruU8cheBXoIiwvQJ1B7cfkbbL-TqfHGSUPg34X5e0Ljwn4B9q-zO01re/s320/odysseyroc.etsy.il_570xN_627435476_ju1v.jpg" width="293" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/odysseyroc">www.etsy.com/shop/odysseyroc</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />OK, Tamsin, fair enough. But you should know that the rogue apostrophe slayer is about.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuP9zMOyzJI_BeghVK1bGlH9IV6tCDYYRg6xuQhpJMyO5uxbxvcM6k-AC-lkDhyphenhyphennEKIMMoUNDJMTrfYXl-oCSc5ugc4tmK0IwJhCxBR9ANifMiJ-KB02r3wWpRFxVlRIKxCBAPI7fVczJ9/s1600/wordtree.etsy.il_570xN_719462029_mfp0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuP9zMOyzJI_BeghVK1bGlH9IV6tCDYYRg6xuQhpJMyO5uxbxvcM6k-AC-lkDhyphenhyphennEKIMMoUNDJMTrfYXl-oCSc5ugc4tmK0IwJhCxBR9ANifMiJ-KB02r3wWpRFxVlRIKxCBAPI7fVczJ9/s320/wordtree.etsy.il_570xN_719462029_mfp0.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Is it the slayer who's rogue or is it the apostrophe? Just asking.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Enough! I'm going to find a bench and sit down with this plate of <strike>cookeys</strike> <strike>cookie's</strike> cookies for Punctuation Day. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JkZ-t8XILEwTzTq3wo7AAMfIOlwzgVfJzKavYhhEmwR6Fi0xYJfBWBVXN9WNj0fV2Pw5ypV-VoP1OO6mXO1UTNVQTlvURiRV9_YKHXvYiUs285LfhIOaC8w-FuvJhDdGbuQDxwZYvLay/s1600/David.Erickson.fkcc.punctuationday.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JkZ-t8XILEwTzTq3wo7AAMfIOlwzgVfJzKavYhhEmwR6Fi0xYJfBWBVXN9WNj0fV2Pw5ypV-VoP1OO6mXO1UTNVQTlvURiRV9_YKHXvYiUs285LfhIOaC8w-FuvJhDdGbuQDxwZYvLay/s320/David.Erickson.fkcc.punctuationday.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: This is a clear case for a dictionary.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I looked up the word 'bench' in my wife's dictionary and I couldn't find it. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKrE7qjmXmKaJPr8cEGUjWqi3jmKJYy6Jtj7ETtwb3Zh1-HvZPJlVYaICEvOuRv49iBXGqh2Xg9NYW9vWSyvc9zcZMD2EFQmocwGfdeQIPTzoAK_ARlSD1vpchxP0bdAkZbcMO60V8D73/s1600/givingnot%2540rocketmail.com.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKrE7qjmXmKaJPr8cEGUjWqi3jmKJYy6Jtj7ETtwb3Zh1-HvZPJlVYaICEvOuRv49iBXGqh2Xg9NYW9vWSyvc9zcZMD2EFQmocwGfdeQIPTzoAK_ARlSD1vpchxP0bdAkZbcMO60V8D73/s320/givingnot%2540rocketmail.com.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/</a></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well done, Lord B. So fa, so good.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I have no idea what you're on about, Seashell.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Me neither. I feel like my brain is upside down.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPBy-c69lO8vMC1K51mD3qwUpUL0CEV5t86VHkfxE8JC0tDPWcKy-iZ7_0IvYftCCIEPX4mH_7bLMzEmqVumkRiqynviVj_NA2wllS_nLLPY5gwwRuYJPx5rM-3fAcjbqti5Y15ZhXzbP/s1600/artotemsco.fkcc.artotem.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPBy-c69lO8vMC1K51mD3qwUpUL0CEV5t86VHkfxE8JC0tDPWcKy-iZ7_0IvYftCCIEPX4mH_7bLMzEmqVumkRiqynviVj_NA2wllS_nLLPY5gwwRuYJPx5rM-3fAcjbqti5Y15ZhXzbP/s320/artotemsco.fkcc.artotem.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/</a></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I too am partial to some inverted Spanish punctuation.</span> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Do I speak Spanish? I don't think I do.</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There's no need to feel like an idiot, Tamsin.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFoXoldFjTA3JXxvz-WjoYOX4GzWLEQR9BHmRJsDo8Z7XvIEJ56rko181THZXd3ICEYU0nhgzyKsSGjVYy2ILosOaOy0Jn6R-WNCsOxVEU5QkxpWvEBc8oXbMpquzmvZGe2_a3Et2_EROb/s1600/Michael.Beitz.coma56a3af0e87b7641023a13ef14e75939.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFoXoldFjTA3JXxvz-WjoYOX4GzWLEQR9BHmRJsDo8Z7XvIEJ56rko181THZXd3ICEYU0nhgzyKsSGjVYy2ILosOaOy0Jn6R-WNCsOxVEU5QkxpWvEBc8oXbMpquzmvZGe2_a3Et2_EROb/s320/Michael.Beitz.coma56a3af0e87b7641023a13ef14e75939.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html"><span style="font-family: verdana;">http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's easy. For the principles of punctuation, you just have to remember this little poem: </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>The stops point out, with truth, the time of pause</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>A sentence doth require at ev'ry clause.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>At ev'ry comma, stop while one you count;</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>At semi-colon, two is the amount;</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>A colon doth require the time of three;</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>The period four, as learned men agree.</i> </span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Do women agree though?</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I'm not aware of any learned women in this neck of the woods. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Present company <strike>accepted</strike> excepted, Lord B?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: I have no idea what company you mean. Fortnum and Mason?</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, we've covered commas, quotation marks, fullstops, question marks and exclamation points. Does anyone have any questions?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: A philosophical question: is the exclamation point justified in the name of this seaside town in the west of England?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nysrKof5Emv-_TLhv78bYnJ9s4Ees06HTIcNobye7XgjK27aH2il0dxrCLJzXvVFXcX68FU67M4p8D9WtUibs1Bm-vliVE2XwFSEFyXJad5_s8UvKFQpYOAOjkcJsJc4Y8zWhTVCbknF/s1600/mark.robinson.westwardho.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nysrKof5Emv-_TLhv78bYnJ9s4Ees06HTIcNobye7XgjK27aH2il0dxrCLJzXvVFXcX68FU67M4p8D9WtUibs1Bm-vliVE2XwFSEFyXJad5_s8UvKFQpYOAOjkcJsJc4Y8zWhTVCbknF/s320/mark.robinson.westwardho.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/ </a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Westward Ho! When I was 18 I spent a jolly summer holiday there with my nanny! </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There are two exclamation points here, Lord B. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Three pounds seventy-five each! That's ummmm . . . quite a lot of money!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This punctuation lark is all ruddy nonsense. I'll say toodle pip to you all and get back to my cows.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLf-AGCKkFYkfM1Jt7vH5_V9P8jZEuTTa_zpVlglUbSvNTxrm_Vi4jaB5D7Idzz8sHx4IZvfKn1_iLSGoAMWAqjy0IOttfG7KZJktK-zL8yWoXag0WhXcFhhhPfugSu_EcoMMXln4h5Mi8/s1600/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLf-AGCKkFYkfM1Jt7vH5_V9P8jZEuTTa_zpVlglUbSvNTxrm_Vi4jaB5D7Idzz8sHx4IZvfKn1_iLSGoAMWAqjy0IOttfG7KZJktK-zL8yWoXag0WhXcFhhhPfugSu_EcoMMXln4h5Mi8/s320/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4255861037/%C2%A0" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4255861037/ </span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Golly. If asked nicely, Lord B's cows are clever enough to close the gate. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Now <i>that's</i> something to celebrate on Punctuation Day!</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We're very literary here on Benchsite. A stack of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-stack-of-book-benches-for-world-book.html">book benches for World Book Day</a>? We got 'em. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html">Poetry benches</a>? Yes, please. We even have <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/world-book-day-dewey-need-library.html">Dewey benches for militant librarians</a>, and a whole <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/an-alphabet-of-dutch-benches.html">alphabet of Dutch benches</a>. And there's an <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/an-alphabet-of-dance-benches-for-world.html">alphabet of dance benches</a> as well. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">According to Alexander Henning Drachmann, Alexander Henning Drachmann is a charming, reflective and relatively young artist from the west coast of Denmark. He loves books, music and films but he hates most modern pop music and also opera. He loves films and documentaries and he's green with a capital G (so that's Green). He took the photo of the question mark bench sculpture at the start of the story, which he saw in Esbjerg, Denmark in 2006. I wonder if it's still there. That's not a question by the way, which is why there is no question mark. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The brilliant "You" seating is by TABISSO®, a dynamic French design company focusing on a new concept of high-end typographic lounge furniture. Typographia was inspired by teaching the alphabet in a township in South Africa. Their collection of typographic furniture allows you to freely communicate names, acronyms, or any personalised message by displaying chairs and floorlamps side byside. The set of chairs includes all letters from A to Z and numbers from 0 to 9, and the set of floorlamps covers over 20 punctuation marks.They were nominated finalists of best new product in a London design show in 2011. </span><a href="http://www.tabisso.com/" target="_blank">www.tabisso.com</a><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There are lots of question mark photos on Flickr. One that caught my eye is the slightly out-of-focus green cube, taken by Rachel K. Rachel lives in a pretty swell place with her delightful husband, though she doesn't say where. They have good times. Rachel's photostream is emotional and personal pieces mixed with just plain visual diary entries, in other words, life.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimonomania/474758933/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimonomania/474758933/</a></span><br /><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white;">Eddie is my Inner Editor, who just happens to be a primate. If you've seen much of Benchsite you will know what a problem Eddie is for me. He has <s>ruined</s> helped me edit the post about my swimming bench and the </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/blue-benches-for-blue-monday.html"><span style="background: white; color: #848484;">Blue Monday benches</span></a><span style="background: white;">. He <s>interfered with</s> stepped in to help with the </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/an-orange-bench-mystery.html"><span style="background: white; color: #848484;">Orange bench mystery</span></a><span style="background: white;">. However, he has a habit of setting his own agenda with the benches. Look what <s>a mess he made</s> great job he did on <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html"><span style="color: #848484; text-decoration-line: none;">St. George's Day</span></a> . And as for my </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/seeing-red-benches-for-february.html"><span style="background: white; color: #848484;">Red benches</span></a><span style="background: white;"> in February? No wonder I was <s>very grateful</s> seeing red. It's lucky he was around for National Insect Day though; his <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/national-insect-week-buzz-about-benches.html">insect benches</a> are buzzing.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="background: white;"><br /></span><span style="background: white;"></span><span>Kevin Trotman is the Rocketeer and he makes brilliant fake industrial signs. His hometown is somewhere in Texas but now he lives in South Carolina. I wonder if they have Heavy Punctuation Crossing signs in South Carolina. No, I don't think so since The Rocketeer said he had fun making this using <a href="http://www.stclaire.com/">www.stclaire.com</a> and PhotoShop. It's in the Punctuality Gallery on Flickr. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/in/photolist-LNrP">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/</a></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>His Excellency is one of my two husbands. He is a philosopher and a man who takes an interest in many subjects, apart from chemistry. He's particularly keen on <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html">poetry benches</a> and also <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/an-alphabet-of-dance-benches-for-world.html">dancers</a>. For more about my two husbands and their education see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html</a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some people are just so clever and creative that other people take their stuff and use it for their own purposes. Such is Tsahi Levent-Levi, who made the finger face with a question. It's one of his many brilliant teaching and presentation photos which appear in all kinds of galleries and is, fortunately, available on Creative Commons. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/</a></span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>Tamsin is a sweet local girl who works here in Fribble-under-Par in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy. Ever a follower of fashion, Tamsin likes to try anything new. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html">Fifty shades of pink benches</a>? It didn't scare her. Tamsin has a French fiance, Garcon Orange, and a baby named Isambard Kevin, whose paternal origins are unknown. </span><span>And she has a rather odd perspective on life, as shown in the post she helped me with about</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/big-bench-small-bench-cute-and-tiny.html">big and small benches</a><span>. If you think size doesn't matter, you ought to see it. </span><br /><span><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtGlcpHnQUJIedHTsoHgLt71en8CRD7mz7NzTAArArAEMCYrGCchdgi0gfcyb2eIXDOcrfufyd8QxgQTI0YDD10912Pw1H7wkYcM8h2PhxahiQEyWHG7LC1VImdywS2IVO6x3gWRE4jM-/s1600/godparents.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtGlcpHnQUJIedHTsoHgLt71en8CRD7mz7NzTAArArAEMCYrGCchdgi0gfcyb2eIXDOcrfufyd8QxgQTI0YDD10912Pw1H7wkYcM8h2PhxahiQEyWHG7LC1VImdywS2IVO6x3gWRE4jM-/s320/godparents.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Tamsin and family</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">President Obama faced a lot of hazy questions in his time, which is why Raymond Bryson made a series of Obama versus, well, all kinds of stuff. Raymond Bryson's profile is empty but his albums are full of toys, animals and yes, quite a few question marks. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/</a></span><br /><br /></span><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer here on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Paradise</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>. He loves his horse Tonks, his dog Pru,and his 1947 Landrover, in that order. He indulges his wife, Lady Jessica Brassica with a replica mall in the basement of Drizzly Manor, a beach hut on the Esplanade, and unlimited amounts of cash for shopping. However, it has emerged that he doesn't know as much as you'd think about farm animal benches, especially<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">cow benches</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">sheep benches</a>. He knows a bit more about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/2014-year-of-horse-bench.html">horse benches</a>, learned from his horse Tonks, and possibly something about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">dog benches</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>from his dog Pru. What he really knows though, is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html">picnic benches</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The question mark sculpture person is from the Florence Exhibition of sculptor Jean-Michel Folon.It was photographed by Marco Bellucci in 2005 <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We can't do punctuation without reference to the lovely ampersand. Ampersand/Needle is a photograph showing detail of Roy McMakin's sculpture Love & Loss in Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park. The neon object above is the ampersand from the sculpure, which uses various shapes - including a tree trunk, a concrete bench and a tiny artificial pond - to spell out the title Love & Loss. Edgeplot was there to photograph it in 2007. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/</a></span><br /><br /></span><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lady Jessica Brassica is a fashionista and former model with Studio Joop from Overbearing in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Holland</st1:place></st1:city>. Now she has her own fashion house at Ballyfrumpy in <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Offhand</st1:placename> in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. She loves shopping at her replica mall and having poetry read by Young Male Readers dot com. She is happily married to Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly but<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/summer-bench-days-are-here-again.html">last summer</a> Lady Jess spent rather a lot of time at her beach hut with <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Troy</st1:place></st1:city></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 13.5pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Tom Barrett is a Year 5 classroom teacher, ICT Subject Leader and Assistant Headteacher in a large primary school in Nottinghamshire. He has been blogging about the implementation of technology in his classroom for over three years at edte.ch. He also photographed the Punctuation Pyramid, which is helpful for Year 5 students and just about everyone else, including His Excellency. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Kacy Matthews-Hall, aka Plain Jane, has provided photos of lovely punctuation benches from downtown Portland. The quotation bench is from her photostream back in February 2008. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/plainkacyjane/2254145743/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/plainkacyjane/2254145743/</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) was a Portuguese writer. <i>The Book of Disquiet</i>, from which the punctuation quotation is taken, was published posthumously in 1984 and is a Penguin Classic. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lynn Truss's <i>Eats Shoots and Leaves</i> was book of the year in the UK in 2004. Some of its examples are hilarious. What's it about? The rest of its title is <i>The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation</i>. In this case you <i>can</i> tell a book from its cover. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Kritterville USA makes brightly coloured and very cute benches, chairs and stools. The panda bench was photographed in 2010 and appears in Kritterville's photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/</a> There are also frogs, beetles, bugs, and a variety of other kritters. See which pandas and other animal benches Noah saved on the ark for World Animal Day </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html</a><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The jumble of pandas is The Panda Banquette by brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana at the mind-blowing design company L'arco Baleno. <a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/">http://www.larcobaleno.com/</a> It's described as <i>an iconic example of the Campana brothers’ signature style - playful pieces made from repurposed stuffed animals</i>, which the brothers Campana consider <i>a humble, often overlooked material</i>. The stuffed animals are hand-sewn onto canvas stretched over a stainless steel structure. The Panda Banquette is a limited edition of 25. At $44,170 it's the most expensive bench ever featured on Benchsite.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Punctuation sudoku was for International Apostrophe Day in August 2013. Gosh, the apostrophe gets a day of its own! It comes from Dawn McIlvain Stahl, aka PurplePenning, who kindly brings style and order to writing, and lives to tell the tale. Dawn is a professional freelance copyeditor and writer with many interests. Exceptions: calculus, catheters, and cake. She's in Monticello,Illinois. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/</a><br /><br />There really is, or was, a St. Arbucks coffee shop in a village in Wiltshire, UK. Sadly, it did not have the required apostrophe to show ownership of the shop. In every other way, though, it's a very clever concept and I hope they gave that other Starbucks a run for their money. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The two primate <i>Scholars</i> were painted by German artist Gabriel Ritter von Max (1840-1915). Now that's a name to rival the very entitled Puking Entwits.<br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The giant pencil bench is by Ron Parks (2009). It's in Jocelyn Sculpture Park in Omaha, Nebraska and was photographed by Hanneorla for her photostream at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006</a> Hanneorla loves travelling and taking pictures around the world. She is fascinated by contemporary visual art, cutting-edge sculpture, modern architecture, and futuristic designs. The pencil bench features in the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/schools-out-for-summer-benches.html">school's out for summer benches</a>. No more pencils, no more books . . . </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Leo Reynolds from Norwich says that photography with Flickr feeds his obsession of collecting things and it's a lot cheaper than CDs, DVDs and books. He just can't leave the shutter shut. Leo has a very extensive photostream, which includes sooooo much punctuation you won't believe it. There are ampersands galore. And where else would I find a fullstop bench? <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/85990435/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/85990435/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The stack of benches are lounge chairs (sort of benches) and they were photographed by my good friend Sheila B, who lives in Cyprus. She's always there offseason and has a good eye for stuff that's stored, put away, waiting for something to happen. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Bill and Vicki T live in Rochelle, Illinois. Back in 2007 they visited Alaska, where they saw the log cabin and the inviting Husband's Waiting Bench. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/ </a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sarah Browning is from Lancaster, California. She was in Kauai, Hawaii in 2009 and she found a Guy's bench for her dad outside one of the shops. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smichael/3863185306/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/smichael/3863185306/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Scott McLeod photographed some very colourful question mark cookies which someone baked in 2012. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/</a> Scott, originally from Virginia, is a Director of Innovation. Associate Professor. CASTLE Director. Blogger. Idea generator. Solution builder. Agitator. Catalyst. And here's a quote for you, properly punctuated: “If the leaders don’t get it, it’s not going to happen.”</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Helen ST is from Haslemere in the UK. She loves cycling, photography, baking, travelling, ducks and lots of other things which appear in her photostream. She is also something of a grammar vigilante and she has a fine collection of signs in different languages. Her signs include the speeding polo ponies <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4294873069/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4294873069/</a> and the clever cows. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4255861037/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4255861037/ </a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Tina Marie's shop is Teenie Tees, where they are dedicated to creating fun, funny, cute and trendy shirts designs that you will love and love to wear for years. Just one of her Tees is the one showing the importance of a comma. Let's eat Grandpa has a completely different meaning than inviting Grandpa to eat. Commas really do save lives. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/TeenieTees%C2%A0">www.etsy.com/shop/TeenieTees </a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cats have a way of asking perfectly punctuated questions with their tails. This cat photo is Punto interrogativo? The photographer is Mauro from Umbria in Italy. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Rebecca Wilson is a girl after my own heart. She believes that punctuation is truly the glue that's holding civilization together, however tenuously. Back in 2010 she bravely defended the semi-colon, a misunderstood punctuation mark which comes in for a lot of schtick. You can read it here: <a href="http://saucysalad.com/2010/08/26/a-punctual-defense/">http://saucysalad.com/2010/08/26/a-punctual-defense/</a> And you can see it on her photostream at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/ </a> Rebecca is a professional web editor and writer and an amateur photographer who now lives in Portland, Oregon.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Natalie in Phoenix, Arizona is a nerdy chemist by day and a graphic designer by night. Her brilliant Etsy shop, Grammatical Art, combines her love of grammar, graphic design, and science to make prints, tees, and cards for the nerd in all of us. I have used two of her semi-colon prints to show why comma splices are not cool; a semi-colon is much cooler. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The interrobang (‽) is a combination question mark and exclamation point. It's out of fashion now but it was once used to punctuate an excited or rhetorical question like #WTH‽ .Some people have been campaigning to bring it back. Larry Tenney took this photo in 2013 <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Neil Milne from Glasgow is otherwise known as boris pumps. Among other things, he photographs nail art, including the freehand exclamation marks on a black background. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's apparently by Buzz Buzz at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/buzzbuzznailart">www.facebook.com/buzzbuzznailart</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ian is holding a portable exclamation mark but he doesn't look very excited about it. The photographer is bysfonline at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/</a> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Thanks to punctuation geeks like myself on Flickr, I was lucky enough to find a snowy exclamation mark! Isn't life great! <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoscribe/4246687403">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoscribe/4246687403</a> It's by Peter Prehen, photographed in Leavensworth in January 2010. Here is Peter's comment on the photo: <i>Somehow, imperfections from a knot in the grain of the wood, provided a slightly more gravity overcomeable place to cling and aggregate, thus further weathering this spot more intensensely than the surrounding grain which is probably more porous and dryer... </i>The snow bench has featured previously in Benchsite. Our benches were <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">frozen last winter</a>.<i> </i></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sometimes Rob Watling from Nottingham UK takes photos, and sometimes he posts them on Flickr. Free Air! is a 2010 photo <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/</a> </span><br /><br /><font>In April 2018 benches were big news on the internet. Well, one was anyway. When Nicole Campbell died, age 35, in Los Angeles, a nice memorial bench was put up in her name intending to celebrate her love of dogs. Instead, what became celebrated was the amphiboly (misunderstanding) arising from poor grammar on the bench plaque. RIP Nicole. <br /></font><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lisa Krowinski owns the Shop Sapling Press in Pittsburgh, specialising in letterhead printed stationery. There are quite a few very useful Fact sheets, for example did you know that on the internet you're never more than three clicks away from a cat? Nice to know. Fact 79 concerns the apostrophe and there is an interesting personal letter from Question Marks. Lovely stuff, Lisa! <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress">www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress</a> And speaking of cats, my cat editor Meredith can show you some purrfect cat <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html">benches for World Cat Day</a>.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">See-ming Lee is the executive director of an interactive media company in Hong Kong. He posted the Comma Sutra on Flickr in 2013. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/8378437207/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/8378437207/</a> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">And he loves nerds because they read a lot of random things, they tend to have an insane capacity for processing large amounts of data, and their creative minds prompt them to create genius ideas. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">David Lanham is an illustrator and designer living in Greensboro, North Carolina. He made the Bad Comma cartoon which says that a comma in the wrong place can be a dangerous thing, even in German. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/</a> For some greatly diverse European benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/united-in-diversity-28-benches-for.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/united-in-diversity-28-benches-for.html</a><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Oxford bench was photographed by Stephanie Byron, who is from Iowa. I don't know if she was actually in Oxford at the time, or maybe even another place called Oxford, other than the well-known university one. Her shop is Red Hedge Photos, which sells simple, beautiful, and unique products inspired by nature. There are floral prints, animals, textures, objects, letters and all kinds of prints to add a dash of cheerful inspiration to everyday life. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos">www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos</a> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There are Apostrophe cafes all over the place. I took a photo of this one in London. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Elizabeth is a Book Fiend from Belmont, North Carolina. Fittingly, she runs Book Fiend, a shop selling literature-inspired jewelry, stickers, magnets, cuffs and gifts. There are safe text warnings and Oxford commas, and one of her weatherproof vinyl stickers is a great reminder that apostrophes do not make plurals. She does grammar too: the past, the present and the future walked into a bar. It was tense. </span> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend">www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here in Fribble-under-Par we have a six year old named April, and her parallel selves, May and June. Squeezy is their pet lemon. Here they are at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html">Easter, when things were going a bit sour</a>.</span><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBsFud9tJRCYoTEwF9h8tokDQfz6X2nz2ZzEp88e6BM3i6sWw9-uvUwhdGjsGTfCOAF5PjyWjXiJiapCAkIAmN2To_3tuvRKOMH-USokkvDJJh73u0biR6wOAd__9BrDOVkPL7Fl_d5TR/s1600/pet+lemon+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBsFud9tJRCYoTEwF9h8tokDQfz6X2nz2ZzEp88e6BM3i6sWw9-uvUwhdGjsGTfCOAF5PjyWjXiJiapCAkIAmN2To_3tuvRKOMH-USokkvDJJh73u0biR6wOAd__9BrDOVkPL7Fl_d5TR/s320/pet+lemon+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Respect Apostrophes button is from Voz in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His Etsy shop, Fishcakes, makes nifty stuff like buttons, books, mugs and keychains. There is evidence of the grammar police and spelling vigilantes amongst the many colourful buttons. Great to see that! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Oh dear. Although it has a thriving literary scene and many writers, the Isle of <strike>White</strike> Wight is the home of Cheekie Monkies. You can see the sign writer meant well. He or she understood that some words are made plural with ie. Unfortunately, cheeky and monkey do not follow this rule. Cheeky monkeys are needed. Goes to show that when in doubt, check your dictionary or your spellcheck. But even that won't save you from pre-loved babies. For some monkey business with cheeky monkey benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Tony Avina is from St. Louis and he runs Odysseyroc, a shopfull of tshirts and other junk (his words, not mine). One of his shirts advocates living every day as if it's Taco Tuesday, which sounds like very good advice to me. On the other hand, another shirt says <i>I don't care about the proper use of apostrophe's</i> and this one has me worried. I suspect it rings a bell with a lot of people though. Let's face it, apostrophes ain't popular. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/odysseyroc">www.etsy.com/shop/odysseyroc</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">From their base in Cardiff in Wales Team Wordtree are a specialist brand language consultancy. They create styles of language and write for companies all over the world. In their spare time, these cunning linguists create some nice wordy, printed things, such as the rogue apostrophe slayer.They are never lost for words. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree</a></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">David Erickson photographed a splendid plate of punctuation cookies for National Punctuation Day in 2008. He's a strategic communications professional, director of e-Strategy, and expert media source on online communications from Minneapolis. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The dictionary bench defining the word 'sofa' is Dr Johnson's Wild World Book Bench from London in the summer of 2014. The designer is Scriberia and it was photographed by givingnot@rocketmail.com, who has nothing in his/her profile but lots of albums of London and some from Berlin, including quite a few benches. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">¡I really like the Spanish language convention of inverted question and exclamation marks! Artotem captured these beautifully in 2009. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/</a> You can see some fabuloso Mexican benches at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Michael Beitz, a Fine Arts graduate of the University of Buffalo, exhibits throughout Europe and the US. He makes all kinds of weird and wonderful sculptures which have emerged from his years as a furniture designer. Sofas in knots, upside down tangled tables - it's great to see his quirky, twisty, mind-bending stuff. The idiot bench, made of wood, is from 2013.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html">http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html</a></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The poem <i>Principles of Punctuation</i> is by Cecil Hartley, published in 1818. It's not really the way we understand punctuation these days but someone might find it useful. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Westward Ho! beach was photographed by Mark Robinson in 2008 and yes, Westward Ho! is a real place and it has a real exclamation mark as part of its name. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/</a> Not to be outdone by Westward Ho!, the small town of Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! in Quebec has two exclamation points, three hyphens, and space between Ha! and Ha! So there.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-41696433083745527662023-02-03T07:17:00.008-08:002024-02-03T07:47:12.956-08:00Bright Red Benches for You-know-what Day<p> It's February and I'm seeing red.</p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDoZnVQcG_5VEyixgA0_8GWSQljaPA0feG6bbc9e1sjpSPqRJlRXNGaT5ugYATenY0CuNZKJ0ptYds-vWbDeo4_pZq3L1M5lVPy233AipTnbbSc_RIue7b4i7IGzdwS1Ixu9sdaXRp_PeL9YnfOibO3BFmCCWjYXVnn00XOaJPHgJXJ4SPWXRXVbIdg/s320/moyan.brenn.fkcc14317481793_f4588e24ed_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="320" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDoZnVQcG_5VEyixgA0_8GWSQljaPA0feG6bbc9e1sjpSPqRJlRXNGaT5ugYATenY0CuNZKJ0ptYds-vWbDeo4_pZq3L1M5lVPy233AipTnbbSc_RIue7b4i7IGzdwS1Ixu9sdaXRp_PeL9YnfOibO3BFmCCWjYXVnn00XOaJPHgJXJ4SPWXRXVbIdg/s1600/moyan.brenn.fkcc14317481793_f4588e24ed_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">"Reyjkavik"
by</span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Moyan
Brenn</span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">/
CC BY-SA 2.0</span></span></span></span>
</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />I'm trying to think how to write this blog.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaP1fRynLlLBrMCKMmyIUTmAHxMpZJk74EqUiFHNjJd07e8wAhzpBmiMeLAQRfDzj7QrAD53AmESkTUFg2I3YphPOztL3GLN9yKB2ST05IRBGPA_KBL5dPl8u4INSVBwI8viNV0QP160cduAq8rj1wZ1EWt-MRmGrqVnvOdm-du7hrDMFzmLEhgp4olw/s720/FB_IMG_1675438568241.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="519" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaP1fRynLlLBrMCKMmyIUTmAHxMpZJk74EqUiFHNjJd07e8wAhzpBmiMeLAQRfDzj7QrAD53AmESkTUFg2I3YphPOztL3GLN9yKB2ST05IRBGPA_KBL5dPl8u4INSVBwI8viNV0QP160cduAq8rj1wZ1EWt-MRmGrqVnvOdm-du7hrDMFzmLEhgp4olw/s320/FB_IMG_1675438568241.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Otto Dix, <i>Portrait of Sylvia von Harden</i> 1926</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Of course, I love red benches . . . </p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSKsvRPubjjh3M_YHwt2AcIo9NjSBygLsvia0rH8Z3Bo92RjUnslzkhb7b2ieZBCankkye6s2gk53w7EhZHgBwS_oG27q9yQAAuZi9vzM9h7mOS2vmvZ5Oq2DXkPCe92Eeo5fgSmNm7si/s1600/redribbonB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSKsvRPubjjh3M_YHwt2AcIo9NjSBygLsvia0rH8Z3Bo92RjUnslzkhb7b2ieZBCankkye6s2gk53w7EhZHgBwS_oG27q9yQAAuZi9vzM9h7mOS2vmvZ5Oq2DXkPCe92Eeo5fgSmNm7si/s1600/redribbonB.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/project.php?id=336">http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">but there is just too much red about because of you-know-what day. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7Pbqf_hxbIs3VPEgkhlrzBCRquUJUC9KJixylLOEka_XwPaGjkJ1xruT5mwxqRhf-_IBbsxKSjUs9zEYxOnKtJWcLAhRqLcT7DdmdR0rM_Qk7da7sEuBTOC6I46m1y0nEd5Roj9FslFTsm41Twm_vRD7VTrhW9ojNq8g25wDwLdsRU-kVwAq63GJ3A/s640/tim_ellis.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="425" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7Pbqf_hxbIs3VPEgkhlrzBCRquUJUC9KJixylLOEka_XwPaGjkJ1xruT5mwxqRhf-_IBbsxKSjUs9zEYxOnKtJWcLAhRqLcT7DdmdR0rM_Qk7da7sEuBTOC6I46m1y0nEd5Roj9FslFTsm41Twm_vRD7VTrhW9ojNq8g25wDwLdsRU-kVwAq63GJ3A/s320/tim_ellis.FKCC.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_ellis/7237391078/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_ellis/7237391078/</a>
</span></span></span></span>
</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>There are too many lips . . . </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNoH98BopyiB6u0KZq8srn7Wm_987TN6VtfBrw8unrkeEUp_AecImA2RkAy3PoslPhuuLFKJpFL8no7c6bxJjti8hB2utbwPyNr0JCtnKfZ-03wLyys4shUM-BBimhRjAgQyE-qmi2XY34aRBqJYD0sPU94tbmnsFilPEp6waXH4yJEtnvG0KLS35pg/s640/hockeyholic.AZ.AndyBlackledge.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="640" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNoH98BopyiB6u0KZq8srn7Wm_987TN6VtfBrw8unrkeEUp_AecImA2RkAy3PoslPhuuLFKJpFL8no7c6bxJjti8hB2utbwPyNr0JCtnKfZ-03wLyys4shUM-BBimhRjAgQyE-qmi2XY34aRBqJYD0sPU94tbmnsFilPEp6waXH4yJEtnvG0KLS35pg/s320/hockeyholic.AZ.AndyBlackledge.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hockeyholic/14073819139</span></span></span></span></a>
</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Too many loved up couples . . .</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTFToUHl-FCsqTH847cLvBmpgQ42vgmfzftY8mMeXg-mznsgU-eBVgw6MNDNBCW8-oGJ3CJZmpLoHE2J6WIsArodztoL2dWab9pD0DPXRrwcibppV45wmTLXJG31F3AFmibjqO2AfsqkQz699lUCVIzV7NjD3-4ne_wyQ4bENl0laDZ-PK5UjJI5TJQ/s787/FB_IMG_1675438675125.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="526" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTFToUHl-FCsqTH847cLvBmpgQ42vgmfzftY8mMeXg-mznsgU-eBVgw6MNDNBCW8-oGJ3CJZmpLoHE2J6WIsArodztoL2dWab9pD0DPXRrwcibppV45wmTLXJG31F3AFmibjqO2AfsqkQz699lUCVIzV7NjD3-4ne_wyQ4bENl0laDZ-PK5UjJI5TJQ/w268-h400/FB_IMG_1675438675125.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marc Chagall, <i>The Lovers </i> 1929</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>and waaaaaaay too much kissing.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4xy87S6zrbrOeftb-1RZ4xSBpQzHCAuEABFBaeiRs3xuOIzJW8Kyl1ZtAj9ER4nqFgEeqU_uJ1H5welx3UquKSUHmT3wpqv_ECXGsZVjFI-uIo5MSbdbYnnFeivnv7fQcdAIWmHbyHy0nBmv6AXZ7tVU5tg_luzFAhEGZ9eZLuttKARdbrV2sBT3JQ/s238/Kissing%20Jim.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="212" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4xy87S6zrbrOeftb-1RZ4xSBpQzHCAuEABFBaeiRs3xuOIzJW8Kyl1ZtAj9ER4nqFgEeqU_uJ1H5welx3UquKSUHmT3wpqv_ECXGsZVjFI-uIo5MSbdbYnnFeivnv7fQcdAIWmHbyHy0nBmv6AXZ7tVU5tg_luzFAhEGZ9eZLuttKARdbrV2sBT3JQ/s1600/Kissing%20Jim.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">www.modernconvenience.com</span></span></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>This time of year even the benches get decked out in red. </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYgzftFw2bDBZb0IO65KAi-qjw8zRoodrySJAvGacWWNooh961iA99k8ePfz-5Jw_i-uOJllU8RjWbRpgO5ZagLgqmdgrz7UJ9MxZ-8_MuK2mf80QkHzSKbugZjLgq_lVY_-GDO-kXgSus/s1600/photo.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYgzftFw2bDBZb0IO65KAi-qjw8zRoodrySJAvGacWWNooh961iA99k8ePfz-5Jw_i-uOJllU8RjWbRpgO5ZagLgqmdgrz7UJ9MxZ-8_MuK2mf80QkHzSKbugZjLgq_lVY_-GDO-kXgSus/s1600/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/edith/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/edith</a><br /><br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Down at the swimming pool a woman was sitting on her bench in a red dress.</div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXNFjNix73OLilnrixgz4m6sWpxKdw2pUp6SopOogrvjX6fqCYHy93M_3fjBck0RORwiCaM820RZijpZRuTnRFOpnKI9p5ZhcUg2EWTXIeRvYTFbJPho9YbC-w8k4mTNmUMGUZGVSSoHGbXEr0tTECn7ZwRDwyg8MbLDYzvOwoHDDK6ZS3FjBQjmqSdsu/s1024/FB_IMG_1706739635730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="845" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXNFjNix73OLilnrixgz4m6sWpxKdw2pUp6SopOogrvjX6fqCYHy93M_3fjBck0RORwiCaM820RZijpZRuTnRFOpnKI9p5ZhcUg2EWTXIeRvYTFbJPho9YbC-w8k4mTNmUMGUZGVSSoHGbXEr0tTECn7ZwRDwyg8MbLDYzvOwoHDDK6ZS3FjBQjmqSdsu/w330-h400/FB_IMG_1706739635730.jpg" width="330" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Woman in a Red Dress</i> 1936, Sir John Lavery</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>Yes, I can see this is two chairs. Just go with me here.</div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div>This dancer looked racy in a tight fitting dress.</div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBa0yM6MSZOgYWpNEic0txpUoYoHNZjIpiJ2NJ9Bv_MpumZK4xOCTe0XS5Jy-yUqySaXL855NrtY3wFpbj6jnijrKwufyRjGmI4E7SFWS14k2ib_Alp2VW5iwnAy3j523FLTelIKGyvGivt66JSymcDeD_QrLcC95sQCEl-2gxuiYlhRAUGed7qExpnxuz/s960/FB_IMG_1706739385604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="510" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBa0yM6MSZOgYWpNEic0txpUoYoHNZjIpiJ2NJ9Bv_MpumZK4xOCTe0XS5Jy-yUqySaXL855NrtY3wFpbj6jnijrKwufyRjGmI4E7SFWS14k2ib_Alp2VW5iwnAy3j523FLTelIKGyvGivt66JSymcDeD_QrLcC95sQCEl-2gxuiYlhRAUGed7qExpnxuz/w213-h400/FB_IMG_1706739385604.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dancer Anita Berber</i> 1925, Otto Dix</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And this Sudanese beauty looks very cool too. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1q2xohROjYHqBFZHMeAnXTMTdiDLEmf2JTV8Dh1bwvBUvZEmJZ0vp7PVke3L5ni1PHUqK8ko5-zx1e3IbiGOF7Tqu0p8XcXynErdWHgHcYoTvkS5HunOzR5C5f9EWdNx-M-sDtGw1tpBbtNNyyyvIUmyEqzrjwZvXRJK5qYlLa6t5Z5G8TWPaGezMKpR/s1338/FB_IMG_1706739837513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1338" data-original-width="1078" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1q2xohROjYHqBFZHMeAnXTMTdiDLEmf2JTV8Dh1bwvBUvZEmJZ0vp7PVke3L5ni1PHUqK8ko5-zx1e3IbiGOF7Tqu0p8XcXynErdWHgHcYoTvkS5HunOzR5C5f9EWdNx-M-sDtGw1tpBbtNNyyyvIUmyEqzrjwZvXRJK5qYlLa6t5Z5G8TWPaGezMKpR/w323-h400/FB_IMG_1706739837513.jpg" width="323" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sudanese Beauty</i> 1860, Leopold Muller</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Are you wearing red? I am. I bought this jacket on ebay for $35. Apparently it was only worn once.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Y3PEoobycOeD7l3QFyhJC245idBuixCBJ7nvCp-U0wVIeknXkdX-rmYBaLpmKfOEETfkVLqgG1a9-VqBFvwPwUdvw8c4agnNy7PdbLuJB9YXPnsQeYrw2yOOuI17GOIjr5U_bkb37KM/s1600/B+shirt.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Y3PEoobycOeD7l3QFyhJC245idBuixCBJ7nvCp-U0wVIeknXkdX-rmYBaLpmKfOEETfkVLqgG1a9-VqBFvwPwUdvw8c4agnNy7PdbLuJB9YXPnsQeYrw2yOOuI17GOIjr5U_bkb37KM/s1600/B+shirt.jpg" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">I can see why.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hello, Eddie. It's a <span style="color: red;">red letter day! </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">You need to introduce me and show my picture.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmblmyghTXpiD5gNCf0izNfgc5ifEu8RKMW7aYagO5kydrslBTSdKykSob1QlX3SiLBDb5BU7CHFU9Fi_nD0nOwE1ijcZGUYzUUnpRYOcVa67r9zE0gLKm9SeTiejJ4yElwhfZh33GBNT/s1600/Eddie.writing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmblmyghTXpiD5gNCf0izNfgc5ifEu8RKMW7aYagO5kydrslBTSdKykSob1QlX3SiLBDb5BU7CHFU9Fi_nD0nOwE1ijcZGUYzUUnpRYOcVa67r9zE0gLKm9SeTiejJ4yElwhfZh33GBNT/s1600/Eddie.writing.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This is Eddie, my Inner Editor, who just happens to be a primate. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>What do you think of red benches, Eddie? </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Not interested. I'm riding my goose down to the deli to get some breakfast.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIXffTvUukKVA-qQwy7u2VoAPod5qWqY1XqdAul-jP01afwc29xC_5vfe2KowTM3ZP16ZXGj0n7j_MrJdLe8d9n3R4AfgIgRcMkVkCBAvl2hEyHNRfA4F9KK48i-g_AXKR2lbfHizzWUd/s1600/LuciusArt.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIXffTvUukKVA-qQwy7u2VoAPod5qWqY1XqdAul-jP01afwc29xC_5vfe2KowTM3ZP16ZXGj0n7j_MrJdLe8d9n3R4AfgIgRcMkVkCBAvl2hEyHNRfA4F9KK48i-g_AXKR2lbfHizzWUd/s1600/LuciusArt.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LuciusArt" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LuciusArt</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's too late for breakfast. It's working hours now and we need to get started. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">These brilliant red benches are like a red rag to a bull for red-blooded bench people like me.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueCaTeUQypXQ7RiqpwV5EzYqDy21jzefnI0YiLj-2Wn4BbSvWI_Z7aKiLvPNIfV_rGdU20Aavlg67wOAYR9enxvgqxDDMEORIB1GMvAoXYeFu8secOKguMzJF6EPTEQTcGBJSX80xVraV/s1600/bench+LAAC+museum.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueCaTeUQypXQ7RiqpwV5EzYqDy21jzefnI0YiLj-2Wn4BbSvWI_Z7aKiLvPNIfV_rGdU20Aavlg67wOAYR9enxvgqxDDMEORIB1GMvAoXYeFu8secOKguMzJF6EPTEQTcGBJSX80xVraV/s400/bench+LAAC+museum.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo, LAAC Museum, Dunkirk</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">Get on and show them then. Don't send readers off on a red herring</span>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie and I have a difficult relationship. He really messed up my <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/a-calendar-of-benches-for-september.html">September calendar</a> by putting dates in that didn't belong. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Eddie: You were using the Julian calendar - that's soooo 1751.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie tends to over think things with his monkey business.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOG2DJYcjV6J8ZdTrQ8SRMA9Kfv3lkeAWHy0fxu3P4xUCgQLafsvSlrcZiFZq7-65Bu2IcypK5FA7VuNnbnFa0M9__r9I85LBJ8lHMEnKg4Fes612rZSHYKwXdnEHRyOt4oWbcp6sqClS-0RXZ8TYYTmQ55DMkvoAEaBsLymsZTcxep825gEGvv7UkTv0/s927/FB_IMG_1690489159727.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="714" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOG2DJYcjV6J8ZdTrQ8SRMA9Kfv3lkeAWHy0fxu3P4xUCgQLafsvSlrcZiFZq7-65Bu2IcypK5FA7VuNnbnFa0M9__r9I85LBJ8lHMEnKg4Fes612rZSHYKwXdnEHRyOt4oWbcp6sqClS-0RXZ8TYYTmQ55DMkvoAEaBsLymsZTcxep825gEGvv7UkTv0/w308-h400/FB_IMG_1690489159727.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Monkey with Skull</i>, 1893, Hugo Rheinhold</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Although we did the previous Blue Benches together and we got along reasonably well. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">But last year our relationship broke down in the middle of the Red Benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAHAgv6n5mxnapTkeYvIM9y1eDoWN6w5r-jOigFnqi9xXIGoFLk9N1WLYPn9A-cz4ZdCRq5OgXJ4rrhosqCXZ4vXIkmxWOevF6relX-15OVuYcWxVjNbi07kVN3W1ExeZ8wUHxG1TYNfvo/s1600/Bench_St__Rynek,_Poznan.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAHAgv6n5mxnapTkeYvIM9y1eDoWN6w5r-jOigFnqi9xXIGoFLk9N1WLYPn9A-cz4ZdCRq5OgXJ4rrhosqCXZ4vXIkmxWOevF6relX-15OVuYcWxVjNbi07kVN3W1ExeZ8wUHxG1TYNfvo/s1600/Bench_St__Rynek,_Poznan.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Bench_St._Rynek%2C_Poznan.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Bench_St._Rynek</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I had to fold that story up and put it away, like this sofa that comes in a backpack.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5R4qZfDSuy4KzlH9D100XTTG5CqxcaR-KMMxkHhmRE9wB5QdhYW2bBFmJsKZP1dqxxf3M6IJr1S50xHw7_FRZyiJ3BImqWPEWZNjcySbSUnOQNuYrxC0XfOHQDpils5Bavn8EVrDtKMW/s1600/Eastpak.backpak+sofa..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5R4qZfDSuy4KzlH9D100XTTG5CqxcaR-KMMxkHhmRE9wB5QdhYW2bBFmJsKZP1dqxxf3M6IJr1S50xHw7_FRZyiJ3BImqWPEWZNjcySbSUnOQNuYrxC0XfOHQDpils5Bavn8EVrDtKMW/s1600/Eastpak.backpak+sofa..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/11/15/built-to-resist-sofa">http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/11/15/built-to-resist-sofa</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So let's start again, shall we?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPrFO9ivXxnbeYaNxRJW-2_-Rj-hlx1qtesSn3PHtIrWHDtcy2Ipbu6XApV8tlSx_KUWlH1VP5qUPFT-qIL7VptUo1rpZjAhEVr9NEs_yQJk1nhTtRb66fGDe1ERWv4LRepe9TYN9yLNX/s1600/Welcome+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPrFO9ivXxnbeYaNxRJW-2_-Rj-hlx1qtesSn3PHtIrWHDtcy2Ipbu6XApV8tlSx_KUWlH1VP5qUPFT-qIL7VptUo1rpZjAhEVr9NEs_yQJk1nhTtRb66fGDe1ERWv4LRepe9TYN9yLNX/s1600/Welcome+B.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.fruitylemonade.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.fruitylemonade.blogspot.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Welcome to the Red Bench post, where I want to (red) alert you to some red-hot benches.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Maybe we could agree right now to lose the puns? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I think you're right about that, Eddie. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We'll start with these bright red benches at Schiphol Airport Station near Amsterdam.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYXG4E3oyOo1ncmURY_fi5BmcNcNQs5yz5dLf_WpJsujQSnObqJbsjg6paj2h4rM52_dVG5oEhE_HRqVEec2nk-QH_oTzc4c73VZbhZh0W79qHls2t6izb0equRuwgFy5qrPo5Vg27_9R/s1600/schipolstationB.stoolsampler.WP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYXG4E3oyOo1ncmURY_fi5BmcNcNQs5yz5dLf_WpJsujQSnObqJbsjg6paj2h4rM52_dVG5oEhE_HRqVEec2nk-QH_oTzc4c73VZbhZh0W79qHls2t6izb0equRuwgFy5qrPo5Vg27_9R/s1600/schipolstationB.stoolsampler.WP.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://stoolsampler.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/amsterdam-airport-and-train-station-seating/">http://stoolsampler.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/amsterdam</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">I notice that the caption for this says stoolsampler. It's not really a stool sample as we know it.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's because <i>stool</i> literally means <i>stool</i> in Dutch. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">So I'm expected to speak Dutch now?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, but while we're on the subject, here is a lovely bench in Antwerp.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-3_5bjJDpJxxDNUy2hN8DUN0L67_7P0eZoRrefNQLJVX5kR_Nb1qfDj95Y6WRKRFkEfm0kvr5fu54QoSp2heXc-30VKMKkMmLTXsorgb9m1pxyHTxUE1FklSS0_WWo5dGZJxDYwv83bB/s1600/vainsang.antwerp.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-3_5bjJDpJxxDNUy2hN8DUN0L67_7P0eZoRrefNQLJVX5kR_Nb1qfDj95Y6WRKRFkEfm0kvr5fu54QoSp2heXc-30VKMKkMmLTXsorgb9m1pxyHTxUE1FklSS0_WWo5dGZJxDYwv83bB/s1600/vainsang.antwerp.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vainsang/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vainsang/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Antwerp is in Belgium.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, I know. But it's close enough. They speak Flemish, which is . . .</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">I don't need a lesson in geography. Could we keep to the subject please.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Alright. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here is </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">den </i><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><i>røde</i> </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">benken</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> with a message in Norwegian.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU5CDDA_Cv3CoHIQ-kN4V3fcGwQgbZeWaDciTh5OnDEYNs6-2ExeVHlaUgn9bVIMEDmyAbrp6e6hC956Xx0q5FPC8DjO2Bq-cp2gxr1n6zPKE9LDpugMQGL45-DDs28gxNvjpB1wZVrEj6/s1600/erlingsi.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU5CDDA_Cv3CoHIQ-kN4V3fcGwQgbZeWaDciTh5OnDEYNs6-2ExeVHlaUgn9bVIMEDmyAbrp6e6hC956Xx0q5FPC8DjO2Bq-cp2gxr1n6zPKE9LDpugMQGL45-DDs28gxNvjpB1wZVrEj6/s1600/erlingsi.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erlingsi/with/12027115456/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/erlingsi/with/12027115456/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Norwegian now too. What's next - Japanese?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I think you can work out that </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">den </i><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><i>røde</i> </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">benken </i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">means</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">the red bench</span> </i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">in Norwegian</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</i><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">I'm expected to be multi-lingual and all for the same lousy pay.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie, the details of your employment contract are private. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And I'm trying to keep the thread of the story here.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvWM2FmPpY98vkh0MtL8WuQ37DMIKNZUVRe-IAJ-JtklL34g81ugCCv5NdpI53SqirivJKrRl9TnWtMMuaBd2rKDfyLaHsNHxd8HyykbwCBjdXS0Zd9VT_TxiFnn8wxvQV1sBe7GTSlwX/s1600/Thread-Bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvWM2FmPpY98vkh0MtL8WuQ37DMIKNZUVRe-IAJ-JtklL34g81ugCCv5NdpI53SqirivJKrRl9TnWtMMuaBd2rKDfyLaHsNHxd8HyykbwCBjdXS0Zd9VT_TxiFnn8wxvQV1sBe7GTSlwX/s1600/Thread-Bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.olagiertz.se/">www.olagiertz.se</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This Thread Bench by Swedish designer Ola Giertz is just amazing. It's the sort of thing I'd love to get for Christmas. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Santa, are you listening?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCyGYLRC9BhcSKviE-AthoHR2KUPHlidpZfzf5xgp8bswiwIWhjPho1aPbBnD8hHuV4G-VqZb4xb0CZl-_g_E1VScLMgGSTQ_mWenrEsldOn5T4ra2tVCg9PoXgDqUNHtsE_XjuJ6PmXP9/s1600/Santa+Bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCyGYLRC9BhcSKviE-AthoHR2KUPHlidpZfzf5xgp8bswiwIWhjPho1aPbBnD8hHuV4G-VqZb4xb0CZl-_g_E1VScLMgGSTQ_mWenrEsldOn5T4ra2tVCg9PoXgDqUNHtsE_XjuJ6PmXP9/s1600/Santa+Bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/legup2p/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/legup2p/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jewelry is a nice </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">present too. And with Valentine's Day coming up,</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">here's a lovely little silver man sitting on a red bench.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuHkymRU8UJVEcn5FsMIII5FmTart28fG3i2rErFJj9X9GHF3k0jxo9eosEcMs7pZ8F4j6uJxMV0JmB44LNDjf7Phcn6MvEsol8UAfItc22RH2WPY-iNVzKuhrmtxr5OK4LNgmDI7vdUw/s1600/silver+pendant+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuHkymRU8UJVEcn5FsMIII5FmTart28fG3i2rErFJj9X9GHF3k0jxo9eosEcMs7pZ8F4j6uJxMV0JmB44LNDjf7Phcn6MvEsol8UAfItc22RH2WPY-iNVzKuhrmtxr5OK4LNgmDI7vdUw/s200/silver+pendant+B.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/YAELandTAL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/YAELandTAL</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">He's going to regret sitting there.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Why's that?</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjic_sfAva2UaEoy2l1-C6PEka1HSvYJ3GREj9xjoY2YMqtI6hjT9yRxx3PKlZvDGMo9_8ifAxknrydo1wWo5mHgJAvfS6a8_OOyvoQlB132h6hX9I7g0OYiYF-wOKV8I2h_OsC1uwuBcNl/s1600/wetpaint.tiny.Y&T.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjic_sfAva2UaEoy2l1-C6PEka1HSvYJ3GREj9xjoY2YMqtI6hjT9yRxx3PKlZvDGMo9_8ifAxknrydo1wWo5mHgJAvfS6a8_OOyvoQlB132h6hX9I7g0OYiYF-wOKV8I2h_OsC1uwuBcNl/s1600/wetpaint.tiny.Y&T.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/YAELandTAL" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/YAELandTAL</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oh, I see what you mean.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Et maintenant, La France. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Une banc rouge dans les jardins du Manoir d'Eyrignac en Dordogne - et voilà!</i></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VdM2RH_-kxjL3n4DnQvKnRj-Nwqga-bD8B6pL_tMExSmWPhHSa8-nQLmlunxpVsqqFQpSS76zaESdEHvVn5bc-VphYXSUfCkf2UEER44K25mtgaVW1n2-jDMW2x0UB12I690o6UAaABS/s1600/Dordogne.+Eyrignac_Manor.byTwoWings.WK.2010.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VdM2RH_-kxjL3n4DnQvKnRj-Nwqga-bD8B6pL_tMExSmWPhHSa8-nQLmlunxpVsqqFQpSS76zaESdEHvVn5bc-VphYXSUfCkf2UEER44K25mtgaVW1n2-jDMW2x0UB12I690o6UAaABS/s1600/Dordogne.+Eyrignac_Manor.byTwoWings.WK.2010.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eyrignac_Manor-red_bench.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eyrignac_Manor</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Here are two reasons why you should not be using French:</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">1. This is an English-speaking blog and you are likely to send your readers away to Google Translator, from which they will never return </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">2. your French is rubbish</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">D'accord.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But anyway, this is a Louis XIV banquette, which was <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/three-weddings-and-some-benches.html">a wedding present</a> from Lord and Lady Brassica to their son Root.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1heyepN06cGwbSsvfeWVweukqQAx6hY3NBzXpR3haNIsucr7-Mb_u7YE07UmY5S-gXIM24Sj7PkJ9TefR06I1kUdHhqtgKzxEDAsKFDWb7fBXLA73JwIUdZ4Oll-lUlnKOigJveRJ1vjo/s1600/banquette+sully.LouiseXIV.allot.rene.WK.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1heyepN06cGwbSsvfeWVweukqQAx6hY3NBzXpR3haNIsucr7-Mb_u7YE07UmY5S-gXIM24Sj7PkJ9TefR06I1kUdHhqtgKzxEDAsKFDWb7fBXLA73JwIUdZ4Oll-lUlnKOigJveRJ1vjo/s1600/banquette+sully.LouiseXIV.allot.rene.WK.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N%C2%B0746-12_banquette_%22Sully%22_de_style_Louis_XIV_r%C3%A9plique_d%27un_mod%C3%A8le_d%27%C3%A9poque_r%C3%A9alis%C3%A9_par_les_Ateliers_Allot_Fr%C3%A8res_..jpg" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N%C2%B0746-12_banquette</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Root's wife Innocent took it back to the shop and exchanged it for this little red bench. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhA0YVkk5aNnpGVyHzvBReJoeE89iROm9vZr0uQf8xeYUzfdsV2yy1VOSjXvNGEBVVaqlQGV8LysuEzWnsnO8dw-k37-OABJI6OXnoQBcGTyw6qTlo_5jogoxm7SEl1At4wPer6rU_wOA/s1600/Innocent.redB.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhA0YVkk5aNnpGVyHzvBReJoeE89iROm9vZr0uQf8xeYUzfdsV2yy1VOSjXvNGEBVVaqlQGV8LysuEzWnsnO8dw-k37-OABJI6OXnoQBcGTyw6qTlo_5jogoxm7SEl1At4wPer6rU_wOA/s1600/Innocent.redB.JPG" width="198" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">She kept the change, which was in the tens of thousands I gather. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So far no one has noticed the new bench. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">They're probably looking at Innocent's hotpants.</span> </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0Y-KMifNLldfWQNGQmYarfyYGVzJDXMeNb40iVM3MuVsrdnVhFxilFLxK0fCpDikrnpyLO8oLjf9zgFim4Jtv-vZgM6aLDbxgTLoPVLg1GO5P-0SOfEbJrfiZUT_4p4Ort5hJzPCsAh3mlOVYqa_E7cWBqqSPC7pklZHzZbAhY4BHyKopR2QuKt3Gw/s320/Innocent.valentine2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="192" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0Y-KMifNLldfWQNGQmYarfyYGVzJDXMeNb40iVM3MuVsrdnVhFxilFLxK0fCpDikrnpyLO8oLjf9zgFim4Jtv-vZgM6aLDbxgTLoPVLg1GO5P-0SOfEbJrfiZUT_4p4Ort5hJzPCsAh3mlOVYqa_E7cWBqqSPC7pklZHzZbAhY4BHyKopR2QuKt3Gw/s1600/Innocent.valentine2.JPG" width="192" /></a></div><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I will resist the temptation to say <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">red</span></b> hot. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">By the way, my dialogue in this post isn't proper </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">red</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I don't use red. Too much like school. Reminds me of teachers writing </span><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "segoe script";"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">could do better</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">You </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>could</b> do better though. Most of your work is appalling. It shows little effort, a lack of imagination and po</span></span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">or skills. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">You could do better if you</span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Thank you, Eddie. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Now back to the Brassicas. It is rumoured that Lady B has a throne at Drizzly Manor. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH71QS__-vumWEI7WFbgwtiFoDK3LewsXYZulmldNh894K5pA_9RoSrMmo7To4FHBvNaR13JCYg69Van8hDTdXTnCYeYEL87DYVB2fecx4EtvUTnslIHMZZTCjs5OfCYv99ex9pVPIhOBd/s1600/Chateau_de_Versailles_2011_Trone_venitien.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH71QS__-vumWEI7WFbgwtiFoDK3LewsXYZulmldNh894K5pA_9RoSrMmo7To4FHBvNaR13JCYg69Van8hDTdXTnCYeYEL87DYVB2fecx4EtvUTnslIHMZZTCjs5OfCYv99ex9pVPIhOBd/s1600/Chateau_de_Versailles_2011_Trone_venitien.WK.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Versailles_2011_Trone_venitien_1.jpg" style="text-align: start;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Versailles</a><span style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>It was a Valentine's present last year. It's right next to her replica mall apparently.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxqSSt2MSsva7g-M3vu-O6ErNVbF21cAkKDNKEHHu_2mAXDdrH6hXVtFoez_8mE554eBjfohmBo3Kmaob2IMUOQQHtABKSlx_Rq9rqJJVUkr27I52MJTvi3KYsznI6MS68IbcqhmotDOaW1lMwt5QhLLo92E_Ki_IV5itF9J4H3szBV3sDDF7tUcc2AA/s320/LadyB.Xmas.shop100_6033%20(2).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="320" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxqSSt2MSsva7g-M3vu-O6ErNVbF21cAkKDNKEHHu_2mAXDdrH6hXVtFoez_8mE554eBjfohmBo3Kmaob2IMUOQQHtABKSlx_Rq9rqJJVUkr27I52MJTvi3KYsznI6MS68IbcqhmotDOaW1lMwt5QhLLo92E_Ki_IV5itF9J4H3szBV3sDDF7tUcc2AA/s1600/LadyB.Xmas.shop100_6033%20(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e06666;">I guess an ordinary heart bench wouldn't do?</span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9YIhimEcbS8MBT0XB6fQGip1-ijLsQAV03FpKeBv93rUBEGFbRBdyoHW_qnxxCelS_a0PCor8njsoy-T92zIBPWqYk2n24UnLw_aFV3FHSOxrXTgNvYP59HFVLWvuokzSqv1zWubc-Dt3b3c-te6oiIuE9IGfSTCekpWK-wEUlggRjTBTaF_JjS3d7Q/s500/MTSOfan.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9YIhimEcbS8MBT0XB6fQGip1-ijLsQAV03FpKeBv93rUBEGFbRBdyoHW_qnxxCelS_a0PCor8njsoy-T92zIBPWqYk2n24UnLw_aFV3FHSOxrXTgNvYP59HFVLWvuokzSqv1zWubc-Dt3b3c-te6oiIuE9IGfSTCekpWK-wEUlggRjTBTaF_JjS3d7Q/s320/MTSOfan.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtsofan/8391303537/in/photolist-</span></span></span></span></a>
</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Of course not. Lady Brassica is a woman of the world. <br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">To the other side of the world then.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here is a cheerful bench from New Mexico which gives a bright, southwesterly feel to the story.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_j10hMLVI3TCb4K5sE6Aj7DQf3M-1MH3lUN4jh1XDTeE8hE0ieRlQOEpQHv60qZT_TNQdXZUZ0F4-_Lcw2AfdnRMtKDanAAD1C45W-uKGhPy_bpkv2Tgn1V7ffVZZ5tbLFOSQRGlNhQJB/s1600/visenhowerphoto.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_j10hMLVI3TCb4K5sE6Aj7DQf3M-1MH3lUN4jh1XDTeE8hE0ieRlQOEpQHv60qZT_TNQdXZUZ0F4-_Lcw2AfdnRMtKDanAAD1C45W-uKGhPy_bpkv2Tgn1V7ffVZZ5tbLFOSQRGlNhQJB/s1600/visenhowerphoto.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Visenhowerphoto" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Visenhowerphoto</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This lovely red bench is set against a backdrop of the mountains.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSjnjEMKqYJ56myqfyzIzMNSDI7Rggbd5jp9zrr5jIX6ez-H5I9DyXMeKTRvoeUUGZOnX2S5Ik8qU1bNJEYs-UbklLBC_1VDqtmS5IxWrxPmADSHCqzZL2Uaz07cevHhY9e55wIHDn2SK/s1600/redB+painted+mts.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSjnjEMKqYJ56myqfyzIzMNSDI7Rggbd5jp9zrr5jIX6ez-H5I9DyXMeKTRvoeUUGZOnX2S5Ik8qU1bNJEYs-UbklLBC_1VDqtmS5IxWrxPmADSHCqzZL2Uaz07cevHhY9e55wIHDn2SK/s400/redB+painted+mts.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/wildest-west-benches-of-usa.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/wildest-west-benches-of-usa.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">There's something weird about these mountains. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And here we are in Lithuania, chalking up another red bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Q0fpSOqb3LFhIiEsZsIf7Z2j2271DU-uvqMEJRlzaOPxBjTBb7-uT4bTHr4ui1M1Y3tG8hQ5ayBu2UX6_0wmJwUP6KN41_4FtiU5rnVRfvR5kO7JLG1n8h4_UKvCuLodfvc33Sy4pv9z/s1600/guillaume.speurt.vilinius,Lithuania.2012.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Q0fpSOqb3LFhIiEsZsIf7Z2j2271DU-uvqMEJRlzaOPxBjTBb7-uT4bTHr4ui1M1Y3tG8hQ5ayBu2UX6_0wmJwUP6KN41_4FtiU5rnVRfvR5kO7JLG1n8h4_UKvCuLodfvc33Sy4pv9z/s1600/guillaume.speurt.vilinius,Lithuania.2012.WK.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_bench" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_bench</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">This bench looks orange to me. And you're doing that thing that I complained about before.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What's that, Eddie?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">That <i>Here is one bench</i>, <i>here is another bench</i> thing. It bores people to tears.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sorry, Eddie. Maybe I should bring in a cute little dog to liven things up?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVXoSZiyt1mUgvwY7BUXFCXzOmqMxDMQx5AQfoyEnMntzQwz8LArYzIpjzT_QrensbehxGWyaiMzGxiP4BE5DFEqKkczAmOr8dUPxXI2x_8CPp-fhKkc3rOOrGyGPtqXxpppfZ1sdM1NX/s1600/Yorkshire_Malteser_Mix.BluBb.mADe.WKjpg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVXoSZiyt1mUgvwY7BUXFCXzOmqMxDMQx5AQfoyEnMntzQwz8LArYzIpjzT_QrensbehxGWyaiMzGxiP4BE5DFEqKkczAmOr8dUPxXI2x_8CPp-fhKkc3rOOrGyGPtqXxpppfZ1sdM1NX/s1600/Yorkshire_Malteser_Mix.BluBb.mADe.WKjpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yorkshire_Malteser_Mix.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yorkshire_Malteser_Mix.jpg</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">That is a cheap trick. No one will fall for it.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">How about a cat then?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOELzVqBphmpG8qByjqdkClsRLlZmY3Q-VLF1BpIgnrtFuxGj_D1i5OrlCL5IhAWDGMl98UIi8k19C4neQyEM2hGTUAkLN2z8jX-8pHtliyDweQC4iwxwLGm3gN630CDC1YCGiSklDAHT2/s1600/Wei%C3%9F-roter_Kater_auf_roter_Bank.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOELzVqBphmpG8qByjqdkClsRLlZmY3Q-VLF1BpIgnrtFuxGj_D1i5OrlCL5IhAWDGMl98UIi8k19C4neQyEM2hGTUAkLN2z8jX-8pHtliyDweQC4iwxwLGm3gN630CDC1YCGiSklDAHT2/s1600/Wei%C3%9F-roter_Kater_auf_roter_Bank.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wei%C3%9F-roter_Kater_auf_roter_Bank.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wei%C3%9F-roter</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">This smacks of desperation.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You could practice your German here, Eddie. Looking at the photo above, can you guess what <i>roter kater auf roter bank</i> means? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">I am not paid to translate German.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'll give you a hint: <i>kater</i> means cat and <i>bank</i> means bench. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Does the phrase <i>sprechen Sie mit der Pfote</i> mean anything to you?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGfhl4nL3JyORd4Ex4xu4UkFG1zfMWtHTJIL_jb48a_-tb0j16EnYdKCiFfs3iatvTHlyNBDeiZwAEONaPrC5pOO3MrgRwaGmfRB7sFtjR4gMVx1tLSjXuk6KEirCT-_FIcK41a7ifzcA/s1600/talk+to+the+paw+5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGfhl4nL3JyORd4Ex4xu4UkFG1zfMWtHTJIL_jb48a_-tb0j16EnYdKCiFfs3iatvTHlyNBDeiZwAEONaPrC5pOO3MrgRwaGmfRB7sFtjR4gMVx1tLSjXuk6KEirCT-_FIcK41a7ifzcA/s1600/talk+to+the+paw+5.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="wlmailhtml:%7bFBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96%7dmid://00000002/!x-usc:http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html" title="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000002/!x-usc:http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html
CTRL + Click to follow link">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html</a></span><b><o:p></o:p></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, I will not speak to the paw. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You're trying to dodge the issue.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeYNcX04Bl6ESHcpVLoRMBYHm2SdbJTNJK7o-TrXbjYSLW74gkhkwzGnzZ7qQ6dO-bAfSvaSRbzkO1CA_ptsvLscKclCous5IREjMC1laZkMnDaj88EZsREIxvbuKvThKisYYAuJBrNxpZ/s1600/tailgateguy.etsy.pg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeYNcX04Bl6ESHcpVLoRMBYHm2SdbJTNJK7o-TrXbjYSLW74gkhkwzGnzZ7qQ6dO-bAfSvaSRbzkO1CA_ptsvLscKclCous5IREjMC1laZkMnDaj88EZsREIxvbuKvThKisYYAuJBrNxpZ/s1600/tailgateguy.etsy.pg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TailgateGuy">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TailgateGuy</a> </td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I just want to avoid the red tape and show some great red benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">I caught you red-handed in a pun there. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sorry, I'm snowed under with red benches.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mbk05R3F9_6duQE3pBH4eFW2ENS7V__h9Acgz7A-3zY6iob8XUYoIai9SqXD17uiZm07cd-qCg46izF_2_T-WZcDDrazekTJHANbY0eRv__Al0EjtJgBRmkIuK_k4st1VPRRW3Qxo3Cl/s1600/hugh.gray.shug1.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mbk05R3F9_6duQE3pBH4eFW2ENS7V__h9Acgz7A-3zY6iob8XUYoIai9SqXD17uiZm07cd-qCg46izF_2_T-WZcDDrazekTJHANbY0eRv__Al0EjtJgBRmkIuK_k4st1VPRRW3Qxo3Cl/s1600/hugh.gray.shug1.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53482954@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/53482954@N00/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">I'm going out for elevensies.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"> </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span>S</span><span>tarbucks I suppose?</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2J0tZJhvuM1UoPJwix2bBmoSCXz6IfS2rBRuMN1jX9SpvYsanZTniCP2pe09utk0ItTDuL44TUjDWvsUhY-Gdnq0zkoe58xUPlcJeLIpk-ucuY2cmmUBR-EISthm8Hh4yNpwlDRerbba/s1600/20140921_133721.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2J0tZJhvuM1UoPJwix2bBmoSCXz6IfS2rBRuMN1jX9SpvYsanZTniCP2pe09utk0ItTDuL44TUjDWvsUhY-Gdnq0zkoe58xUPlcJeLIpk-ucuY2cmmUBR-EISthm8Hh4yNpwlDRerbba/s320/20140921_133721.jpg" width="286" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/perfectly-punctuated-benches-for.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/perfectly-punctuated-benches</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">Whatever. </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">I'll be about an hour.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">An hour for elevensies? You must be joking. Your contract allows one fifteen minute break. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You've just got time to go out and get a cappucino.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizAxxAms8iVO8LcnXYjHsLOlt7l0EnR9X_tvxEx7g3ULTpEOFpOgwye4ja9r291AG-XTWSHX7u1vF4U8b3QLOq48HCVF_bYfmNe41xhIWBLYXTnCsgl04qBI-Qlk7XY-_KWBtqukB1l2yqholXV6UMSxLj_8d1fHXovFeOT16j11U8r3JH_36lMzMxjA/s700/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizAxxAms8iVO8LcnXYjHsLOlt7l0EnR9X_tvxEx7g3ULTpEOFpOgwye4ja9r291AG-XTWSHX7u1vF4U8b3QLOq48HCVF_bYfmNe41xhIWBLYXTnCsgl04qBI-Qlk7XY-_KWBtqukB1l2yqholXV6UMSxLj_8d1fHXovFeOT16j11U8r3JH_36lMzMxjA/s320/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or a tomato bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgriLXWyPzq8oioumuXMxWkKZ0na5hdZLqF4kmDb2haWk0RFOelFDuRRmYHcp7zEdm3P9UfQg2Pd-TIGObmsnoCcY57Li9ptLzACXgLvCSq3bke-YRxHVzvLnn8eymj7ZszEK0Ym_mUmQVi/s1600/rudebigdog.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgriLXWyPzq8oioumuXMxWkKZ0na5hdZLqF4kmDb2haWk0RFOelFDuRRmYHcp7zEdm3P9UfQg2Pd-TIGObmsnoCcY57Li9ptLzACXgLvCSq3bke-YRxHVzvLnn8eymj7ZszEK0Ym_mUmQVi/s1600/rudebigdog.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudebigdog/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudebigdog/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">I don't eat tomatoes.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, a banana then. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKX0ad4OJiVv4JH_M0UQ4OOTopmPu1zKEVdW7vVDVFxiOeDrqaXCcSh1Tcv36y0oX9AkwtAmuKDlnyjuONoXfYw-e_mAbGh_RBGkzzYrikBRoUGXP2v67Yp41OLiras9DQRKZL3R-l6Ti/s1600/matt.green.hobo.matt.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKX0ad4OJiVv4JH_M0UQ4OOTopmPu1zKEVdW7vVDVFxiOeDrqaXCcSh1Tcv36y0oX9AkwtAmuKDlnyjuONoXfYw-e_mAbGh_RBGkzzYrikBRoUGXP2v67Yp41OLiras9DQRKZL3R-l6Ti/s1600/matt.green.hobo.matt.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/imjustwalkin/6849110336/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/imjustwalkin/6849110336/</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">It's not red. </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's very a-peeling though.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVXMtdcCmMuvxa3AdHXxidR1cEltjbz1sKKDrQkZM7-hsl3pHZFGS7CPLBaAplwW91-XO5xH7hqRXqY3asR8t3pjXnkBB0HMmA7_ebvJiPIoAqsSX-PfFy0eIYJpR9uk_EIm0OL4aOiep/s1600/zjedzony.banana.chair.wamhouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVXMtdcCmMuvxa3AdHXxidR1cEltjbz1sKKDrQkZM7-hsl3pHZFGS7CPLBaAplwW91-XO5xH7hqRXqY3asR8t3pjXnkBB0HMmA7_ebvJiPIoAqsSX-PfFy0eIYJpR9uk_EIm0OL4aOiep/s1600/zjedzony.banana.chair.wamhouse.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.wamhouse.pl/">www.wamhouse.pl </a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">It looks good enough to eat. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By the way, Eddie, did you know that the term </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Red Bench</span></i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> means a place for conversation? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">I think you have confused me with someone who cares.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Faust and Marguerite found this lovely red bench for a quiet chat in the garden.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaIXkGVwISlLHqyyFKqvO00FQIP6BPoR2D8sUhrs7ZUrqQ7ONp0xpCE9vrD1favWkuvr8a9UeLJczqTQE123drJFLymiGtSTzQer308sv70lMvBeskXqsn1urTSNnkJnvx0WXQRaDdg5X/s1600/faust-and-marguerite-in-the-garden_jpg.tissot1861.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaIXkGVwISlLHqyyFKqvO00FQIP6BPoR2D8sUhrs7ZUrqQ7ONp0xpCE9vrD1favWkuvr8a9UeLJczqTQE123drJFLymiGtSTzQer308sv70lMvBeskXqsn1urTSNnkJnvx0WXQRaDdg5X/s1600/faust-and-marguerite-in-the-garden_jpg.tissot1861.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/james-tissot/faust-and-marguerite-in-the-garden">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/james-tissot/faust-and-marguerite-in-the-garden</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Is this before or after he made his pact with the devil?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I see you know your opera, Eddie.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Certainly. I went to a red-brick university.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So did I. But I know nothing about opera. We were just up, up and away in those days, if you know what I mean.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3bZmbVU6GSOG2wUDqF0TdCW6oArzwgaa0yET2cwVQZmyPuoeSqZxHcS1MWkOvYE35jmNLCKUqaW0SdTCYMCoL8KxWDA9pZX63uBMcIVgGdSw67NhzZB4xxXEEM274bvZ9fbvZBTIgRA_/s1600/redballon.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3bZmbVU6GSOG2wUDqF0TdCW6oArzwgaa0yET2cwVQZmyPuoeSqZxHcS1MWkOvYE35jmNLCKUqaW0SdTCYMCoL8KxWDA9pZX63uBMcIVgGdSw67NhzZB4xxXEEM274bvZ9fbvZBTIgRA_/s1600/redballon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.h220430.jp/">http://www.h220430.jp</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;">This looks orange to me.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, it's from Japanese designer Satoshi Itasaka and it's actually called </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">赤い風船</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">No kidding.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Red Balloon.</span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span style="color: #e06666;">I can't argue with that. </span><br /><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, that makes a change.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And now, as I was saying, there are an awful lot of organisations called Red Bench. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here is a logo from a company which helps people to organize their businesses with purpose and passion. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf__Cc3PGaDmb3Y1om9YDTjTTiA2I5CSIBIajGed_XC0JlIUpTm5dOsKpjmwJO3Z6qz-_5scHAsF2xM8VbYobXJaa2-5nrrjfs-N07F48vJCD3IK_Ed6iBn5DWXBWVsNo2KbCA1Y_uRI2U/s1600/Red+B+logo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf__Cc3PGaDmb3Y1om9YDTjTTiA2I5CSIBIajGed_XC0JlIUpTm5dOsKpjmwJO3Z6qz-_5scHAsF2xM8VbYobXJaa2-5nrrjfs-N07F48vJCD3IK_Ed6iBn5DWXBWVsNo2KbCA1Y_uRI2U/s1600/Red+B+logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.aredbench.com/">http://www.aredbench.com/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And here is a direct quote from Betty Sue Flowers : </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>"I once had the idea of having a red bench in every corporation. And the red bench would be an invitation to conversations that matter. So if you sat on the red bench, you'd be saying, I'm open to a conversation about . . . something that matters to me."</i></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">Heady stuff. Who is Betty Sue Flowers?</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">She's the one who had the idea of putting red benches in public places so that by sitting on the bench, you are signalling to others that you are open to a conversation. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">A conversation about what?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Something that really matters.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">My pay and conditions?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, not that.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Benches?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_5hLyZwSD_jSJSlceJZJ131VyJpUEiXJS1fc5HkiwfoXpErVVyl1lhBWBnmHAtrQspSah2yVp2Y51XOTvyrZQVWcbytc-Vtptbxf_FpqHBZMtGeZOpk-w8uiAZzxaDzs0vJTS1jT83uM/s1600/Bs+on+a+ship.2008.AlMare.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_5hLyZwSD_jSJSlceJZJ131VyJpUEiXJS1fc5HkiwfoXpErVVyl1lhBWBnmHAtrQspSah2yVp2Y51XOTvyrZQVWcbytc-Vtptbxf_FpqHBZMtGeZOpk-w8uiAZzxaDzs0vJTS1jT83uM/s1600/Bs+on+a+ship.2008.AlMare.WK.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benches.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benches</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. That would count.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Do they have to be red?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnjQM4o13Df5xmZJF4PNEOiV-hFfJaT3RPK47OK8gsKUk7tpotsICnSVns7bqlL9Wj1sdWqjTz8YjddeVK9WH7zsMKI5H_fXU6TdlV77xZoAeSGOouxqQrVDkyOyC0UKgVDWw0i76z4u8I/s1600/anchormysoul.etsyj.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnjQM4o13Df5xmZJF4PNEOiV-hFfJaT3RPK47OK8gsKUk7tpotsICnSVns7bqlL9Wj1sdWqjTz8YjddeVK9WH7zsMKI5H_fXU6TdlV77xZoAeSGOouxqQrVDkyOyC0UKgVDWw0i76z4u8I/s1600/anchormysoul.etsyj.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/AnchorMySoul" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/AnchorMySoul</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, I don't think so.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">A lot of conversations then?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Maybe we could move on without hearing all of them?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's another organisation which has Red Bench conversations. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRNdw0QJuUoXj0eAqDNPKG5U2CdQFkucg_ntonLlojixdqs__aFcnzdFQaLTOk7k3hoBxv9giMXw76Z-rN-CE-JScdXShcLDEnybIhYcRMwMKLqYPHgspk7DfkgoeMjNqUbGK4sHhxXmoq/s1600/interfaithtexas.org.logo.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRNdw0QJuUoXj0eAqDNPKG5U2CdQFkucg_ntonLlojixdqs__aFcnzdFQaLTOk7k3hoBxv9giMXw76Z-rN-CE-JScdXShcLDEnybIhYcRMwMKLqYPHgspk7DfkgoeMjNqUbGK4sHhxXmoq/s1600/interfaithtexas.org.logo.png" width="200" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">About what?</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Their community. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">These are people who feel very blessed to live in Austin, Texas.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">I'm sure Austin, Texas is very nice. But could we get on with the benches now?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. Here is a picture of a bench in Austin, Texas.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBPoNFIL9GsyM3c0tVdGH-VU_Dxp9R22N7ePDSeBnka3EujoKMG4UYYnDWRHQy3JrHyIKnQZt9YfBHXKAydyi5m6WsSxZ5_1PpUWXSQ09xg23oIyptlBmM-tEvrvORO-gd_MnNBpVlKkA/s1600/plain+B+Austin.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBPoNFIL9GsyM3c0tVdGH-VU_Dxp9R22N7ePDSeBnka3EujoKMG4UYYnDWRHQy3JrHyIKnQZt9YfBHXKAydyi5m6WsSxZ5_1PpUWXSQ09xg23oIyptlBmM-tEvrvORO-gd_MnNBpVlKkA/s1600/plain+B+Austin.bmp" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://krrb.com/">http://krrb.com/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">It's not red. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But it's in Austin, Texas and it's very good quality and it's 95% recycled.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Well, that's something I suppose. But it's not red.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">As you can see, there are many, many organisations using the Red Bench concept. Among them, I found . . . </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">No, seriously, don't start naming them. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">It's lunchtime and I'm going out. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">There's a new diner I want to try.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Is this the one?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jZFAJBv_ZfqWR2UUqXXXfpLY-BD6MJPiwnGJY6MODuS4kv1vCKxCmfw3_PRJDYnAeujYiQtcqgQ3mEj7nXlUuTK9MD3bsbp_gRRRu6yNIOUKavEjJQ2Q-7nJxG1rGXoN24wgBFiF0BTX/s1600/Ilovememphis.memphisCVB.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jZFAJBv_ZfqWR2UUqXXXfpLY-BD6MJPiwnGJY6MODuS4kv1vCKxCmfw3_PRJDYnAeujYiQtcqgQ3mEj7nXlUuTK9MD3bsbp_gRRRu6yNIOUKavEjJQ2Q-7nJxG1rGXoN24wgBFiF0BTX/s1600/Ilovememphis.memphisCVB.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilovememphis/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilovememphis/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">No. That's in Memphis. Too far. And it looks to me like these benches are pink rather than red. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><span style="color: black;">Have you been cyberslacking this morning?</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">What? Looking up <i>les restaurantes</i> in working hours? <i>Moi?</i></span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So where are you going then?</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TzfClCBeokNtfJX2JkovzAtjZ0pYF79Z10rO-Ko7liOYxZy10zdz551d0A3t1M5PhLpq-hkv9IJ4hup1_JBIuJTnys1fWEbJDf_deyyLJpx5O8KujBryAy7vblEfyIiJROqjmtG-SSfl/s1600/Burger_King,_Pseudo_1950s_American_Diner.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TzfClCBeokNtfJX2JkovzAtjZ0pYF79Z10rO-Ko7liOYxZy10zdz551d0A3t1M5PhLpq-hkv9IJ4hup1_JBIuJTnys1fWEbJDf_deyyLJpx5O8KujBryAy7vblEfyIiJROqjmtG-SSfl/s1600/Burger_King,_Pseudo_1950s_American_Diner.WK.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burger_King,_Pseudo_1950s_American_Diner.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burger_King</a><o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Wow, that's brilliant, Eddie! We'll just finish up this post and I'll come with you.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">No chance. I'm out of here now. See you in two hours.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Two hours? Your lunch break is only thirty minutes. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">It's a sliding scale though. Like this bench. It slides back and forth with a bit of leeway in the middle.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitg9tm5QjMLPntxw_Q5iDkAwuX1LZrpS-2UtTSHlm1hv-qBgWp9JL2gC0OXYu-YtR7yq1EC26rNIbMBfZO4EqLzMscDb2d0Y_A9mHHyut1shpUdw7DFvmzzllgi92WKj-SwLB3ieLB-d8d/s1600/sliding_bank_001+(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitg9tm5QjMLPntxw_Q5iDkAwuX1LZrpS-2UtTSHlm1hv-qBgWp9JL2gC0OXYu-YtR7yq1EC26rNIbMBfZO4EqLzMscDb2d0Y_A9mHHyut1shpUdw7DFvmzzllgi92WKj-SwLB3ieLB-d8d/s1600/sliding_bank_001+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.frankwillems.net/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.frankwillems.net/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There is no leeway in your contract, Eddie. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">I know. I'm constantly in the red. I haven't even got a dollar to feed my family.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdR93HQ9hRCLZjdmAYDa6A3bGAH7Csxh4dxUG448iIH1qzEJSVPwJ6pqNBiJ2IsRp5rEkhHe8lWqriH56II9UOVWW62XdI9rgO12-pR9p07AGLc4-5YpJZkap5LnF5OzCModi_Fhiwsg_/s1600/Gary.Dincher.NC.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdR93HQ9hRCLZjdmAYDa6A3bGAH7Csxh4dxUG448iIH1qzEJSVPwJ6pqNBiJ2IsRp5rEkhHe8lWqriH56II9UOVWW62XdI9rgO12-pR9p07AGLc4-5YpJZkap5LnF5OzCModi_Fhiwsg_/s1600/Gary.Dincher.NC.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerrydincher/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerrydincher/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We are getting into a circular argument here.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1BRLqkh5x_PQiO-HMOeudyXpr6WRFa12_dGzhuKpaE2AxvhTSFkJJ_R8i2wjQDCh3gbyd_75LQivXzQCT1PN24K9prL5UkfCw8SzH_wm5SRofyH_jVfSidKMsxxh9zuY25YczT9FfgnF/s1600/Felixstowe_station_-_circulating_area.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1BRLqkh5x_PQiO-HMOeudyXpr6WRFa12_dGzhuKpaE2AxvhTSFkJJ_R8i2wjQDCh3gbyd_75LQivXzQCT1PN24K9prL5UkfCw8SzH_wm5SRofyH_jVfSidKMsxxh9zuY25YczT9FfgnF/s1600/Felixstowe_station_-_circulating_area.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2012_at_Felixstowe_station_-_circulating_area.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2012_at_Felixstowe_station</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Yes, we're in a bit of a jam.</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">How about some Red Bench Jam?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl5YeD7I2bXdzsPnWwgbaDhZgXjlNunA07tkPnbZ9I18pWSe1A6tQC_jr_DXsXKMTpfqM6mKsFDgFYg9A0IQWP6Wz_Tf92YHo9BMgtJ-057KG1dpVsuKkiQVvmvxAFBLIEzmwDqO3gvUA/s1600/imagesCADWW4WL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl5YeD7I2bXdzsPnWwgbaDhZgXjlNunA07tkPnbZ9I18pWSe1A6tQC_jr_DXsXKMTpfqM6mKsFDgFYg9A0IQWP6Wz_Tf92YHo9BMgtJ-057KG1dpVsuKkiQVvmvxAFBLIEzmwDqO3gvUA/s320/imagesCADWW4WL.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.vermontspecialtyfoods.org/member.php/lid/255" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.vermontspecialtyfoods.org/member.php/lid/255</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">Doesn't sound tasty. Is the jam actually made from benches?</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I don't think so. You can get Red Bench Jam in Rupert, Vermont, which is made from blueberries, and strawberries and cranberries and chillis. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But there are also Red Bench Jam sessions somewhere, at which, I think, you are expected to turn up and make music.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #e06666;">I'm not paid to do that. </span></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I don't like your attitude, Eddie. You just won't play ball.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_yFmdX2WRUWLVjHybAKZ-UFNXpRCIb0gIkoGv4HIQzLxwf1UnjAXFKXJzjqyQfsP7q-dzR-n64iRY8DcJsonIkELkaAnB04sP_7NISaC_tTKrTAhkOqZ5k0IrP3EMzPA8VkCVy2SVNOm/s1600/Spectator_Serpentine_Gallery_pavilion_2007_-_geograph.org.uk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_yFmdX2WRUWLVjHybAKZ-UFNXpRCIb0gIkoGv4HIQzLxwf1UnjAXFKXJzjqyQfsP7q-dzR-n64iRY8DcJsonIkELkaAnB04sP_7NISaC_tTKrTAhkOqZ5k0IrP3EMzPA8VkCVy2SVNOm/s1600/Spectator_Serpentine_Gallery_pavilion_2007_-_geograph.org.uk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spectator_seating_and_play_balls,_Serpentine_Gallery_pavilion_2007_-_geograph.org.uk_-_593145.jpg"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; text-align: start;">©David Hawgood </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">and licensed for </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">reuse</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> under this </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">Creative Commons license</span></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">I have only one answer to that:</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGzTEYPqt_uPIXgb3pL6Q9nxQVhIlgW8Or56OBwqKBa9FzMgpRJHeVttTORV3Socwb8INrrj5t2QAGTqdDSdELF443y6dHg3erDYta6MXIvi4O2CE53LSduB10pOUL4ntP5BztlaJM2Lr/s1600/typography.tourist.etsy.il_570xN_848135970_icel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGzTEYPqt_uPIXgb3pL6Q9nxQVhIlgW8Or56OBwqKBa9FzMgpRJHeVttTORV3Socwb8INrrj5t2QAGTqdDSdELF443y6dHg3erDYta6MXIvi4O2CE53LSduB10pOUL4ntP5BztlaJM2Lr/s320/typography.tourist.etsy.il_570xN_848135970_icel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TypographyTourist">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TypographyTourist</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Right. That does it. I've reviewed our professional relationship and I think you need to spend more time with your family.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In other words, I'm putting you on Garden Bench Leave. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">You tried that before. No more fauxpologies. I've had enough. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here is a gift bench to show there are no hard feelings.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicg_lleKjXR7NPri2bMcWpkczFOrmdHs2acDmdSLYYLSv5cSgtXkv4RJnspnygy1KqqtU8n62X0dohuYO-KkOi1G5OHmcNW_8J-tB5argHys79qV03Sffp4FymZfwpOG9sukOq2GtSWWxW/s1600/plank+missing.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicg_lleKjXR7NPri2bMcWpkczFOrmdHs2acDmdSLYYLSv5cSgtXkv4RJnspnygy1KqqtU8n62X0dohuYO-KkOi1G5OHmcNW_8J-tB5argHys79qV03Sffp4FymZfwpOG9sukOq2GtSWWxW/s1600/plank+missing.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/a-fine-old-mess-of-british-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/a-fine-old-mess-of-british-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">This is a rubbish bench. The paint is peeling and a plank is missing. And it's NOT RED. </span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Take it or leave it, Zoobreath.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">You seem to have forgotten what happened last time you tried to fire me.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuf0UxPeaGT9FQGOeoblGBEbWH7TjNgjpMM_II2yr76_IZGoQm_9Lu9fGFMHcBuiu3Y8F7NohmuH-sQJdUlt9fhHEFFv6Xms_c7m123nFvwIuE3QA61AOVd6bQfE1WP6DmMfetvCrdjpU/s1600/screen+bean+poster+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuf0UxPeaGT9FQGOeoblGBEbWH7TjNgjpMM_II2yr76_IZGoQm_9Lu9fGFMHcBuiu3Y8F7NohmuH-sQJdUlt9fhHEFFv6Xms_c7m123nFvwIuE3QA61AOVd6bQfE1WP6DmMfetvCrdjpU/s1600/screen+bean+poster+2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They were outside my house for weeks.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">And you should know that I've written to the president about my contract of employment. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oh yeah?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Which president is that?</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYqqLJroAimjCWDioJKOQ_m4N5fhJR7UTnzHqP5X5BDczvjOqLjoUbBg6_g-WTVvf3J_vWF30lU9fT4EPaL9fPBUtMQRv5pzSZqcuD0XJCO_uw2MGePImT_go_fGdjMcMxgHy_XMpgVnAt/s1600/Barack_Obama_readings_notes_in_the_Red_Room.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYqqLJroAimjCWDioJKOQ_m4N5fhJR7UTnzHqP5X5BDczvjOqLjoUbBg6_g-WTVvf3J_vWF30lU9fT4EPaL9fPBUtMQRv5pzSZqcuD0XJCO_uw2MGePImT_go_fGdjMcMxgHy_XMpgVnAt/s1600/Barack_Obama_readings_notes_in_the_Red_Room.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barack_Obama_readings_notes_in_the_Red_Room.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barack_Obama</a><o:p></o:p></span><br /><div><br /></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">I sent him a full report. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Good heavens! </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He seems to be reading it in the Red Room of the White House. And on a red bench. Even though he isn't President any more.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Kam7kx8cBS3E2a5tLQ_coYlbYZmyLYsKen0upygrqTqrRzmsH95za2N7DRCQ86z01ZiYsx7xPkMqIv-qTBuQcS4ByS_1ScE4oK6RC40u9EyQSPDvxBSY2sRYR63cUpgObbojlFNyjPV5/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569957831.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="700" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Kam7kx8cBS3E2a5tLQ_coYlbYZmyLYsKen0upygrqTqrRzmsH95za2N7DRCQ86z01ZiYsx7xPkMqIv-qTBuQcS4ByS_1ScE4oK6RC40u9EyQSPDvxBSY2sRYR63cUpgObbojlFNyjPV5/s320/PhotoFunia-1569957831.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm feeling a bit red-faced here.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Indeed. Some apologetic flowers wouldn't go amiss.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">For ex-President Obama?</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">No, for me.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4jiD4t7qoevUItnB7pCP7hAs9rs0M9xI_mDrTJEXXw6ybRKA6Mx1INIl_PZqRtT7-1Ec-PQWzzdDiffwCNH7hDUQjMZtFJ7a7cNgnhHmiTCQVT3rsyXn8kELds4rjA0ZId-7jEAqLBms/s1600/fififlowers.etsy.redB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4jiD4t7qoevUItnB7pCP7hAs9rs0M9xI_mDrTJEXXw6ybRKA6Mx1INIl_PZqRtT7-1Ec-PQWzzdDiffwCNH7hDUQjMZtFJ7a7cNgnhHmiTCQVT3rsyXn8kELds4rjA0ZId-7jEAqLBms/s1600/fififlowers.etsy.redB.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.fififlowers.com/">www.fififlowers.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here you go then. The note on the bench says <i>Will work for Chocolate</i>.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">I will not work for chocolate.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I didn't think you would.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">So, do you have any more interesting red benches? By interesting I mean cleverly designed, arty, unique?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm glad you asked. Because I was bowled over by this kirv bench made by designer and metalsmith Alex Moore. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPm9dqdwyxIjZNzzH18xmL3M0OMj6s_yrN-d5PzBo4ZqCMDEvFnui8xg_Dt2y8IwPitThi22HdJqVuwA9OVXXeRrz83iFtf7K1we47JI0u9vQjFgdWqDv7V7kQL6FjWgbaLtpilkM9Hc/s1600/kirv+B.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPm9dqdwyxIjZNzzH18xmL3M0OMj6s_yrN-d5PzBo4ZqCMDEvFnui8xg_Dt2y8IwPitThi22HdJqVuwA9OVXXeRrz83iFtf7K1we47JI0u9vQjFgdWqDv7V7kQL6FjWgbaLtpilkM9Hc/s320/kirv+B.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.mooredesigns.co.uk/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.mooredesigns.co.uk</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">That's moore like it. Any moore good ones?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. My favourite red bench is this linear metal bench which winds its way through Red Ribbon Park in Qinhuangdao in China. It's 500 metres long . . . </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5LkCg5WKUwHoAYmsV_APwnM53kZJDDOfMAFCqNNh9wKGHQtL9okq5hiBOR2cAOrJ4Wd9QHg7qwUwbmpJyDOPihxpg5SJIv2Xfg95vz2wX6Jwo0JXL7hjp5MbmJT0Ig8pvTEMBll4tuA/s1600/Red+Ribbon+Pk.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5LkCg5WKUwHoAYmsV_APwnM53kZJDDOfMAFCqNNh9wKGHQtL9okq5hiBOR2cAOrJ4Wd9QHg7qwUwbmpJyDOPihxpg5SJIv2Xfg95vz2wX6Jwo0JXL7hjp5MbmJT0Ig8pvTEMBll4tuA/s320/Red+Ribbon+Pk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/project.php?id=336">http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9jAwmvUM_6UcXH1KylC3GDtzWmhenqrmhYS_V856UE_4c2_-Z8oCf-nhZP8FAIpTaCDMfFtpk_mgwqfRdxVA69JjGCU3WGUhjfEXylJWKlyJc2i2lvzLtTVvJviNyBWWRu82eBljFiPs/s1600/ribbon1_08022011.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9jAwmvUM_6UcXH1KylC3GDtzWmhenqrmhYS_V856UE_4c2_-Z8oCf-nhZP8FAIpTaCDMfFtpk_mgwqfRdxVA69JjGCU3WGUhjfEXylJWKlyJc2i2lvzLtTVvJviNyBWWRu82eBljFiPs/s320/ribbon1_08022011.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/project.php?id=336">http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLHpHF-YYiqDLJF9hSJjLxtS39QjhCdasj5eEVEPuPivBO1qVVbslSk2IUW3UbVUt9nd1TXUdTSEVo3cLM8pcxBzT4vyoH0YQPSHeUAgigX8DABOUSPOP8v4IpSTHrhybHLNhA3q19Gt8/s1600/1f1d7b69.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLHpHF-YYiqDLJF9hSJjLxtS39QjhCdasj5eEVEPuPivBO1qVVbslSk2IUW3UbVUt9nd1TXUdTSEVo3cLM8pcxBzT4vyoH0YQPSHeUAgigX8DABOUSPOP8v4IpSTHrhybHLNhA3q19Gt8/s320/1f1d7b69.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/project.php?id=336">http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. . . and it lights up at night</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Gorgeous. It's a shame it took so long to get here. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, that's because of you.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> You keep butting in and I've only shown half the red benches I wanted to show.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">I don't care I'm heading west.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mae West?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUA5gEUISryCdvjYQCwc9XlARD2ZpVlyN1r4ZDiHR4UJAAGT730MUy0_0IskOAcWGQ70AEcAT9D4gVTIasV_gwy4iVePfBx7Gd1Ceijnl0pkquKd0c4f7kHNnUCkD82ddRiu166KzZAT8w5wQ1RHBw660tN1PaNGYS6ovBnS4wuIjOllhHXy4CZNwa8w/s500/workfromtheheart.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="500" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUA5gEUISryCdvjYQCwc9XlARD2ZpVlyN1r4ZDiHR4UJAAGT730MUy0_0IskOAcWGQ70AEcAT9D4gVTIasV_gwy4iVePfBx7Gd1Ceijnl0pkquKd0c4f7kHNnUCkD82ddRiu166KzZAT8w5wQ1RHBw660tN1PaNGYS6ovBnS4wuIjOllhHXy4CZNwa8w/s320/workfromtheheart.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/workfromtheheart/</span></span></span></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">I see we're back where we started with the lips. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, and I've had enough red benches. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Me too. I'm going to Cancun for the rest of the winter. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">Hasta luego. See you in five weeks.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Five weeks! You only have two weeks holiday and you've already used it up for this year.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;">You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTxs-bakAAtgCd4WqGP36zgm5zpK6H7E60M_4LrZS1yXKA0z1-QfcC-71MKn7Ri9cxo1ugu8EqcXWcnjVaimR9S7VId0KGNmJFTODs2DlVEDcLgkiMkXmuWzhBWRsSoa2zAW3pdquRSxG/s1600/Eddie+beach.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTxs-bakAAtgCd4WqGP36zgm5zpK6H7E60M_4LrZS1yXKA0z1-QfcC-71MKn7Ri9cxo1ugu8EqcXWcnjVaimR9S7VId0KGNmJFTODs2DlVEDcLgkiMkXmuWzhBWRsSoa2zAW3pdquRSxG/s1600/Eddie+beach.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>Credits </b><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>As
regular readers of Benchsite will know, I am lucky enough to have two
husbands. One is Mungo, my imaginary husband. I lost my heart to him
when </span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>we
met in Las Vegas</span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>.
It all happened so fast. My real husband is His Excellency and though
he forgets Valentine's Day every year, sometimes he is </span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>an
excellent Valentine</span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>.
Both men are excellent in their different ways, as shown through
their </span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>woodworking
skills</span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>. </span></span></span></span>
</p><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Italian-born
Moyan Brenn made his very first shot with an HP digital compact
camera in 2005. Since then he has travelled all over the world
finding gorgeous places and beautiful subjects for his photography.
At Reykjavik Airport in April 2014 he photographed the pretty heart
and padlock bench for Flickr Creative
Commons. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#">https://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/14317481793/</a> His
images are under
license CC-BY-2.0</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>The brilliant Portrait of journalist Sylvia von Harden is an oil painting done in 1926 by German artist Otto Dix (1891-1969). The Dancer Anita Berber is also by Dix. Berlin in the interwar years was some kind of town. </span></span></span></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>The
man with a heart head is </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span><i>Working
Man</i></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>,
located at The Cube, a 25-storey building in the city centre of
Birmingham UK. The Cube houses a mix of offices, shops, restaurants
and apartments and inside the building’s central courtyard atrium
is an exclusive portfolio of art pieces by contemporary artist,
Temper, whose work is dedicated to and influenced by ‘The Lovely
People’ of the city he loves. Each of Temper’s pieces
immortalises a real person who has inspired others and demonstrates a
source of pride for the city. Wor</span></span></span>king Man was photographed by Barry O'Neil in 2012. <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_ellis/7237391078/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_ellis/7237391078/</a> </span></span></span></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>The Lovers are not on a red bench, I know. They were painted by Marc Chagall (1887-1985). Chagall and his wife were very loved up and he painted them many times.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The
brilliant red lips bench was seen on International Kissing Day 2014
at the Baci restaurant, along the Yarra River, Melbourne. The
photographer is Andy Blackledge, a hockeyholic who enjoys capturing
interesting images, especially flowers, birds, fish, and landscapes.
From Scottsdale, Arizona, Andy's travel photography adds to the
memory and appreciation of the places he visits
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hockeyholic/14073819139</a></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The beautiful red bench images at the start and end of this post are the Qinhuangdao Red Ribbon Park in Hebei Province in China. The park was designed by Turenscape.com and completed in 2008. The ribbon of red steel bench runs for half a kilometre through the Tanghe River Park, which was created in a derelict area on the edge of an urban area. The aim was to preserve the natural habitat and to create a space for recreation. The work has won the American Society of Landscape Architects award and Cond</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">é</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Nast Traveller magazine called it one of the seven wonders of the architectural world. </span><a href="http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/project.php?id=336" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.turenscape.com/english/projects/project.php?id=336</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This and other beautiful Chinese benches features in 2017 <a href="http://the%20year%20of%20the%20rooster%20bench/">The Year of the Rooster Bench</a>. </span></div><div><div><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.8px;"><span style="line-height: 16.8px;">If red isn't your colour, we've got a rainbow of colour choices here on Benchsite. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/im-dreaming-of-purple-christmas.html">P</a>retty</span><span style="color: #848484;"><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/im-dreaming-of-purple-christmas.html"> purple benches</a></span></span><span style="line-height: 16.8px;">? No problem. </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/an-orange-bench-mystery.html" style="color: #848484; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Orange?</a><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"> We got 'em. There are </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html" style="color: #848484; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">sunny yellow benches for spring</a><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"> and sparkly </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html" style="color: #ffd02e; line-height: 16.8px;">gold and silver benches</a><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"> for parties. There are </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html" style="color: #848484; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">50 shades of grey and pink benches</a><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"> to coincide with the release of That film. We celebrate holidays like <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/black-bench-friday.html" style="color: #848484; text-decoration-line: none;">Black Friday</a>. And there are some really </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/blue-benches-for-blue-monday.html" style="color: #848484; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">depressing blue ones for Blue Monday</a><span style="line-height: 16.8px;">. For more uplifting, upcycled benches see the green ones at </span></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/recycled-upcycled-repurposed-benches.html" style="background-color: white; color: #848484; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/recycled-upcycled-repurposed-benches.htm</a></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/recycled-upcycled-repurposed-benches.html" style="background-color: white; color: #848484; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">l</a><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I must take note of ferry benches from now on. The red benches on the Dover to Calais ferry were photographed by Edith Frost in 2006. Edith is a singer songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. She took a solo camping trip last year and her Paradise Canyon set shows a very inviting swimming pond. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/edith/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/edith/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The photograph of Eddie working at his desk is his favourite picture. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He's a great editor but he tries to slip primate pictures into Benchsite posts whenever he can, sometimes </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ruining my stories</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. The picture at the end of the post </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">was taken </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/sunny-benches.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">last summer here in Fribble-under-Par</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. It was exceptionally hot and many of us, including Eddie, enjoyed cooling off in the icy waters of The Plunge. You can see <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">what Eddie got up to in Mexico</a> and then when he came back this <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/falling-for-autumn-benches.html">autumn</a>, he was up to his monkey business again. I finally gave him a blog of his own. I had to; it's <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/2016-year-of-monkey-bench.html">the Year of the Monkey bench</a>. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>The
bright red Kissing Jim Rocker is by Didi Dunphy in her Modern
Convenience studio at</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span>www.modernconvenience.com</span></span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>Didi
likes to bring play and free time into home decor. Her Recess line
reintroduces play through sculptural furnishings which bring the
free-time concept of Recess indoors.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>The
Kissing Jim Conversational Seat is modelled after the Victorian
courting chair, which allows two people to sit face to face
comfortably, promoting conversation, meaningful gazing and who knows
what else. Kissing Jim is made from powder-coated aluminum or, as we
say in Britain, </span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span><i>aluminium</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>.</span></span></span></span>
</p><b><br /></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The bench which is tilted in the middle is in St Rynek, Poznan and was photographed in July 2013 by MOs810. It seems to be advertising Lizamy Ludzi. Ludzi means <i>people </i>but I don't know what Lizamy is, nor how many Lizamy People there are who might want to sit on a collapsed red bench. </span><br /><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Bench_St._Rynek%2C_Poznan.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Bench_St._Rynek%2C_Poznan.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Built to Resist backpack sofa is an amazing thing. It has loads of pockets and pouches for your stuff, but still manages to foldup as a backpack. It's a 2010 collaboration between backpack makers Eastpak and Belgian designers Quinze and Milan. I saw it on the ever-surprising chairblog.eu </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/11/15/built-to-resist-sofa-by-quinze-milan-and-eastpak/">http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/11/15/built-to-resist-sofa-by-quinze-milan-and-eastpak/</a></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Kevin Lucius is a graphic designer who runs Lucius Art from a tiny apartment in Chicago. He loves working with old textures, animals, and vintage design elements to produce vintage-inspired animal art and city art. I love his work and am pleased to use it here. <i>Monkey riding a Duck</i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> is an original illustration from a vintage art print. I think it's a goose rather than a duck but maybe vintage ones look different from modern ones? </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LuciusArt" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LuciusArt</a><br /><br /></div></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The double-backed red sofa/bench is in the wonderful LAAC Modern Art museum in Dunkirk, France. They have a good selection of different kinds of seating, including benches.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The cheerfully welcoming Welcome bench is from Sue, a first grade teacher who strives to organise, simplify and inspire. She has a colourful and creative blog at <a href="http://www.fruitylemonade.blogspot.com/">www.fruitylemonade.blogspot.com</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />The bright red benches at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam appeared in 2010 on the blog of Stool Sampler, <i>the coolest sit you can find</i>. Stool Sampler does for stools what I do for benches. In April 2010 the feature was Amsterdam airport and train station seating. All great stuff, which you can see at <a href="http://stoolsampler.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/amsterdam-airport-and-train-station-seating/">http://stoolsampler.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/amsterdam-airport-and-train-station-seating/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The beautiful curvy red bench was photographed by Vincent Brassinne in Borgerhouts, Antwerp in 2009. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vainsang/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vainsang/</a> Vincent lives in Bruxelles and his photostream is a Grand Tour of Europe. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>D</i></span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">en </i><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><i>røde</i> </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">benken</i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">from Norway was photographed by Erling Sivertsen, who lives in Volda in Norway. The words above the bench say, in Norwegian, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">meanings go in all directions.</span></i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> And Erling's photostream has THE most beautiful photographs of Norway. I'm planning to go to Norway and will use his photos as a travel guide. </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/erlingsi/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/erlingsi/</a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The fabulous Thread Bench (2012) is by Ola Giertz, whose studio is in Helsingborg, Sweden. <a href="http://www.olagiertz.se/">http://www.olagiertz.se/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ola's designs are characterized by clarity, simplicity and a utilitarian approach. He creates timeless products in which design, material and form are matched in harmonious dimensions and which are designed to meet the needs of the user. He designs furniture, interiors and products. He sees his work as playful and experimental, gently twisting everyday objects and situations, but also materials and manufacturing processes, in new directions. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Randy Britt (Randiana) lives near Santa Claus, Indiana and this bench was one of the ding dong benches in the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/ding-dong-benches-for-christmas.html">Benchsite Christmas post</a>. Randy tells me that <i>Santa Claus is a small town in southern Indiana that was founded some 60 or 70 years ago with one man's dream of building a small "town" specifically based on tales of Santa. </i>Randy admits that the town goes a little over-the-top with decorations for Christmas! </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/legup2p/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/legup2p/</a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />Yael and Tal's beautiful jewelry has featured many times on Benchsite. They do benches in every colour. They do tiny silver and gold people sitting on benches alone, or in couples. They talk, they read books, they swing from gorgeous dangly earrings. Yael and Tal's unique kinetic jewelry from Israel includes necklaces, bracelets and earrings for people in love. It's Valentine's Day coming up: His Excellency? Mungo? Please take note. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/YAELandTAL">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/YAELandTAL</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The French red bench was photographed in 2010 in the gardens of Eyrignac Manor in the Dordogne by TwoWings at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eyrignac_Manor-red_bench.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eyrignac_Manor-red_bench.JPG </a> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The red banquette is French as well. It's a "Sully" Louis XIV-style replica by Ateliers Allot Fr</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt;">è</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">res. But can you image Root and Innocent on this bench? Don't bother to send answers on a postcard please. I saw it on<span style="font-size: x-small;"> at </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N%C2%B0746-12_banquette_%22Sully%22_de_style_Louis_XIV_r%C3%A9plique_d%27un_mod%C3%A8le_d%27%C3%A9poque_r%C3%A9alis%C3%A9_par_les_Ateliers_Allot_Fr%C3%A8res_..jpg" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N%C2%B0746-12_banquette_%22Sully%22_de_style_Louis_XIV_r%C3%A9plique_d%27un_mod%C3%A8le_d%27%C3%A9poque_r%C3%A9alis%C3%A9_par_les_Ateliers_Allot_Fr%C3%A8res_..jpg</a><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Innocent married Root, the son of Lord and Lady Brassica, last July in a <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/three-weddings-and-some-benches.html">Scottish-themed wedding</a>. The couple received a lot of benches for presents and clearly Innocent did not appreciate the expensive banquette. The cactus sofa was also discarded in the early days of their marriage. I wonder what she did with the bench I gave them?</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>The
wood bench with the little red heart in the corner is by John, aka
MTSOfan. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtsofan/</a>
John is a pastor who says that photography isn't just a hobby; it's
his attempt at sanity, a diversion in a life with much
responsibility, and also a way of looking at the world. John
calls his photo of a thin bench couple </span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span><i>Holding
Hands, a whimsical bench</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>.
He photographed it in January 2013 in Chalfont,
Pennsylvania. <br /></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtsofan/8391303537/in/photolist-</span></span></span></span></a></div>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p><div class="MsoNormal">The Venetian style throne is in the Chateau de Versailles at <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Versailles_2011_Trone_venitien_1.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Versailles_2011_Trone_venitien_1.jpg</a> See <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/lord-brassicas-right-royal-thrones.html">Lord Brassica's search for a Right Royal throne</a> for Valentine's Day. And there is clear evidence of Lady Brassica's throne at Drizzly Manor. </div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Lady Jessica Brassica is the wife of the Fifth Earl of Drizzly. She has always been extremely fashionable, wearing the styles personally designed for her by Joop from Overbearing in Holland. Now Lady Jess seems to be letting herself go. For the full story of the debacle and everybody's view on it, see the newspaper accounts and fashion Tweets at </span></div><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html</span></a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p></o:p></b></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />Val Isenhower's etsy shop has framed photos and collages, greeting cards and photo tiles. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Visenhowerphoto">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Visenhowerphoto</a> Val lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and her photos radiate all the special colours of the southwest. The red bench shown here is in Madrid, New Mexico. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The red bench under a chalkboard was photographed in Vilnius, Lithuania in August 2012. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_bench_(7932110410).jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_bench_(7932110410).jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Its author is Guilluame Speurt, a young French man who spent a year of serious travelling in the lesser-known corners of Europe. Had I but youth enough, and time, that travel year would soon be mine. His travel blog is well worth a look <a href="http://mylastdestination.eu/about-guillaume-speurt/">http://mylastdestination.eu/about-guillaume-speurt/</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The lovely little dog on a red bench is a Yorkshire Malteser mixed breed, photographed by Hansjorg in 2008 and now at <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yorkshire_Malteser_Mix.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yorkshire_Malteser_Mix.jpg</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We love dog benches here on Benchsite; </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The German cat on a red bench was photographed in 2010 by 4028mdk09 <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wei%C3%9F-roter_Kater_auf_roter_Bank.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wei%C3%9F-roter_Kater_auf_roter_Bank.JPG</a> For more cat benches see Meredith's post for <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html">World Cat Day</a>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Todd in Oshkosh, Wisconsin is The Tailgate Guy. He has built 25 benches from tailgates of various kinds and they're sold on etsy at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TailgateGuy">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TailgateGuy</a> The Dodge and all sorts of others are on his Facebook page, where you can see the whole process from tailgate to bench <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tailgateguy">www.facebook.com/tailgateguy</a> </span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hugh Gray is a master plumber from Kilmarnock in Scotland. He took the sterling picture of the Stirling red bench in snow in 2010. He's a member of the Bench group on Flickr so there are lots of great photos of Scottish benches <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53482954@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/53482954@N00/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I am particularly fond of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html">Edible Benches</a>. The tomato bench is in Rochester, New York, photographed by Rude Big Dog, who lives in Los Angeles and almost always has a camera with him. His photo sets includes lots of delicious-looking food and street scenes of Los Angeles which makes me homesick. The tomato </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">bench was created by Chris Pallace and Kevin Serwacki for Benches on Parade in Rochester in 2010. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudebigdog/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudebigdog/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">St Arbucks is a coffee shop we saw in Wiltshire a couple of years ago. It doesn't look much like the Starbucks we normally see. For a start, there's a fullstop after St. and a capital letter for Arbucks. What a difference punctuation can make! For more perfectly punctuated benches see <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/perfectly-punctuated-benches-for.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/perfectly-punctuated-benches-for.html</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The banana bench was photographed by Matt Green in Gowanus, New York in 2012. Hobo Matt is walking every block of every street in New York City and photographing a lot of great stuff along the way. I wish I had such inspiration available here on Paradise Island. If I were to walk every street in Fribble-under-Par it would take me about three minutes. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/imjustwalkin/6849110336/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/imjustwalkin/6849110336/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Zjedzony banana chair looks good enough to eat and indeed </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Zjedzony means </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">eaten</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> in Polish. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I won't tell Eddie this though as he'll make a fuss about learning Polish. The Zjedzony chair comes from Wamhouse in Poland </span><a href="http://www.wamhouse.pl/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.wamhouse.pl </a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Wamhouse was established in 2005 by two people - a graphic designer/photographer and a civil engineer. The company is in Chojnice, a small town in northern Poland which is near the inspirational natural setting of the Bory Tucholskie National Park. Wamhouse creates both interiors and furniture, promoting not only the design and the products, but the region they come from. </span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Faust and Marguerite in the Garden</i> is by James Tissot (1836-1902), painted in about 1861. It is a feature of all sorts of romantic plays and operas in which Faust makes a pact with the devil; in the German version, Goethe's Marguerite is named Gretchen. Suffice to say, it doesn't work out well for poor Marguerite/Gretchen. (Sorry if I spoiled the plot there.) Tissot was born in France but lived mostly in Britain, where he painted first medieval scenes and then scenes of every day modern life, such as boating on the Thames and sitting on benches. His model was often Mrs. Kathleen Newton, an Irish divorcee who was also his lover. <i>Faust and Marguerite in the Garden</i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> is in the public domain due to its age. Like so many brilliant works of art, it's available at </span><a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/james-tissot/faust-and-marguerite-in-the-garden">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/james-tissot/faust-and-marguerite-in-the-garden</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Satoshi Itasaka's Balloon Bench appeared in the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html">Benchsite of Japanese benches</a> in spring 2013. The Red Balloon bench is an item made according to the customer's specifications at Studio h220430 in Tokyo. The photographer is Ikunori Yamamoto at </span><span style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="http://www.h220430.jp/" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">http://www.h220430.jp</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">For every project the studio arranges the color, quantities, setting positions of balloons, length of the rope, and fabric materials of the seat according to customer's request or the space that bench will be fixed in. The balloon bench shown is in a restaurant in </span><st1:country-region style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" w:st="on">France</st1:country-region><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. Materials are glass fiber reinforced plastics, stainless steel wire, and leather. The standard price is 2,100,000JPY and retailers are Gallery SOMEWHERE in </span><st1:city style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:city><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.somewheretokyo.com/">www.somewheretokyo.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The organization A Red Bench is, not surprisingly, at <a href="http://www.aredbench.com/">www.aredbench.com</a>. Here you will see the aims of the organisation and the quotation from University of Texas Professor, Dr. Betty Sue Flowers, whose idea was that the red bench is a symbol of a place for conversations that 'cultivate peace and respect.' </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The row of red benches on a ship is a photograph by Al Mare, taken in 2008. <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.2px; text-align: center;">This file is licensed under the </span><a class="extiw" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Creative_Commons" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: none; color: #663366; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.2px; text-align: center;" title="w:en:Creative Commons">Creative Commons</a><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.2px; text-align: center;"> </span><a class="external text" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(data:image/svg+xml; background-position: 100% 50%, 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #663366; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; padding-right: 13px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;">Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported</a><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.2px; text-align: center;"> licence at </span></span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benches.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benches.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Juliana Gatto from Pompano Beach, Florida is the owner/photographer of AnchorMySoul Photography at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/AnchorMySoul">www.etsy.com/shop/AnchorMySoul</a> She prefers black and white film - the tranquility of the dark room speaks to her - but unfortunately, dark rooms, and the time to spend in them, are hard to come by. As a result, she has found herself diving head first into the new digital world and all that comes with it. The black and white photo with a red metal bench is from Rochester, where there is an unusual number of interesting benches.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Interfaith Action of Central Texas logo shows a bright red bench as a place for having Conversations That Matter. <u><a href="http://interfaithtexas.org/rb/">http://interfaithtexas.org/rb/</a></u>. They explain the Red Bench Program, launched in 2009, as <i>a dialogue program centered on moderated small group discussions that are genuinely respectful and safe. No one is expected to be an expert on the topics, but all are invited to share their personal experiences and listen with their hearts</i>. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The high quality recycled wooden bench in Austin, Texas was seen at <a href="http://krrb.com/">http://krrb.com/</a> in February 2013. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Memphis Noodle Star diner was photographed by Memphis CVB, who likes to capture all the food and things and people that make Memphis awesome. Indeed, Memphis CVB's other name is ilovememphis and the photos make it easy to see why. Try 365 Things to Do in Memphis. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilovememphis/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilovememphis/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Burger King pseudo 1950s diner is in Newmarket, Auckland City, New Zealand. It was photographed anonymously in 2010. </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burger_King,_Pseudo_1950s_American_Diner.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burger_King,_Pseudo_1950s_American_Diner.jpg</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I don't know if the benches are red or pink but you can see 50 Shades of Pink at </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html</a></div></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">Frank Willems describes himself as <i>'a designer with a passion for adventure'</i>. <a href="http://www.frankwillems.net/">http://www.frankwillems.net/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">A graphic designer by training, he has a degree in advertising and presentation techniques and a specialisation from the Design Academy in Eindhoven. His amazing sliding bench and his Madam Rubens both appeared previously in the Benchsite <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/an-alphabet-of-dutch-benches.html">Alphabet of Dutch Benches</a> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />The Family Dollar bench was photographed by teacher Gerry Dencher in 2012. It's outside the Family Dollar store in Carlie C's Plaza on Main Street in Hope Mills, North Carolina where he lives. His sets include lots of nostalgic photos of small town life in the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and elsewhere. Some of them are reminiscent of an Edward Hopper painting. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerrydincher/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerrydincher/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Felixstowe rail station in the UK was photographed by Geof Sheppard in 2012. Geof loves trains, bridges, tracks, stations, and yes, benches. He has more than 3,000 photos at </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2012_at_Felixstowe_station_-_circulating_area.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2012_at_Felixstowe_station_-_circulating_area.jpg</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The jam thing is quite complicated. The logo Red Bench Jam seems to refer to music jam sessions, although it is described as current news, events and happenings, recipes and serving suggestions for the most delectable jams you have ever tasted. I'm pretty sure they mean music jams though. <a href="http://redbenchjam.blogspot.co.uk/">http://redbenchjam.blogspot.co.uk/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On the other hand, Red Bench Jam, in Rupert, Vermont, actually makes and sells jam of the edible variety. Ross, creator of Red Bench Jams, does demonstrations, with samples of his jamtastic jams. I like the sound of Strawberry Habanero, which you eat on a cracker with Vermont cheddar or cream cheese for a spicy kick. Apparently Ross's jams will convince you that jam is not just for toast. <a href="http://www.vermontspecialtyfoods.org/member.php/lid/255">http://www.vermontspecialtyfoods.org/member.php/lid/255</a></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The red balls were photographed in London's Serpentine Gallery in 2007. The photographer is David Hawgood, who explains that <i>the red balls can be rolled around the floor of the pavilion by visitors. The matching red cushions are on seats for spectators or <span style="text-indent: -24px;">café patrons. The pavilion design is a collaboration between artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Kjetil Thorsen at </span></i><span style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><i><a href="http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2007/01/serpentine_gallery_pavilion_20_7.html"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2007/01/serpentine_gallery_pavilion_20_7.html</span></a></i><span style="font-size: 16px;"> . </span>I saw this work on David Hawgood's Geograph post at </span><br /><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.5pt;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spectator_seating_and_play_balls,_Serpentine_Gallery_pavilion_2007_-_geograph.org.uk_-_593145.jpg"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spectator_seating_and_play_balls,_Serpentine_Gallery_pavilion_2007_-_geograph.org.uk_-_593145.jpg</span></a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Andres Martin's etsy shop is Typography Tourist, where there are inspirational and motivational quotes on wall art posters suitable for framing. One of them is a Polish idiom which has become very popular: <i>Nie mój cyrk, nie moje malpy</i>. Not my circus, not my monkey. In other words, not my problem.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TypographyTourist">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TypographyTourist</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Former president Barrack Obama was going over notes in the Red Room prior to a Live Prime Time Press Conference in the East Room of the White House on March 24, 2009. The photo was taken by Pete Souza and is an Official White House Photo from the official Whitehouse Photostream at</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span lang="EN"> </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barack_Obama_readings_notes_in_the_Red_Room.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barack_Obama_readings_notes_in_the_Red_Room.jpg</a> </span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Fifi Flowers lives in Los Angeles but clearly her heart is in her daydream city - Paris. She paints colourful whimsy and fun with a Parisian flair. Her gallery shows bright and vibrant paintings of Montmartre, champagne, landscapes, interiors and all Paris life. Her first novel, A Window to Love, is also set in Paris. <a href="http://www.fififlowers.com/">http://www.fififlowers.com/</a> Her art shop is at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/fififlowers">www.etsy.com/shop/fififlowers</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Moore Designs is a collaboration between husband and wife team Kim and Alex Moore in West Sussex. Metalsmith Alex Moore makes beautiful contemporary outdoor furniture such as curved metal benches from marine grade stainless steel. The benches are polished or powder- coated for hard wear and come in different colours, including orange. Besides the circular bench and the low backed curved metal bench shown here, Moore Designs make garden obelisks and a variety of accessories and gifts. </span><a href="http://www.mooredesigns.co.uk/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.mooredesigns.co.uk</a></div><div><br /></div><div><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>What
does Ruben Ras make from lego? Anything. Creatures, vehicles, people,
spaceships, pubs, steampunk, modular houses and, more to the point,
Salvador Dali's Mae West Lips Bench. Ruben is a primary school
teacher who works from the heart at his home in Urk in the
Netherlands. He's in Lego Dutchies, Lego Freaks, and other
appreciative Flickr Lego groups </span></span></span></span>
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/3356684073716228193#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>http://www.flickr.com/photos/workfromtheheart/</span></span></span></a></p><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you haven't seen enough coloured benches you might enjoy some bright <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/an-orange-bench-mystery.html">orange ones</a> or some sunny <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html">yellow ones</a>. Or some </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">romantic white ones</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You might like </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">silver and gold ones</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">or some manic <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/black-bench-friday.html">Black Friday</a> ones.</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And if that's not enough, there are some very, very depressing </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/blue-benches-for-blue-monday.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">blue ones for Blue Monday</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-83401011142006629232023-01-06T12:01:00.000-08:002023-01-06T12:01:04.188-08:00Blue Monday Benches for 2023<p> It's Blue Monday 2023. The <strike>miserable</strike> blue benches are out. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQ7hcxbf9kVpij_0VHGbzywTW4-VIylu4qg-Z8_BEHwx0Ab9IMfJnIa-GTFPVk2j37uwn2leEyXCHeDhEMPKAT3ax5fKVpZopkUccF1q-gqLTtRz_iEdHC3z3T1uv_eoB6zwNGkscZl8HTlahLZvOaFp6WwM75OIrw_UqhLylyg1VAqIccvBJ-QXV5ZQ=s400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQ7hcxbf9kVpij_0VHGbzywTW4-VIylu4qg-Z8_BEHwx0Ab9IMfJnIa-GTFPVk2j37uwn2leEyXCHeDhEMPKAT3ax5fKVpZopkUccF1q-gqLTtRz_iEdHC3z3T1uv_eoB6zwNGkscZl8HTlahLZvOaFp6WwM75OIrw_UqhLylyg1VAqIccvBJ-QXV5ZQ=w266-h400" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/roblawol/" style="font-size: 12.8px;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/roblawol/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Eddie, my Inner Editor: This bench isn't blue.</span></p><p>I can see that but I have had some complaints about depressing benches so I am beginning this post with a cheerful blue bench.</p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jUSKvX6KgWu-ioBO7BCWjGcKh4t1h60FD98qOIAxhPIrz_Cdcp2VGGsubGauouzdw3Wqd89-TQ7YDLmdEpsxTpi9WT8-onYeAbFtMUuqd4QWGl1Bl64prRfhIOw6Ec1xJ9uO8qTYe6Vm/s1600/baltic+bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="963" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jUSKvX6KgWu-ioBO7BCWjGcKh4t1h60FD98qOIAxhPIrz_Cdcp2VGGsubGauouzdw3Wqd89-TQ7YDLmdEpsxTpi9WT8-onYeAbFtMUuqd4QWGl1Bl64prRfhIOw6Ec1xJ9uO8qTYe6Vm/s400/baltic+bench.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: blue;"><u><a class="western" href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/desperately-seeking-benches-our-summer.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/desperately-seeking-benches-our-summer.html</a></u></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This is what Lord Brassica would call a frightful bore. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Eddie: It's boring but it's not depressing. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What, you mean like this?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoap1nyyduPHRDlG4w_HZUBUWrTRIrHUYvngzSLN6YTGsWbrN7wh3IGBUWD1UheNwx-MxkAb7Pm7_jCR0AYHJ-ItRupcwwPyoQOj0lei3cP-34peTIsYBPx4HFUwAL-7ltemn8VV2yetW/s1600/GrahamRichardson.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="400" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoap1nyyduPHRDlG4w_HZUBUWrTRIrHUYvngzSLN6YTGsWbrN7wh3IGBUWD1UheNwx-MxkAb7Pm7_jCR0AYHJ-ItRupcwwPyoQOj0lei3cP-34peTIsYBPx4HFUwAL-7ltemn8VV2yetW/s320/GrahamRichardson.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/didbygraham/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/didbygraham/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Eddie: Yes. This is depressing. </span></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You're missing the point here, Eddie. In this post I'm talking about </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">blue</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> in the sense of </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">depressing</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">A better way to begin would be to introduce me and show my picture.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbjQG3W4c9QIPA9N9Sy-Ex3jA8zJlxC_MBeEcUTOq9QKZwUv-hrZU8fmS9uxmpPUVwf8r71yyVD3phGHxpjWi_yZ8zOCPIcXMannkFynN8i3zOjDAoOLCmpTXS9rU1mkkRa3uJd0QUSCpN/s1600/Eddie.writing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbjQG3W4c9QIPA9N9Sy-Ex3jA8zJlxC_MBeEcUTOq9QKZwUv-hrZU8fmS9uxmpPUVwf8r71yyVD3phGHxpjWi_yZ8zOCPIcXMannkFynN8i3zOjDAoOLCmpTXS9rU1mkkRa3uJd0QUSCpN/s1600/Eddie.writing.jpg" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This is Eddie, my Inner Editor. Who just happens to be a primate. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Eddie: Thank you. I'm feeling better already.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I used to begin this post with some stuff about depressing benches but now I guess that's not allowed so here's another blue bench for you.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWeWPR1SWaGJnoeQoUV3v4GFCwrDMYo8kH3PtL7GxvEhg8cDCCCgcv5Wo1ub6kKEfwXmbR3_1zGk5AsZ3G9NXRYd0ME7qV0L3PmRqhxfOGVbNXcXS5-vQ3rh6YcGqx-1QwrI2B3eoRYc9H/s1600/mikecogh.19086934504_f02b07a782_z+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWeWPR1SWaGJnoeQoUV3v4GFCwrDMYo8kH3PtL7GxvEhg8cDCCCgcv5Wo1ub6kKEfwXmbR3_1zGk5AsZ3G9NXRYd0ME7qV0L3PmRqhxfOGVbNXcXS5-vQ3rh6YcGqx-1QwrI2B3eoRYc9H/s320/mikecogh.19086934504_f02b07a782_z+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="line-height: 12.8px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/6343184577/in/photolist">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/6343184577/in/photolist</a></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></span></div><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><br />Eddie: It could be argued that this is not a bench. It looks more like a sofa.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But at least it's blue.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Eddie: Well, that's something I suppose. Maybe you could aim a little higher in this blog, show us something that will make us smile?</span> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's my point. It's Blue Monday. No one can find anything to smile about. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFytuKwJKA54osabgfwb-zEK7dhOgolQtKHuU2rIWMGC6AU6q3BzT1hxc9PSJXjNf2KV-1hrylXGvBsvypwXRs3MLHCHn_Xi_S4tN1SiNdZ1gjxUQ8H6tidIH-xpxBuX2zSXLOIGhlIXF/s1600/roblawol.NYCclown.FK.OK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFytuKwJKA54osabgfwb-zEK7dhOgolQtKHuU2rIWMGC6AU6q3BzT1hxc9PSJXjNf2KV-1hrylXGvBsvypwXRs3MLHCHn_Xi_S4tN1SiNdZ1gjxUQ8H6tidIH-xpxBuX2zSXLOIGhlIXF/s400/roblawol.NYCclown.FK.OK.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/roblawol/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/roblawol/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Eddie: </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">But that's depressing. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. Because we're fast approaching Blue Monday, the Most Depressing Day of the Year. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Eddie: When is it?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's the third Monday in January. This year it's January 16th.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Eddie: What's so bad about that?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No one knows what to do with themselves.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There's a real sense of ennui.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwQOClRADFuvnKGf23iwegL4103Y1q-UfybOk8roVMRNVpTI5oMvIIbjMstyoU-z9GfioIamQf1Zd47_NrN2mdFFi4Xk4oYw9E7InGGm0rwwFl0JxQ13lEer3jGplhwV9c_teTQYp2ZEK/s1600/walter+sickert.ennui.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwQOClRADFuvnKGf23iwegL4103Y1q-UfybOk8roVMRNVpTI5oMvIIbjMstyoU-z9GfioIamQf1Zd47_NrN2mdFFi4Xk4oYw9E7InGGm0rwwFl0JxQ13lEer3jGplhwV9c_teTQYp2ZEK/s400/walter+sickert.ennui.WK.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/walter-sickert/ennui">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/walter-sickert/ennui</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />And this year things are even worse. Here in <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/the-ins-and-outs-of-british-brexit.html">Britain our benches are in a fine old mess</a>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZiAsiYz6R-OYJvNg2ad98_m5FsEwBwFN1gWFu1yOExbzp5n_zQx7J2msoFYko9nJpLkalX7pRuAFzwRcwTI6JqxNreK7oHkpEXG9oXGjKa74XkVZbLVutugf2XPmI0Iz5SdRGlHg8xdT/s1600/Bgraveyard.Ben.Tilley.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZiAsiYz6R-OYJvNg2ad98_m5FsEwBwFN1gWFu1yOExbzp5n_zQx7J2msoFYko9nJpLkalX7pRuAFzwRcwTI6JqxNreK7oHkpEXG9oXGjKa74XkVZbLVutugf2XPmI0Iz5SdRGlHg8xdT/s320/Bgraveyard.Ben.Tilley.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lara604/279938667" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lara604/279938667</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By voting to take our benches out of Europe we've turned everything upside down. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhjKUaO3l5aweauFgSOloiPYdTldQBvVTON_PHqoJGnUeTjvgXRulfWzEqoJFD8px_LCv44TGtGPS-ndwJ8MtnDRZQ5k3VrR7B99xsrNADzSl4xkE11t_dyNS8T9h7s3o3TL6HBp_UdKmt/s1600/Bench+over+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhjKUaO3l5aweauFgSOloiPYdTldQBvVTON_PHqoJGnUeTjvgXRulfWzEqoJFD8px_LCv44TGtGPS-ndwJ8MtnDRZQ5k3VrR7B99xsrNADzSl4xkE11t_dyNS8T9h7s3o3TL6HBp_UdKmt/s320/Bench+over+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><u><a class="western" href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/a-fine-old-mess-of-british-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/a-fine-old-mess-of-british-benches.html</a></u></span></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />We've burnt our <strike>bridges</strike> benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsLNO3hSwmbhgzede0zejJmmO_itq9stjwyXTZfWYmvx8rVKuK_t15GfBQczkKARhymv8ZIWkvKEOnm7QqPS2Xp7ANh3Mcvrd2RMGW3fHlGYMhb8W8HXyFb_vbscR7Dgm6xiwHuRLUzQ9V/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569524229.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsLNO3hSwmbhgzede0zejJmmO_itq9stjwyXTZfWYmvx8rVKuK_t15GfBQczkKARhymv8ZIWkvKEOnm7QqPS2Xp7ANh3Mcvrd2RMGW3fHlGYMhb8W8HXyFb_vbscR7Dgm6xiwHuRLUzQ9V/s320/PhotoFunia-1569524229.gif" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Already our Europeans friends have said goodbye. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WZACky-8x_Sftdz8TeHSW0XfBZxlRHNgpXcxA7UxXxTEVn68pUGzTriSMSdwywWe2xKlPwcAl74dzBkoEfepcVrfktI-Cvpz0oKGEjvoB24Yv9hGByc4ARFdGfSnjWrLdfYtz-9lErxg/s1600/Elseecrafts.etsy.il_570xN.767508250_i22d.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WZACky-8x_Sftdz8TeHSW0XfBZxlRHNgpXcxA7UxXxTEVn68pUGzTriSMSdwywWe2xKlPwcAl74dzBkoEfepcVrfktI-Cvpz0oKGEjvoB24Yv9hGByc4ARFdGfSnjWrLdfYtz-9lErxg/s320/Elseecrafts.etsy.il_570xN.767508250_i22d.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ElseeCrafts%C2%A0" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ElseeCrafts </a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The future will be no <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/one-sandwich-short-of-picnic-bench.htm">picnic <strike>bench</strike></a>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZiS43o9_YXD10LLSUo1ciiGOvBhtjIMAi2uSOEgESIRbRKvqzRHMrCQx2U8mcadsaXlxqYxAxDaqGx4uvOdrJ0mghX3mk7As1WY_zXklrVuVFBzGC3KjLQ0QUnMsJ4cktOdSsTgTRJTq/s1600/joanna%2527sbluebench.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZiS43o9_YXD10LLSUo1ciiGOvBhtjIMAi2uSOEgESIRbRKvqzRHMrCQx2U8mcadsaXlxqYxAxDaqGx4uvOdrJ0mghX3mk7As1WY_zXklrVuVFBzGC3KjLQ0QUnMsJ4cktOdSsTgTRJTq/s1600/joanna%2527sbluebench.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Joanna Michalak</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Eddie: </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Is Blue Monday really this bad?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Indeed it is. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The festivities are behind us, leaving a feeling that something is missing from our lives.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYg2Kayju7twB97ow08szOGwgQ4Sr-I5-_2zkZEHfZFxUoqdPgL7SXyvPSOq_9ADNq1lnB2_bFhTnRj878cJnNJumrlZ_Mtr52mn1YH8gxNcFut7zu3f0W2xmop2I0u7Me1qH-PcZ-A4eI/s1600/ebayBno+seat+or+back%C2%A314.99.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYg2Kayju7twB97ow08szOGwgQ4Sr-I5-_2zkZEHfZFxUoqdPgL7SXyvPSOq_9ADNq1lnB2_bFhTnRj878cJnNJumrlZ_Mtr52mn1YH8gxNcFut7zu3f0W2xmop2I0u7Me1qH-PcZ-A4eI/s320/ebayBno+seat+or+back%C2%A314.99.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">ebay</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The hustle and bustle of Christmas is over, leaving the <span style="background-color: yellow;">mall benches empty of shoppers</span>.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmA2LfWCgpri3f8RdewofXXmy9Yzp-FOU2fxISzVNvQ9-cJa2BGlXLrmZrP0dlxSuuOKts0S9kuQJHVu08NtMh23JyI6I5Wj8CWx9SDrAGmosKE50BhZ4W_trJYKLHam35WXAZFOpmsFY/s1600/Jonas_k.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmA2LfWCgpri3f8RdewofXXmy9Yzp-FOU2fxISzVNvQ9-cJa2BGlXLrmZrP0dlxSuuOKts0S9kuQJHVu08NtMh23JyI6I5Wj8CWx9SDrAGmosKE50BhZ4W_trJYKLHam35WXAZFOpmsFY/s320/Jonas_k.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonask/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonask/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's no good going off to the <span style="background-color: yellow;">pub. That's closed</span> too.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8O2zc6IlpBPmSD_elf22KwZzITfuv7eX56mdbJaoy-qP2hsXaIL_qfwGnbU2O_P_3xm2kq5HXG5Jbpo1JgKV_-lksk4LwPFEk6o7i-RolZ6ZoV2DUNceSGhQxPoJuvrjMaRnAVCW6r3F/s1600/szczel.FKCC.Battersea.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8O2zc6IlpBPmSD_elf22KwZzITfuv7eX56mdbJaoy-qP2hsXaIL_qfwGnbU2O_P_3xm2kq5HXG5Jbpo1JgKV_-lksk4LwPFEk6o7i-RolZ6ZoV2DUNceSGhQxPoJuvrjMaRnAVCW6r3F/s400/szczel.FKCC.Battersea.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan-szczelkun/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan-szczelkun/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Eddie: You may notice I am highlighting key points as we go. This is what good students do. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, back to work, back to school. After all the joys of the season, there is no joy whatsoever. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">This is dismal. You should show some nice blue benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">Right. Here you go then.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPifcNNd9VHzyqiZmgcLCTu6KYvelWyoYF42F8URBsBCFlwoD2-iBDodAVHEmsXqZMOVyIDAwr-Q0uuKC2Yvxb7fjl5LxvRx1mGT2SW_VZ3iy3vVDUMqv-FtELjosPl49hGjNxOAeEhOC/s1600/SB+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPifcNNd9VHzyqiZmgcLCTu6KYvelWyoYF42F8URBsBCFlwoD2-iBDodAVHEmsXqZMOVyIDAwr-Q0uuKC2Yvxb7fjl5LxvRx1mGT2SW_VZ3iy3vVDUMqv-FtELjosPl49hGjNxOAeEhOC/s320/SB+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Sheila B</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">It could be argued that these are not benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It could, but I'm not going to bother.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Gosh, you really are miserable, Seashell.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Even clowns are miserable.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-bqTNQJxjGCZrSuRKtymPaBYqKxZ40EeE0oBRkmnZrczJcRKfVGbtB2TKsWVmGFeBwb2KYIAkq8d4522MMALpHgSpHAbxNpHeVU6R8z-hAOJjNiPZ_W5bRvP6e4pbwRCEqjha0pRdup5/s1600/sad+clown.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-bqTNQJxjGCZrSuRKtymPaBYqKxZ40EeE0oBRkmnZrczJcRKfVGbtB2TKsWVmGFeBwb2KYIAkq8d4522MMALpHgSpHAbxNpHeVU6R8z-hAOJjNiPZ_W5bRvP6e4pbwRCEqjha0pRdup5/s320/sad+clown.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: blue;"><u><a class="western" href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/skeletons-and-clowns-scary-benches-come.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/skeletons-and-clowns-scary-benches-come.html</a></u></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">The sad clown thing is clich</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">é</span></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">d</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">. I hope we're not going to have to endure any more sad clowns. That </span><i style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">would</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"> be depressing. </span><br /><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Many of us have over-indulged ourselves during the holidays.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">I don't call the odd pack of dry roasted peanuts an over-indulgence.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Not everyone is as restrained as you though, Eddie. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">For example, my best friend Miggy was given <span style="background-color: yellow;">two family-sized boxes of Milk Tray, one box of Black Magic, and a giant Toblerone.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXUrSqS2LbNnm1Sgac-s_ROt_Y-UPT8RepXU_hYxtqL-X29OZPRydPHShrOeOwcwloe0SfRc9cwHbSPs6h2jzhbNLdMSAMzBTKo9A9B-J_c77MvQINJBgngSSKfxxOlXU7EP9B6ICfU3g/s1600/largewomanCypart.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXUrSqS2LbNnm1Sgac-s_ROt_Y-UPT8RepXU_hYxtqL-X29OZPRydPHShrOeOwcwloe0SfRc9cwHbSPs6h2jzhbNLdMSAMzBTKo9A9B-J_c77MvQINJBgngSSKfxxOlXU7EP9B6ICfU3g/s320/largewomanCypart.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Sheila B</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A minute on the lips, a year on the hips.</span> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Exactly. She can now see it was a <span style="background-color: yellow;">mistake to eat all of them</span> in one go.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhBzYVD587pTgjBU-60QKFn3oiW6tC1jFHdCxJGD_jQV3d7POA8F-iioOZAUXq7ECLXOlKxaUn-_oiXGuwJsR3N6hiWbxW8cz8JJMnC4j0GOESmRabS1M8ZJPfasdGo8Pd6fkgNS9uoKP/s1600/backofwomanartCyp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhBzYVD587pTgjBU-60QKFn3oiW6tC1jFHdCxJGD_jQV3d7POA8F-iioOZAUXq7ECLXOlKxaUn-_oiXGuwJsR3N6hiWbxW8cz8JJMnC4j0GOESmRabS1M8ZJPfasdGo8Pd6fkgNS9uoKP/s400/backofwomanartCyp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Sheila B</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, before you ask, Migs, <span style="background-color: white;">your bum DOES look big in this</span>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Even Lady Brassica succumbed to the mountain of chocolates she'd been given.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSywDCaoX0EzMCmkgTgGVGqW90KpqJ8XygUFFSrFkFChfAXz3S98SxQ68FnWexHyip7fEj5Xo1239y-yUGoYzc83egVW3_lfAFaKv6ap4ULGsEKIx3kdkHGRlLCufSfdQ48W6SOJxPfwo/s1600/LadyB.chocs2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSywDCaoX0EzMCmkgTgGVGqW90KpqJ8XygUFFSrFkFChfAXz3S98SxQ68FnWexHyip7fEj5Xo1239y-yUGoYzc83egVW3_lfAFaKv6ap4ULGsEKIx3kdkHGRlLCufSfdQ48W6SOJxPfwo/s1600/LadyB.chocs2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Is there anyone who enjoys Blue Monday?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, yes. Root Brassica over-indulges himself every day of the year and is none the worse for wear on Blue Monday. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No more than usual I mean. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He looks rather pleased with himself after driving his car on the bench outside the dustpan and i-pod. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_KN2aEwgLn80KSXySP4Xc-KjgxlGuL2HS88F34O81UTR0GIdFHapKY4iycf9tTYHJfPYLFGLL4Qjyi3F8fiy638cT-WGDToqXpihD6UM7ZYE1KD5O7f31WYbC2SFqxkJWmhfP3lk0AMw/s1600/crashT+car.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_KN2aEwgLn80KSXySP4Xc-KjgxlGuL2HS88F34O81UTR0GIdFHapKY4iycf9tTYHJfPYLFGLL4Qjyi3F8fiy638cT-WGDToqXpihD6UM7ZYE1KD5O7f31WYbC2SFqxkJWmhfP3lk0AMw/s320/crashT+car.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">So far the evidence for Blue Monday is weak. I'd give it up and show some attractive blue benches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_BA83-1gE4AN12W_evE93byuIrH7OhLHkVJWVzXgUd4lKoxV-f9IHai9QoqfGBH6pA5LjNyPAhTicotejUCLEI21Gc29-wtR9jSz11eCD3Fl-glz8jzJBQbAOQuQDSPx7iqC-rd5f6yl/s1600/IMG_0718+Denmans+blue.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_BA83-1gE4AN12W_evE93byuIrH7OhLHkVJWVzXgUd4lKoxV-f9IHai9QoqfGBH6pA5LjNyPAhTicotejUCLEI21Gc29-wtR9jSz11eCD3Fl-glz8jzJBQbAOQuQDSPx7iqC-rd5f6yl/s1600/IMG_0718+Denmans+blue.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Joanna Michalak</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This is a summer picture though. Right now we're in the depths of winter. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1WHw1pXTiQ4FHwpbc_SSMyEZ1eRyGvbqs9dILdfSRJcH0D6YZuzJMiWJqvYhZtLkods-nsD8O7aW2IcB9lFC3nTzz8KkHp1MXmMOhSF86vF_4w7yefw94OzrTnEhWzNs8gPSpgXW7OIt/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569955318.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="180" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1WHw1pXTiQ4FHwpbc_SSMyEZ1eRyGvbqs9dILdfSRJcH0D6YZuzJMiWJqvYhZtLkods-nsD8O7aW2IcB9lFC3nTzz8KkHp1MXmMOhSF86vF_4w7yefw94OzrTnEhWzNs8gPSpgXW7OIt/s320/PhotoFunia-1569955318.gif" width="240" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />It's definitely Blue Bench Monday.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPScFMqsiO6vC0zk_0DaHkVAw7qdyYXDsDPd0a48YAQZ_OZHQrCXlKkiTgw9CdhVyHtnZLxCqXk-J9qPwV-87H5C5PsK3tEEO_ot9s6Jv1TCrwGYGWvXSnk_641jNj6OS99fhIaEOJXcj9/s1600/PhotoFunia-1572548944.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="1200" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPScFMqsiO6vC0zk_0DaHkVAw7qdyYXDsDPd0a48YAQZ_OZHQrCXlKkiTgw9CdhVyHtnZLxCqXk-J9qPwV-87H5C5PsK3tEEO_ot9s6Jv1TCrwGYGWvXSnk_641jNj6OS99fhIaEOJXcj9/s320/PhotoFunia-1572548944.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Some of us have already broken our new year's resolutions.</span><br /><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Resolutions are made to be broken. January 17th is also <i>Ditch Your New Year's Resolution Day</i>.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Many of us didn't last that long though. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This fellow resumed smoking before the fireworks finale on new year's eve.</span><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG760upqV7CnHAt9xNJOca1JvREJKnQdoWVIeKslULZN6qwk9Wnw0_bInnVJiFC06XAQCym7iDZ5HoSfST1A1uebtF-JirVNW-aoTRztxCLeTmKPh8oMvo35VmH0EA02_drvTNqCnJvGbb/s1600/Laszlo.Mednyanzsky.1898.hung.art.hu.WK.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG760upqV7CnHAt9xNJOca1JvREJKnQdoWVIeKslULZN6qwk9Wnw0_bInnVJiFC06XAQCym7iDZ5HoSfST1A1uebtF-JirVNW-aoTRztxCLeTmKPh8oMvo35VmH0EA02_drvTNqCnJvGbb/s320/Laszlo.Mednyanzsky.1898.hung.art.hu.WK.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Medny%C3%A1nszky,_L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_-_Tramp_Seated_on_a_Bench_(ca_1898).jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mednyg</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And this fellow keeps smoking despite knowing that Smoking Kills.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqPJjKhp27l1qa4A8WyJKXxDUuJ2tPSRMdQ1ZXHqxl7QZkKA7lrjSKkN8Qs7NMeNVRdxVSjpHUdxp4UnEmKemOxWfPGpJIWirA3eFst4s_BN9b4d9OEVorixC80Ej6QskTsuEPLPBSZkk/s1600/Jench2014close.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqPJjKhp27l1qa4A8WyJKXxDUuJ2tPSRMdQ1ZXHqxl7QZkKA7lrjSKkN8Qs7NMeNVRdxVSjpHUdxp4UnEmKemOxWfPGpJIWirA3eFst4s_BN9b4d9OEVorixC80Ej6QskTsuEPLPBSZkk/s320/Jench2014close.JPG" width="299" /></a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Empty wine glass, beret, manbag, Toulouse Lautrec moustache. Hmmmm. Looks like Jench de Bench is back.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, he seems to be in Paris. And long may it stay that way.</span><br /><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">So what's the big deal about new years resolutions? I suppose there's some psychological theory about this? </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. When we break our resolutions, our faith in ourselves is shattered.</span></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvrs5pMKMGZO2stvj5U0mzTaiQDt6oZpeoIPH6ztRZJhe83dRTEzTUM_xxYraiS8N4uVEo7KN6nvrPEYh1vzCybUmrLhHa-nJPG2lZdk_QrBWopQwuH2rERNvap7BGi_xcBiebnO26ge6f/s1600/SarahR.jazzijava.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvrs5pMKMGZO2stvj5U0mzTaiQDt6oZpeoIPH6ztRZJhe83dRTEzTUM_xxYraiS8N4uVEo7KN6nvrPEYh1vzCybUmrLhHa-nJPG2lZdk_QrBWopQwuH2rERNvap7BGi_xcBiebnO26ge6f/s400/SarahR.jazzijava.FKCC.jpg" width="240" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/reid-bee/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/reid-bee/</a> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here I will introduce two case studies to illustrate my argument.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Do you have to?</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, Eddie, I'm trying to make a convincing case for Blue Monday.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Case study 1</span>: Lady Jessica Brassica, wife of Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, resolved to stop being envious of Innocent, her younger and more fashionable daughter-in-law. In particular, Innocent's modelling career seems to be taking off as Joop designs clothes for her which are capturing the imagination of the catwalk watchers. Meanwhile, Lady B's fashion star is fading.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Do we need to know all this? </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. I'm trying to tell you why Lady B is feeling so blue.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Well, get on with it then.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Two items of evidence are introduced here:</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">1. Lady B created a fashion faux-pas by appearing at Innocent's New Year's Eve party dressed in sparkly silver. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjws0lW5dlzVTON68aW5UH99CkJC_JhFy66pdVU0R6EUFRA2dMUelmuhF4-fGJd7rGa_pFn5YD5hIph6orzRtfwq6VDCczy2vuLPeEZ18hoQ5AF6kH2E09oHWtMUDxVn8aftR_SQYDqCLNI/s1600/LadyB.nye.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjws0lW5dlzVTON68aW5UH99CkJC_JhFy66pdVU0R6EUFRA2dMUelmuhF4-fGJd7rGa_pFn5YD5hIph6orzRtfwq6VDCczy2vuLPeEZ18hoQ5AF6kH2E09oHWtMUDxVn8aftR_SQYDqCLNI/s1600/LadyB.nye.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: blue;"><u><a class="western" href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html</a></u></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">What's wrong with silver? </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Lady B did not seem to realise that the theme of the party was gold.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Or that her top is somewhat suggestive of bondage.</span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. That's a point not lost on the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html">fashion magazines</a>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">2. Innocent, however, was stylishly and stunningly wrapped in gold lam</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">é,</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> complete with matching accessories and her natural allure.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2mI69f64yPr5pWqrj1U-9xdqnajAacrBN6FwOOufsjAw3pUvp5i01PX8XtiPMdvIR48mhoq3x1U_MvlSK9EFlmMF-I-MRYQd5jAgHpSd0FoTuOXUt_0t74DQqVIum8E2xpaV2o4XzanL7/s1600/Innocent.nye.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2mI69f64yPr5pWqrj1U-9xdqnajAacrBN6FwOOufsjAw3pUvp5i01PX8XtiPMdvIR48mhoq3x1U_MvlSK9EFlmMF-I-MRYQd5jAgHpSd0FoTuOXUt_0t74DQqVIum8E2xpaV2o4XzanL7/s1600/Innocent.nye.JPG" width="252" /></a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">So whilst Lady B looked like a fizzled-out firework, Innocent started the year with a bang.</span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Quite. And Lady B therefore broke her envy resolution on January 1st.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Since then she has indulged in rather a lot of eating and it all seems to have gone to her hips. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ym_jJWq7Z0H4QwgGUsPaojhRheewalisYJc9Xq6XAgSZ7_sQwGqRCZ93zEDqH_I61SSIDzMj5S4QrXiuIRxf3SXH4R9aJIOd0cSygHA2HyXfIzTB1aVvfUK2cN-xH_lKMOS5gckKod_y/s1600/100_6022.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ym_jJWq7Z0H4QwgGUsPaojhRheewalisYJc9Xq6XAgSZ7_sQwGqRCZ93zEDqH_I61SSIDzMj5S4QrXiuIRxf3SXH4R9aJIOd0cSygHA2HyXfIzTB1aVvfUK2cN-xH_lKMOS5gckKod_y/s1600/100_6022.JPG" width="215" /></a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">She looks like one of those crocheted toilet roll covers.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Indeed.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So are you starting to be convinced by my argument, Eddie?</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Not really. Blue Monday seems to be about smoking and eating.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Don't pretend to miss the point, Eddie. And by the way, could you please stop highlighting stuff; it's really distracting for my readers who are trying to follow this complex argument.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">I am not convinced that this blog has readers. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I can produce evidence for that but right now I am introducing Case Study 2.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Case study 2:</span> Biff is one of our Fribble Agro gang members. He's the purple snarling one on the skateboard.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHE9muU0EyEnvnpkbOikNFVwAXtGpS3s_VtB3eazFkscBtsIhyw71KQhF8BBoMM-5KVfsSaEYPzYodvT0bE6Z-M-AUxr3kh8mDul7EUpZWJJUUNMjSPFzV20iCgEUGNLcJthLudawApf1b/s1600/agro+clock.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHE9muU0EyEnvnpkbOikNFVwAXtGpS3s_VtB3eazFkscBtsIhyw71KQhF8BBoMM-5KVfsSaEYPzYodvT0bE6Z-M-AUxr3kh8mDul7EUpZWJJUUNMjSPFzV20iCgEUGNLcJthLudawApf1b/s320/agro+clock.JPG" width="253" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: blue;"><u><a class="western" href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/bus-stop-benches-around-world.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/bus-stop-benches-around-world.html</a></u></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On January 1st he resolved to stop destroying public property. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But on January 3rd he bashed out the glass in the bus shelter . . . </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTkdUYuvgEMTpuS3j9KJMR8KMCwFW9IIyaJ5QiBt3RvY_zZs56ploRRlJC1LGcp_hyphenhyphenVyLx5BJZW1FvUvD1CJWeg-VGaB5BXw8_bXvxtWweZcdQAS8czzNQCnFmHFxDs4tYUEEzNiJpTqO/s1600/SarahR.jazzijava.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTkdUYuvgEMTpuS3j9KJMR8KMCwFW9IIyaJ5QiBt3RvY_zZs56ploRRlJC1LGcp_hyphenhyphenVyLx5BJZW1FvUvD1CJWeg-VGaB5BXw8_bXvxtWweZcdQAS8czzNQCnFmHFxDs4tYUEEzNiJpTqO/s320/SarahR.jazzijava.FKCC.jpg" width="240" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/reid-bee/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/reid-bee/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. . . and then destroyed one of the benches in Paradise Park.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBmZWYS8n_nbP9K7F7Rhodp8iE2MZ5lmpG2MsEMThzzVQ4MxCbCEBKDJCpMoUBRpB8L1A6Vfp-NbR8HbkrovqV3C4d2t7JZhDwKueoUPliEi4XaMb2eqE4UbOgoNwEWs617gVrimbi4E2/s1600/Broken_bench_Briant_Pond_Park_Summit_NJ_2009.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBmZWYS8n_nbP9K7F7Rhodp8iE2MZ5lmpG2MsEMThzzVQ4MxCbCEBKDJCpMoUBRpB8L1A6Vfp-NbR8HbkrovqV3C4d2t7JZhDwKueoUPliEi4XaMb2eqE4UbOgoNwEWs617gVrimbi4E2/s320/Broken_bench_Briant_Pond_Park_Summit_NJ_2009.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Broken_bench_Briant_Pond_Park_Summit_NJ_2009.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Broken_bench</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">This is just wanton vandalism. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It may seem inexcusable but don't be too quick to judge: it may be a symptom of <span style="background-color: white;">Blue Monday Syndrome</span>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">OK, I'm losing patience with this psycho-babble. What exactly is Blue Monday Syndrome?</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Onset is at the stroke of midnight on Blue Monday and symptoms generally last until British Summer Time begins at the end of March. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">In Biff's case, symptoms have been lifelong.</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Nothing to do with Blue Monday.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I realise this was rather a complicated point in the presentation. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I hope you haven't nodded off. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ONWpqf8XmlNr9ingEn_XKYwzSAvUuYqf88qVnDzhVCDsDFAi6gvVaN7Ksjx9wDvaTDjgZsy3wK7Gd_4yBb2k0fN3QDSt3GWu9AiGKYL02UE3XuY1NEfm7orSsedwxw7y9qeJYaq0BOjN/s1600/michael.fuller.FK.classafloat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ONWpqf8XmlNr9ingEn_XKYwzSAvUuYqf88qVnDzhVCDsDFAi6gvVaN7Ksjx9wDvaTDjgZsy3wK7Gd_4yBb2k0fN3QDSt3GWu9AiGKYL02UE3XuY1NEfm7orSsedwxw7y9qeJYaq0BOjN/s1600/michael.fuller.FK.classafloat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrfuller/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrfuller/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Goodness, people have such a short attention span these days.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">And getting shorter all the time. Do get on with it.</span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Of course, the January weather doesn't help. This time of year, everything is covered in snow.</span></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtY9UOy9qply5tw1Upfz7BpBmD4h3_etQkj8cJhflkUe-n1IJiQPqBL_47ZUIVApc5BhWsFzpa7QsKHiIIBhiPtqizH4d5ZH-uKcgAj2g06gvdeVjfwHN5mKcGgvh22NK_GwOnBpi7GDU/s1600/tamsin.snow1.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtY9UOy9qply5tw1Upfz7BpBmD4h3_etQkj8cJhflkUe-n1IJiQPqBL_47ZUIVApc5BhWsFzpa7QsKHiIIBhiPtqizH4d5ZH-uKcgAj2g06gvdeVjfwHN5mKcGgvh22NK_GwOnBpi7GDU/s400/tamsin.snow1.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: blue;"><u><a class="western" href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html</a></u></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That bitter wind never stops blowing.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_G3BbB7oqigCuec293dEf8i3qe1UIr_3xYuT8HALdvnXYG3kn4Ezg2Xlmg_VWolxEcPW7DnlQH1gGsB0yn6hNlzGqiRWzwtgq-cMGHuliXWBHgJG54JlLcgmI7XS52uOuv-lzqsF-t07/s1600/The_North_Wind_and_the_Sun_-_Wind_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_19994.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_G3BbB7oqigCuec293dEf8i3qe1UIr_3xYuT8HALdvnXYG3kn4Ezg2Xlmg_VWolxEcPW7DnlQH1gGsB0yn6hNlzGqiRWzwtgq-cMGHuliXWBHgJG54JlLcgmI7XS52uOuv-lzqsF-t07/s320/The_North_Wind_and_the_Sun_-_Wind_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_19994.jpg" width="288" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_North_Wind_and_the_Sun_-_Wind_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_19994.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_North_Wind_and_the_Sun</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Benches get blown every which way.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvUV3Dz-wslNVMoAqyG3gsRALxY2I0hUOF6_RDf1ZK18YEoF77zjcE7aWHXI1Vxlz7vvBr_Bz-vRPmN2nfSZJZbAqyn7QApPK6laLMp56KwJZElLXP1s4_qDMojcI9nre6zqWEP7gTuNzt/s1600/bexhill1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvUV3Dz-wslNVMoAqyG3gsRALxY2I0hUOF6_RDf1ZK18YEoF77zjcE7aWHXI1Vxlz7vvBr_Bz-vRPmN2nfSZJZbAqyn7QApPK6laLMp56KwJZElLXP1s4_qDMojcI9nre6zqWEP7gTuNzt/s1600/bexhill1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>Exposure</i> by Matt Calderwood 2013</div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">I don't think these are benches. Are you sure they're not Art?</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There's a fine line, Eddie. A fine line. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Those arty benches must have got blown about by the wind. And benches get stranded in floods. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV50ytA8AdjExTYCeNglicnjtIsYLWlhYTJQWna8XuLGpl7tzd3ijgoaWDFb9SI6mOZfgiylZ5zCLwXyJXKP7rt7FH8LJPgS-Kgppw4E_7bDFGsuxgbhLcnnH6FPg6oHmDxGwkEcLGYbRb/s1600/Bench_in_the_flooded_lake,_Mote_Park_-_geograph_org_uk.2006.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV50ytA8AdjExTYCeNglicnjtIsYLWlhYTJQWna8XuLGpl7tzd3ijgoaWDFb9SI6mOZfgiylZ5zCLwXyJXKP7rt7FH8LJPgS-Kgppw4E_7bDFGsuxgbhLcnnH6FPg6oHmDxGwkEcLGYbRb/s1600/Bench_in_the_flooded_lake,_Mote_Park_-_geograph_org_uk.2006.WK.jpg" width="251" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_the_flooded_lake,_Mote_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1610018.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">©Nigel Chadwick http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench</span></a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here in Fribble-under-Par my two husbands had to go out and try to rescue the street furniture on the seafront. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">This is definitely not Art.</span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_Hjm-3O4uQqvAEqDEbP_x2Tl215re-EY8N9WY3sB9_aH74x8PDtQVFrRBhdXOaAu0e2SgY-V3NlQuCTFv6dFLDQOM1JqpDxeNi45e5dcFOKd77c3wsUNXbhas0Hwst_-NVtxqW0sErT9/s1600/brokenchairbeachSB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_Hjm-3O4uQqvAEqDEbP_x2Tl215re-EY8N9WY3sB9_aH74x8PDtQVFrRBhdXOaAu0e2SgY-V3NlQuCTFv6dFLDQOM1JqpDxeNi45e5dcFOKd77c3wsUNXbhas0Hwst_-NVtxqW0sErT9/s400/brokenchairbeachSB.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">photo by Sheila B</div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br />Here at home, our beautiful garden looks like the Slough of Despond.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQbHFA8PXx7gnP_f4BzndulIXbSprMzbmyodGtBHuR29NKI8sTs-YKNMf_i6JCdyVIscC8z5KEIt7dtkz4Sw_aIATJ4OtNmAwHAm3Xzmh9TsudCjx3jzbi9lkGyp4o-c_wegIAFAaPd50/s1600/slough+despond.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQbHFA8PXx7gnP_f4BzndulIXbSprMzbmyodGtBHuR29NKI8sTs-YKNMf_i6JCdyVIscC8z5KEIt7dtkz4Sw_aIATJ4OtNmAwHAm3Xzmh9TsudCjx3jzbi9lkGyp4o-c_wegIAFAaPd50/s320/slough+despond.jpg" width="252" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">The Pilgrim's Progress, 1673</div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">My imaginary husband Mungo went out to dig our benches out of the mud.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Meanwhile, my real husband, His Excellency, is in despair. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Apathy?</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">No, he can't be bothered with that. </span></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Must be</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> Blue Monday then.</span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisevN8YrhPYwRROa7jAdGDYtJRQbw_H7t2McmyFncJaZBzEBKazX-hvoTZgshDeYEC1pRNBm6hPWWEf1rPOjWOx0cuxBRY4TM-Es6iU9WnBmyKKee6vdIscw8rXUQ8g-8xyjlb6z19PTWq/s1600/vangogh.wikipics..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisevN8YrhPYwRROa7jAdGDYtJRQbw_H7t2McmyFncJaZBzEBKazX-hvoTZgshDeYEC1pRNBm6hPWWEf1rPOjWOx0cuxBRY4TM-Es6iU9WnBmyKKee6vdIscw8rXUQ8g-8xyjlb6z19PTWq/s320/vangogh.wikipics..jpg" width="211" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1890-05_van_Gogh_At_Eternitys_Gate_anagoria.jpg" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1890-05_van_Gogh</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We know we're lucky though. Some people have been buried in snow and <span style="background-color: white;">weren't able to have their Christmas picnics</span>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qn6I3dMFxr78zWglqB3VlSltcoTnwpGO0on7AFQlO2wxbWRlIyxgpkTG0bJXC9_LIsbC9NEGn0diiIaMlGNKUzViQ3MDusUpz2IdDqNnrQjT8oqcmejdVF26JZIm0-Pl2BK9qpnbnLlX/s1600/Wash.DC.CarrieSmith._Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qn6I3dMFxr78zWglqB3VlSltcoTnwpGO0on7AFQlO2wxbWRlIyxgpkTG0bJXC9_LIsbC9NEGn0diiIaMlGNKUzViQ3MDusUpz2IdDqNnrQjT8oqcmejdVF26JZIm0-Pl2BK9qpnbnLlX/s400/Wash.DC.CarrieSmith._Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1327013089"> </a></span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wea03767_-_Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.jpg">©Carrie Smith http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wea03767</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And worse still, people have found that they are no longer allowed to have commemorative benches.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">No commemorative benches? Whyever not?</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Because some councils say they are too depressing.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7CoMm3AHAVvWgWV0AV7OFylXHtg_npyoJYrFF6zNfTDw3gZ0Md_PrVZf93E8HeOk11-YUNKcGCb6q23nJscaZ-kSz1TpCF8rzKx-6cYyruV_dRx_4xZuU-O_a6AtVIcvmDrlK8bcL3SG/s1600/GrahamRichardson.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7CoMm3AHAVvWgWV0AV7OFylXHtg_npyoJYrFF6zNfTDw3gZ0Md_PrVZf93E8HeOk11-YUNKcGCb6q23nJscaZ-kSz1TpCF8rzKx-6cYyruV_dRx_4xZuU-O_a6AtVIcvmDrlK8bcL3SG/s400/GrahamRichardson.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/didbygraham/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/didbygraham/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Is there something I'm missing here? </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What part of </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">many happy hours </i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">don't these people understand?</span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I know, Eddie, I know. But we need to get back to the point. Which is, that</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> after the Christmas festivities, many people find themselves in debt.</span></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">All that money seems to have gone down the drain.</span></div></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6obRkGSazc6ipNrOwgeEswGYqSzJ8_9jYJuaz0VPJuGk0C8gwus-FpICJnfCVteUikMKWLW8ofY2Ij00T7u7MzfaOvlLcfegsfnU-pmRR4ghFwqcoMWZtnSDKKI0t5y2soWw2QAge5IZz/s1600/J0177751.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6obRkGSazc6ipNrOwgeEswGYqSzJ8_9jYJuaz0VPJuGk0C8gwus-FpICJnfCVteUikMKWLW8ofY2Ij00T7u7MzfaOvlLcfegsfnU-pmRR4ghFwqcoMWZtnSDKKI0t5y2soWw2QAge5IZz/s1600/J0177751.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">T</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">he hard part about being broke is watching the world go buy.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes. Following weeks of frivolous spending, they have learned that </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">money isn't found on benches</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span></div></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfCIMNz-IOtgSFqULFV2EBdX0s7baQr0ktifyV4zzhGSHDYqaJlE8TaC930oYtzwaOG1tF_DkIktilhcBOMwRtwA_YgLAIDCkFSVrnhUqwtz4l40KP_3-u7VZLGNoVEGD0AZPfkREnuFu/s1600/kimsmith.FKCC.moneyB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfCIMNz-IOtgSFqULFV2EBdX0s7baQr0ktifyV4zzhGSHDYqaJlE8TaC930oYtzwaOG1tF_DkIktilhcBOMwRtwA_YgLAIDCkFSVrnhUqwtz4l40KP_3-u7VZLGNoVEGD0AZPfkREnuFu/s400/kimsmith.FKCC.moneyB.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsmith/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsmith/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Sometimes it is. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwK9J5HBVdqwCpH_4cF2_FVkHAIXcTD3hNDJaI-yFEelEHGdb6dzxLHXvbSyfp2gCghPuF0UnHNUGXWSRE-_hgoYn_fKFkMtWllNxpNBHQRwgxUhI2FnnFdm8VYIfsoGB_jTvPt5FPceS1/s1600/agent.j.loves.nyc.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwK9J5HBVdqwCpH_4cF2_FVkHAIXcTD3hNDJaI-yFEelEHGdb6dzxLHXvbSyfp2gCghPuF0UnHNUGXWSRE-_hgoYn_fKFkMtWllNxpNBHQRwgxUhI2FnnFdm8VYIfsoGB_jTvPt5FPceS1/s320/agent.j.loves.nyc.FK.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpinlac/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpinlac/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">OK, I agree. Just occasionally you will find <span style="background-color: white;">a bench made out of money</span>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pCMlUV8pC3G1e6eXAf9UvrnpkO37kXBtExKx3J5y1nECLGmDn-xValX7dK1bm4Z7pWRF7bOFvfVqszEvkIy_ohzfG-Gc5l-CWzNlls834e4GGpMZqtfXGqF6DSQDFQDvSuy8O-S-fM6R/s1600/ccm.moneyB.4_foto.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pCMlUV8pC3G1e6eXAf9UvrnpkO37kXBtExKx3J5y1nECLGmDn-xValX7dK1bm4Z7pWRF7bOFvfVqszEvkIy_ohzfG-Gc5l-CWzNlls834e4GGpMZqtfXGqF6DSQDFQDvSuy8O-S-fM6R/s320/ccm.moneyB.4_foto.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/4_foto/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/4_foto/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">You have shown three money benches. You have shown very few blue benches at all. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You know what I'm saying though, don't you? By mid January many people realise that </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">financially, they don't have a leg to stand on</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia0i25sJ13fFpwh3S8Ay_zBqzf3UW7ogP_cF48dHghhhNEhdDk6SmaRLy5peN3L5WrRUm1P1Ya-On_lu82Tur761J0Tc-2w7WbgzeRj3nr4XwJkD4kLr8k13Weoi-HJaxeoY8SZVRj9j6F/s1600/broken+BSBCyp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia0i25sJ13fFpwh3S8Ay_zBqzf3UW7ogP_cF48dHghhhNEhdDk6SmaRLy5peN3L5WrRUm1P1Ya-On_lu82Tur761J0Tc-2w7WbgzeRj3nr4XwJkD4kLr8k13Weoi-HJaxeoY8SZVRj9j6F/s400/broken+BSBCyp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">photo by Sheila B</div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So, to sum up, on Blue Monday it's easy to look ahead and see <span style="background-color: white;">nothing but bleak benches</span>. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdL_yuoE172W8UDd2_Zw59p3Lo-pQQGcZXk3HzsbmzEYvkTllOprWHk1Kyfb8a3vgXRtnVKiET1hqCTUf75bON4IB4ylIzgQCOQY1Ktqg38TrFwC0DN0yb96p4VmjkoYS8Bcu_9uXzvO7d/s1600/Photo0403.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdL_yuoE172W8UDd2_Zw59p3Lo-pQQGcZXk3HzsbmzEYvkTllOprWHk1Kyfb8a3vgXRtnVKiET1hqCTUf75bON4IB4ylIzgQCOQY1Ktqg38TrFwC0DN0yb96p4VmjkoYS8Bcu_9uXzvO7d/s1600/Photo0403.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">photo by Mungo</div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This post is really dreary and getting drearier by the minute. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You should have taken my advice to show blue benches for Blue Monday. </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfrO5eQf38_PBQ-iU_GxxOspVN6Gplz0NNa93rxdAMhsK6_aChipKpYZKfjsCF2sXUVhFiLLC-wHpts0WerBt7g-iywzPEh35h6pGhuS0sPYfUvwz5wV60jTPFmxchZeTrpxYPwgceBLzv/s1600/Blue_bench_and_bin.NC+2003.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfrO5eQf38_PBQ-iU_GxxOspVN6Gplz0NNa93rxdAMhsK6_aChipKpYZKfjsCF2sXUVhFiLLC-wHpts0WerBt7g-iywzPEh35h6pGhuS0sPYfUvwz5wV60jTPFmxchZeTrpxYPwgceBLzv/s1600/Blue_bench_and_bin.NC+2003.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2003-07_Blue_bench_and_garbage_receptacle.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2003-07_Blue_bench</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But the thing is, Eddie, Blue Monday is just a media creation by a travel company. The idea is that if you're really feeling that bad, you'll be more inclined to book a holiday. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Maybe somewhere with a blue <strike>beach</strike> bench?</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCcIIYO-D8GNnmTTU3SltEh2yJT83I5iUIGEyO4f3KnwzEl1LvFm5cNwYvTs9kjKtzN0lOl29VI3GXHkzOaEqRa_SANKjklWieddtSMc4QYvnirRYuXaPv9Ua3WgMNcvk7-Y_Hae5KsucV/s1600/maher.berro.fkcc27206518114_74bf99fc14_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="640" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCcIIYO-D8GNnmTTU3SltEh2yJT83I5iUIGEyO4f3KnwzEl1LvFm5cNwYvTs9kjKtzN0lOl29VI3GXHkzOaEqRa_SANKjklWieddtSMc4QYvnirRYuXaPv9Ua3WgMNcvk7-Y_Hae5KsucV/s320/maher.berro.fkcc27206518114_74bf99fc14_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/maherberro/27206518114/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/maherberro/27206518114/</a></span></span></span></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After the bleakness of Blue Monday, you'll feel you deserve it. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">I deserve a holiday after suffering this story.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">Blue Monday is just a PR stunt to try to get you to spend money on a holiday. </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You fork out on the holiday you can't afford and this is added to the debt you ran up over Christmas. Come the end of March, you've got serious debt.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">But you don't mind because the weather improves, the light returns, and spring usually springs, more or less, as the bleakness of mid-January is forgotten for another year.</span> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Exactly! I'm glad you have understood my argument here, Eddie. You have a sharp academic mind. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">You haven't. You should have done a simple story about blue benches.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I have a lot of blue benches. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEoZoO-PgRupVX5nOL9Y1_iK9ePkZ4WN7ZF9pAa53wUVVaGeAT35IxkVVuQAwAZMb_x5HgjlAF5HxLBXQ6dMbUUHyCjSlI8Gp-K2qrjK4UNT5iPKJwqQ6t38JyopT6x-zCsF0uy33Qhw0/s1600/dreamstimefree_130155.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEoZoO-PgRupVX5nOL9Y1_iK9ePkZ4WN7ZF9pAa53wUVVaGeAT35IxkVVuQAwAZMb_x5HgjlAF5HxLBXQ6dMbUUHyCjSlI8Gp-K2qrjK4UNT5iPKJwqQ6t38JyopT6x-zCsF0uy33Qhw0/s1600/dreamstimefree_130155.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">© </span><a href="http://www.dreamstime.com/klikk_info" itemprop="author" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Jon Helgason</a><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> | </span><a href="http://www.dreamstime.com/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Dreamstime Stock Photos</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But that's not the point of Blue Monday.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">You could even have typed the whole thing in blue</span>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I wish I'd thought of that. Oh well, <span style="background-color: white;">too late now</span>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: xx-large;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: blue;">H</span></span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">a</span></span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #6fa8dc;">p</span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">p</span><span style="color: blue;">y B</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">l</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">u</span><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">e</span><span style="color: blue;"> M</span><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">o</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">n</span><span style="color: blue;">d</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">a</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">y</span><span style="color: blue;">! </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></b></span></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">The pretty blue bench at the start of the story is one that I took when Mungo and I cycled along the Baltic coast a few summers ago. We had left Blue Monday far behind us. It was glorious weather, and the houses had the most wonderful benches. There is no chance of being depressed in a place like this. </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">Graham Richardson lives in Plymouth in Devon and is an information analyst. Some of the information he found is that South Lanarkshire council in Scotland has banned commemorative benches and trees from its parks and open spaces after complaints that they were depressing. Depressing Benches was photographed by Graham in 2007. </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/didbygraham/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/didbygraham/</a><span style="color: black;"> Graham runs a transit blog so his photo sets include ever such a lot of buses, trucks and vans. </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The disturbing clown picture at the start is by Rob at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/roblawol/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/roblawol/</a> He snapped the clown on a bench in City Hall Park in New York City in July 2013. I'm one of many people who has added this to their favourites. Rob has lots of candid images from the streets in his photostream, including people sitting, sleeping, and doing all manner of peculiar things on benches. NYC - what a city! </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Mike Cogh from Adelaide has nearly a thousand Humble Bench<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span>pictures from his travels around the world and he is featured regularly here on Benchsite. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/</a> Mike has an eye for public art and also, luckily for me, an eye for benches; he finds </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;">benches</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> everywhere, </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;">and also sofas, especially outdoor and abandoned ones. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/6343184577/in/photolist">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/6343184577/in/photolist</a></span></span></span></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Ennui</i> is a very famous post-impressionist painting. Doesn't it just capture the spirit of mid-January? <i>Ennui</i> is by English painter Walter Sickert (1860-1942). It was painted about 1913 and is now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. It is in the public domain due to its age, available at the marvelous <a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/walter-sickert/ennui">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/walter-sickert/ennui </a> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We're in a fine old mess here in Britain, oh yes we are. </span><b> </b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/a-fine-old-mess-of-british-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/a-fine-old-mess-of-british-benches.html</a> On June 23, 2016 a referendum took place in Great Britain in which the voters of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar voted on whether or not to remain in the European Union. This became known as the Brexit vote (British Exit). After 43 years, the Leavers are getting their way and at some point in the next two years the UK, with or without Scotland, will be leaving the European Union. In the meantime, we have a new Prime Minister (unelected), and a cabinet of (unelected) Brexit people who are supposed to fix the mess and keep us trading with Europe. Good luck with that. </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/the-ins-and-outs-of-british-brexit.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/the-ins-and-outs-of-british-brexit.html</a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The pile of wood shown is a photograph by Lara in 2006. Lara is a casual games artist from Vancouver, who now lives in Seattle. Her albums are full of photos from Canada, the US, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lara604/279938667">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lara604/279938667</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I photographed the overturned bench in a playground in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. It is one of the many, many photos of bleak, broken, ugly, unloved benches in my folder of bleak, broken, ugly, unloved benches.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Louise Clark is from Whitley in England. Her shop is ElseeCrafts, where they make greeting cards, prints, mugs, and artwork in their own unique style. The Good Riddance Luck card seems appropriate for some situations and I think there may be one or two European countries who might be stocking up on these to send to the UK. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ElseeCrafts%C2%A0"> https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ElseeCrafts </a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The empty mall is in fact a railway station, photographed in 2009 by Jonas K, whose title for the photo is Bleak. A perfect fit with Blue Monday. Jonas K lives in Berlin and travels widely. His glorious photo sets include Iceland, Mexico, Holland, Israel, Sweden, Latvia and others. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonask/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonask/</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Stefan Szczel is a visual artist and writer in London. He photographed the boarded up pub (which he calls Dead Pub) at St John's Hill in Battersea in 2007. His photostream contains, among other things, rather a lot of intriguing boarded up, closed, and about-to-be demolished places. He also photographs a lot of vegetables and his profile picture shows him wearing an attractive cabbage leaf mask. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan-szczelkun/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan-szczelkun/</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The sad clown was one I saw in an antiques shop here on Paradise Island. We have several of these in Fribble-under-Par. Some are Antiquaries and sell very high-class stuffed fish in glass cases. Others are called something like Vintage Clutter and sell old clutter, especially cheap knick-knacks of people sitting on benches. </span><u style="color: blue;"><a class="western" href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/skeletons-and-clowns-scary-benches-come.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/skeletons-and-clowns-scary-benches-come.html</a></u><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The fat woman on a bench is not Miggy; you knew that, didn't you? Sheila B's fat woman on a bench is from the Cyprus Art College. Sheila lives in Cyprus some of the year and takes a lot of great pictures for me in the brilliant sunlight. She also photographed the blue beach loungers, the lone broken plastic chair on the beach and the bench with a broken leg. Whatever would I do if I didn't have other people's pictures to inspire me?</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The man smoking on a bench is actually a tramp. <i>Tramp Seated on a Bench</i> was painted by Hungarian painter Lazlo Mednyanzsky (1852-1919) in about 1898. It's one of the thousands of brilliant paintings in the public domain because of its age.<b> </b>Mednyánszky himself had an aristocratic background but mingled with all kinds of people across society and liked to paint scenes of poor working people. Many of his works are in the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava and in the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest. He was wounded in the first world war and died of his wounds in the spring of 1919. <b> </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_Medny%C3%A1nszky">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_Medny%C3%A1nszky</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Joanna Michalak has been a donator of photos from the very beginning of Benchsite. She sent me some lovely bench pictures she took at Denman's Garden near Chichester. Then there was a challenge for me to use them in a story. Well, I can't resist a challenge! One is a lovely blue garden bench, another is the blue picnic table. </span><u style="color: blue;"><a class="western" href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/one-sandwich-short-of-picnic-bench.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/one-sandwich-short-of-picnic-bench.htm</a></u></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jench de Bench is a former editor of a Benchsite post about <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html">edible benches</a>. Jench hails from Potirons in France and has been gone from Paradise Island for some time, following my veiled threat to turn him into pumpkin soup. However, Jench's younger self is Garçon</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Orange, who is very much in evidence around Fribble-under-Par. Indeed, he is engaged to our very own Tamsin, she of the sweet disposition and massive green feet. For Tamsin's perspective on benches and all things cute, see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/big-bench-small-bench-cute-and-tiny.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/big-bench-small-bench-cute-and-tiny.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><o:p></o:p></b></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_Medny%C3%A1nszky#cite_note-1"></a></sup><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oh, I am very fond of bus shelters. Don't miss my Bus Stop Benches and the story of Biff's sad history of bus-stop vandalism. But in the meantime, isn't this shattered bus shelter in Toronto a stunning photograph? It was taken in 2010 by Sarah R, aka jazzijava from Ontario. Sarah is a nutritionist and foodie so not surprisingly her photostream contains a lot of food pictures. That banana caramel fondant looks delish! <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/reid-bee/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/reid-bee/</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The full story of the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html">Silver vs. Gold debacle</a> is revealed through evidence in a previous blog. To summarise, Lady Brassica says that Innocent invited her to a silver-themed party. Innocent denies this, claiming that everyone else realised the theme was gold and that Lady B was just trying to attract attention to herself by turning up in silver. If so, it seems to have backfired badly, as most of the chat on the fashion forums has come down on Innocent's side. Then again,chat on forums is notoriously fickle . . . </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Lady Jess may indeed have put on weight over new year but she has actually worn this black crocheted outfit before. It is in fact a crocheted toilet roll cover, displayed prominently in the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/a-short-history-of-toilet-benches.html">Benchsite Toilets post</a>. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Agro gang has a long history of trouble and Biff is well known as a bench smasher. Nevertheless, the gang did me proud in a dazzling post about <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/bus-stop-benches-around-world.html">bus stop benches</a>. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The broken bench in snow was photographed in Briant Park, Summit, New Jersey in 2009. The photographer was Tomwsulcer, who released the photo into the public domain at <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Broken_bench_Briant_Pond_Park_Summit_NJ_2009.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Broken_bench_Briant_Pond_Park_Summit_NJ_2009.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael Fuller is from Toronto but currently lives in Perth. His photo sets show a lot of physical activities around the world, like kitesurfing, sailing, scuba, rock climbing, camping, dune-bashing, stargazing, swimming and yes, of course, standing on the roofs of cars </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrfuller/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrfuller/</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The bored, sleeping students is a photo called Cozy Students, taken during a Classafloat sailing adventure </span><a href="http://www.classafloat.com/">http://www.classafloat.com/</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Tamsin Pink is wearing her woolly green coat in the snow-blanketed town which you could be forgiven for thinking was Fribble-under-Par here on Paradise Island. No. It's Parry Sound, Ontario and it comes from the best-ever adult colouring book Fantastic Cities, by Steve McDonald. I had a brilliant time colouring only the vertical surfaces in this picture so that the horizontal ones look like snow. Well, <i>I</i> think they do, anyway.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>The North Wind and the Sun i</i>s an illustration by Milo Winter for <i>The Aesop</i> for Children by Aesop. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_North_Wind_and_the_Sun_-_Wind_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_19994.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_North_Wind_and_the_Sun_-_Wind_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_19994.jpg</a> The illustration comes from Project Gutenberg, with the following text: <i>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 or online at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.net/">www.gutenberg.net</a></i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The bench in the flooded lake was photographed in Mote Park by Nigel Chadwick in November 2009 <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_the_flooded_lake,_Mote_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1610018.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_the_flooded_lake,_Mote_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1610018.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">'Christian still endeavoured to struggle to that side of the slough that was farthest from his own house.' The Slough of Despond is from John Bunyan's </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Pilgrim's Progress</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> (1673) p 31. If you want to see more photos of my delightful house and garden, see <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/welcome-to-casa-perfecta.html">La Casa Perfecta</a>. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Vincent Van Gogh's paintings and sketches are in the public domain because the artist has been dead more than 70 years. It's just brilliant looking at Wiki Paintings and they're so well organised and informative. Van Gogh did many sketches and paintings of people, including</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At Eternity's Gate, 1890. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1890-05_van_Gogh_At_Eternitys_Gate_anagoria.jpg" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1890-05_van_Gogh_At_Eternitys_Gate_anagoria.jpg</a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie's right; some things that look like benches are actually art. In his <i>Exposure</i> exhibition at the de la Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, Matt Calderwood explores the physical properties of material and its transformative quality. His <em>Exposure Sculpture</em> (2013) are geometric structures made from welded steel clothed in billboard paper. Located on the roof during the summer months, they were reassembled in the gallery space indoors and reveal the results from the four months' exposure to the elements during the outdoor installation prior to the exhibition. I was lucky enough to see them in December 2013.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The picnic tables buried under snow were in Washington DC in 2010. This is a photo by Carrie Smith from the NOAA Central Library. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wea03767_-_Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wea03767_-_Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.jpg</a> </span><i style="background-color: #f7f8ff; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.2px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This image is in the <b><a class="extiw" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/public_domain" style="background-image: none; color: #663366; text-decoration-line: none;" title="w:public domain">public domain</a></b> because it contains materials that originally came from the U.S. <a class="extiw" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration" style="background-image: none; color: #663366; text-decoration-line: none;" title="w:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>, taken or made as part of an employee's official duties.</span></i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> For the full story and full glory of picnic benches, see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lord Brassica's guide to picnic benches</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">, one of Benchsite's most popular posts. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Kim Smith owns a dramatic web design company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She photographed the money bench in 2007. Her photo sets contains lots of friends and family and her landscapes make Michigan look like a beautiful place. In fact, Mackinac Island doesn't look so different from my own Paradise Island . . . <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsmith/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsmith/</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Josef Pinlac loves New York City. His Somebody's Watching bench stacked with money (and a pair of eyes) was taken in NYC in 2009 and his photostream is full of joys of living in the city. Looks like one of them was the Polar Bear swim at Coney Island on January 1, 2014. Ohhhh, I wish I'd been there. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpinlac/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpinlac/</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The multi-coloured money bench was photographed in 2007 in the Chicago Children's Museum. It's by 4_foto at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/4_foto/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/4_foto/</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mungo took some photos of benches on the Cuckoo Trail in East Sussex, where he was cycling just before Christmas. There are many benches and sculptures along the trail and no doubt they are fine in the greenery of summer. Let's just say that in December they weren't looking their best. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The blue bench with matching rubbish bin was photographed by Ildar Sagdajev in 2003 in Carrboro, North Carolina. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2003-07_Blue_bench_and_garbage_receptacle.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2003-07_Blue_bench_and_garbage_receptacle.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The blue stadium seats are from Jon Helgason at Dreamstime. © <a href="http://www.dreamstime.com/klikk_info" itemprop="author">Jon Helgason</a> | <a href="http://www.dreamstime.com/">Dreamstime Stock Photos</a> If you don't care for blue, here's a post about <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/seeing-red-benches-for-february.html">red benches</a> . . . Or <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/an-orange-bench-mystery.html">orange ones</a>. Or <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html">romantic white</a> ones. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">There are truly different shades of blue, as in the beautiful photograph by Maher Berro, taken in June 2016. Maher describes himself as a multimedia designer | web specialist | user experience designer mysterious | insane and enjoy it | creative | cheeky | inspirational | live in my head most of the time and not in this world | long-life learner | spunky | tenacious | artful. He currently lives in Sydney and his photostream is well worth a look. </span></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/maherberro/27206518114/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/maherberro/27206518114/</a></span></span></span></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I do actually have a whole file of brilliant blue benches but I'm saving them for a less depressing post. Not fair, I know. Just when you need cheering up, I offer a post with the bleakest benches I've got. If you're stick of depressing benches, have a look at the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/smiles-of-benches-not-for-world-smile.html">smile benches</a> from last summer. They're guaranteed to cheer you up on Blue Monday. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If for some reason blue isn't your colour of choice, we have lots of other colours here on Benchsite. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html">Romantic white benches</a>, for example. Or <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html">springy yellow ones</a>. Maybe you'd prefer <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/seeing-red-benches-for-february.html">red</a>? If you're in a holiday mood, how about <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/black-bench-friday.html">black benches for Black Friday</a>. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.8px;"><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/im-dreaming-of-purple-christmas.html">P</a>retty</span><span style="color: #848484;"><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/im-dreaming-of-purple-christmas.html"> purple benches</a></span></span><span style="line-height: 16.8px;">? No problem.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"> There are </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html" style="color: #848484; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">sunny yellow benches for spring</a><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"> and sparkly </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html" style="color: #ffd02e; line-height: 16.8px;">gold and silver benches</a><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"> for parties. There are </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html" style="color: #848484; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">50 shades of grey and pink benches</a><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"> to coincide with the release of That film.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8px;"> For more uplifting, upcycled benches see the green ones at </span></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/recycled-upcycled-repurposed-benches.html" style="background-color: white; color: #848484; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/recycled-upcycled-repurposed-benches.htm</a></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/recycled-upcycled-repurposed-benches.html" style="background-color: white; color: #848484; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">l</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Somewhere there must be a colour you like!</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here is my bleakest bench of all time. It's located on a housing estate where Mungo's parents live and is used exclusively for dogs to pee against. We have to drive past it all the time. One of my new year resolutions is to get some bright paint and paint it. Blue, red, pink, anything. But not until someone clears away all the dog mess.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRyTP4SU0mBL4EzYnVHcXpPTdeXlMWSqJeVu0F8Nm19BYZoeKaQMWBxMEf-Ep141ibE4Ko7aIIZkO57v2RV6L9fS1_DUJqeAH18DB30s4LlCYmttLRjUDsbUuipR7FvVeGlXM9vcsne73/s1600/bleak+B1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRyTP4SU0mBL4EzYnVHcXpPTdeXlMWSqJeVu0F8Nm19BYZoeKaQMWBxMEf-Ep141ibE4Ko7aIIZkO57v2RV6L9fS1_DUJqeAH18DB30s4LlCYmttLRjUDsbUuipR7FvVeGlXM9vcsne73/s400/bleak+B1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-61608185596819647582022-12-13T03:10:00.006-08:002023-12-01T11:47:51.569-08:00Happy Christmas Benches 2022<p> <span style="color: red;">Here on Paradise Island we're</span><span style="color: red;"> putting on our masks for a ding dong Christmas.</span></p><p><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKFFUWA26lJz9c3eRfv_bkSNk3r3l_xIGAj3ZYSrsv582ebVIam0AhUzhprh1OcIVg41Gqe26VpV_VMHXpxZToSFunGK4XtrRUUtyDH_mvlaqEgaxb8FZwnLTzbykX_jPodeUANiHstoI0zbp8fRGtfsjZoB_LobDBYFKPjsk6jOrIZ0yCEppQ6Ijm9g/s800/FB_IMG_1672064814301.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="449" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKFFUWA26lJz9c3eRfv_bkSNk3r3l_xIGAj3ZYSrsv582ebVIam0AhUzhprh1OcIVg41Gqe26VpV_VMHXpxZToSFunGK4XtrRUUtyDH_mvlaqEgaxb8FZwnLTzbykX_jPodeUANiHstoI0zbp8fRGtfsjZoB_LobDBYFKPjsk6jOrIZ0yCEppQ6Ijm9g/w225-h400/FB_IMG_1672064814301.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woman in a Mask 1928, Arno Henschel</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: red;">No, sorry. We don't need masks anymore. It's party hats we're putting on.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTaLvnOIhexWfFuhlgRczftxIs4Q9AbOHJJq5IGNLfkJyqUPXluvK8eJEYvO5cjuDMGNea7iSkCPoSqtkfMlfV96Ut6f8DrdN--FFQicZWcyIK2mOVDNhbMC19OM0cQAz_gjiYJRltm2GJGqY_-oFypKdI_Guwx8vkcYD3ysYbtiU2f6CwUkaOsTiLZA=s652" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="524" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTaLvnOIhexWfFuhlgRczftxIs4Q9AbOHJJq5IGNLfkJyqUPXluvK8eJEYvO5cjuDMGNea7iSkCPoSqtkfMlfV96Ut6f8DrdN--FFQicZWcyIK2mOVDNhbMC19OM0cQAz_gjiYJRltm2GJGqY_-oFypKdI_Guwx8vkcYD3ysYbtiU2f6CwUkaOsTiLZA=w321-h400" width="321" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Painter </i>1980, Rudolf Hausner </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: red;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: red;">Already it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - 2022, not 2020 style.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh40X3EKKJ7MNqAPDUUwXkPZkEEuH-xcMROcriUtFe2NmRyy9xq7ZlFOH1EDK101X8xGnA7Z_7HryWHp3M4n4VjpS1Oeg891gBA8WlTyjRNbQJvccmDfkE3H1riivDc9qanY_Lh1pvmAL4b/s1301/FB_IMG_1608053045535.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1301" data-original-width="1074" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh40X3EKKJ7MNqAPDUUwXkPZkEEuH-xcMROcriUtFe2NmRyy9xq7ZlFOH1EDK101X8xGnA7Z_7HryWHp3M4n4VjpS1Oeg891gBA8WlTyjRNbQJvccmDfkE3H1riivDc9qanY_Lh1pvmAL4b/w330-h400/FB_IMG_1608053045535.jpg" width="330" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span><div><span style="color: red;">This year we've got angels. </span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">And we've got Christmas benches, of course.</span><p></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Hw57-lYDu8PX6CEnHqK3WEi8mpbvmUX6gaKP_klyTyHP7hwjrXKikJizckOKTuxoTVC65eqEiRpYCNGtF66mOxPXtfeHFgh6V0XaVXmKfA3y8BBpeFMq_KFRCHK3bgp2TDxKbWS5Chh3/s1600/lynne_b.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Hw57-lYDu8PX6CEnHqK3WEi8mpbvmUX6gaKP_klyTyHP7hwjrXKikJizckOKTuxoTVC65eqEiRpYCNGtF66mOxPXtfeHFgh6V0XaVXmKfA3y8BBpeFMq_KFRCHK3bgp2TDxKbWS5Chh3/w400-h308/lynne_b.FK.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindabowman/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindabowman/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">We're a bit disillusioned again this year, for various reasons.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdN_BDm13NLsp5Te3QWezLaAS_bIANKwjviZBSVnzglIjECkzGyZeGXbbuZsHTx3xzTw0vRDsgSoN_e-InRFsRSHjG47wDH6v1hmGKLa7WZO8I_XCGxRISJuSfXexbOA_iN5FscD64dszukZzhnRK26C4psOksFQoDn1tD3K7R88X9dXLrzeREIhK7QQ=s727" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="588" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdN_BDm13NLsp5Te3QWezLaAS_bIANKwjviZBSVnzglIjECkzGyZeGXbbuZsHTx3xzTw0vRDsgSoN_e-InRFsRSHjG47wDH6v1hmGKLa7WZO8I_XCGxRISJuSfXexbOA_iN5FscD64dszukZzhnRK26C4psOksFQoDn1tD3K7R88X9dXLrzeREIhK7QQ=w324-h400" width="324" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Disillusioned One</i> 1892, Ferdinand Hodler</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Money benches are tight this year.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddIOEslfAfnQZDBYoZDKH3WoqluE6hrCnyo653ZALNDegnIu1_Wx9WdSf7Cz_mDaJsAADxYqQMkXWaXcgy-fjUOvbnTUDf3gDgOdxZqFdkXCNQCsL2ZmXm80n9Zdb62RCJykV4BTDz8itvtnfSdy9I7lgKeVLdg4aUIZ2Gcrnyd1-FSRGcvB6izATRw/s400/kimsmith.FKCC.moneyB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddIOEslfAfnQZDBYoZDKH3WoqluE6hrCnyo653ZALNDegnIu1_Wx9WdSf7Cz_mDaJsAADxYqQMkXWaXcgy-fjUOvbnTUDf3gDgOdxZqFdkXCNQCsL2ZmXm80n9Zdb62RCJykV4BTDz8itvtnfSdy9I7lgKeVLdg4aUIZ2Gcrnyd1-FSRGcvB6izATRw/s320/kimsmith.FKCC.moneyB.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsmith/" style="text-align: left;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsmith/</a></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">And benches seem to be disappearing from the supermarket shelves. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNGpt5jpIIChjXhq8BcGiEh9nsHlPhVte1ixNovPWQ26HFkj4_yABEgvq0GzlvyeDh8FGwqoARD3M56qd3ECdyicUcWRzzwcvPmKn8yFxxwmPatb7oRvZfY_poXpR3uszw5zyF5bcfzXdIWsIkvqG7DcMtGErrcqseLVVfMOdiHlMs4fm27NAgvciWQ/s640/pasaru.4026588177_e540a01c8a_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNGpt5jpIIChjXhq8BcGiEh9nsHlPhVte1ixNovPWQ26HFkj4_yABEgvq0GzlvyeDh8FGwqoARD3M56qd3ECdyicUcWRzzwcvPmKn8yFxxwmPatb7oRvZfY_poXpR3uszw5zyF5bcfzXdIWsIkvqG7DcMtGErrcqseLVVfMOdiHlMs4fm27NAgvciWQ/s320/pasaru.4026588177_e540a01c8a_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">h</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/7100495279514364819#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ttps://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/4026588177</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">/</span></span></span></span></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">You can't always find what you're looking for.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIACl99LH9II0E0F-scYVxf9YqqBHGXNvkBMFnXKPjGuO-0_Orbaaee-GZraqkKvVHPYtFN7CuuD0CAuzzBL0XITo2T_Lmx5VzoD8OhDbXZZIWkOu0VVXFJZdqqX9Uzm1tYk0tjFvRoBR2Yu5fDcSfiNbQO6RPbjew2NWNPii6jPQ_gC1Vu29r9xz8rA/s640/Matti.Mattila.Helsinki.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIACl99LH9II0E0F-scYVxf9YqqBHGXNvkBMFnXKPjGuO-0_Orbaaee-GZraqkKvVHPYtFN7CuuD0CAuzzBL0XITo2T_Lmx5VzoD8OhDbXZZIWkOu0VVXFJZdqqX9Uzm1tYk0tjFvRoBR2Yu5fDcSfiNbQO6RPbjew2NWNPii6jPQ_gC1Vu29r9xz8rA/s320/Matti.Mattila.Helsinki.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/7100495279514364819#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattimattila/8697571441</span></span></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">My Imaginary friend Miggy: This is very depressing, Seashell. We want to have a Ding Ding Christmas this year, not a Misery Fest.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8opmzfLQJoxoaot347Cb--_gZgbwRmgRNYcd1WAkgCHwXFddNdNZblgTG2tvXS2K1qYU3HCDnDMrnGWe4eh36fEJw5Pf837YcTjpFm8sT-LGPkB-ZSzGUXv6gBbbSlD1QPieShr6T7dX8YjneDETmT-QvH6tIoUeSkIL2znyrceCR8UfefRXwEo45Jw/s500/roblawol.NYCclown.FK.OK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8opmzfLQJoxoaot347Cb--_gZgbwRmgRNYcd1WAkgCHwXFddNdNZblgTG2tvXS2K1qYU3HCDnDMrnGWe4eh36fEJw5Pf837YcTjpFm8sT-LGPkB-ZSzGUXv6gBbbSlD1QPieShr6T7dX8YjneDETmT-QvH6tIoUeSkIL2znyrceCR8UfefRXwEo45Jw/s320/roblawol.NYCclown.FK.OK.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">h<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/7100495279514364819#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>ttp://www.flickr.com/photos/roblawol/</span></span></span></span></a></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Quite right, Migs. We're not going to just sit on our benches feeling miserable. W</span><span style="color: red;">hatever happens, we're going to have ourselves a merry little Christmas.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: I'm already busy in the kitchen. We all want some figgy pudding and we want it right now.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiriqiucY-QRVhHoorEm-HgTxj_QnLaf_k1ffSnYBhURSPDbJdcuS57rwlUAUckH4GfmAkEb8AnTOE8ztRbGXHG8-xD9mmYblQ2zD0y2gnXKR74g_-zAEhGmat1VgwOqzlGTRpbTpW0q8PV/s1600/empire.Xmas.pudding.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiriqiucY-QRVhHoorEm-HgTxj_QnLaf_k1ffSnYBhURSPDbJdcuS57rwlUAUckH4GfmAkEb8AnTOE8ztRbGXHG8-xD9mmYblQ2zD0y2gnXKR74g_-zAEhGmat1VgwOqzlGTRpbTpW0q8PV/s400/empire.Xmas.pudding.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/5263978078/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/5263978078/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">We want chestnuts roasting on an open fire. </span><br /><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Unfortunately, the men of Fribble and Drizzly seem to be having a difficult time bringing in the yule log.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4GQoEnrMhi8A0FfX1GXbS1DdB79ic80d4Cj0xE4ayPyTfaLwkSg9acesAW5DteLPfiSbH1lRBTP-F5TWCyI7S7fkWXY6shgnrhbIzO2bFz8AKnwPRJ1xqQe7H5mYSkMKGuw8cPSFeG1t/s1600/800px-Defense_gov_News_Photo_060421-F-3177P-114.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4GQoEnrMhi8A0FfX1GXbS1DdB79ic80d4Cj0xE4ayPyTfaLwkSg9acesAW5DteLPfiSbH1lRBTP-F5TWCyI7S7fkWXY6shgnrhbIzO2bFz8AKnwPRJ1xqQe7H5mYSkMKGuw8cPSFeG1t/s400/800px-Defense_gov_News_Photo_060421-F-3177P-114.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Defense.gov_News_Photo_060421-F-3177P-114.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Defense.gov</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: How hard can it be? In Victorian times, the children did it.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEBUa5NPBcDfBvtnPHCst7YjGjVhmx0gC3lcbmMDllzVHy6AuCu5GzNddqX5HiAnlx3nIT5dSxvtKbSKtgTwGG_nFqYhdwLEljmrahkoMrLXWEBQ1uCVPvpJRdcOoRhMXcqgVaJpe6eZYH/s1600/novascotia.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEBUa5NPBcDfBvtnPHCst7YjGjVhmx0gC3lcbmMDllzVHy6AuCu5GzNddqX5HiAnlx3nIT5dSxvtKbSKtgTwGG_nFqYhdwLEljmrahkoMrLXWEBQ1uCVPvpJRdcOoRhMXcqgVaJpe6eZYH/s400/novascotia.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsarchives/11222221966/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsarchives/11222221966/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Yet in the dark streets shineth the garland guerillas.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1P5tLvZvV8NEw06GXTcbNsszgaW4TblegQoHXKodfSeUdFBISwgFpQRvmlwhybZclHuPd9GoWxdVm_jFRELYWwr5q1EK467yJqVZgk1HfU_QFJ2XojxDAh85T4Xzb4ci26N98-5psdgd/s1600/100_6070.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg1P5tLvZvV8NEw06GXTcbNsszgaW4TblegQoHXKodfSeUdFBISwgFpQRvmlwhybZclHuPd9GoWxdVm_jFRELYWwr5q1EK467yJqVZgk1HfU_QFJ2XojxDAh85T4Xzb4ci26N98-5psdgd/s400/100_6070.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">They're bringing glad tidings of comfort and joy, whether we want them or not. </span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><span>By the way, </span><span>have you masked up for this story? I have.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgInJ6dgFECXLmLp8hjzGPR8phXwoytB-rtVIEvNaTgwXSwuSh5ybBxgxe7o3hfZvpwHZSZUgKRRAYTIewgwirw8djMFv-VQ1whuXepwKhx1CMGRzffy-wed1YobhFVRX7r12rGFyGhlh7x9Z0EOx8zA0mrVij63-XxUR_nuYpSnqh3sbjPr3Xs45lPRw=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1111" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgInJ6dgFECXLmLp8hjzGPR8phXwoytB-rtVIEvNaTgwXSwuSh5ybBxgxe7o3hfZvpwHZSZUgKRRAYTIewgwirw8djMFv-VQ1whuXepwKhx1CMGRzffy-wed1YobhFVRX7r12rGFyGhlh7x9Z0EOx8zA0mrVij63-XxUR_nuYpSnqh3sbjPr3Xs45lPRw=w217-h400" width="217" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Woman with Mask,Hood and Muff</i> 1639, Wenceslaus Hollar</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Miggy: Masks are soooo last year. And the year before.</span></span></div><div><span><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="color: #6aa84f;"> Anyway, </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">t</span></span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">his is a bit over the top. My mask is more sensible.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFt8N6f_CKvvVgTpok2-OzD1PHFtI0tzSefb0OIYSQcMaV0475eg712yuRH7TgQGLGhhPJSUAG-tzdkVezNYW0HzGtjunaOFpDbSc8RyqqySz9zzSQcaPEflqTFbRXLwji1OK43KPRuw9_/s960/FB_IMG_1598279812165.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="679" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFt8N6f_CKvvVgTpok2-OzD1PHFtI0tzSefb0OIYSQcMaV0475eg712yuRH7TgQGLGhhPJSUAG-tzdkVezNYW0HzGtjunaOFpDbSc8RyqqySz9zzSQcaPEflqTFbRXLwji1OK43KPRuw9_/w283-h400/FB_IMG_1598279812165.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Masked Woman</i> 1920, Boris Grigoriev<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Miggy: Do we even need a mask for talking about Christmas on Zoom?</span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> "</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Obey the laws and wear the gauze. Protect your jaws from septic paws.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Miggy: Don't be so dramatic. This is Fribble-under-Par you know, it's not Hollyw</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">ood.</span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000;">Our little Fribble-under-Par may lie still but it's still Tinsel Town.</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></div><div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNJTnQx5gEQzzCsGbAKd_DrWiRfTSi6helv2m8blVDXg76cAfXB_ClUs2vDbDnSDOChouwcJQqQ1fzk3anl04XUWfY4fN4vQ5VJ_v8OyF4rDVknzTmQAmxW3Pl1l231nTd7kgAwJ9_Qqd/s1600/tinselB.MikeCogh.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNJTnQx5gEQzzCsGbAKd_DrWiRfTSi6helv2m8blVDXg76cAfXB_ClUs2vDbDnSDOChouwcJQqQ1fzk3anl04XUWfY4fN4vQ5VJ_v8OyF4rDVknzTmQAmxW3Pl1l231nTd7kgAwJ9_Qqd/w400-h300/tinselB.MikeCogh.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">The stockings are hung on the benches with care.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZc5UkzE4Tm7sWiVZWD9uPmLN0OmbxQuALejJZt5LnyUGMWVTFj6Sbi5PuYgA4wqA52o5DV3HrkJte-j7oouWkuYN7w7q1z0c0PJIcmVINMFBPdfe0WkGTQhnYlq8vo8vhs98SgM3oSOf/s1600/100_6076.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZc5UkzE4Tm7sWiVZWD9uPmLN0OmbxQuALejJZt5LnyUGMWVTFj6Sbi5PuYgA4wqA52o5DV3HrkJte-j7oouWkuYN7w7q1z0c0PJIcmVINMFBPdfe0WkGTQhnYlq8vo8vhs98SgM3oSOf/s400/100_6076.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Whether St. Nicholas will soon be there or not, I don't know. At the moment he seems to be benched.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVHeZLUe4ryjzuU0D8nDG-9kTyRDGDQIUwKYJH803qPmUyk1RHpXRMpJjfupr6fpt6Mh-VJc3p2BkaNgmdO3VZ3Krl-unpAIoUvjYRHDfEdVsqvg7tCsXmfw_qPeyt9sbS_aH-y1v_7FB/s1600/asianreplicas.Sitting_Santa_With_Bell_Gift_Sack.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVHeZLUe4ryjzuU0D8nDG-9kTyRDGDQIUwKYJH803qPmUyk1RHpXRMpJjfupr6fpt6Mh-VJc3p2BkaNgmdO3VZ3Krl-unpAIoUvjYRHDfEdVsqvg7tCsXmfw_qPeyt9sbS_aH-y1v_7FB/w400-h400/asianreplicas.Sitting_Santa_With_Bell_Gift_Sack.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/">www.asianreplicas.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Well, at least he's keeping his distance.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">My dog Sit has a very shiny nose. He doesn't look much like Rudolph though, does he?</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNQQFybh7e_Ef_o568GzIJKo5SN8XXAlZpx7XFs_EOssl7aYO31SRbFZ_6ZGuoiGjoddlLCy2jIdJO6iK9GrTUHqzUSPTW5cpfbITHE0dhiMPUH7r1VX8XXqUBvpxerDRhkt3dPk0jxVj/s1600/Miki.Yoshohito.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNQQFybh7e_Ef_o568GzIJKo5SN8XXAlZpx7XFs_EOssl7aYO31SRbFZ_6ZGuoiGjoddlLCy2jIdJO6iK9GrTUHqzUSPTW5cpfbITHE0dhiMPUH7r1VX8XXqUBvpxerDRhkt3dPk0jxVj/s320/Miki.Yoshohito.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mujitra/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mujitra/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Not at all. Nice mask though. </span></div><div><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">See amid the winter's snow a great deal of Christmas decorations going up. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;">My imaginary husband Mungo is trying to put up the lights on Miggy's house.</span> </span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSYuYZpGNv8ujzRwrWv1Wja4somXKtCXxITIYu8PKLVBAQWeKW7BYiHBVVC9i3RZeYGGK5MibaZ1xd0OQ1yIpMZOgCZcrVA55hvWLBYYpbljY4xS2OS4sbEMZCdOysZP7siqlFCMO5r2L/s1600/Christmas_decorationin+brazil.WK_(DSC04820).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSYuYZpGNv8ujzRwrWv1Wja4somXKtCXxITIYu8PKLVBAQWeKW7BYiHBVVC9i3RZeYGGK5MibaZ1xd0OQ1yIpMZOgCZcrVA55hvWLBYYpbljY4xS2OS4sbEMZCdOysZP7siqlFCMO5r2L/s400/Christmas_decorationin+brazil.WK_(DSC04820).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_decoration_(DSC04820).jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_decoration</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">We have one or two decorations on our house too. To the earth we give great light.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: To the electric company we give great cash.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLAKIzaBA1ABeeSXYSx2kbDqjUvGHAZXLpuATCrNMewJwrdmXvkN6GB0dVQaolJT4KBnkToMyjr-OGLR7t12ZCLi27H2Uzob-3qjUiJzu3BuudEdGrN2dn6V93FqWu5HnhyphenhyphenShU-QeuEW0/s1600/Christmas.in.Chesapeake.Kurtz.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLAKIzaBA1ABeeSXYSx2kbDqjUvGHAZXLpuATCrNMewJwrdmXvkN6GB0dVQaolJT4KBnkToMyjr-OGLR7t12ZCLi27H2Uzob-3qjUiJzu3BuudEdGrN2dn6V93FqWu5HnhyphenhyphenShU-QeuEW0/s400/Christmas.in.Chesapeake.Kurtz.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtz433/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtz433/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">We're trying to bring joy to the world. But Elf and Safety is a nightmare.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzO0DORlTlalBzE3kMqbNT_fq_0mBSgL-656-jAuWmNpntISIHnUxHhOZ_UpVJTBOCHAXCWcDrEEsrTnKhmXjACfGm5RZpQmkWWiS-VYWr1XiK9I7lNyuajQHssCf4mYu5nTUzTH41Xdc/s1600/elf+3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzO0DORlTlalBzE3kMqbNT_fq_0mBSgL-656-jAuWmNpntISIHnUxHhOZ_UpVJTBOCHAXCWcDrEEsrTnKhmXjACfGm5RZpQmkWWiS-VYWr1XiK9I7lNyuajQHssCf4mYu5nTUzTH41Xdc/s400/elf+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Nevertheless, I'm dreaming of a white Christmas with every Christmas card I write. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTYpHCSdq6Sc8NifTYyxaKOfK-enxYaMOZuhgUWmZkg51ywrh4uRJF-5-E5cAI5N-XPtI2kj8muAj2oZFImn-2t6h45JSavn-6ljzgxDnl3oeSbibBfNsh9vXA4mmIM32N7souutm2djhl/s1600/xmas+card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTYpHCSdq6Sc8NifTYyxaKOfK-enxYaMOZuhgUWmZkg51ywrh4uRJF-5-E5cAI5N-XPtI2kj8muAj2oZFImn-2t6h45JSavn-6ljzgxDnl3oeSbibBfNsh9vXA4mmIM32N7souutm2djhl/w303-h400/xmas+card.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><div><br /></div><span style="color: #38761d;"><span>Miggy: I don't write that many now that Royal Mail is charging 85 pence for a stamp.</span> <br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">But sure enough, it looks like all our Christmases may be white.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJUZvpRcmVRdnNz7SwUzppMggu6bgGQ3lORuqPJ3M1bxwolWilTF2SzH5uLOMoi9XQwxjkWNcU0fWm3FTLFml5G4p1B408alOaoV6GeqNsnNrmp_rafTI04kovBo2T1LH1h7EipzzO2J6/s1600/BD20663_.GIF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJUZvpRcmVRdnNz7SwUzppMggu6bgGQ3lORuqPJ3M1bxwolWilTF2SzH5uLOMoi9XQwxjkWNcU0fWm3FTLFml5G4p1B408alOaoV6GeqNsnNrmp_rafTI04kovBo2T1LH1h7EipzzO2J6/s1600/BD20663_.GIF" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span style="color: red;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">yoo-hoo</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">! I can't imagine why. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Maybe because they don't want to get any closer.</span></span><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Snow has fallen, snow on snow. Snow on snow on snow.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifUbX9pdkHSGpWjJYRI01Uqp4Tk4zgN5GFB5sY6DVs0MA3sXFBNGFpGbcjtuuWVgektHl2yfq02fD0RWNFECzQGOy-y0QKGevaUH16PV0Z8jD27m2YuKsN-paTlqDmtKSZEL92oNrFwARp/s1600/Ryde_Esplanade_during_snow_December_2010.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><b><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifUbX9pdkHSGpWjJYRI01Uqp4Tk4zgN5GFB5sY6DVs0MA3sXFBNGFpGbcjtuuWVgektHl2yfq02fD0RWNFECzQGOy-y0QKGevaUH16PV0Z8jD27m2YuKsN-paTlqDmtKSZEL92oNrFwARp/s400/Ryde_Esplanade_during_snow_December_2010.WK.jpg" width="400" /></b></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryde_Esplanade_during_snow_December_2010.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryde_Esplanade by Lucy Boynton</a></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: That was in the bleak midwinter. A bit like now I guess. This man looks quite miserable.</span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjYkIxaIQFVHbruoxixuxLwtAp7vmFWbA9MR_QkM5jcYqSgdQ4xcq9hDKVJLA4HsJLghy9qBRbTVrJM8A9qdkEjnMSmfEk3u869CpvswCScviqwzwxwEdbLDQKEPkGHksdlXXwmti7KawJPkPSPRUGCEtt8_IcNS0pb1k_pl4WOZehppUJmPxYZl4XXQ=s2015" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2015" data-original-width="1918" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjYkIxaIQFVHbruoxixuxLwtAp7vmFWbA9MR_QkM5jcYqSgdQ4xcq9hDKVJLA4HsJLghy9qBRbTVrJM8A9qdkEjnMSmfEk3u869CpvswCScviqwzwxwEdbLDQKEPkGHksdlXXwmti7KawJPkPSPRUGCEtt8_IcNS0pb1k_pl4WOZehppUJmPxYZl4XXQ=s320" width="305" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Man im Schlitten</i>, Walter Gramatté</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;">Winter need not be bleak. </span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61CThB7btdZb-HQClbH9bPguU7wgfWEUFFAkDrV197w8FtFgdFPF-YeWdEcvQ6DcTUPXZaDEabhuhkvtg7m7dJVICTALSk0129PSmA_ClCnv7ao9ntYBr8LLyYlfHpltZQCZIjQlGIGLf/s1349/FB_IMG_1608053065846.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1349" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61CThB7btdZb-HQClbH9bPguU7wgfWEUFFAkDrV197w8FtFgdFPF-YeWdEcvQ6DcTUPXZaDEabhuhkvtg7m7dJVICTALSk0129PSmA_ClCnv7ao9ntYBr8LLyYlfHpltZQCZIjQlGIGLf/w320-h400/FB_IMG_1608053065846.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Wow, these benches are nicely spaced out.</span> </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">Migs, could you stop referring to you-know-what. We've all had another tough year and I'm trying to make this an upbeat, Christmasy story.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Fair enough. I'd like to run and have some fun before the snowpersons melt away. Which they will because they're too close . . . </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1GQXu5znBQpWjCTjk9V-uV4huU1w64sRlTohyphenhyphen7w1K_S-QrnAVU3TUdm-smiL-IsQ2LUBGoRQnhlV-rg9_cvwY3sezY-g5Y0_kmB-MDe6Wy1pKfc3ZFa0k7naNHGPgwqC987CRqEcitCl/s1600/phiferart.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1GQXu5znBQpWjCTjk9V-uV4huU1w64sRlTohyphenhyphen7w1K_S-QrnAVU3TUdm-smiL-IsQ2LUBGoRQnhlV-rg9_cvwY3sezY-g5Y0_kmB-MDe6Wy1pKfc3ZFa0k7naNHGPgwqC987CRqEcitCl/s400/phiferart.etsy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/phiferart">www.etsy.com/shop/phiferart</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">But so it's been said many times, many ways: there's just too bloody much to do.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: I'm exhausted already.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">I know. Me too.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPHsc_WdyTI0gNH0Ztl_hgOjWUXpsII4G-vt3uvqycwARDHmhR5bLs0C3ouyoCutmb8gQ1ANxeMYox4LREQQfO8sB3G2re85vyI9o4T1k3dYWu6f2KhNAWes2fYWSPrHNosDYxCTUBvel/s960/FB_IMG_1601931284624.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="960" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPHsc_WdyTI0gNH0Ztl_hgOjWUXpsII4G-vt3uvqycwARDHmhR5bLs0C3ouyoCutmb8gQ1ANxeMYox4LREQQfO8sB3G2re85vyI9o4T1k3dYWu6f2KhNAWes2fYWSPrHNosDYxCTUBvel/w400-h336/FB_IMG_1601931284624.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Friends</i>, Sergei Vinogradov (1869-1938)</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Space, Seashell, give me some space!</span><span style="color: red;"> </span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">It's ok, we're in the same bubble.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Oh yeah, I forgot that. </span><br /></span><span style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">But if we can just get everything done, it looks like we'll have ourselves a merry little Christmas. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2DlDgtC4puDcFBtuBEA5NoKZFnA-_vT39oNLxQ6Xq-gN9aq_8MoTR3IJeHUGCPbUCjdPT4Je2n951vKfv357o-gChWIfAAm-DdsItUts_8x4vK3y8Of0qMEsSJOEiPREPx2kspSSU7V0/s1600/mamamere.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2DlDgtC4puDcFBtuBEA5NoKZFnA-_vT39oNLxQ6Xq-gN9aq_8MoTR3IJeHUGCPbUCjdPT4Je2n951vKfv357o-gChWIfAAm-DdsItUts_8x4vK3y8Of0qMEsSJOEiPREPx2kspSSU7V0/s400/mamamere.etsy.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/mamamare">www.etsy.com/shop/mamamare</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="color: red;">We'll have some festive music.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjf6CO-UdL7jf7FV-rqrRjrMDw9i-bPmPEJeUlFfsxvEEjSOyyECyq3Wc0o1f6rEtNSV5d7F5Za9GmhVJB7zkgcLgQR9uPtn7gqs7eIm8vGkkwQ3Q3gUsri5LfPLukEft2P9vCEeVBE8MAI66N2UU9DuKBnQKQ8L4HG4-qY--rr9fx9T19Lq1z_q1fWAQ=s640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjf6CO-UdL7jf7FV-rqrRjrMDw9i-bPmPEJeUlFfsxvEEjSOyyECyq3Wc0o1f6rEtNSV5d7F5Za9GmhVJB7zkgcLgQR9uPtn7gqs7eIm8vGkkwQ3Q3gUsri5LfPLukEft2P9vCEeVBE8MAI66N2UU9DuKBnQKQ8L4HG4-qY--rr9fx9T19Lq1z_q1fWAQ=w320-h400" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Discontented</i> 1930, Francois Barraud</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oh dear, this isn't very festive.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Let's go a-wassailing all over town.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkI_Yb6Qf-Dpt6zf8Jo8T4NDOvk6M2UY1-aMvsQ17RF9yq_fg_r8fN5iCGhqWkTKLoVyhsTAOde7I7dr6nCrjRdmmWvfn9Qs4l7eXW7KpEmO9OBWPRsO5PYFlxlhmEiZupSo9WlScMmav/s1600/curiousartlab.WB.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkI_Yb6Qf-Dpt6zf8Jo8T4NDOvk6M2UY1-aMvsQ17RF9yq_fg_r8fN5iCGhqWkTKLoVyhsTAOde7I7dr6nCrjRdmmWvfn9Qs4l7eXW7KpEmO9OBWPRsO5PYFlxlhmEiZupSo9WlScMmav/w400-h400/curiousartlab.WB.etsy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/curiousartlab">www.etsy.com/shop/curiousartlab</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Some of the drinks are very good value this time of year.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA2E0NsDDQBHUOQevhcpBQjY2nxKjsrckMKc0aziazCALg9vimdgfyI2-WDjEgFsRH-hbfnxR7Ym72FrdcYhaiGhWsySPBw2Bkc52cYR2SyF0S2CB7aVB9mO8fzIbAjebLbkYde-F_UTzC/s1600/ATT00003.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA2E0NsDDQBHUOQevhcpBQjY2nxKjsrckMKc0aziazCALg9vimdgfyI2-WDjEgFsRH-hbfnxR7Ym72FrdcYhaiGhWsySPBw2Bkc52cYR2SyF0S2CB7aVB9mO8fzIbAjebLbkYde-F_UTzC/s400/ATT00003.jpg" width="331" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;">Christmas time, mistletoe and wine.</span> </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Though of course mistletoe is a no-no this year. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">Stop being so depressing!</span> </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: I'm not. I'm hoping to find a man to spend Christmas with. </span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">Would a snowman</span><span style="color: red;"> do?</span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfS5Xghu-vCrf-cGcoM42E59w4rGpIisniPYAXb5h1_KabRhCFIflEBYLY5XCBfSpS_s012QRsqB47RRLewQBSV0GMKlr7PZ6WsjJgjPNd6jIeGFmsPwlmRq6XYQmOwA6iMMJhvdSP40s/s645/Ice_hot_passion_Mad_Sq_jeh.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="645" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfS5Xghu-vCrf-cGcoM42E59w4rGpIisniPYAXb5h1_KabRhCFIflEBYLY5XCBfSpS_s012QRsqB47RRLewQBSV0GMKlr7PZ6WsjJgjPNd6jIeGFmsPwlmRq6XYQmOwA6iMMJhvdSP40s/s320/Ice_hot_passion_Mad_Sq_jeh.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_hot_passion_Mad_Sq_jeh.JPG?uselang=en-gb"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #848484;"><span style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_hot_passion_Mad_Sq_</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span></span></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">No. He'd melt in my arms. </span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">What happened to the man you met last year? Kristoff somebody.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQwGW3HOtasSEuujcnR2rjijb0d-9cXOb9_aRB4AjJZwj0-WZWVj1Hzopb7mVk7CH8V63wwgWq2jz7ba2WP97fE2Ehui8XwPuex5KkS7ygMtOr2imgagrN9BoZQLo8pbYV1EVOvTJHshD/s1600/kristoff.iceberg.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1173" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQwGW3HOtasSEuujcnR2rjijb0d-9cXOb9_aRB4AjJZwj0-WZWVj1Hzopb7mVk7CH8V63wwgWq2jz7ba2WP97fE2Ehui8XwPuex5KkS7ygMtOr2imgagrN9BoZQLo8pbYV1EVOvTJHshD/s320/kristoff.iceberg.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2019/11/turkey-benches-for-thanksgiving-2019.html">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2019/11/turkey-benches-for-thanksgiving-2019.html</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Last Christmas I gave him my heart and the very next day, he gave it away. </span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0ykkrw9cgl8w5LCdR4gSee47bE2Id7ufiOeZNJRBJ1NtrMetbMfixnHJiBepglhtu5_Nau1izmPcUT6YgiGc23FesOYeRPHnrkRdAXCVvBBWIASAj3Pp-JqJKQyandZ80aHnI4hZ-69d/s1913/Elsa.best2+%25281%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1913" data-original-width="1385" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0ykkrw9cgl8w5LCdR4gSee47bE2Id7ufiOeZNJRBJ1NtrMetbMfixnHJiBepglhtu5_Nau1izmPcUT6YgiGc23FesOYeRPHnrkRdAXCVvBBWIASAj3Pp-JqJKQyandZ80aHnI4hZ-69d/s320/Elsa.best2+%25281%2529.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2019/11/turkey-benches-for-thanksgiving-2019.html">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2019/11/turkey-benches-for-thanksgiving-2019.html</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="color: red;">You were frozen out. Sorry, Migs. </span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">Never mind. This year I want someone who's teetotal. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66H-9goDalAOUg4D_iXtC7mHWQNAzIIgIbWU2aA5HBRzZt6qv6WkAl-bnWTXOvkhnH3WLV9EhIqPHyAVa3yDdFZ0EqqWXvYenqXOg8peozVq9JyXHyTBbir9kgdvSIP_9ybmAC2LnxiYF/s1142/FB_IMG_1604936956454.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1142" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66H-9goDalAOUg4D_iXtC7mHWQNAzIIgIbWU2aA5HBRzZt6qv6WkAl-bnWTXOvkhnH3WLV9EhIqPHyAVa3yDdFZ0EqqWXvYenqXOg8peozVq9JyXHyTBbir9kgdvSIP_9ybmAC2LnxiYF/w400-h295/FB_IMG_1604936956454.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Golly, that won't be much fun.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: And I'm looking for good old-fashioned fun this year. Skiing maybe.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBNAeztEXjBXvjN3DfDJYl6oCJseQEp72CT6lRfKDTDX5xgqQ3v0_S8I33_7a_rP170weXuu2h-Re1xrqKRr9MCTeJEine02SoEp-B4k9c5CxI-rHLbCzg4zzcOxokvUIb65MdbtPGjbN/s2000/FB_IMG_1604933307689.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1324" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBNAeztEXjBXvjN3DfDJYl6oCJseQEp72CT6lRfKDTDX5xgqQ3v0_S8I33_7a_rP170weXuu2h-Re1xrqKRr9MCTeJEine02SoEp-B4k9c5CxI-rHLbCzg4zzcOxokvUIb65MdbtPGjbN/w265-h400/FB_IMG_1604933307689.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Girl from Mora</i>, Anders Zorn</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Before you ask, yes, your bum looks big in this.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Alright. A sled bench then.</span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOXy8PftRtPSl6ed1iVRD2vhF_y6W5k2GdrykkaEyy48I95A__mfkQ-tZb2PEG22HCfpuzYEytlmFAOvy4zUQs1MJuFkFiE831gb8ih97kKXSBePRnEccT3TDymRrXUECnYp9lpFLAugYW/s640/126469087_959c31f3a5_z+sled+bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOXy8PftRtPSl6ed1iVRD2vhF_y6W5k2GdrykkaEyy48I95A__mfkQ-tZb2PEG22HCfpuzYEytlmFAOvy4zUQs1MJuFkFiE831gb8ih97kKXSBePRnEccT3TDymRrXUECnYp9lpFLAugYW/s320/126469087_959c31f3a5_z+sled+bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/73622727@N00/126469087"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #ffd02e;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><u>https://www.flickr.com/photos/73622727@N00/126469087</u></span></span></span></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: red;">Sleighbells ring! Are you listening? </span><span style="color: red;">On the Lego benches snow is glistening.</span> </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMEyPOOvzJPL9771yserPkVgYJytdqv3Zi8UovMOP2PPMz9Ym_IhcNWWt_CyCQjSvpoJk6-ujyB3eI16boj9WqWzSle75SmSadIBKGnbg8XrxXfRFdsNB9uXIc93z_j6hCKEvPfzZrPsQO/s1600/Lego_2012_Holiday_Set_WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMEyPOOvzJPL9771yserPkVgYJytdqv3Zi8UovMOP2PPMz9Ym_IhcNWWt_CyCQjSvpoJk6-ujyB3eI16boj9WqWzSle75SmSadIBKGnbg8XrxXfRFdsNB9uXIc93z_j6hCKEvPfzZrPsQO/s400/Lego_2012_Holiday_Set_WK.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lego_2012_Holiday_Set_-_3300014_(8310672569).jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lego_2012_Holiday_Set</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">It's a beautiful site.</span><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: No, it isn't.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"> </span><br /><span style="color: red;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes it is! </span></span><br /><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Oh, it's lovely weather for a sleighride together with . . . well, I'm not sure who. I haven't met him yet.</span><span style="color: red;"> </span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;">You need to get out there in the festivities and mingle. There are men all over the place.</span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKwF69iEohXKUjOX5Cy7zvJdVmG4HLfuRbbC4K4Y891SFi7di7BvZwnOqolk-df_gIpUy4tfG5uW9StXV4okyvk5tMKZ4YN9nY9tXjHkz4LY0rINe11UT6fWIkv8iiDaO2qRUcxjMrsgi/s400/FB_IMG_1607938105314.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="400" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKwF69iEohXKUjOX5Cy7zvJdVmG4HLfuRbbC4K4Y891SFi7di7BvZwnOqolk-df_gIpUy4tfG5uW9StXV4okyvk5tMKZ4YN9nY9tXjHkz4LY0rINe11UT6fWIkv8iiDaO2qRUcxjMrsgi/w400-h328/FB_IMG_1607938105314.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Winter</i> 1932, Jose Clemente Orozco</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: It's hard to get to know people when they're so anonymous.</span></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibJboGxRg4PF_nEQlYlq0Xeu4APlNZvx0miUSoqLRi6WbD7JWt6hJeTZDIgVC8IqmgOOJlRXnjImqb5UIcNGgUSfJWXUGKOkopXReQEcr0473iRf2w8ssOmjg_bw9AAgCbiGiqda3VBEU/s1920/FB_IMG_1608052861981.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1206" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibJboGxRg4PF_nEQlYlq0Xeu4APlNZvx0miUSoqLRi6WbD7JWt6hJeTZDIgVC8IqmgOOJlRXnjImqb5UIcNGgUSfJWXUGKOkopXReQEcr0473iRf2w8ssOmjg_bw9AAgCbiGiqda3VBEU/w251-h400/FB_IMG_1608052861981.jpg" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Venice Carnival</i> c. 1930, Alexandra Exter </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">And it's soooo cold.</span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhpGVbGMMhLrQRhY_nTXIQM3meIy2s1CmhQ0ALfHdSi4fNSm_4FmyC21oAtyy_FcYW5XCi81pucjXmRZ1POOyoRwXhKvTBfuk7vVHk_aYSpBtBxSeRmc8aBL1lgr20K7nAjdq3w2eqLmx/s640/TimO%2527Bryan.FKCC.rofflcopterr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhpGVbGMMhLrQRhY_nTXIQM3meIy2s1CmhQ0ALfHdSi4fNSm_4FmyC21oAtyy_FcYW5XCi81pucjXmRZ1POOyoRwXhKvTBfuk7vVHk_aYSpBtBxSeRmc8aBL1lgr20K7nAjdq3w2eqLmx/s320/TimO%2527Bryan.FKCC.rofflcopterr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1560047922458548935#" style="text-align: -webkit-left;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/rofflcopterr/398552083</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">My real husband, His Excellency, doesn't like the cold. He's not a jolly, happy soul. </span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: When it comes to Christmas, he's a grinch.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPi8AO5jqs4rF9FkIJYRy-0bivxBhjJorU2pyGIiaJEYrcWOA4YfNGnak8MJN054_ehMcb6LPqHyrxwVLzIiQcm029elv380lIHfTrFZtyRR_oe47xKT5qSUk4qEDNL3aSiMktFC0tTPu/s1600/runningwithscissors.etsy8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPi8AO5jqs4rF9FkIJYRy-0bivxBhjJorU2pyGIiaJEYrcWOA4YfNGnak8MJN054_ehMcb6LPqHyrxwVLzIiQcm029elv380lIHfTrFZtyRR_oe47xKT5qSUk4qEDNL3aSiMktFC0tTPu/w400-h400/runningwithscissors.etsy8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/runningwithscissors">www.etsy.com/shop/runningwithscissors</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">He was going to go away for Christmas but I stopped him. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: You said you'd have a blue, blue Christmas without him?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDY06eIOgKPWk7dlf12t2S-j65wOlhpIfGkoV8dMgDW4MwVIuDijWygRwRf2MrEWmfyoqK9wovLrEV3W4WaxmG3epkyoUgQjx7pmpT7v4G1T97kGA8qnr9qZ9tFbDnAAP4ZDMHdcOK5YwA/s1600/kurtz.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDY06eIOgKPWk7dlf12t2S-j65wOlhpIfGkoV8dMgDW4MwVIuDijWygRwRf2MrEWmfyoqK9wovLrEV3W4WaxmG3epkyoUgQjx7pmpT7v4G1T97kGA8qnr9qZ9tFbDnAAP4ZDMHdcOK5YwA/w400-h266/kurtz.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtz433/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtz433/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;">Yeah, and now I have to find him a present. Yet what can I give him, poor as I am?</span> </span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJL6pO1Flq0xNMVPJs_Zm7GYQUC9SepPSHzgeo_jgqbzVdLjO-4c72BDcH9Loo63RInCRAQyinEK5nEYsiET53N46u7XYAUpRUSm3eE_eWCKn__yr1a8ocyiCDEr8cAvOSSgQHoi9ja30/s1600/B.bag.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJL6pO1Flq0xNMVPJs_Zm7GYQUC9SepPSHzgeo_jgqbzVdLjO-4c72BDcH9Loo63RInCRAQyinEK5nEYsiET53N46u7XYAUpRUSm3eE_eWCKn__yr1a8ocyiCDEr8cAvOSSgQHoi9ja30/s320/B.bag.JPG" width="285" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Oh no, not the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/just-x-shopping-benches-til-christmas.html">Christmas shopping</a> thing again. You've already covered that in <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/black-bench-friday.html">Black Bench Friday</a> Anyway, shopping in a mask is really difficult.</span><br /><span style="color: red;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The gifts are wrapped and under the tree. If we had any children they would be gazing open-mouthed, taken by surprise.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeGfZYSZnAxDK1mW5gwGrdgzgIeeGF0Kaif8I4yOY_nc-Kr6VAcgrw7Q82mUbdkzPNlP2rkgji1Vvp6_9sgXfThyphenhyphenwefyUrO86c6cGZhP9d7JIAP0yjjZKs51SfzUsD_6KtkCTLzIxQ6UpV/s1600/animalhairstuff.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeGfZYSZnAxDK1mW5gwGrdgzgIeeGF0Kaif8I4yOY_nc-Kr6VAcgrw7Q82mUbdkzPNlP2rkgji1Vvp6_9sgXfThyphenhyphenwefyUrO86c6cGZhP9d7JIAP0yjjZKs51SfzUsD_6KtkCTLzIxQ6UpV/w400-h281/animalhairstuff.etsy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/animalhairstuff">www.etsy.com/shop/animalhairstuff</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Yes, I have wrapped up our cats Rosie and Melissa. That's not them in this package though.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinygQ2DR9A4gnacACJ6Dq6HtstBvKMBcRNDF6YUnyMBXUeKjeC_G3wSXXyQq8cmsO_gpsOlrgIaJ4zrnfwfA_Irdrx7LqoxkDVLlIxMlqRwdKJHS4ZxGTtbjTe0twIiNYiaTrJpfumu-cV/s1600/whimsical.woodland.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinygQ2DR9A4gnacACJ6Dq6HtstBvKMBcRNDF6YUnyMBXUeKjeC_G3wSXXyQq8cmsO_gpsOlrgIaJ4zrnfwfA_Irdrx7LqoxkDVLlIxMlqRwdKJHS4ZxGTtbjTe0twIiNYiaTrJpfumu-cV/s400/whimsical.woodland.FK.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsicalwoodland/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsicalwoodland/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Are your cats properly protected by the way?</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">Of course. Same as the rest of the family.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2njLX5wHgOfx0NTsveRCAUdWMTXoa6fn_g6gudqpRe9GRXVWK4KRqM1JsTaVkOTiZox2rh83PTRpxEtI4y3kG722lVRMTYC7VT2_8CVR5hxGYJSyduU7UMYCVXKp8qyeexYDwzMIj9KDe/s658/FB_IMG_1604938686058.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2njLX5wHgOfx0NTsveRCAUdWMTXoa6fn_g6gudqpRe9GRXVWK4KRqM1JsTaVkOTiZox2rh83PTRpxEtI4y3kG722lVRMTYC7VT2_8CVR5hxGYJSyduU7UMYCVXKp8qyeexYDwzMIj9KDe/w389-h400/FB_IMG_1604938686058.jpg" width="389" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from 1918 flu epidemic</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Good. So what about presents then?</span><br /></span><br /><span style="color: red;">As for Mungo, I've got him an unusual gift this year: myhrr. </span><br /><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: It's not a suitable gift. Its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom.</span><span style="color: red;"> </span></span></span><br /><span style="color: red;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I didn't know that. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">What about an icicle bench then? It comes complete with its own goblin.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkPcHquFPTdmLJnPdfSDlaCX_KVwNWz2gJfXqVU4nHx7ebt2o4PlQoRntKF2RnsXPyJATYwC6x2GbRnWREaULzcveUkux7nuD69Cz49KTpy5m_Wuu2eItBU9tx8GvKG87_Xp3HtZr3gIo/s1600/GP.ME.Anderson.TheGoblins'Christmas1908..png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkPcHquFPTdmLJnPdfSDlaCX_KVwNWz2gJfXqVU4nHx7ebt2o4PlQoRntKF2RnsXPyJATYwC6x2GbRnWREaULzcveUkux7nuD69Cz49KTpy5m_Wuu2eItBU9tx8GvKG87_Xp3HtZr3gIo/s1600/GP.ME.Anderson.TheGoblins'Christmas1908..png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=1525623">The Goblins' Christmas at http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=1525623</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: it's a gift that leaves me cold.</span><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: red;">Ding dong merrily on high! </span></span><span style="color: red;">In the dark streets of Fribble-under-Par, we hear the angels sing.</span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;"> Miggy: And there's everlasting light shining upon the benches.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZD8nSpXOxfZABsx3vlzk3RG3N7h-GLK4Iq9tbipYdH3n9egt5az_IivGE4ny6XWvobHAFYDvFZeYx1AuFQhIzP4-W4USAAy9xzZzlBSckmWJntojyiDKn8lMg6PE3QWwN1Szbys4y4qTR/s1600/Jodax.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZD8nSpXOxfZABsx3vlzk3RG3N7h-GLK4Iq9tbipYdH3n9egt5az_IivGE4ny6XWvobHAFYDvFZeYx1AuFQhIzP4-W4USAAy9xzZzlBSckmWJntojyiDKn8lMg6PE3QWwN1Szbys4y4qTR/s400/Jodax.FK.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodax/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodax/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: In fact, if you look-ed up, you'd see a star.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qNIJTh1jaZMYyrGSyXM3HuaD0JAThAoPVvvFTA5TNQ0EJoJbLNJXc5MwwMzcTF4pwOz-2dY92S7lEnRprDsjjiHKSSG3NvG3_SMmiOXEod3zFceT46lk4xs97gZPCLnfaxJtsQemAOH6/s1600/choo.yut.shing.xmas.singapore.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qNIJTh1jaZMYyrGSyXM3HuaD0JAThAoPVvvFTA5TNQ0EJoJbLNJXc5MwwMzcTF4pwOz-2dY92S7lEnRprDsjjiHKSSG3NvG3_SMmiOXEod3zFceT46lk4xs97gZPCLnfaxJtsQemAOH6/s400/choo.yut.shing.xmas.singapore.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Forget stars. Unless you mean chocolate stars. </span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">You don't need chocolate. Come Bench Monday-before-Christmas it's a candy cane Christmas bench, as sweet as can be.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZKU73b5qD3tI78KY2_JO0M0hLe5-64F2qHNDDI8ZVssSmAl_7Fq8yHwZrCffuhKXHJPALcTTnEOCVLUoh5C5we5suGHVT6wI69E81bmYI9EJ8Ve21DSGd7X8DG_lsfU1oNDY3pVJJw8ul/s1600/candycaneB.sherry.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZKU73b5qD3tI78KY2_JO0M0hLe5-64F2qHNDDI8ZVssSmAl_7Fq8yHwZrCffuhKXHJPALcTTnEOCVLUoh5C5we5suGHVT6wI69E81bmYI9EJ8Ve21DSGd7X8DG_lsfU1oNDY3pVJJw8ul/s400/candycaneB.sherry.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rovinggirlnotes/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/rovinggirlnotes/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy and cozy are we. </span><br /><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: We're binge-watching Christmas specials, snuggled up together on our benches.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwAizvLPscyk6gSQfy3EeYv2llDwXO4J3we9suZVJUGEgS_vWOz6giqF5yQIOhElAqwYIWXSf02ol7rw2zatKGYnLQvnqinu5yXQGw_fYWKy3xHHeiqDuaCUBfz-1efL4XcWVJGyeP5pqW/s1600/Leddyslack.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwAizvLPscyk6gSQfy3EeYv2llDwXO4J3we9suZVJUGEgS_vWOz6giqF5yQIOhElAqwYIWXSf02ol7rw2zatKGYnLQvnqinu5yXQGw_fYWKy3xHHeiqDuaCUBfz-1efL4XcWVJGyeP5pqW/s320/Leddyslack.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/leddyslack">www.etsy.com/shop/leddyslack</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">We're walking in the air. We're dancing on the bench-back sky.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSDAUfvFWDSSS0LmvJTVx0W2puihFEsX1k5rC3OBn7bKVJfC9SJMa1rI9En_orxav2RKVrbvWTCfNvpFaKxFpngAB29O3Z_o1zCwNOroJ3TbzWQtZhAb47o_uiS_G2LdetWcIoi4mZjS5/s1600/CowickCountryPk.Alan+Murray-Rust.WKBalancing_act_-_geograph_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSDAUfvFWDSSS0LmvJTVx0W2puihFEsX1k5rC3OBn7bKVJfC9SJMa1rI9En_orxav2RKVrbvWTCfNvpFaKxFpngAB29O3Z_o1zCwNOroJ3TbzWQtZhAb47o_uiS_G2LdetWcIoi4mZjS5/s320/CowickCountryPk.Alan+Murray-Rust.WKBalancing_act_-_geograph_.jpg" width="236" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">©Alan Murray-Rust </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">and licensed for </span><a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/reuse.php?id=3607830" style="font-family: Arial;">reuse</a><span style="font-family: "arial";"> under this </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" style="font-family: Arial;">Creative Commons license</a></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Not everyone is decking the halls though. For some people, Christmas is just another day.</span><br /><span style="color: red;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer so of course his work goes on year round. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: His cattle benches are lowing.</span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEdTBbBbLrf8sD_cxJQf9TuepUec1pa7xd6LnGfMEh4oux53aJ6Cfi7cQxreRbRnL9ZtjDaeM6RQSFtTBrz7F8BZg4DpJd0XrWhZEQ3ZSBA5yvqt5Xzz4Duuxp4CmkgXUL3J7fg1a1LZo/s1600/cow+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEdTBbBbLrf8sD_cxJQf9TuepUec1pa7xd6LnGfMEh4oux53aJ6Cfi7cQxreRbRnL9ZtjDaeM6RQSFtTBrz7F8BZg4DpJd0XrWhZEQ3ZSBA5yvqt5Xzz4Duuxp4CmkgXUL3J7fg1a1LZo/w320-h320/cow+B.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.popartdecoration.com/store/furniture/sofas/cow-bench/">http://www.popartdecoration.com/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">The shepherds watch his flocks by night, though why they are all seated on the ground I don't know.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Yeah, there are plenty of sheep benches around.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqVfG_rtRLMGGwF-aoei2k7XOPYXlc0M1DrZOsYjhKwZsgeImB6YnlE-SIMayNWS9wY6xmp3-9iWn7MK76Vhz4QbN7_4NVR4iJX4sYixIGygjsZ1fOqvsXK9LTXR5aMWN6WOodNXiRes5P/s1600/rosaliesherman.philart.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqVfG_rtRLMGGwF-aoei2k7XOPYXlc0M1DrZOsYjhKwZsgeImB6YnlE-SIMayNWS9wY6xmp3-9iWn7MK76Vhz4QbN7_4NVR4iJX4sYixIGygjsZ1fOqvsXK9LTXR5aMWN6WOodNXiRes5P/w400-h396/rosaliesherman.philart.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.philart.net/">http://www.philart.net</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">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. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCcTnWbuMANpl1ImauzxZa-WLO9fCkvMUZ8UaJRd5Il4W91rDZf5u9aLa1ZAqpl89UoDas3_heQquGT1vP2K965Wf2JliFo3Or9HAR1oQP0wmro1iJgHkoxKG-4r6El0Vf4CCimKB_aeM/s1600/Madonna_and_Child_-_Follower_of_Dieric_Bouts.WKjpg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCcTnWbuMANpl1ImauzxZa-WLO9fCkvMUZ8UaJRd5Il4W91rDZf5u9aLa1ZAqpl89UoDas3_heQquGT1vP2K965Wf2JliFo3Or9HAR1oQP0wmro1iJgHkoxKG-4r6El0Vf4CCimKB_aeM/w269-h400/Madonna_and_Child_-_Follower_of_Dieric_Bouts.WKjpg.jpg" width="269" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madonna_and_Child_-_Follower_of_Dieric_Bouts.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madonna_and_Child</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: It's good to see Mary and Joseph in a stable relationship.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">No, sorry. I have confused Lady B with Madonna here. </span><br /><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Not THAT Madonna. The one who isn't Like a Virgin. The one who actually <i>is</i> a virgin.</span><span style="color: red;"> </span></span></span><br /><span style="color: red;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This is Lady B with Root's wife Innocent. The Holly and the Ivy. </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojeplSplY6zkPa8Ey2YDU95Uh9E-9TULAXMyWoUn2PYf6elrJUAlfHiMOph033PvOIpvusyo2b1xStYPHt20BDVC7Bbo1tskkRJULM8G_Vr5QtvoxJDeXI8vjt0-3yGhrBfw0bxjeikZc/s1600/Holly.Ivy2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojeplSplY6zkPa8Ey2YDU95Uh9E-9TULAXMyWoUn2PYf6elrJUAlfHiMOph033PvOIpvusyo2b1xStYPHt20BDVC7Bbo1tskkRJULM8G_Vr5QtvoxJDeXI8vjt0-3yGhrBfw0bxjeikZc/s400/Holly.Ivy2.JPG" width="251" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: They're both fully grown.</span><br /><br /></span><span style="color: red;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's Lady Brassica on the right. She's the holly. And although t</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">his 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. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Indeed. </span></span><br /><span style="color: red;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Meanwhile, designer Joop has made Innocent a shiny ribbon dress for Christmas Eve.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzoQ2fd5PDyzjYxh8g2PPEZsqTvJ-h2X6JRuiM-sMt96VRR8iiVbzkvK7CkTpb34QOP1Ct8b0Op-7iYoEntEGO2U2Ikmc1z_NfJZBxY9JGzIhYZOFwC0ntJUKP2PBKtKR421qw57hAqH-/s1600/Innocent.Xmas.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzoQ2fd5PDyzjYxh8g2PPEZsqTvJ-h2X6JRuiM-sMt96VRR8iiVbzkvK7CkTpb34QOP1Ct8b0Op-7iYoEntEGO2U2Ikmc1z_NfJZBxY9JGzIhYZOFwC0ntJUKP2PBKtKR421qw57hAqH-/s400/Innocent.Xmas.JPG" width="312" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: As Lord Brassica would say, ding dong merrily on high.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">And I saw Lady Jess kissing Santa Claus! </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: He got on his mobile and told quite a few people about it.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span> <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wObHDOXqiJP01vrDpUXP6iSI4w35AKDzj_2NIo7Vrt0Dls-lbJDwKHMXpd437DNjpX_HVB4EFJrj-tDR-yAvlfuePjwHv7qhl8h-Tu5byj2RxNlgaVndV-Hf7_FkMzWwGmAUJ3jhUkyA/s1600/papanoel.Madrid.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wObHDOXqiJP01vrDpUXP6iSI4w35AKDzj_2NIo7Vrt0Dls-lbJDwKHMXpd437DNjpX_HVB4EFJrj-tDR-yAvlfuePjwHv7qhl8h-Tu5byj2RxNlgaVndV-Hf7_FkMzWwGmAUJ3jhUkyA/s320/papanoel.Madrid.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madrid_-_217.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madrid_-_217.JPG</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">But as this is the time for peace on earth and good tidings towards all men and Ladies, we'll say no more. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Silent night and all that.</span><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: red;">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. </span><br /><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Golly, Santa gets younger every year.</span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdExVLggyUUdhfbODT9gKl7-ZrJQDB53v9h1NafQGIsOvn6_AxW6LoH90VFFmo7gEH7GE_FvR8AGKsbcLK2sDM5ZI1Nu-JRTK7WLKe-yqv6TQeUkavSVklnkRC2WHLl0nlUBc4QoqXVfuq/s1600/emusing-emma.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdExVLggyUUdhfbODT9gKl7-ZrJQDB53v9h1NafQGIsOvn6_AxW6LoH90VFFmo7gEH7GE_FvR8AGKsbcLK2sDM5ZI1Nu-JRTK7WLKe-yqv6TQeUkavSVklnkRC2WHLl0nlUBc4QoqXVfuq/s400/emusing-emma.FK.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emusing-emma/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/emusing-emma/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: These Santas are unmasked! They could go to jail!</span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwP4OO5uryfr-s0Sd5qtl3x_TjYDXo3-XUsg4CYFl4DIhrBlRC4KqqbbHCBIbuEXbwCy_vlTCXu4InzX68mxoI7D3rF4D6o4iXu-nK9w8wKj_xltd_xmabeXibh4XugyUKwsUPnbzhMVpI/s720/FB_IMG_1607647486075.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="720" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwP4OO5uryfr-s0Sd5qtl3x_TjYDXo3-XUsg4CYFl4DIhrBlRC4KqqbbHCBIbuEXbwCy_vlTCXu4InzX68mxoI7D3rF4D6o4iXu-nK9w8wKj_xltd_xmabeXibh4XugyUKwsUPnbzhMVpI/w400-h268/FB_IMG_1607647486075.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photograph 1918, credit to Raymond Coyne</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /><span style="color: red;">Migs, I want you to stop putting these mask pictures in. It's very naughty.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: Well, Santa knows who's been naughty and nice.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazWvtWLEf0gDmiPlwwjyv-WWiz-OO5icVV0mw9ZN_GcoO25ARqHybJXnDKlTEE6hZ6yP5HzxQJle92nYJAGo7Nmd0PBqOjchbazjaJDaLOvONHZvVbx3KfW78TfR-jwXiqy5u81fB1mec/s1600/littlechameleons.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazWvtWLEf0gDmiPlwwjyv-WWiz-OO5icVV0mw9ZN_GcoO25ARqHybJXnDKlTEE6hZ6yP5HzxQJle92nYJAGo7Nmd0PBqOjchbazjaJDaLOvONHZvVbx3KfW78TfR-jwXiqy5u81fB1mec/s320/littlechameleons.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlechameleons">www.etsy.com/shop/littlechameleons</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Yes, and naughty ones get bundled away into the coal sack.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7dTB8aNwwGb5I-XNzMsa98unI_Uc_x4-BgOZagRnSdmchkEIJzGE9R7hYE0cJs6wZk4sSKwrKtRA3d_mzVlSYWrN-NEadvbNENegBKHnKNYMbUdKv8_OG2ptlaxjjIWvYgqWfJN1AUgcP/s700/FB_IMG_1608052917787.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="436" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7dTB8aNwwGb5I-XNzMsa98unI_Uc_x4-BgOZagRnSdmchkEIJzGE9R7hYE0cJs6wZk4sSKwrKtRA3d_mzVlSYWrN-NEadvbNENegBKHnKNYMbUdKv8_OG2ptlaxjjIWvYgqWfJN1AUgcP/w249-h400/FB_IMG_1608052917787.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: that's horrible! </span><br /><br /></span><span style="color: red;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Santa traverses afar bearing benches. H</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">e's left us a commemorative bench to remember him by. </span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGk5qKeCaAC0CtgkS3kkoIGhZV5LX2EBVRtmudR-VAOGo5w8RcZqV7Nvhg-txaEki7Jl9YzxD18Jd29dSp3dvJWHEbiszl8xIUzilC0nDF3xt450l3JqCqHwA2mRXVSnhbNfI5XEzUeeNL/s1600/Santa+Bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGk5qKeCaAC0CtgkS3kkoIGhZV5LX2EBVRtmudR-VAOGo5w8RcZqV7Nvhg-txaEki7Jl9YzxD18Jd29dSp3dvJWHEbiszl8xIUzilC0nDF3xt450l3JqCqHwA2mRXVSnhbNfI5XEzUeeNL/s320/Santa+Bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/legup2p/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/legup2p/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: So here we are, Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun.</span><br /><span style="color: red;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Especially Tamsin and </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Garçon. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">They're in love.</span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjKw1REMVhV6qnz9z0n9aVlItDpnuPLgMVThiVZjznMSg5PQzrMyR7ZIO0Q4oSLvXaFeY_UpmHxd9XCvydVvFf92wurVOaxNuN6y_AV3BRDG_Y_Uysadwz4MCCHkCtajBUPL2mzpvsvBn/s1600/Tamsin&Garcon.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjKw1REMVhV6qnz9z0n9aVlItDpnuPLgMVThiVZjznMSg5PQzrMyR7ZIO0Q4oSLvXaFeY_UpmHxd9XCvydVvFf92wurVOaxNuN6y_AV3BRDG_Y_Uysadwz4MCCHkCtajBUPL2mzpvsvBn/s400/Tamsin&Garcon.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">And 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.</span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZdLzewevITDF7pJu9mNtQsR0-gIUhCy_SohbaUiYRn8NzWBbuUFynh0Ohyphenhyphen3eYV0JjnaO7ZhoPGY6U9TVkMT8nDEinlt_IZavSXH8D122fSghz-3iYwNd20OAcGvhPguFACW1eKA-QqyPY/s1600/angels.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZdLzewevITDF7pJu9mNtQsR0-gIUhCy_SohbaUiYRn8NzWBbuUFynh0Ohyphenhyphen3eYV0JjnaO7ZhoPGY6U9TVkMT8nDEinlt_IZavSXH8D122fSghz-3iYwNd20OAcGvhPguFACW1eKA-QqyPY/s400/angels.JPG" width="378" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: All in all, I guess we're walking in a winter wonderland.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"> </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Yes. But you need to </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"> sit on a romantic </span><span style="color: red;">bench with the man of your dreams.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAN1U0uOHerUdpUdsMHsMM5RKugEgr3Ii32iHpmgUVcHVXz3dMV0HK90Hen_0xHWRinfmS38ClFpdjtk7mD7a5lbHVuSjqVwSxcepXb9BR81HXNu0i11zw8MQSBggXEdaIXtUcTC1vhZ5l/s1600/abbey.rowed.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAN1U0uOHerUdpUdsMHsMM5RKugEgr3Ii32iHpmgUVcHVXz3dMV0HK90Hen_0xHWRinfmS38ClFpdjtk7mD7a5lbHVuSjqVwSxcepXb9BR81HXNu0i11zw8MQSBggXEdaIXtUcTC1vhZ5l/s400/abbey.rowed.FK.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbyrowed/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbyrowed/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: even if I met a man I would need to go home and take my mask off.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0YIfK0uuK2FUBuEtseT78lUk4v5AnvJ3s8LXn6FnM_JjGkofJv2V-bdLlRhfIKE96AszKQ8f5GTgWUzH5eU2FNqGT_EyoP08wiPKlYQu3Iz2LyhsBdL7_YFUuF2LW7ZEZ1RMhnOeJXX0/s786/FB_IMG_1604937339584.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="717" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0YIfK0uuK2FUBuEtseT78lUk4v5AnvJ3s8LXn6FnM_JjGkofJv2V-bdLlRhfIKE96AszKQ8f5GTgWUzH5eU2FNqGT_EyoP08wiPKlYQu3Iz2LyhsBdL7_YFUuF2LW7ZEZ1RMhnOeJXX0/w365-h400/FB_IMG_1604937339584.jpg" width="365" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">Oh, I give up with you. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;">It only remains to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.</span><br /><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: red;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Miggy: So, from all of us on Paradise Island . . . </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWrQ1Ip4Fh1wJODjItW5JRyIKGGUMYfDxIcEuscvwVfnkzUJpfeXRr5jsYEWnkl_UiGMT4Cosa5gCTZF1fINwd1xiemCTZKUi8jC6zIGw4hmf9zMXVq9ptY2_QVsh-JsoSZcB3ZGee-PyR/s1600/Xmas3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWrQ1Ip4Fh1wJODjItW5JRyIKGGUMYfDxIcEuscvwVfnkzUJpfeXRr5jsYEWnkl_UiGMT4Cosa5gCTZF1fINwd1xiemCTZKUi8jC6zIGw4hmf9zMXVq9ptY2_QVsh-JsoSZcB3ZGee-PyR/s400/Xmas3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span style="color: red;"> </span><b><span style="color: red;"> A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! </span></b></i></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Woman in a Mask (1928) is a wonderful painting by German artist Arno Henschel, who lived from 1897 to 1945.<br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In Rudolf Hausner's self portrait he wears a paper hat, which is yellow, as indeed is the artist himself. Painted in his later life, this is one of many self portraits in which the artist wears, yellow, red, foolish, and European paper hats. Rudolf Hausner was born in Vienna in 1914 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts for five years. In 1937 his work was deemed to be degenerate and his studio was destroyed. After WWII he returned to Vienna and carried on painting. Having fallen out with surrealism, he co-founded the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism in 1959. A truly unique artist, he was called a 'psychic realist' and 'the first psychoanalytical painter'. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindabowman/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindabowman/</a></span> <br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are several paintings showing people in various moods of discontent. The Disillusioned One is barefoot on his bench, painted in 1892 by Swiss artist Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918). The Discontented Couple with their accordion were painted in 1930 by Swiss artist Francois Barraud (1899-1934). And the ghostly looking man is on a sled, not a bench. He was painted by German artist Walter Gramatté (1897-1929). </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Kim
Smith owns a dramatic web design company in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
She photographed the money bench in 2007. Her photo sets
contains lots of friends and family and her landscapes make
Michigan look like a beautiful place. In fact, Mackinac Island
doesn't look so different from my own Paradise Island . .
. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/7890150580258838700#">http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimsmith/</a></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Pascal,
aka, Pasukaru does a lot of work with star wars Lego
clones. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/7100495279514364819#">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/4026588177/</a> Quite
a few of them are doing something interesting on benches. This
particular couple are Bench Monday movers but apparently
the clones didn't get the bench moved in time for a proper bench
monday shot. Pascal says they are very sorry and promise to do better
next Monday. </span></span></span></span>
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Matti
Mattila is an amateur photographer and IT professional whose
photostream shows an impressive array of benches. He photographed the
man on a bench in Helsinki in May 2013. Matti's title for the photo
is </span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i>First
of May Nap</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> but
it could also be a man looking for a bench - couldn't it?
</span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/7100495279514364819#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattimattila/8697571441</span></span></span></a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">
</span>
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The
disturbing clown picture is a favourite on Benchsite and introduces
the post on <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/7100495279514364819#">miserable
benches for Blue Monday</a>.
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/7100495279514364819#">http://www.flickr.com/photos/roblawol/</a>
Rob snapped the clown on a bench in City Hall Park in New York
City in July 2013. I'm one of many people who has added this to their
favourites. Rob has lots of candid images from the streets in his
photostream, including people sitting, sleeping, and doing all manner
of peculiar things on benches. NYC - what a city! </span></span></span></span></p></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miggy's mask is from <i>The Several Habits of English Women, from the Nobility to the Country Women as they are in these times: The Woman with Mask, Hood and Muff</i> (1639) is an etching by Wenceslaus Hollar.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <i>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</i>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you're fond of yule logs there's a special log bench post at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/log-benches-just-logs-and-cake.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/log-benches-just-logs-and-cake.html</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Warning: this post also contains cake. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Victorian Christmas card is from the Nova Scotia archives on Flickr Commons at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsarchives/11222221966/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsarchives/11222221966/</a> 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! </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/</a></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US">'<i>Making the Empire Christmas pudding</i>' is an artwork by F C Harrison produced for the Empire Marketing Board sometime between 1926 and 1939. <o:p></o:p></span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/5263978078/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/5263978078/</a> For the really curious, here is the full list of ingredients.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTy4FyiFcoFIBpQcWOC4cKH4_CyTnlAQwJ2s2VS-TLh_NUXM58SLOfUyO-HhOSjv04ydB8Mmpdrzjc5Fu9mtHzC7pJMcZm2TWPM1EldT3iuXTPzixljez2PCdaWueBMRbYDo4-o6FmH8bP/s1600/empire+pudding.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTy4FyiFcoFIBpQcWOC4cKH4_CyTnlAQwJ2s2VS-TLh_NUXM58SLOfUyO-HhOSjv04ydB8Mmpdrzjc5Fu9mtHzC7pJMcZm2TWPM1EldT3iuXTPzixljez2PCdaWueBMRbYDo4-o6FmH8bP/s400/empire+pudding.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/5263978078/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/5263978078/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><p class="css-38z03z" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="css-38z03z" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As this is a Christmas like no other, it seems only fair to include some current issues about you-know-what. The vintage mask pictures shown are mostly from the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic when wearing of face masks became mandatory in many places. In San Francisco when state-wide infections passed 50,000, anyone seen not wearing a gauze face covering was subject to fines that ranged from $5 to $100 and the possibility of 10 days’ imprisonment. </span><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">This was supported by advertising campaigns and jingles: “Obey the laws and wear the gauze. Protect your jaws from septic paws.” As wearing masks 'flattened the curve' in San Francisco, other cities around the world promoted mask wearing but t</span><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">he relaxation of the law proved premature. As the death toll rose again in a third wave of the disease – and despite the protests of the newly formed Anti-Mask League – mandatory mask-wearing was reintroduced for another six weeks at the beginning of the following year.</span></span></p><p class="css-38z03z" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I regret that I am unable to provide sources for some of the photos because they have come off Facebook groups in long chains of Shares. The Russian photos Father Frost and the Moscow Christmas lights are two examples. Also, it would be nice to know who invented the surgical mask angel - it's a real angel for our times. </span></span></p><p class="css-38z03z" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #121212; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Other images include: <i>Venice Carnival</i>, a painting done in the 1920s by Russian artist Alexandra Exter (1882-1949); <i>Girl from Mora Skiing</i>, painted in 1915 by the Swedish artist Anders Zorn (1860-1920); </span></span><i style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 1.0625rem; text-align: center;">Masked Woman</i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 1.0625rem; text-align: center;"> 1920, Boris Grigoriev, Russia (1886-1939); <i>Friends</i>, by Sergei Vinogradov (1869-1938); Winter 1932 by Mexican artist Jose Clemente Orozco (1883-1949); </span></p></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The benched Santa is from Asian Replicas, who make</span> <span>a huge variety of lifesize statues and furniture in the Philippines <a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/"><span>www.asianreplicas.com</span></a><span> </span></span><span>Elsewhere on Benchsite you will find their <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html">edible benches</a> such as tacos and ice creams. Youll also see their Siberian tiger on Noah's Ark at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html</a><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p></o:p></b></div><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>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 </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/boynton/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/boynton/</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> I found the Ryde Esplanade snow benches at <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryde_Esplanade_during_snow_December_2010.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryde_Esplanade_during_snow_December_2010.jpg</a></span></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <st1:city w:st="on">Porto Alegre in Brazil. I saw it at</st1:city> <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_decoration_(DSC04820).jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_decoration_(DSC04820).jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/Mamamare">www.etsy.com/shop/Mamamare</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mujitra/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mujitra/</a></span><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/runningwithscissors%C2%A0">www.etsy.com/shop/runningwithscissors </a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/just-x-shopping-benches-til-christmas.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/just-x-shopping-benches-til-christmas.html</a></span></div></div></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <span style="font-size: 12pt;">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 </span> <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lego_2012_Holiday_Set_-_3300014_(8310672569).jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lego_2012_Holiday_Set_-_3300014_(8310672569).jpg</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/animalhairstuff">www.etsy.com/shop/animalhairstuff</a></span><br /><br /><pre><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center; white-space: normal;">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 <i>a wunderkammer of art, oddments and curiosities</i>. There I found what Leah describes as <i>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 </i></span><i>Mérode </i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><i>Altarpiece), along with a generous bowl of wassail</i>. Odd, curious, arty - what a shop!</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: center; white-space: normal;"> </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/curiousartlab" style="text-align: center; white-space: normal;">www.etsy.com/shop/CuriousArtLab</a></span></pre><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtz433/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtz433/</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><p align="left" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span>If you've been living in Antarctica in a snow hut without any communication with the world you may not know that</span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span><i>Frozen</i></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span>is the original Disney movie, loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's </span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span><i>The Snow Queen</i></span></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span>. To cut a long story short, Elsa's icy powers trapped the kingdom in eternal winter back in 2015. And in 2019 there was Frozen II, so we're feeling colder than ever. Let the Storm Rage On! <a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2019/11/turkey-benches-for-thanksgiving-2019.html">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2019/11/turkey-benches-for-thanksgiving-2019.html</a></span></span></span></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Kristoff is Frozen's rugged iceman, and Sven his loyal reindeer. Please note also: the reindeer pictured is chocolate. There is also a snowman involved, name of Olaf. Apparently Darko tried out for the part of Olaf in the Snowvenian version of the film but didn't get it, which is why he's here shovelling snow for me. For the full story of Frozen Snowvenia see </span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1560047922458548935#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span><u>http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html</u></span></span></a></span></p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><p align="left" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span>The Brrrrrrrilliant Brrrr bench was photographed in Decatur, Illinois in December 2006. The photographer is Tim O'Bryan, who now lives in Chicago. </span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1560047922458548935#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span>https://www.flickr.com/photos/rofflcopterr/398552083</span></span></a></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Jim Henderson photographed Ice Hot Passion in Madison Square in New York City on February 11, 2010. Whose passion? Well, the snow woman stares coldly ahead as her mate loses his head (neck not reinforced by twigs) smooching with a warm woman on a sunny afternoon. </span></span></span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_hot_passion_Mad_Sq_jeh.JPG?uselang=en-gb"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #848484;"><span style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span>http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_hot_passion_Mad_Sq_jeh.JPG?uselang=en-gb</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span> For some hearty Valentine benches, see </span></span></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hearty-heart-benches-for-valentines-day.html"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #848484;"><span style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span>http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hearty-heart-benches-for-valentines-day.html</span></span></span></span></a></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Tigloulou's photo albums show that she is very well travelled but her special place is Chamonix in the Alps. She photographed the lovely sleigh bench there in February 2006. </span></span></span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/73622727@N00/126469087"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #ffd02e;"><span><u>https://www.flickr.com/photos/73622727@N00/126469087</u></span></span></span></a></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span>I get high on mountains too; see my alpine bench adventure at </span></span></span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #848484;"><span style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span>http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html</span></span></span></span></a></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rovinggirlnotes/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/rovinggirlnotes/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <a href="http://www.popartdecoration.com/store/furniture/sofas/cow-bench/">http://www.popartdecoration.com/store/furniture/sofas/cow-bench/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The sheep bench is one of several bench sculptures called <i>Eastwick Park Farm,</i> 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.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The scale of the Philart project is really quite something and it's being added to all the time. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.philart.net/">http://www.philart.net/</a></span><br /><br /></div></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madonna_and_Child_-_Follower_of_Dieric_Bouts.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madonna_and_Child_-_Follower_of_Dieric_Bouts.jpg</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madrid_-_217.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madrid_-_217.JPG</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emusing-emma/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/emusing-emma/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsicalwoodland/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsicalwoodland/</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="wp-caption-text"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On the 'icicle bench' two goblins peek over the top of a decorative line. This image is from M.E. (Elizabeth) Anderson's <i>The Goblins' Christmas</i>, 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 </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">with this eBook at </span><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.gutenberg.org</a></div><pre> </pre><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodax/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodax/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/</a></span><br /><br /><div class="wp-caption-text"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Balancing Act</i> is a person who appears to be walking on top of a bench in <st1:street w:st="on">Colwick Country Park</st1:street>. It was photographed by Alan Murray-Rust for Geograph in February 2009. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Balancing_act_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1163787.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Balancing_act_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1163787.jpg</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlechameleons">www.etsy.com/shop/littlechameleons</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/leddyslack">www.etsy.com/shop/leddyslack</a></span><br /><br /><div><br /></div></div></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Randy Britt (Randiana) lives near Santa Claus, Indiana. Seriously. Randy tells me that <i>Santa Claus is a small town in southern Indiana that was founded some 60 or 70 years ago with one man's dream of building a small "town" specifically based on tales of Santa. Early on it was a very small collection of specialty shops for all-things-Christmas, later to be incorporated as the town of Santa Claus, complete with a US Post Office that hand-cancels mail at Christmas time with an ornate post mark. Many locals carry their Christmas Greeting cards over to be mailed with that post mark. </i>Randy admits that the town goes a little over-the-top with decorations for Christmas! </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/legup2p/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/legup2p/</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbyrowed/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbyrowed/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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, Mikey the Mariner, Root (Sixth Earl of Drizzly), Tamsin, Angel Angela, Noah, and Miggy's Mum. Front left is Emily and Tonks the horse. Tonks would like it known that he is not lean and lank and he has no intention of dashing through the snow pulling a lot of lazy people in a sled. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">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 <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whos-who-in-fribble-under-par.html">Who's Who in Fribble</a> and that will tell you all you need to know. </span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmyAl_HMzVzPDSoZMxzgm4lkcvoD8_EbGcE8iUYK3LZiTvzH0FAShZlwR3ywbb52Dp7vWv6d3zZ17F5HgEac66MMxYedGeEqAXI145w_PiGCGqfvf57MuOxorwxCjgDnjnzgimLlC2v7v/s1600/Xmas2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="449" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmyAl_HMzVzPDSoZMxzgm4lkcvoD8_EbGcE8iUYK3LZiTvzH0FAShZlwR3ywbb52Dp7vWv6d3zZ17F5HgEac66MMxYedGeEqAXI145w_PiGCGqfvf57MuOxorwxCjgDnjnzgimLlC2v7v/s640/Xmas2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTJIT2VOWhL0HC3DN6_yUfzopsi9s5HkaXHxN59QPClUtUCCM_8d4CLi6Xr8jQ5GQYA74Uhhj4kNACp7NhELDhIa6KnWXYZxPbHAtCi84-ZyGbkytaSI57rbdoL6nFL37j2CUQc63jVQ0/s1913/Elsa.best2+%25281%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1913" data-original-width="1385" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTJIT2VOWhL0HC3DN6_yUfzopsi9s5HkaXHxN59QPClUtUCCM_8d4CLi6Xr8jQ5GQYA74Uhhj4kNACp7NhELDhIa6KnWXYZxPbHAtCi84-ZyGbkytaSI57rbdoL6nFL37j2CUQc63jVQ0/s320/Elsa.best2+%25281%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><div><br /></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-31190866577133618682022-11-09T10:08:00.001-08:002024-01-24T07:26:30.137-08:00World Toilets Day 2022<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFgU6h41ghq4B0yicQNjigSabYiCjgz0QBfolsOlQJWYfeKj_NHeHhUUJvh3Loyjh60UMfJLmZUni1rrVLg4K3l5pnFmB5l6a08Dgav0y_dh50kKsjQK5oi29MOTXk-wd900PCAoL2A_j/s1600/2011-08-14.flickr.Secondary_roll.Guenther_Haas.Medium_500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFgU6h41ghq4B0yicQNjigSabYiCjgz0QBfolsOlQJWYfeKj_NHeHhUUJvh3Loyjh60UMfJLmZUni1rrVLg4K3l5pnFmB5l6a08Dgav0y_dh50kKsjQK5oi29MOTXk-wd900PCAoL2A_j/s320/2011-08-14.flickr.Secondary_roll.Guenther_Haas.Medium_500.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/guenther_haas/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/guenther_haas/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It may have escaped your notice that November 19th is World Toilets Day. Toilets may seem a boring or unsavoury topic but here on Benchsite we're not going to let World Toilets Day pass without having a look at some brilliant waterclosets/restrooms/loos/powder-rooms/bogs/johns/little boys' rooms/ or anything else you care to call them. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We'll start with a pretty blue one which, lacking a hole, is not actually functional but is nevertheless a toilet bench in its truest sense.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRZ1jQWVNhQHhJk7hC-0f6h8MtfcdlhHRkZmxH9rKxRslXv9M4LAFnm-ne4lf458F7WViSoIIY1M0MfhCSmDXmiinOWHIlzweTcZ7S8aOAWgDP-JsJUekWHIkL7vdC9hRbVXAtdxULWB_/s1600/Ruth_W.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRZ1jQWVNhQHhJk7hC-0f6h8MtfcdlhHRkZmxH9rKxRslXv9M4LAFnm-ne4lf458F7WViSoIIY1M0MfhCSmDXmiinOWHIlzweTcZ7S8aOAWgDP-JsJUekWHIkL7vdC9hRbVXAtdxULWB_/s320/Ruth_W.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruth_w/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruth_w/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Of course, early toilets had the obligatory hole and a bit of a drop, long or short. This toilet goes way back to biblical times. It's at Philippi, where St. Paul baptized Lydia. Not in the toilet of course. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1YZfsTz4zMg7qeZPRzvyVHwJyxfu_ita4t5O4xJpESU6RgrnbDyJstO03_e1Wo5kwR2juI1zbGi_Z8kuVfhoS6mwNjEmSiv7enXLFCyNppaxRrT4qhAt_F9NBN8EfoOoWD69NQz5a6Uz/s1600/Kavala+toilets.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1YZfsTz4zMg7qeZPRzvyVHwJyxfu_ita4t5O4xJpESU6RgrnbDyJstO03_e1Wo5kwR2juI1zbGi_Z8kuVfhoS6mwNjEmSiv7enXLFCyNppaxRrT4qhAt_F9NBN8EfoOoWD69NQz5a6Uz/s320/Kavala+toilets.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You'll notice that the toilets are communal in this Roman garrison latrine. That's because using the toilet was, in the past, a social activity. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpGXdPjrcdedBl2Gbw_kPkcwvDiKNEbwsBCOxAxjJcyQAwi3XJzybfKu16w2W9qVID07Xa3KtnuJPt8cXLG4-iGwLOwwiubpmeATCVV1F-LWDFOgrmjWyR06aZXDo9DQW5txnUgACtXuH/s1600/housesteads_latrines_reconst.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpGXdPjrcdedBl2Gbw_kPkcwvDiKNEbwsBCOxAxjJcyQAwi3XJzybfKu16w2W9qVID07Xa3KtnuJPt8cXLG4-iGwLOwwiubpmeATCVV1F-LWDFOgrmjWyR06aZXDo9DQW5txnUgACtXuH/s400/housesteads_latrines_reconst.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.odysseyadventures.ca/">http://www.odysseyadventures.ca</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Wearing their best dresses, use of public loos could be a jolly time for Regency ladies.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwwHHQ5q03jxIJVBHgzJuk-_EpegR-4iRR88x0l5psjLEFF_yl061m6hbhnRniyD_AIsm5k4G00s9t8cNkInphI5dqyo5lQIbB72X0mDyEbQqb9Qqd1i8I5kkLfl3rlR18C4TZIQySUh4/s750/the-inside-of-the-ladys-garden-at-vauxhall.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="750" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwwHHQ5q03jxIJVBHgzJuk-_EpegR-4iRR88x0l5psjLEFF_yl061m6hbhnRniyD_AIsm5k4G00s9t8cNkInphI5dqyo5lQIbB72X0mDyEbQqb9Qqd1i8I5kkLfl3rlR18C4TZIQySUh4/w400-h245/the-inside-of-the-ladys-garden-at-vauxhall.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Inside the Lady's Gardens at Vauxhall</i> 1788, SW Fores</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">A toilet bench was no good on long coach trips or in church. The bouraloue came in handy for French ladies who had to endure very long sermons during the time of Louis XIV. Shaped like a gravy boat, it was put in place amongst the very big skirts.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivaDc8nHFo6pEB7bbn6flCT25aFHVj6rz9YNKRoHj4W6DFBLXQVzeR54xWgRxrhkSFfZO7dUdMl4HriVRsOIFkSZjfG58TqK8WDNMB9HxFAwOKjOUOqxhOe0ggBrR2AgTDSPgXI8xyJQLZ/s806/francois_boucher__la_bourdaloue_01b.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivaDc8nHFo6pEB7bbn6flCT25aFHVj6rz9YNKRoHj4W6DFBLXQVzeR54xWgRxrhkSFfZO7dUdMl4HriVRsOIFkSZjfG58TqK8WDNMB9HxFAwOKjOUOqxhOe0ggBrR2AgTDSPgXI8xyJQLZ/w318-h400/francois_boucher__la_bourdaloue_01b.jpeg" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>La Toilette Intim</i>, Francois Boucher</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div>And of course in continental Europe they have bidets. Here's a German lady at her toilette. But in this case <i>toilette</i> means bidet; she is having a wash.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5llgKw-fed_H8vaja0ABmLQ9aAVuYVel0Yci2yI0tU4EnzV8i9mmpL5t4_TSoutDfo2QtEJmUkjvC2D1kvCSovFMmLqsT8zMuHOG0-KLsI4ljJWpvIn4kGz-SAUS9AbC6T2MQQf0So0L/s600/Louis+Leopold+Boilly+-+The+Morning+Wash+Woman+on+a+Bidet+c1790++-+%2528MeisterDrucke-633081%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="451" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5llgKw-fed_H8vaja0ABmLQ9aAVuYVel0Yci2yI0tU4EnzV8i9mmpL5t4_TSoutDfo2QtEJmUkjvC2D1kvCSovFMmLqsT8zMuHOG0-KLsI4ljJWpvIn4kGz-SAUS9AbC6T2MQQf0So0L/w301-h400/Louis+Leopold+Boilly+-+The+Morning+Wash+Woman+on+a+Bidet+c1790++-+%2528MeisterDrucke-633081%2529.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Morning Wash: Woman on a Bidet</i> 1790, Louis Leopold Boilly<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Bidets are big in France but never caught on in North America. In Britain they are mainly used for soaking your feet after a long walk.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXjYYjYgpQk7lYkDCz72ylWxlMq6eCSMMOtVO7VzXRssGJuaXkTIl-FkXBWP6NocyxIkcMesYzkMXOECXDsX1IbHt5DRvjYPfAyZZE-OesCmqW4OjZSs55YXMu-VZsnsnvXM6YtCfx0m7/s600/450px-Bidet_Footwash.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXjYYjYgpQk7lYkDCz72ylWxlMq6eCSMMOtVO7VzXRssGJuaXkTIl-FkXBWP6NocyxIkcMesYzkMXOECXDsX1IbHt5DRvjYPfAyZZE-OesCmqW4OjZSs55YXMu-VZsnsnvXM6YtCfx0m7/s320/450px-Bidet_Footwash.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a class="external free" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/68238333@N00/633699256/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f8f9fa; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; background: url("/w/skins/Vector/resources/skins.vector.styles/images/external-link-ltr-icon.svg?b4b84") right center no-repeat rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #bb6633; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; outline-color: rgb(51, 102, 204); overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-right: 13px; text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/68238333@N00/633699256/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, back to the story of toilet benches. </div><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">For a more intimate social gathering, here's a pretty three-hole toilet bench from Edwardian times.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMygdmQaXEGmuhAUPknnfQX9MquElRJ5T3VhRkaREjU5AyKGta8JfgoRCRGbu4VlgR-1jgf5sESjb9X4xXUu8HblLNseSqXSZTkqHZp_hJyKY6gNG5w_YtYOzvCDKx5rCnvIDQz45xASlJ/s1600/Heaven'sGate.John.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMygdmQaXEGmuhAUPknnfQX9MquElRJ5T3VhRkaREjU5AyKGta8JfgoRCRGbu4VlgR-1jgf5sESjb9X4xXUu8HblLNseSqXSZTkqHZp_hJyKY6gNG5w_YtYOzvCDKx5rCnvIDQz45xASlJ/s320/Heaven'sGate.John.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/59303791@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/59303791@N00/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Eventually using the toilet became a private matter though it's hard to see how private you could be if you used the chamberpot in the middle of the night and you were sharing a room with sixteen siblings and a couple of lodgers.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkfe5VVXfHqF5pp3PgrSGBLiNSrb8JG-CkjBVUEjGpRlKrpAiX9Risne1FN4CqyOveSSJHyz5qv_mQL53_yM1UglKy69fO-dtJ3vy1LkZIMGcY0sMm0Sx29KLai7Zs_PZsIRJyMEgdof4/s1600/vintagepottyB.ebay.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkfe5VVXfHqF5pp3PgrSGBLiNSrb8JG-CkjBVUEjGpRlKrpAiX9Risne1FN4CqyOveSSJHyz5qv_mQL53_yM1UglKy69fO-dtJ3vy1LkZIMGcY0sMm0Sx29KLai7Zs_PZsIRJyMEgdof4/s1600/vintagepottyB.ebay.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Wooden-Childrens-Toilet-Vintage-Potty-Bench-Primitive-/310781604097">http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Wooden-Childrens-Toilet</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The filled chamber pot sat there waiting to be emptied by a servant.</span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh068Gk2EPsKjz14nrzKk0cXHzitl4dbOrKNQzCriRTFgnr5GnNhbmG7BsJOttiCty-vcF4e27UQWuU_88JYIU_uFCexpJZqyjtJSUrUuAJHOsZN2iLmxHby0NrHZt7seCIFDqz_7OJGl2I/s642/chamber-pot-01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="415" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh068Gk2EPsKjz14nrzKk0cXHzitl4dbOrKNQzCriRTFgnr5GnNhbmG7BsJOttiCty-vcF4e27UQWuU_88JYIU_uFCexpJZqyjtJSUrUuAJHOsZN2iLmxHby0NrHZt7seCIFDqz_7OJGl2I/w259-h400/chamber-pot-01.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artist unknown<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>You knew when it was being emptied because you heard the window opening and the servant's shouts of <i>Guardez</i> <i>l'eau, </i>or in Britain<i> Gardey-loo</i>! Followed by yelling and cursing of the wet ones who didn't get out of the way in time.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVSiScoTWFbbudCcqAiZixkhfk-hPv1egCxOXbVzcahGQ_jgQIi_sOVCXLc5P58cke-QYE0LJXDO2B-jyS7DWXYVEJLAdcRf9Eg96IP5dERiEp9l08G4GuXnM5d-v17yDGrtyozikZzVf/s1170/Medieval-sanitation.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="1170" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVSiScoTWFbbudCcqAiZixkhfk-hPv1egCxOXbVzcahGQ_jgQIi_sOVCXLc5P58cke-QYE0LJXDO2B-jyS7DWXYVEJLAdcRf9Eg96IP5dERiEp9l08G4GuXnM5d-v17yDGrtyozikZzVf/w400-h226/Medieval-sanitation.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Flowers of Edinburgh</i> 1781, British Museum</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Or you could just stick it under the bed and leave it there until the smell became too much..<br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1CLKki87NSSLJqKsKaaXvgN0jztgNWG9os7hwvyccWjV-qrw8zsLsM_Kgy5oz66fdZiwSUmLBVIGuLglNYcc8XRQEoJSb7e02ZEtz6SyI6_XLAQEOwB4BxLREw9ZiXE8Des83aIoSgJH/s1600/20170917_125737_001.Nancray.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1CLKki87NSSLJqKsKaaXvgN0jztgNWG9os7hwvyccWjV-qrw8zsLsM_Kgy5oz66fdZiwSUmLBVIGuLglNYcc8XRQEoJSb7e02ZEtz6SyI6_XLAQEOwB4BxLREw9ZiXE8Des83aIoSgJH/s320/20170917_125737_001.Nancray.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You don't fancy using the chamberpot? Well, the alternative was a trip to the outhouse.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrGPKaRf-UArAN9xX3dF474T32q4Ii8u3oMASGulNiiscZ0YmWkRqjwL1KVhh-cYF2LWgs-pqH3VoNlTLzFNmE7LWZHJ_duoJcljp_QZIqVQbCGfdW85Mmj64t6BwRjIsajp79UoLbFW-/s1600/wc.Sydney1900.NSW.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrGPKaRf-UArAN9xX3dF474T32q4Ii8u3oMASGulNiiscZ0YmWkRqjwL1KVhh-cYF2LWgs-pqH3VoNlTLzFNmE7LWZHJ_duoJcljp_QZIqVQbCGfdW85Mmj64t6BwRjIsajp79UoLbFW-/s320/wc.Sydney1900.NSW.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/state-records-nsw/7558806668/sizes/m/in/photolist-cvWRSU-dYa3XX-ddLZ9V-ddM1YA-cqpWR3-8iTL3g-aRz8s2-eESoUA-eESp7A/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/state-records-nsw/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Going to the outhouse meant a long trek in the cold and dark and when you got there you might run into your neighbours. Or rats. Or mice. Or snakes. The chamberpot is sounding better and better, isn't it?</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">On a hot summer day the smell of the outhouse did not make for a happy time.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgij-_2tiqah2V79GEH7jgsGPTVITLHjf0XgkxhTSUW122aV0MS7xdkV038lr1g3o3ryAJN6sUpHLrlDPGYWgdDJUf4OsJo3tLzLqHxkc5l30mH9J1QKc64KNS-2mmhJ_JHbadRXRzF3f9K/s1600/20170917_120831_001.Nancray.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgij-_2tiqah2V79GEH7jgsGPTVITLHjf0XgkxhTSUW122aV0MS7xdkV038lr1g3o3ryAJN6sUpHLrlDPGYWgdDJUf4OsJo3tLzLqHxkc5l30mH9J1QKc64KNS-2mmhJ_JHbadRXRzF3f9K/s320/20170917_120831_001.Nancray.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Apart from all that, lots of people used these communal toilets, so you might have to wait your turn.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSDnHklKZCjQJp_dI9yTBYuDvEjLGOC09Wn_OqJtZidRQVW1UEi2uX5F_24NWQEXKiCAKGKZjMMEPs80-tMqE_vGQ8Rj3IaJ9LUVXsmgnnimwZ_0K8wKi_VbOY-58_fPNRvH9ZZ4qcURsQ/s1600/Queens+Land+City.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSDnHklKZCjQJp_dI9yTBYuDvEjLGOC09Wn_OqJtZidRQVW1UEi2uX5F_24NWQEXKiCAKGKZjMMEPs80-tMqE_vGQ8Rj3IaJ9LUVXsmgnnimwZ_0K8wKi_VbOY-58_fPNRvH9ZZ4qcURsQ/s320/Queens+Land+City.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Queenslandcity2009">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Queenslandcity2009</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If you were royalty, of course, you had your own W.C. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Henry VIII's lavatory at Hampton Court was referred to as The Great House of Easement.</span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Rich peoples' waterclosets were beautifully panelled and had pull chains to flush it all away. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwQnjjA6s1rVIK3VSmGCMS2YLiiAK39cXLCMXdr3LOeK8ZDC1BsCAtEsrj73DgopQ82zOg0QA-lLXoLblYECbKFJW6bcHxu7jlTh788Q9ckKt265INkw7tiwTdTI6_uvn5PtwNkTmKMqN/s1600/squeezemonkey.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwQnjjA6s1rVIK3VSmGCMS2YLiiAK39cXLCMXdr3LOeK8ZDC1BsCAtEsrj73DgopQ82zOg0QA-lLXoLblYECbKFJW6bcHxu7jlTh788Q9ckKt265INkw7tiwTdTI6_uvn5PtwNkTmKMqN/s320/squeezemonkey.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/squeezemonkey/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/squeezemonkey/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Don't forget to tick when you've flushed!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7KrkbDZ4WSSyHMAQNbO_5_mzquSvyLqOk9aGLCEmWhzgYCotaXiUgTawdh3i0iaQBvi0OnZZ3TIEwJy_XcQjZRrPcBzV609u7aDnP6gLBxMQpf31bmH3Qhby0hNQbaMaajs9BmbwWb6w-Vgewpi4q2R7lXa0WdcSm0rh0qMBONG_jDSmNrWFyY-f_J7p/s640/FB_IMG_1706109681423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="523" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7KrkbDZ4WSSyHMAQNbO_5_mzquSvyLqOk9aGLCEmWhzgYCotaXiUgTawdh3i0iaQBvi0OnZZ3TIEwJy_XcQjZRrPcBzV609u7aDnP6gLBxMQpf31bmH3Qhby0hNQbaMaajs9BmbwWb6w-Vgewpi4q2R7lXa0WdcSm0rh0qMBONG_jDSmNrWFyY-f_J7p/s320/FB_IMG_1706109681423.jpg" width="262" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Fast forward to the mid twentieth century, by which time many people in industrial countries had indoor flushing toilets. So comfortable were these that people tended to use them as a place to sit and think.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnBjpeZVuaX8O2_B80iA_U6H4d1R1xe0xViSGUcA62K6KNph8xPmmonqwhGQvo8CMXGCe_5Gev8hsqNwRkZ7AitOsq7MXEfcMzMIvz9OHKioMr0gipqKyaDy-Y8741CAEVtHkn9qVHnIE/s1600/eyvaldecal.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnBjpeZVuaX8O2_B80iA_U6H4d1R1xe0xViSGUcA62K6KNph8xPmmonqwhGQvo8CMXGCe_5Gev8hsqNwRkZ7AitOsq7MXEfcMzMIvz9OHKioMr0gipqKyaDy-Y8741CAEVtHkn9qVHnIE/s200/eyvaldecal.etsy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/eyvaldecal" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/eyvaldecal</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">But some toilets have a life of their own and just amble off whenever they feel like it.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7UeFiTFgXq14HDrc5SNR1iG5m34I-zzXKIe63t9jMprhjfhf31RtIXGMQj8t72PL7nj30zOh2GGR_yGQM1b5PbvqCnLHUiy-6hqsqzzWH7CwKUTd8e64Q9DoTwunZ6btH3Aaj6W-Y6Eb/s1600/20141219_133406.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7UeFiTFgXq14HDrc5SNR1iG5m34I-zzXKIe63t9jMprhjfhf31RtIXGMQj8t72PL7nj30zOh2GGR_yGQM1b5PbvqCnLHUiy-6hqsqzzWH7CwKUTd8e64Q9DoTwunZ6btH3Aaj6W-Y6Eb/s1600/20141219_133406.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wight Link Ferry, Isle of Wight</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And these flashy flushers get up to all kinds of things when nobody's looking. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Tennis, anyone?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7bPysfqxNmTcjwicV76STDbaGZdD4Fw4Ego7mp2f1s85Tk12hen8pXgToMlP5Phi-RpxGEuBpVNu63RvOq_uy6xzGyo7zFbcrS-eQeUseT0Pq09PQ9r6rT_QWUok5eQfBzam3j9BHNJb/s1600/cappysue.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7bPysfqxNmTcjwicV76STDbaGZdD4Fw4Ego7mp2f1s85Tk12hen8pXgToMlP5Phi-RpxGEuBpVNu63RvOq_uy6xzGyo7zFbcrS-eQeUseT0Pq09PQ9r6rT_QWUok5eQfBzam3j9BHNJb/s320/cappysue.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/cappysue">www.etsy.com/shop/cappysue</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Not everyone likes flushers though. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Apparently some people prefer these toilets to the sit-down kind. In many parts of the world they are the main form of sanitation.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkj_i3fupVBJs5euXO6rv0gBnryqKG5jQHmCbupP_oAcL0fzifuzBgPqw40Wm6gCEQqH3coL8ul2zteJoNoHmX5ow0T_1x6yil4eINVOVYrNS4JL86QSPnBHtU0T6r6rEN7Lh_MMVHN4P/s1600/peretz.partensky.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkj_i3fupVBJs5euXO6rv0gBnryqKG5jQHmCbupP_oAcL0fzifuzBgPqw40Wm6gCEQqH3coL8ul2zteJoNoHmX5ow0T_1x6yil4eINVOVYrNS4JL86QSPnBHtU0T6r6rEN7Lh_MMVHN4P/s320/peretz.partensky.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifl/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifl/</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If you're lucky enough to have a choice, which would it be?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqXggHw3DrcoNIRAJ54aJ94_QdslJl3L9g4G9dtJu-GfcjOK6iuJW36ERlyb7jvpGaI2Dptc0F8QZu3WDXlJS1kUQfFZUvtVspYY6fujebF7p6H1nlkw6ItrwkdO67K0WkpaEFDBus5Ip/s1600/eastmeetswest.peretzpartensky.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqXggHw3DrcoNIRAJ54aJ94_QdslJl3L9g4G9dtJu-GfcjOK6iuJW36ERlyb7jvpGaI2Dptc0F8QZu3WDXlJS1kUQfFZUvtVspYY6fujebF7p6H1nlkw6ItrwkdO67K0WkpaEFDBus5Ip/s320/eastmeetswest.peretzpartensky.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifl/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifl/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Most of us like a good solid seat. Some of these nowadays are positively regal. S</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">ome are so grand as to resemble a Game of Thrones.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_47QVLrhOQzhq1zlPnR_SLogyA4Y2U6mv9juHvyD2zkE5IDq7MYapU-GDOwKIaJjBfRYhhwpXjxO5Faa6ka47il5n30I_h3Omvk1dqb9um0QKX9lfgx4W1iqA2COu8w1Q_UOK5nukshy/s1600/dagobert-throne-toilet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy_47QVLrhOQzhq1zlPnR_SLogyA4Y2U6mv9juHvyD2zkE5IDq7MYapU-GDOwKIaJjBfRYhhwpXjxO5Faa6ka47il5n30I_h3Omvk1dqb9um0QKX9lfgx4W1iqA2COu8w1Q_UOK5nukshy/s320/dagobert-throne-toilet.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.herbeau.com/index.html">http://www.herbeau.com/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And some are so beautiful as to resemble art.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsB9d7WeOYSK04kv9RuXCe7Tb_2iX0HfeD8UsnJjJ3FZv8jFNP0I799o75p9M5KOqFnwUOkaSqotsdJ0DFzayZC5wbmSXry2dpAoGMpC6aPJwLAzdw-x0i8pyfsGUgGQZ4FaBP52EC1Jo/s1600/john-your-benched.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsB9d7WeOYSK04kv9RuXCe7Tb_2iX0HfeD8UsnJjJ3FZv8jFNP0I799o75p9M5KOqFnwUOkaSqotsdJ0DFzayZC5wbmSXry2dpAoGMpC6aPJwLAzdw-x0i8pyfsGUgGQZ4FaBP52EC1Jo/s320/john-your-benched.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.julien.ca/">www.julien.ca</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We expect toilets to be readily available everywhere, even on a jet. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTu1pGPWTv8hm94w6Y4YZN9K2KrulovTkmqqzYVzuw3Kox54-r1GkLASvlE8fVZuB7E-i7SRSb7Ma20QQn8TZ4B5Py2l6KTn4ORi-ZBZRU0WzAfgBcpmVn48NhhT8zP4s1iNeA4hu0O_ao/s1600/no+toilets+SB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTu1pGPWTv8hm94w6Y4YZN9K2KrulovTkmqqzYVzuw3Kox54-r1GkLASvlE8fVZuB7E-i7SRSb7Ma20QQn8TZ4B5Py2l6KTn4ORi-ZBZRU0WzAfgBcpmVn48NhhT8zP4s1iNeA4hu0O_ao/s1600/no+toilets+SB.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Sheila B.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What, no toilets? This is an outrage! How long is this red jet flight anyway? What are people supposed to do? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Most of us are not prepared to go out in the open, even if there is a nice toilet available.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTSczdIC1oHVV81XG48DduGhA4X8uvh5ilBRTy7UcpxScue_HSJ2TDlm0bv0KHBi_mpDHZbvZy-H4troI8SiBzfp2pozsMp9zjdPcfUY6mjplwBhv6GQ6GdFP4vQkDh8gZ3R0oMOdK7EwJ/s1600/spokane.terry.bain.axis.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTSczdIC1oHVV81XG48DduGhA4X8uvh5ilBRTy7UcpxScue_HSJ2TDlm0bv0KHBi_mpDHZbvZy-H4troI8SiBzfp2pozsMp9zjdPcfUY6mjplwBhv6GQ6GdFP4vQkDh8gZ3R0oMOdK7EwJ/s1600/spokane.terry.bain.axis.fkcc.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/axis/193244469">https://www.flickr.com/photos/axis/193244469</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">These days toilet etiquette means that privacy must be maintained, even if you're a construction worker dangling from a cable on a building site.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQHEx4YF81qVZOgucn2sYJUjagg-aZhPPl4-LkCWd3Zpt7d2vJ15-f7ThgL4PjWQzr73tTkCtsIwb9lw0QO4iQkotLasZLqApXvmpv1MUeP_x9hOHK_zqa5pJNhi_Sr6V9VRD68xlSKOY/s1600/Johnnyonthespot.GuentherHaas.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQHEx4YF81qVZOgucn2sYJUjagg-aZhPPl4-LkCWd3Zpt7d2vJ15-f7ThgL4PjWQzr73tTkCtsIwb9lw0QO4iQkotLasZLqApXvmpv1MUeP_x9hOHK_zqa5pJNhi_Sr6V9VRD68xlSKOY/s320/Johnnyonthespot.GuentherHaas.FKCC.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/guenther_haas/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/guenther_haas/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There are all kinds of rules about how to behave in the toilet. Apparently you aren't meant to wash your feet.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpmhHY2BjMx0P3ELi5rmcI5b3r542dot2Ctw37tqb_kP08iv56v9zK4ktCcbn-_2Nns0BXI4iCTtxXnIuXbaEPXl3oLn8PpGg22CjOAB8tUdr5DCDEEyp8G9Wsx-2sTPsVXgsx-KDbS_Dj/s1600/AmusingThailand.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpmhHY2BjMx0P3ELi5rmcI5b3r542dot2Ctw37tqb_kP08iv56v9zK4ktCcbn-_2Nns0BXI4iCTtxXnIuXbaEPXl3oLn8PpGg22CjOAB8tUdr5DCDEEyp8G9Wsx-2sTPsVXgsx-KDbS_Dj/s320/AmusingThailand.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/amusingthailand/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/amusingthailand/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here is a sign from the Ukraine suggesting the correct way to use the toilet. Notice that out of six possibilities, only one is acceptable toilet behaviour. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPFlhEVBVHvXiA7bAp2qvEw0WsR_RRxYKfo7pKW1R-1H4PfKiZaGgxCqF6h2hkJVK2JPHTqPBu-yNQkSfIDwb-uzGjms7PsojwoSeJJK70j5zYJXgxQ10UY2bDWn3xRjueJaeEesBT_93/s1600/SovietPoster.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPFlhEVBVHvXiA7bAp2qvEw0WsR_RRxYKfo7pKW1R-1H4PfKiZaGgxCqF6h2hkJVK2JPHTqPBu-yNQkSfIDwb-uzGjms7PsojwoSeJJK70j5zYJXgxQ10UY2bDWn3xRjueJaeEesBT_93/s320/SovietPoster.etsy.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SovietPoster">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SovietPoster</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No standing on the toilet seat, fair enough. No kicking the urinal off the wall; goes without saying. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">But no fishing? What's the point of a toilet if you can't bring home a couple of trout for supper?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And no praying, apparently. I'd have thought the toilet was a nice private place to have a quiet prayer. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">(Miggy informs me that this person is vomiting, not praying. Well, that explains it then. The last thing you want is somebody vomiting into the porcelin punchbowl.)</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The graphics used in the Soviet sign are pretty clear but the rules of etiquette explained in Chinglish leave no room for doubt. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJkcKzrA55vVCBrgjs6-M1SFYOY67vFyGpguUkyS9HdPWKQfyLZrAxBd_eZGgP-_QYf_UFz1-qWbXsPDhUVx8yGCanh3EF_YsAJytiiP6znIWkO8DDti29EYrERvVWp2OysA9OKP4fde6n/s1600/signfail7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJkcKzrA55vVCBrgjs6-M1SFYOY67vFyGpguUkyS9HdPWKQfyLZrAxBd_eZGgP-_QYf_UFz1-qWbXsPDhUVx8yGCanh3EF_YsAJytiiP6znIWkO8DDti29EYrERvVWp2OysA9OKP4fde6n/s320/signfail7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/signfail">www.etsy.com/shop/signfail</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The state of some public toilets certainly doesn't make you feel like rolling out a picnic. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XKXSxj0a-QKESwAMBqzssZ8qSj0Anmj04XELbVEi712moGHgxQMIf2CAOtxwo6Yi_eOOjGQIr69Qm9oJ9ArlBc0KJ09wPwinerXucsmIdugcEi81DUkl5xpD4zL397xfCUTLO0qU3wsQ/s1600/Michael.Beitz.201515a7b69a50c675dd14f8cc1bcd30d0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XKXSxj0a-QKESwAMBqzssZ8qSj0Anmj04XELbVEi712moGHgxQMIf2CAOtxwo6Yi_eOOjGQIr69Qm9oJ9ArlBc0KJ09wPwinerXucsmIdugcEi81DUkl5xpD4zL397xfCUTLO0qU3wsQ/s320/Michael.Beitz.201515a7b69a50c675dd14f8cc1bcd30d0.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html">http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Toilet paper has existed since ancient times in China and it was first packaged in the US going back to 1857, but patented in 1891.</span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_csivncoI5I6imd8orNqUsf4nEikUecs8EI52QJZodc6r3Ea9n71NvYFsp3fPuQKO0G1EcPGW2G2K8gb5ylTT2pc842COID7uvFZQ1_7n3v7XnhTjn4hyphenhyphendQeLEEncAAWM__v0sHrvB3VZ/s767/FB_IMG_1628026132431.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="522" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_csivncoI5I6imd8orNqUsf4nEikUecs8EI52QJZodc6r3Ea9n71NvYFsp3fPuQKO0G1EcPGW2G2K8gb5ylTT2pc842COID7uvFZQ1_7n3v7XnhTjn4hyphenhyphendQeLEEncAAWM__v0sHrvB3VZ/w273-h400/FB_IMG_1628026132431.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Now you're lucky if you even get toilet paper. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYR0rLFB7ACIZnmsbB8yOCUhyZ52n6KDlHrPGgQlhy-0E0Yph2ntFKqxAhIJeucVSTHWfqvL_D4PexeEtNxh2ElS9RGCXIR0hJcvod_x3nNhJURjz5hwZ2f0BOK1PXwm-Rlkq7Q8qvrEw/s1600/itison.Mark+O+Cular.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="640" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYR0rLFB7ACIZnmsbB8yOCUhyZ52n6KDlHrPGgQlhy-0E0Yph2ntFKqxAhIJeucVSTHWfqvL_D4PexeEtNxh2ElS9RGCXIR0hJcvod_x3nNhJURjz5hwZ2f0BOK1PXwm-Rlkq7Q8qvrEw/s320/itison.Mark+O+Cular.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/itison/6361426761/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/itison/6361426761/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Fifty Euros for a sheet of loo paper?!! This must have happened during the <a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2020/03/virus-bunny-benches-for-self-isolation.html" target="_blank">toilet paper crisis of 2020</a> when people started hoarding loo rolls as soon as the coronavirus was known. The loo rolls became very valuable items.</span><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu9TKQZXiP6O_paeDjRZOuaKayUQYVGctNieE3x3mMOlnfW3fGTAz5Pivg1-xKOLeOXwaBO5xV1gFOz9meealyk8Wq5iDte7CDURzlGjyH_wNFDGDFCnMFJIsJwH8ETuTMmtZo1h4g3ap5/s381/s-l400+crop.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="179" data-original-width="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu9TKQZXiP6O_paeDjRZOuaKayUQYVGctNieE3x3mMOlnfW3fGTAz5Pivg1-xKOLeOXwaBO5xV1gFOz9meealyk8Wq5iDte7CDURzlGjyH_wNFDGDFCnMFJIsJwH8ETuTMmtZo1h4g3ap5/s320/s-l400+crop.png" width="320" /></a></div> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Toilet paper: who needs it? What do you think your left hand is for? I</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">n some countries the use of toilet paper is considered less hygenic than using water from bottles, lotas, or bidets. It's a cultural thing. </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Going back to Renaissance times, artists show women swathed in toilet paper.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLTzVaFXP7UOAFxQH5ZlKPuCc9odwedDRGX5sCNGDTcv_2lhkvLO4rtnAUT8BBGW2mlEMtiaLD_ZxwxxBC4mNxy4bPpdx8eOY33fU6FmpHZ8lrZI2l2g82Ai3e4Jrg7UiqYaTRumZtvBh/s383/Robert_Campin_012.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="260" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLTzVaFXP7UOAFxQH5ZlKPuCc9odwedDRGX5sCNGDTcv_2lhkvLO4rtnAUT8BBGW2mlEMtiaLD_ZxwxxBC4mNxy4bPpdx8eOY33fU6FmpHZ8lrZI2l2g82Ai3e4Jrg7UiqYaTRumZtvBh/w271-h400/Robert_Campin_012.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Portrait of a Woman</i> c 1435, Robert Campin<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Or to express your national identity, you might want to support your World Cup team. German toilet paper anyone? </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcEgsW39qRnrNNY1pRG6-9pQXCpiOm7IPowBVY320DxEq8xQc1lzvohDsZ7cBIjlK5FaQNdXVGtM7-q8bFmc-S-SwjGEFnj4WWtRsEbhzHsdWkg7vfbJZKk_G4WpSzb2Ji_CHoC3-pLqc/s400/klopapier.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="400" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcEgsW39qRnrNNY1pRG6-9pQXCpiOm7IPowBVY320DxEq8xQc1lzvohDsZ7cBIjlK5FaQNdXVGtM7-q8bFmc-S-SwjGEFnj4WWtRsEbhzHsdWkg7vfbJZKk_G4WpSzb2Ji_CHoC3-pLqc/w400-h299/klopapier.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wc.paper.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In their little toilet palaces, some people have gone way over the top in trying to cover up the fact that it's a toilet. In Las Vegas there is a cover for the toilet seat, available in different moods. That orange one looks constipated if you ask me. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8hu6En5tlvdzTd3DyYT1am-5PpFvhBnfeNyEd5Jy7rrN0AiKR7GUs2Dd4Kq1eCGS3Dva4kclDdMVyXXhnb6N5dUoQ2iWfiFxr3PP5aPFpc8Iz7WvQ2U3_NAu9ycCbr3GJslDFICpPs3Ir/s1600/miss.shari.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8hu6En5tlvdzTd3DyYT1am-5PpFvhBnfeNyEd5Jy7rrN0AiKR7GUs2Dd4Kq1eCGS3Dva4kclDdMVyXXhnb6N5dUoQ2iWfiFxr3PP5aPFpc8Iz7WvQ2U3_NAu9ycCbr3GJslDFICpPs3Ir/s320/miss.shari.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamsters/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamsters/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, in some cases I have to concede that a warm toilet seat cover would be a good idea.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9_z4UBdLTee-FeUDqSjEwrZEm62o443TkkCC-CaHb1_UB-DloXNwrQaxRiVjYpjJu4GxIpJAvqsjIKFC0tRpb-VWUmwBIrlAhan_bOYzm6nxEVxGs6V8-5zvePrQLIzk7LIzeo8qek-0o/s1600/alisonbroverman.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9_z4UBdLTee-FeUDqSjEwrZEm62o443TkkCC-CaHb1_UB-DloXNwrQaxRiVjYpjJu4GxIpJAvqsjIKFC0tRpb-VWUmwBIrlAhan_bOYzm6nxEVxGs6V8-5zvePrQLIzk7LIzeo8qek-0o/s320/alisonbroverman.FKCC.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alisonjfb/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/alisonjfb/ </a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And I can appreciate you might want to use a toilet seat as a wreath for Christmas.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj588Nf8GalVPBm6BoRIrZoe8OR_VgeKp_EYlGohBYhlI2xaoyqGWeSIQzSzV5TrIlsFsq5WzuTrujfhmpMK9gqflNcBpRC9_igWvPH0PXz0TFED8Mh6kSIRXL9pF8qVy9tbLhlRvQT841k/s1600/eclipse_etc.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj588Nf8GalVPBm6BoRIrZoe8OR_VgeKp_EYlGohBYhlI2xaoyqGWeSIQzSzV5TrIlsFsq5WzuTrujfhmpMK9gqflNcBpRC9_igWvPH0PXz0TFED8Mh6kSIRXL9pF8qVy9tbLhlRvQT841k/s320/eclipse_etc.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipse_etc/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipse_etc/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />Or bedeck your tree with toilet art.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsFDeQtA7EB7rwnXbZzUEcO4ykK01byK08KS5IQGB3FaBwwWLJaEPtvRpMwZjArmZPN6U5EK5rXWPD_weO_bZolR2y-BNKjjlJqrPAa26L0idHuInrw_4pDrSJ5iTWfekEmTUd8pPQFz3/s960/301486_957094617920_36921166_46632927_1786593196_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsFDeQtA7EB7rwnXbZzUEcO4ykK01byK08KS5IQGB3FaBwwWLJaEPtvRpMwZjArmZPN6U5EK5rXWPD_weO_bZolR2y-BNKjjlJqrPAa26L0idHuInrw_4pDrSJ5iTWfekEmTUd8pPQFz3/w400-h300/301486_957094617920_36921166_46632927_1786593196_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Trees</i> 2011, Dennis Oppenheim</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">But covering the toilet paper roll with a crocheted cover? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2cnbPcUke4zFe_IO9_P2REmR6LUtPa2JGsviT2r16FBoEuMDuKZs9Zh2nP7YBad7jcdEdqFa61w5ff9DCxoDmcJDeoQZXBoC9Cget_KCn68fxnvcBEF6kmtRR-yvOxSM4BFX3g6UvmqBW/s1600/100_6026.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2cnbPcUke4zFe_IO9_P2REmR6LUtPa2JGsviT2r16FBoEuMDuKZs9Zh2nP7YBad7jcdEdqFa61w5ff9DCxoDmcJDeoQZXBoC9Cget_KCn68fxnvcBEF6kmtRR-yvOxSM4BFX3g6UvmqBW/s320/100_6026.JPG" width="212" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lady Brassica prefers a much more natural approach. Here she is in a 4-ply frock by Joop in Overbearing in Holland. She says the dress is light and comfortable and should you need it, the toilet roll is, ummmm, ready to roll. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijNVssrDLebXvqHkuTS72zhABM_LbdLa7nSLcKqQ0X89uAM1vKgjz152D_bv26dMCelZIbdu13TYFm57xE4NYcNfPjfPkAVLkyaU8i7dE3GvGll09T-UwsIO1HzAEmQhzig1bnrGCfjKYU/s1600/100_6027.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijNVssrDLebXvqHkuTS72zhABM_LbdLa7nSLcKqQ0X89uAM1vKgjz152D_bv26dMCelZIbdu13TYFm57xE4NYcNfPjfPkAVLkyaU8i7dE3GvGll09T-UwsIO1HzAEmQhzig1bnrGCfjKYU/s320/100_6027.JPG" width="179" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">On an outdoor park bench you don't get all these luxuries. A simple seat and quick flush will do the trick.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfWzhjmJXBA9hqMLjqJPiTYU-TdGs0V2Qv_yKa2hVgDwbYoet2-_pgiVmT88I3740XuhaGRs9sM0b1WU9BWGg_VNqSOCrB8iwTfJ7ej7LSpri7qMpC_jvnUFari94n5R47Tv4nPA3y07b/s1600/Justkiddingtoiletprank.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfWzhjmJXBA9hqMLjqJPiTYU-TdGs0V2Qv_yKa2hVgDwbYoet2-_pgiVmT88I3740XuhaGRs9sM0b1WU9BWGg_VNqSOCrB8iwTfJ7ej7LSpri7qMpC_jvnUFari94n5R47Tv4nPA3y07b/s1600/Justkiddingtoiletprank.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 25px;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Just%20Kidding%20prank%20http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbzwXNc67kI"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Just Kidding prank http://www.youtube.com/</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I guess it depends on how much you're prepared to show in public though. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33aUcCr_QrvFC16PuPNShG06xNZqpOdYYlQ5XSuTtDJgyHXHxezHZ3U5LBtUIUgM3Hz0kA9Uf7fKw9tNuvhh_FSSeqD0My4-B3O5b0GG2tg0Y0sqsvPAqOFWUcPw1i-koduztJyBwgvVJ/s1600/h.w.inspirationgree.com.benches01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33aUcCr_QrvFC16PuPNShG06xNZqpOdYYlQ5XSuTtDJgyHXHxezHZ3U5LBtUIUgM3Hz0kA9Uf7fKw9tNuvhh_FSSeqD0My4-B3O5b0GG2tg0Y0sqsvPAqOFWUcPw1i-koduztJyBwgvVJ/s1600/h.w.inspirationgree.com.benches01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.inspirationgreen.com/bench-inspiration.html?start=40" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">http://www.inspirationgreen.com/bench-inspiration</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I don't know about you but I'd have thought this chap should be using the outhouse rather than the bench. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOzM6EuVdbhJGr_0SWEuUug5ic1B65Hgf2doo0_Yt5iVDONIiFrVmffawd03424K7I-zj0x_Qr1l_QIOMuIyWU1BlsRbI87NjFNJWL-BNbKoasv6UOtg4yyeNIeIgDEZF7-AZdvASzq_t/s1600/specsavers@lan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOzM6EuVdbhJGr_0SWEuUug5ic1B65Hgf2doo0_Yt5iVDONIiFrVmffawd03424K7I-zj0x_Qr1l_QIOMuIyWU1BlsRbI87NjFNJWL-BNbKoasv6UOtg4yyeNIeIgDEZF7-AZdvASzq_t/s320/specsavers@lan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/59438695@N02/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/59438695@N02/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Should have gone to Specsavers I guess.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Hopefully his eyesight is good enough to read this sign so that no pantyhose get flushed down the loo.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX5bPS5tr-v97ZSns0zHroDsF7L7vEXNkWGjQpEZRWFH3xpTxP4INOjtfenTcfALv5uAJXdekU0C2gx2YKgGFHL8Ziy2YQREysTEUDCzVdE8SL_ZvZ6XVngpcpfALMO9W8BsnX5o7slTKp/s1600/2440176035_fe41bf2c3a_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX5bPS5tr-v97ZSns0zHroDsF7L7vEXNkWGjQpEZRWFH3xpTxP4INOjtfenTcfALv5uAJXdekU0C2gx2YKgGFHL8Ziy2YQREysTEUDCzVdE8SL_ZvZ6XVngpcpfALMO9W8BsnX5o7slTKp/s1600/2440176035_fe41bf2c3a_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/yanowitz/2440176035">https://www.flickr.com/photos/yanowitz/2440176035</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">That may be a woman thing though. When it comes to toilet etiquette, gender issues are at stake. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2yUHH6uvgbuTqMmvZt1OJ5GH5B1q8sRTLqshrEVs2hSf-0_AJv2OQbrenjTJbvi79wfOg6MQ6OAlPIxOvmxMCN4DbZ9JX0Irfm48O6Y3PQlKFPWj_EYEn9dCNfNU-NIgYut4LwQDwn-9/s1600/nylakelleydesigns.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2yUHH6uvgbuTqMmvZt1OJ5GH5B1q8sRTLqshrEVs2hSf-0_AJv2OQbrenjTJbvi79wfOg6MQ6OAlPIxOvmxMCN4DbZ9JX0Irfm48O6Y3PQlKFPWj_EYEn9dCNfNU-NIgYut4LwQDwn-9/s320/nylakelleydesigns.etsy.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/NYLAKelleyDesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/NYLAKelleyDesigns</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Rows break out over the position of the toilet seat, and women put up notices to persuade men to close the seat. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some women will even call in the government to enforce the Seat Down rule.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41ROnBbFVgSXkM2IdRa4JgcksXcMQ6tzM-oJa18Uuxxx51JPslV4vg8MJ7YVqN2LRi_ekiHYBKjhyDkjNt0iP3z5YO-aW07YcOr94DMYJNCUp92tIxXUNu0uMDJSdBpQDcgKBE6Payfnb/s1600/Nipomoimprints.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41ROnBbFVgSXkM2IdRa4JgcksXcMQ6tzM-oJa18Uuxxx51JPslV4vg8MJ7YVqN2LRi_ekiHYBKjhyDkjNt0iP3z5YO-aW07YcOr94DMYJNCUp92tIxXUNu0uMDJSdBpQDcgKBE6Payfnb/s320/Nipomoimprints.etsy.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NipomoImprints">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NipomoImprints</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's a low-tech, practical solution to the prickly problem of Toilet Seat Misery:</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPUVwhyO9CsgdIoEjnTNqLqbDApifSwTj1AAnRotc51AiAla4sUq8GUPh_XdLuPi1Eg7ijBbiiUzWTiO0nsAaz8mFRu_qKTDiKVA2ggcS9VsbKC6tCdh7AcaWkOLUrY2_oeeOUAP2HF1xM/s1600/Miss+Shari.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPUVwhyO9CsgdIoEjnTNqLqbDApifSwTj1AAnRotc51AiAla4sUq8GUPh_XdLuPi1Eg7ijBbiiUzWTiO0nsAaz8mFRu_qKTDiKVA2ggcS9VsbKC6tCdh7AcaWkOLUrY2_oeeOUAP2HF1xM/s320/Miss+Shari.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamsters/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamsters/</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In Japan toilet technology has moved on so that toilet seat issues have become passe. Here is the Angels Knee Pillow, which is a low level cushion on which men can kneel in comfort.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldPuOM7tDbdK7Zxwqi7P7JIf8JRXiwlS9F35zPoQrDIuXTQq0WimcGNHpj0_2B2HxeN9RhSuycqSdQU4-vi84VU6UzxBbV7rvfnNxblWp5PySnehyphenhyphenlICxd3EJDQslB3351V3vQnR9rvC9/s1600/toilet+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldPuOM7tDbdK7Zxwqi7P7JIf8JRXiwlS9F35zPoQrDIuXTQq0WimcGNHpj0_2B2HxeN9RhSuycqSdQU4-vi84VU6UzxBbV7rvfnNxblWp5PySnehyphenhyphenlICxd3EJDQslB3351V3vQnR9rvC9/s1600/toilet+B.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.house-doctor.jp/kaiteki/">http://www.house-doctor.jp/kaiteki/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm trying to keep decorum here but it's only fair to show you a demonstration of how the Angel Knee Cushion works.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ37MAiZWe3ke732w9JbkSTOk-6VwsZGs2r3m_faLtAdKrJnzzqYu78WH3CbB3332Xfu1amKNdd7kbQBDDMalLPvB_G7ONQMZ0B53r4aSfjrDBbYM6m9RFpva3jS8Nj2K-QrvtajHSgtZ5/s1600/pee+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ37MAiZWe3ke732w9JbkSTOk-6VwsZGs2r3m_faLtAdKrJnzzqYu78WH3CbB3332Xfu1amKNdd7kbQBDDMalLPvB_G7ONQMZ0B53r4aSfjrDBbYM6m9RFpva3jS8Nj2K-QrvtajHSgtZ5/s1600/pee+B.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.house-doctor.jp/kaiteki/">http://www.house-doctor.jp/kaiteki/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If the relief on this guy's face is anything to go by, this pillow really is angelic. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And now to what World Toilets Day is really about. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">For millions of people in the world today, a nice clean toilet, whatever its style, is not available. For too many people, a toilet like this one is all they have.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRk49txcCLqGvK8bGBmmm0T_Yj51kLwo0Ji-dYHa8LOJX4ioX8H5FKF-u6LUnwBK0xQXjMa4bdtg5oF54QTzK8iqC9v_Hgz7EgpkcWpXGPh7D0IWhyphenhypheno5HzS16EvBzsvhzXjzwCVhE5NzOR/s1600/eva.easternblot.tibetanT.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRk49txcCLqGvK8bGBmmm0T_Yj51kLwo0Ji-dYHa8LOJX4ioX8H5FKF-u6LUnwBK0xQXjMa4bdtg5oF54QTzK8iqC9v_Hgz7EgpkcWpXGPh7D0IWhyphenhypheno5HzS16EvBzsvhzXjzwCVhE5NzOR/s320/eva.easternblot.tibetanT.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/easternblot/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/easternblot/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">How would you like to sit on this?</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ukNzTyAJF1TtxTlr5O4wBqiaWndg61r8zdtwTeU7oQW3JbhYP63d5lQ3ymt54RODSiHoVHxQ_iN8Fg-Nt3r1U6pvKkUusj4N-Xlm5P4BOLE0xEiOcszRRpez-r353XxVgRgPAEoqr9Jg/s1600/Sustainablesanitation.Nairobi.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ukNzTyAJF1TtxTlr5O4wBqiaWndg61r8zdtwTeU7oQW3JbhYP63d5lQ3ymt54RODSiHoVHxQ_iN8Fg-Nt3r1U6pvKkUusj4N-Xlm5P4BOLE0xEiOcszRRpez-r353XxVgRgPAEoqr9Jg/s320/Sustainablesanitation.Nairobi.FKCC.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If you've ever been to a festival you've probably had to use a long-drop toilet.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeyVWMTAUexHgJahaqRFF6i4w0V7xEdNC7GLtcttUixzuYS3CAJfK8Qp-LucyJ4k1gQOEsrihDA1eFyJAV1pcrI6A1SZ8tykl8ZcF7PD9jof3q4PqdKpi9Q45sdt7mzjCmt2iTT834Jvj/s1600/100_5624.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeyVWMTAUexHgJahaqRFF6i4w0V7xEdNC7GLtcttUixzuYS3CAJfK8Qp-LucyJ4k1gQOEsrihDA1eFyJAV1pcrI6A1SZ8tykl8ZcF7PD9jof3q4PqdKpi9Q45sdt7mzjCmt2iTT834Jvj/s320/100_5624.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Imagine those toilets on the last day of the festival, after heat or heavy rain. Think of those toilets at their very worst and you'll know what many people around the world have to face every day. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">How do you go about providing sanitation in a place like this?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodRDNA7zdz6Q6GaN9wleQV6Z17y4bm_mR2rikZXegCDiR5CQlI5SIAKUUDZmvnHtRsxtaHClnWS5VOstd8bh9iYlovryC5LlEi9VbqZ_EHZDWBPj30Iq7lJvyrvrAAtOJiXNt4_a2hiK7/s1600/SuSana.Lima.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodRDNA7zdz6Q6GaN9wleQV6Z17y4bm_mR2rikZXegCDiR5CQlI5SIAKUUDZmvnHtRsxtaHClnWS5VOstd8bh9iYlovryC5LlEi9VbqZ_EHZDWBPj30Iq7lJvyrvrAAtOJiXNt4_a2hiK7/s400/SuSana.Lima.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/5635162512/" style="text-align: start;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/5635162512/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, here's where benches come into it. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This is a water-free bench toilet in Peru. It's low-cost, clean, efficient, and totally practical.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6VzzVeVqcord_QpxNE0_aR0K_f4iZ_UGUYj32mprvsR1w1FjqN-a4G_8VKwcqE8YYElYruWHaLwm9vlTJbikSuguCNIInJ-WoBSpGDcW6Yo9cxbf7M0Usvy3UJuC4Fq09zOwUKiOua5Sz/s1600/sustainablesanitation.Peru.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6VzzVeVqcord_QpxNE0_aR0K_f4iZ_UGUYj32mprvsR1w1FjqN-a4G_8VKwcqE8YYElYruWHaLwm9vlTJbikSuguCNIInJ-WoBSpGDcW6Yo9cxbf7M0Usvy3UJuC4Fq09zOwUKiOua5Sz/s320/sustainablesanitation.Peru.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/5635164646/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/5635164646/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Agencies like Sustainable Sanitation are working to help people access clean, safe toilets, like this bench toilet in Mexico.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg41rH9WMD7J0gliFNYbuCZLmkES71NPjYo_jN9RPIMXB6dRIiJZWg532XgH5FXE2nO5_S3u2PGQkTWvfYfoywBUAnj0XlLArCO2MdYqAbENDj6XPNuS6wbi2MQ_M-8Cp4yu-CZW8ytiCF8/s1600/Sustainable+Sanitation.Mexico.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg41rH9WMD7J0gliFNYbuCZLmkES71NPjYo_jN9RPIMXB6dRIiJZWg532XgH5FXE2nO5_S3u2PGQkTWvfYfoywBUAnj0XlLArCO2MdYqAbENDj6XPNuS6wbi2MQ_M-8Cp4yu-CZW8ytiCF8/s320/Sustainable+Sanitation.Mexico.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/6210832591/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/6210832591/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">A simple bench toilet can improve health and literally be a lifesaver.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpuGJ6qUq6MDOiRzEWPmEVspweSS47AVnU1VuqB3RAmLFZFxVXmUdrhtGN3Q31F67ze4yCV_o0k5ifs3ymaJW6LYvncg5BkSB8scTOM5xm_Q9ytrmu-LNkOeeiAn0NtcXCRBH9eYktKTts/s1600/sustainablesanitation.Rotaria.Bstyle.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpuGJ6qUq6MDOiRzEWPmEVspweSS47AVnU1VuqB3RAmLFZFxVXmUdrhtGN3Q31F67ze4yCV_o0k5ifs3ymaJW6LYvncg5BkSB8scTOM5xm_Q9ytrmu-LNkOeeiAn0NtcXCRBH9eYktKTts/s320/sustainablesanitation.Rotaria.Bstyle.FKCC.jpg" width="293" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/6813901368/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/6813901368/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Bench toilets can, of course, be very posh. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some bench toilets conceal their secrets, like this combined toilet and bidet bench. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLJvsBxrHZ8JmiwJOhihwphaEefPzNwi4VNOwabeXlfp7Xfv4RP7H60_eusAKUN6CuOnVL1seBI0BfIfylpqaehJT0XS1JS3rwPpfE5ULIzqQfYYG7fHdXqVTZiBph8-smkAANko_Xwv58/s1600/Hatria.G-Full.Toiletbench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLJvsBxrHZ8JmiwJOhihwphaEefPzNwi4VNOwabeXlfp7Xfv4RP7H60_eusAKUN6CuOnVL1seBI0BfIfylpqaehJT0XS1JS3rwPpfE5ULIzqQfYYG7fHdXqVTZiBph8-smkAANko_Xwv58/s320/Hatria.G-Full.Toiletbench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.houzz.com/photos/5904768/Hatria-s-G-Full-toilet---bidet-bench---CERSAIE-2013-contemporary--other-metro">http://www.houzz.com/photos/5904768/Hatria</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some are so discrete that with the lid down they look like coffee tables.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcuYGja3Hz65S_XoObarb3-z1enrhOF8mGJB2sXe-CnkNVHGBijzSY6fbt20-hhqiAzh92w4vBOGrwWoi2mm-55OIC6Q3OvzPnquwVYXwFE0DmQo-HoweWNuTPgE4d8NuXYGbzBjr3eEI3/s1600/bench-toilet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcuYGja3Hz65S_XoObarb3-z1enrhOF8mGJB2sXe-CnkNVHGBijzSY6fbt20-hhqiAzh92w4vBOGrwWoi2mm-55OIC6Q3OvzPnquwVYXwFE0DmQo-HoweWNuTPgE4d8NuXYGbzBjr3eEI3/s320/bench-toilet.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.villeroy-boch.com/">www.villeroy-boch.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Mungo and I have our own version of this; we use it when we go camping.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeShU9ng5_3OwPRLm6ry8u7Sj1BS7g2-cWkbU1-rhSNuJmFzyzjhCVFU8YyvOICBXABDESiG3X3KLsmMTU56Z2f_RMzx-dSsm0_yRXpRuuhcd9YMwaDCqeFE2OOTj2cRguTTteL5mejzKQ/s1600/Thetfordcassette.bench.toilet..jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeShU9ng5_3OwPRLm6ry8u7Sj1BS7g2-cWkbU1-rhSNuJmFzyzjhCVFU8YyvOICBXABDESiG3X3KLsmMTU56Z2f_RMzx-dSsm0_yRXpRuuhcd9YMwaDCqeFE2OOTj2cRguTTteL5mejzKQ/s320/Thetfordcassette.bench.toilet..jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ok, it's plastic but it's soooooo much better than this campground toilet we had in Belgium.</span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGqGI_rLndSR8Med_SL6NSWamK7dYFGJ2iOE6NEomr2RMOW7AsqT6WMgHpnrmU2dHzpsJOuP4MnEepVpmMk_9bZixG0hwSF3vrryqNn0AOP4dx3vvd1-S4d_vKYu12fyPe5OgWh6Xam5p/s1600/belgian+toilet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGqGI_rLndSR8Med_SL6NSWamK7dYFGJ2iOE6NEomr2RMOW7AsqT6WMgHpnrmU2dHzpsJOuP4MnEepVpmMk_9bZixG0hwSF3vrryqNn0AOP4dx3vvd1-S4d_vKYu12fyPe5OgWh6Xam5p/s320/belgian+toilet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And it really beats the outhouse, especially since there seems to be a witch in there.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgc8LoQc4Qagp6wSftffHA9Xz6UQ3OYSQNPGJB_mJnTb3_jJarJ63eSl5PT_P3_QAT1Pan9kp63DgS6SS16IvVOjd_jb8P7dWC2OJze4AwK2fbievYeAUAhRzQjPBpWxdxXl8wNB1KKAh/s1600/travelingoz.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgc8LoQc4Qagp6wSftffHA9Xz6UQ3OYSQNPGJB_mJnTb3_jJarJ63eSl5PT_P3_QAT1Pan9kp63DgS6SS16IvVOjd_jb8P7dWC2OJze4AwK2fbievYeAUAhRzQjPBpWxdxXl8wNB1KKAh/s320/travelingoz.jpg" width="229" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/travelingoz">www.etsy.com/shop/travelingoz</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here on Paradise Island Emily Hardhat is our Engineer-in-Residence. Emily won the Spanner of the Year award in 2013 for her contributions to engineering. She loves <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/emilys-well-engineered-bridge-benches.html">bridges and benches</a>. And it's great to see that she has taken on board the sensible bench toilet approach. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We collected up all our shower gel and shampoo lids and thanks to Emily, Fribble is now flush with lovely toilet benches.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI4ENGVTV0GJ4CS3R8JT0Rfkp0jnKj7XILq3_iQ11q9eu7zODm84Caf9OHzaZf9XRPp7QLb2e-ormvI46vjUZCKUzzxmtS0AVamI8k68J0ZkHa5cLxAKLEjrevc4r571ivofybZNEtC3JB/s1600/toilets.best.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI4ENGVTV0GJ4CS3R8JT0Rfkp0jnKj7XILq3_iQ11q9eu7zODm84Caf9OHzaZf9XRPp7QLb2e-ormvI46vjUZCKUzzxmtS0AVamI8k68J0ZkHa5cLxAKLEjrevc4r571ivofybZNEtC3JB/s320/toilets.best.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Guenther Haas took the pictur<span style="font-size: x-small;">e </span></span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Secondary Roll</span></i><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> a</span>t the European Juggling</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Convention 2011 in Munich in which he participated as a juggler. He also took Johnny on the Spot, the little guy who looks to me like a construction worker hanging from a crane. Guenther describes himself as a hobby photographer, mainly interested in long exposures, light painting and other exceptional or experimental, </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">maybe even artistic, photography. Check out the light paintings and bulb pictures folders in his Flickr photostream at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/guenther_haas/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/guenther_haas/</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Toilet paper became a very big thing in 2020 when the coronavirus hit the whole world. <a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2020/03/virus-bunny-benches-for-self-isolation.html">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2020/03/virus-bunny-benches-for-self-isolation.html</a> People feared they would run out of toilet paper so some people hoarded as much as they could get. The hoarding, of course, led to shortages that didn't really exist.</span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ruth W from the Wirral has been taking photographs more or less seriously for about 25 years, first with a couple of Yashica SLRs, lately with a Canon EOS 50E, and a 10D. She thought digital would only ever be a quick and easy sideline, but she loves it, and the freedom it gives to play in the digital darkroom. She photographs places mostly: landscapes, towns, buildings and architectural details, including, for some weird reason, lots of doors and windows. And fortunately for us, toilets, like the two-toilet bench she found in the Pennines near Hebden Bridge. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruth_w/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruth_w/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The ancient bench at Philippi was photographed by Mungo on a trip we took to Greece in 1998. He had no idea at the time that this photograph would come in handy when I wanted to write a short history of toilet benches. Philippi is the place where St. Paul baptised Lydia and it's a much visited site near Kavala in northern Greece. Our guide that day was Athena, who amused us all by telling us one fact at a time and then saying <i>Forget all about that now, I have something else to tell you</i>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The image from Odyssey Adventures in Archaeology is a reconstruction of the Housesteads Roman Fort latrines at Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland where there was a garrison of about 800 Roman soldiers. </span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.odysseyadventures.ca/index.htm">http://www.odysseyadventures.ca/index.htm</a> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The reconstruction shows the soldiers in a social occasion, washing themselves and using the latrines. Water channels fed by rainwater and runoff flushed out the system and later there was a cistern with a capacity of close to 24,000 litres. A different water channel ran around the perimeter of the central platform with water for washing. The Romans generally used a ‘sponge on a stick’ in place of toilet paper. Sponges are not native to British waters so either they were imported or the men used some local substitute such as moss. Housesteads Roman Fort is now run by English Heritage and makes a great day out if you're interested in archaeology.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>There is a surprising amount of art on this subject, including people actually on the toilet. Showing public loos at Vauxhall Gardens in London, <i>Inside the Lady's Garden at Vauxhall</i> (1788) is pretty explicit. The artist is S.W. Fores. Then there's an illustration of how ladies used the bourdaloue, a French device apparently designed by Louis Bourdaloue (1632-1704), a priest of King Louis XIV. The priest realised that his very long sermons caused discomfort to the good ladies of France so he designed the gravy-boat shaped porcelin device they could stick under their skirts, sort of discreetly. The painting depicting this action is by Francois Boucher (1703-1770). The painting is called <i>La Toilette Intime,</i> quite literally, A Woman Pissing. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Die Morgenwasche: Fraulauf einem Bidet</i>, was painted in 1790. Yes, it's Woman on a Bidet having her morning wash. She's German and the artist is Louise Leopold Boilly. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bidets have long been a source of confusion for North Americans travelling in Europe. When you see two toilet-looking basins side by side, which do you use for what? But if you've ever had a bidet in your bathroom, you'll know what a great thing it is. You can wash your feet, your small pets, or, um, anything that fits in there. In this photo, Paoli, from Italy, is soaking her feet in the bidet. Good idea. <a class="external free" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/68238333@N00/633699256/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f8f9fa; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; background: url("/w/skins/Vector/resources/skins.vector.styles/images/external-link-ltr-icon.svg?b4b84") right center no-repeat rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #bb6633; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; outline-color: rgb(51, 102, 204); overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-right: 13px;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/68238333@N00/633699256/</a> Her photo is from Flickr but she also made it available on a wikicommons Share Alike licence.</div><div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">John Dalkin is at Heaven's Gate, photographically speaking. His three-holer is entitled <i>3's Company</i> and he explains that <i>the Georgian earth closet was originally constructed in the garden of Townsend House, on the outskirts of Leominster during the early 18th century. The 3 holes are set into a box bench over a deep cesspit. The pit could be emptied by means of a trap-door in the floor. It was dismantled in 1982 and re-erected at the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, Bromsgrove, England</i>. John's photostream is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/59303791@N00/</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The chamber pot is under a primitive vintage potty bench which I saw on ebay recently for $69.95. Bidding is over now but you can still have a look at <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Wooden-Childrens-Toilet-Vintage-Potty-Bench-Primitive-/310781604097">http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Wooden-Childrens-Toilet-Vintage-Potty-Bench-Primitive-/310781604097</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The outhouse in Sydney dates from 1900 when there was an outbreak of Bubonic Plague in the slum buildings of Sydney. Cleansing and disinfecting operations followed. The photographer is Mr. John Degotardi Jr. from the Department of Public Works; the photo is in</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> the Photographic Collection, State Records in New South Wales. </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/state-records-nsw/7558806668/sizes/m/in/photolist-cvWRSU-dYa3XX-ddLZ9V-ddM1YA-cqpWR3-8iTL3g-aRz8s2-eESoUA-eESp7A/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/state-records-nsw/7558806668/sizes/m/in/photolist-cvWRSU-dYa3XX-ddLZ9V-ddM1YA-cqpWR3-8iTL3g-aRz8s2-eESoUA-eESp7A/</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The bedroom with the chamber pot on the floor and the outhouse with a happy face are both from the Open Air museum in Nancray, in Franche Compte in France. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't been able to trace the origins of the illustration, but the woman is throwing the contents of a chambre pot out into the street. She yells <i>Guardez-l'eau</i>, (watch out for the water) which is the origins of the word 'loo' as used for toilet in the UK, as in <i>I'm popping to the loo</i>. <br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Boon Keat Tan's shop is Queensland City Wall Art Station, a design studio specialising in computer die-cut vinyl decals and other graphic art. Boon has a wide range of creative toilet signs. I loved the one with people crossing their legs. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Queenslandcity2009">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Queenslandcity2009</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Squeezemonkey is a graphic designer and climbing instructor in the UK. She has some great sets on her flickr photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/squeezemonkey/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/squeezemonkey/ </a> My favourites are the objects, and, of course, the Old Bench toilet. What luxury that must have been when everyone else had to squat in the street.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The elegant <i>Bench Toilet</i> from Julien in Quebec is indeed a work of art.</span><a href="http://www.julien.ca/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.julien.ca</a> <span face="verdana, sans-serif"> It comes from designer Troy Adams and won the DPHA Innovative New Plumbing Product of the Year award a few years ago </span><a href="http://studiobeckerla.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://studiobeckerla.com/</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> It features a stainless steel bench with a sliding wooden component which hides the toilet when it's not needed and there is storage underneath. The wood comes in ebony, teak, wenge or zebrawood and the steel bit is brushed stainless steel. The Troy Adams Fusion Design philosophy is described as '<i>an Asian-based sensitivity to nature, a European-inspired sophistication and an American focus on functionality</i>'. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> It sells for around $11,500, if you can find one. I have asked my two husbands to club together for my Christmas present. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Thinking of getting a tattoo? <i>The Thinker</i> is a vinyl decal toilet tattoo which is an easy way to give you something to think about whilst sitting on your toilet bench. It's from Eyvaldecal in California, who make all sorts of vinyl wall art for showers, bathrooms and interior design. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/eyvaldecal">www.etsy.com/shop/eyvaldecal</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cappy Sue is from St. Louis and she makes all kinds of strange and interesting stuff. Her CappySue shop is the home of the Penis Pendant, apparently, and she likes to encourage people to jazz up their crap. Hmmm. There's some toilet humour, including a toilet ballerina and the two toilets having a game of tennis. Andy Murray at Flushing Meadows perhaps? Elsewhere in her shop there is Mature Content. Not sure I'm ready for that but by all means do have a look at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/cappysue">www.etsy.com/shop/cappysue</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Peretz Partensky is a scientist and adventurer from Ekatarinburg in Russia. He has a tendency to photograph various kinds of toilets in the places he visits, which is fortunate for me, especially as he makes them available on Flickr Creative Commons. His photograph <i>Your Feet Here</i> pretty much describes what you're supposed to do with a foot toilet. <i>East Meets West</i> sums up the choice: squat or sit, which is it going to be? PeretzP is currently in Afghanistan so I look forward to his photos. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifl/" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifl/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Tenshi no Hizamakura or Angels Knee Pillow is from Japan and is by designer Kaiteki Raifi Kemklyusho at <a href="http://www.house-doctor.jp/kaiteki/">http://www.house-doctor.jp/kaiteki/</a> It was quite a topic of conversation on the internet in 2009, when it was selling for 5800 yen (about $60). Worth it? Some people who clean bathrooms might think so. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Eva is a Dutch scientist, writer and musician who currently lives in the UK and has a prolonged exposure to Toronto. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Her photostream covers all manner of images from western and eastern countries. She also runs the <i>Easternblot Images of Science</i> group, for which she photographed what she reckons is possibly the dirtiest toilet in the world, at Pang-La pass in Tibet. What we can't see in the picture is </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>poo at my feet (near the entrance), HUGE mountain of poo underneath the holes, and the smell</i>. (Too much information, Eva!) Her Flickr photostream is at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/easternblot/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/easternblot/</a></span><br /><br /><div class="H3-P"><span class="H3-C">The Dagobert Wooden Toilet Throne is from Herbeau's Powder Room Couture collection. It pays homage to </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">King Dagobert’s reign (629 to 638 AD) as last ruler of </span><span class="Normal-C" face="verdana, sans-serif">the French Merovingian dynasty. </span><span class="Normal-C" face="verdana, sans-serif">The classic French children’s song, <i>Le Bon Roi Dagobert</i> </span><span class="Normal-C" face="verdana, sans-serif">tells the story of King Dagobert arriving late for an </span><span class="Normal-C" face="verdana, sans-serif">important council meeting with his trousers on inside </span><span class="Normal-C" face="verdana, sans-serif">out. As a fitting introduction to this whimsical toilet, a </span><span class="Normal-C" face="verdana, sans-serif">music box begins playing <i>Le Bon Roi Dagobert</i> as the </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span class="Normal-C">lid is raised. T</span><span class="Normal-C">he flush mechanism is </span><span class="Normal-C">connected to a pull chain and bell, thus letting everyone </span></span><span class="Normal-C"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">know that all is well in the kingdom.</span> <a href="http://www.herbeau.com/index.html">http://www.herbeau.com/index.html</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Red Jet is not an airborne jet as you might have thought; it's a fast catamaran ferry service from Cowes Isle of Wight to Southampton. The 'flight' takes 24 minutes and there are no toilets on board. You have been warned. The photo was taken by Sheila B., who has a sharp eye for noticing things like this. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Terry Bain took the photo of the sandstone toilet in Spokane, Washington. Terry is a writer, humourist and book designer who claims to be owned and operated by dogs and cats and children. His recent works are <a href="http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0307339181/?tag=terrybain" rel="nofollow">We Are the Cat</a> and (less recently) <a href="http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1400052424/?tag=terrybain" rel="nofollow">You Are a Dog</a>. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/axis/193244469">https://www.flickr.com/photos/axis/193244469</a></span></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Tempting though it may seem, you are not supposed to wash your feet in this toilet in Thailand. The photo was taken in 2011 and is from the photostream of Amusing Thailand at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/amusingthailand/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/amusingthailand/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Having been a traveller in the old Soviet Union in the 1980s, I just love Soviet Posters so I was delighted to find Aleksandr's shop at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SovietPoster">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SovietPoster</a> From his shop in the Ukraine he sells prints and posters of Soviet propaganda. Lenin, Stalin, communist Pioneers - they're all here. A public toilet in Leningrad is still in my Top Five worst toilets of all time so maybe there's a need for these detailed images of how to behave in the bathroom.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm a great fan of Sign Fail, an etsy shop at </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SignFail</a> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">. These are funny sign replicas inspired by real-life hilarity, the best of Chinglish & Engrish on handmade funny signs, cards & magnets. The signs are handmade to order in Melbourne, Australia by Michael Bancroft and I've picked out several which are just right for Benchsite. Many thanks, Michael. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Michael Beitz, a Fine Arts graduate of the University of Buffalo, exhibits throughout Europe and the US. He makes all kinds of weird and wonderful sculptures which have emerged from his years as a furniture designer. Sofas in knots, upside down tables - it's great to see his quirky, twisty, mind-bending stuff. The giant toilet roll picnic tables piece is called <i>Roll</i>, and it was a feature of Banksy's Dismaland project in 2015.</span><br /><a href="http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><br /><div align="left"><div style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Mark O' Cúlar is from Kilkenny in Ireland, though he now lives in Dublin. He photographed the Euro toilet paper in 2011, when there was apparently a great exchange rate. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/itison/6361426761/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/itison/6361426761/</a></span></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></span><br /><div><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><br /></span></div></div></div><div><font face="verdana">In March 2020 toilet paper became a very valuable commodity in places where coronavirus resulted in lockdown. In Manchester in the UK one factory was churning out 4.7 million rolls per day and still the shops were empty of toilet paper. A very popular joke appeared everywhere, especially on delivery vans where the message was sometimes written into the dust; <i>No toilet paper kept in this vehicle overnight</i>. </font></div><div><font face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font face="verdana"><i style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #202122; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background: none; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A Man and A Woman</b></i><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px;"> is the title sometimes used for a pair of oil and egg tempera on oak panel, </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px;">paintings attributed to the </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Netherlandish_painting" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #6b4ba1; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Early Netherlandish painting">Early Netherlandish</a><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px;"> painter </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Campin" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #6b4ba1; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Robert Campin">Robert Campin</a><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px;">, completed in c. 1435. During lockdown there were many hilarious old masters portrsit created with toilet paper. Since 2010 American artist Nina Katchadurian has a whole series of such portraits which she creates in the confined space of airline toilets. </span></font></div><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Miss Shari likes these furry and colourful toilet seat covers which she photographed in Las Vegas in 2006. She also snapped the His and Hers cactus toilets which appear in her photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamsters/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamsters/</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The ice toilet is from the bathroom of an ice house set up in Dundas Square in Toronto as part of a Microsoft advertising project in 2007. It was photographed by Alison Broverman, otherwise known as Pink Hats, Red Shoes. Alison says that if you ignored all the computer geekery, the ice house was pretty neat.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alisonjfb/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/alisonjfb/ </a> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">eclipse_etc wants to make it clear that she hates the new Flickr. As so many of us do. But what we love is the Christmas wreath made from from a recycled toilet seat, gold spray paint, glitter and mardi gras beads. Eclipse_etc. reckons she wins the prize for tackiness and I can't help but agree. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipse_etc/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipse_etc/</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Tree</i> is the toilet-tree (geddit?). It's a sculpture by Dennis Oppenheim, seen at Yorkshire Sculpture Garden.<br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If you're a follower of Benchsite you'll know that Lady Jessica Brassica is the wife of Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly. She loves fashion and has her very own personal designer, Joop, from Overbearing in Holland. Lady B likes a minimalist approach to clothing so this paper dress suits her. However, she's asking Joop to use two-ply next time so that the dress is a little more revealing. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The toilet bench in the park looks like kind of a practical idea, if not a very appealing one. Of course it's just a prank but watch the amazed reactions of people on the bench! </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 25px;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Just%20Kidding%20prank%20http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbzwXNc67kI">Just Kidding prank http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbzwXNc67kI</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The brilliant Butt bench is one of those images which is all over the internet but is impossible to trace. I'd like to give credit for the design but I have been unable to find any clues. I saw it at Inspiration Green, who are scrupulous about providing credits and even they don't name the designer so this is the best I can do: </span><a href="http://www.inspirationgreen.com/bench-inspiration.html?start=40" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.inspirationgreen.com/bench-inspiration.html?start=40</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Karenoc11 took the photograph of the gentleman on the park bench with a newspaper and his trousers around his ankles. She calls this picture Should have gone to Specsavers. Yep, I'd agree. Karen has been taking pictures for a couple of years and says she's still not as good as she would like to be but in 12 months she has improved, knowledge increased, gained more equipment, and is willing to experiment. Most importantly, she's still having lots of fun. She loves shooting in RAW and by this time next year she'd like to have a photo in print. Her photostream is at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/59438695@N02/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/59438695@N02/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Jason Yanowitz is from Amherst, USA. He photographs a lot of quirky stuff, including toilet haikus and the sign about pantyhose, which he saw at the Montague Book Mill bathroom in 2008. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/yanowitz/2440176035">https://www.flickr.com/photos/yanowitz/2440176035</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Nyla Kelley loves embroidery and can make almost anything with paper. One of her signs suggests that men don't have a very good aim toilet-wise. In her embroidery shoppe she offers custom embroidered gifts exclusive Bebe' & Bugaboo Boutique bibs, blankets, sashay hair bows & head bands, scarves and socks for kiddos. She doesn't stop there. Other products are personalized name signs, flags, photo shoot name banners, scrap-books & family recipe books, digital & traditional styles. There are also greeting cards, and personalized and monogrammed note card sets with coordinating return address labels. Besides embroidery, she can make almost anything with paper. Where is her shoppe? At <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/NYLAKelleyDesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/NYLAKelleyDesigns</a></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Brett and Jacqlynn's shop is in Nipomo, California at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NipomoImprints">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NipomoImprints</a> They provide high quality illustrations for digital download that are print ready or they can provide you with a canvas print. They also specialize in vinyl decals like the message from Uncle Sam demanding that you put down the toilet seat. Golly, there are a lot of scary things inside toilets these days. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The photographs of bench toilets in Peru, Mexico and elsewhere come from the collection of GIZ in Germany, who is responsible for the secretariat of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA). The urine diversion dehydration toilets (UDDTs) were photographed by staff members and other contributors to the group. A photostream showing their good work is at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/</a> The settlement pictured is the San Juan de Miraflores settlement in Lima, Peru. It was photographed by Heike Hoffmann in 2011 for Rotaria del Peru. </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/5635162512/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/5635162512/</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The beautiful Hatria G-Full toilet bidet bench is from Cersaie in Italy. It has a gorgeous wood top which conceals both a toilet and a bidet, with storage underneath. I want one! It was exhibited in Bologna in September 2013 and photographed by Mariana Pickering for houzz.com at <a href="http://www.houzz.com/photos/5904768/Hatria-s-G-Full-toilet---bidet-bench---CERSAIE-2013-contemporary--other-metro">http://www.houzz.com/photos/5904768/Hatria-s-G-Full-toilet---bidet-bench---CERSAIE-2013-contemporary--other-metro</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The City Life Smartbench is a WC bench from the well-known Villeroy and Boch. It is described as <i>an elegant piece of wooden furniture which conceals a ceramic toilet that is only visible when the seat is opened. The WC has an easy-care ceramicplus finish and a wooden seat matching the overall design. Toilet rolls and brush are integrated into a frosted glass panel in the piece of furniture itself. Thanks to the Soft Closing technology, the entire toilet functions can be soundlessly shut away in a matter of seconds</i>. What more can you ask of a toilet? <a href="http://www.villeroy-boch.com/">www.villeroy-boch.com</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Belgian campsite toilet was one of many bad ones we encountered on a bike trip in Europe a couple of years ago. It was the last straw for me and the following year we got the caravan bench toilet. Elegant, clean and yes, plastic, it has solved all our toilet problems. If I've captured your interest in festival toilets you can read more</span><b> </b><span face="verdana, sans-serif">at </span><br /><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/festive-festival-benches-liveblogged.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/festive-festival-benches-liveblogged.html</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Like me, Carol and Cindy from Kansas are great fans of the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy, Toto, the Wicked Witch of the East; they've made a business out of it at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/travelingoz">www.etsy.com/shop/travelingoz</a>. Their art prints are suitable for framing and feature the legs of the Wicked Witch wearing her ruby slippers. In this case she is stuck in an outhouse in Meade, Kansas at the hideout of the infamous Dalton Gang. Apparently she was trying to hide from Glinda, the good witch, so she fell in and probably got what she deserved. </span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKaDmUcD7dz1_0Yqix1n6P9xjIclz29TsnELzkmc8UMw5qV5Y4xJkPF-s3Hx-V1dc-_wNNMsk0sw4k1nU1vVCUydzFUmD0gy0_6o9KsIUITuQh-a8cQQq-eQewnAiCalOaxg7uyUIARhu/s1600/100_6022.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKaDmUcD7dz1_0Yqix1n6P9xjIclz29TsnELzkmc8UMw5qV5Y4xJkPF-s3Hx-V1dc-_wNNMsk0sw4k1nU1vVCUydzFUmD0gy0_6o9KsIUITuQh-a8cQQq-eQewnAiCalOaxg7uyUIARhu/s320/100_6022.JPG" width="215" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-12893988199865445042022-10-18T03:26:00.002-07:002023-10-02T12:59:12.075-07:00Harrowing Halloween Benches 2023<p> It's Halloween and the scary benches are out. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHveuQjFwwhAxe0jdPBYxvyIICztAp_e57JfLzEqTCQv1NiFmC7gNVyjjiDFhYga5mEhb8jf7gLNh5MTs_hSW0Dxd1iYWGanHm087U8dre9bc4IaqTSNW_J-yQxXWWDBpr7kH5LtXNUi6Q/s744/scary-vintage-halloween-creepy-costumes-130-57fcaebc54a9b__605.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="605" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHveuQjFwwhAxe0jdPBYxvyIICztAp_e57JfLzEqTCQv1NiFmC7gNVyjjiDFhYga5mEhb8jf7gLNh5MTs_hSW0Dxd1iYWGanHm087U8dre9bc4IaqTSNW_J-yQxXWWDBpr7kH5LtXNUi6Q/w325-h400/scary-vintage-halloween-creepy-costumes-130-57fcaebc54a9b__605.jpg" width="325" /></a></div> Vintage Halloween costume 1930s<p>I mean realllllly scary.</p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhzQOP7QEAvjBYlXlDTBLG0TQ-3_YseyXicgyUe_GNwPzXzjFmCOpfaf5z93Hiy8pf4U0yhEVsKff7Ww50RoMHDjH-Op7L-xTuzveM0Fpe83qmSstCs9O9RYhWq6UV6tGcezvzUUp3Hvc/s1600/midnightinthegardenofevil.BS.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhzQOP7QEAvjBYlXlDTBLG0TQ-3_YseyXicgyUe_GNwPzXzjFmCOpfaf5z93Hiy8pf4U0yhEVsKff7Ww50RoMHDjH-Op7L-xTuzveM0Fpe83qmSstCs9O9RYhWq6UV6tGcezvzUUp3Hvc/s1600/midnightinthegardenofevil.BS.webp" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.steelheartlimited.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.steelheartlimited.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There is every reason to be much afraid.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvnTl57YS0GmCKbvi8-Arlj3Jn6zPyfnDTbdbWzfeJTe98ANFHfOUFpon0r5SWObgTmrqd2NSg0o74Sc2YlexQy4uyB3_HVI-Y_65ge0W_iFs9oUzK-NmWiWIbHYR3x057llb0Kw3X_TL/s1600/much+afraid.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvnTl57YS0GmCKbvi8-Arlj3Jn6zPyfnDTbdbWzfeJTe98ANFHfOUFpon0r5SWObgTmrqd2NSg0o74Sc2YlexQy4uyB3_HVI-Y_65ge0W_iFs9oUzK-NmWiWIbHYR3x057llb0Kw3X_TL/s320/much+afraid.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Much Afraid from <i>The Pilgrim's Progress</i> 1683</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Creatures from the edges of beyond are everywhere. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They emerge from the souls of drowned benches . . . </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuk8HUK2rF2PuqBYFxfxxt-R65nmLHCa0IQSarv3OqkGnmZq092MO9M76FldSy8Bfjg1tmhmz4PAUldUCoKV9akOx7ApEnfl5rlX0jFBkZ_V6wfzkCRC5S_oNkHGrCbRoABpYDhc6y9WX/s1600/johnonolan.FK.ok.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuk8HUK2rF2PuqBYFxfxxt-R65nmLHCa0IQSarv3OqkGnmZq092MO9M76FldSy8Bfjg1tmhmz4PAUldUCoKV9akOx7ApEnfl5rlX0jFBkZ_V6wfzkCRC5S_oNkHGrCbRoABpYDhc6y9WX/s320/johnonolan.FK.ok.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnonolan/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnonolan/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">they occupy the living benches in public parks . . . </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi325NNDjU3_8mZLO78IFVA-tUsamiLxbBfkDGJoLcopaYcw5jEq6OLcResCkh7psfyHKTKCAkbTBZwRc_U9X2nrZxlxvvsQkDPYdzlkKp3OoglEZx3ew_eR0tjU9xj9Z09YSGRl1D8txRb/s1600/Hortulus_Dobrzyca_(12).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi325NNDjU3_8mZLO78IFVA-tUsamiLxbBfkDGJoLcopaYcw5jEq6OLcResCkh7psfyHKTKCAkbTBZwRc_U9X2nrZxlxvvsQkDPYdzlkKp3OoglEZx3ew_eR0tjU9xj9Z09YSGRl1D8txRb/s320/Hortulus_Dobrzyca_(12).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hortulus_Dobrzyca_(12).jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hortulus_Dobrzyca</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. . . and they even swarm around the benches in your sitting room.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwHsXRqKZCw6DVgD0gUtZwRxb61bvCe7g7hefWPNLXAwY_aFNbiABkttw-IUzNEZKM8xiOX3x_SycslIq91YDCaxI-xwcbd7y8rmFppV1SBavj4OdMFOdWndISCsd_OfTeIXrB-gVkD8M/s1600/stickerhog.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwHsXRqKZCw6DVgD0gUtZwRxb61bvCe7g7hefWPNLXAwY_aFNbiABkttw-IUzNEZKM8xiOX3x_SycslIq91YDCaxI-xwcbd7y8rmFppV1SBavj4OdMFOdWndISCsd_OfTeIXrB-gVkD8M/s320/stickerhog.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/stickerhog" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/stickerhog</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I was terrified by this skeleton in my ensuite. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8c2JfzrcaND5ZiO7xTET60Zg1sQ4UAqJvizxw2UehehyphenhyphenrKt1h1caITNIqB3lN8lrzmR-FueLKFFstw4A-DyoaNzlLaSmhUG7TrEw6m1E6YRIX8nF9LluQLb7n28mai5Z914mbuYg44uXu/s1600/powerhousemuseum.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8c2JfzrcaND5ZiO7xTET60Zg1sQ4UAqJvizxw2UehehyphenhyphenrKt1h1caITNIqB3lN8lrzmR-FueLKFFstw4A-DyoaNzlLaSmhUG7TrEw6m1E6YRIX8nF9LluQLb7n28mai5Z914mbuYg44uXu/s320/powerhousemuseum.FKCC.jpg" width="234" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=386897">http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He said he'd just nipped in there for a quick cigarette.</span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkFnbWidPeKnpHqfCu8WNi4Crjasvi5V6iL3Bvf6MCw7QXqWxHSFCK7t-DDhjBAP4UIR9tRXlHhxUcgfGK_srE21lZGHJoTpFXoK-ikg4Uy8bEvYAGK8KuY0CKqW-9uLmBUCLMvxBk3DiT/s630/56216c1a1400002b003c8777.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkFnbWidPeKnpHqfCu8WNi4Crjasvi5V6iL3Bvf6MCw7QXqWxHSFCK7t-DDhjBAP4UIR9tRXlHhxUcgfGK_srE21lZGHJoTpFXoK-ikg4Uy8bEvYAGK8KuY0CKqW-9uLmBUCLMvxBk3DiT/s320/56216c1a1400002b003c8777.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div> <i>Head of a Skeleton with A Burning Cigarette</i> 1886, Vincent Van Gogh<br /><div><br /></div><div>Can I light that for you? </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3EJwP1nibHIiortxZ8BPLvJlwwuACJmpyT0_mRwtabFLN4lO2ZTuvjzEXRftbBYeVoNFJ_KjB9AJk9TgqXSIASvBZ4B8fR6IZecSbg6-n03oyHeTNuqbA_732TdpR-jrYrfnhJXjMXUk/s649/FB_IMG_1604010493485.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3EJwP1nibHIiortxZ8BPLvJlwwuACJmpyT0_mRwtabFLN4lO2ZTuvjzEXRftbBYeVoNFJ_KjB9AJk9TgqXSIASvBZ4B8fR6IZecSbg6-n03oyHeTNuqbA_732TdpR-jrYrfnhJXjMXUk/w309-h400/FB_IMG_1604010493485.jpg" width="309" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vincent Price movie still</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Meanwhile, his mates had taken over my piano.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyL2zCvuBqY_v_awbTxOthadiAh2qbOPKADj1xXyjQ5HT7p-FzGm40wlY9xrU6sVs_gdkf8AdBRbJdx_I8pVm1XG7kNnNVh1jdN-naiiIebNDsIBFfH0hrVTsiEf_HNneZPEUZBGVzzAq/s1600/nationalarchivesuk.1893.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyL2zCvuBqY_v_awbTxOthadiAh2qbOPKADj1xXyjQ5HT7p-FzGm40wlY9xrU6sVs_gdkf8AdBRbJdx_I8pVm1XG7kNnNVh1jdN-naiiIebNDsIBFfH0hrVTsiEf_HNneZPEUZBGVzzAq/s320/nationalarchivesuk.1893.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/8141311057/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/8141311057/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There was some dancing going on. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqS3uuWx6RlfRuomdnsLjSnbhyphenhyphentlhJhVcsj6FAZu1VMkFNEqxAfSGxXLDXHgfBz5mztDA1ltDBBL861M2uZeMsLP1IyKdkiRjunXFuO9xlMhllYthh6EYzgY6q9zb__8-qvTToKvF2CpSA/s1440/FB_IMG_1601382220140.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1148" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqS3uuWx6RlfRuomdnsLjSnbhyphenhyphentlhJhVcsj6FAZu1VMkFNEqxAfSGxXLDXHgfBz5mztDA1ltDBBL861M2uZeMsLP1IyKdkiRjunXFuO9xlMhllYthh6EYzgY6q9zb__8-qvTToKvF2CpSA/s320/FB_IMG_1601382220140.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <i>Party on Mobilisation Day</i> 1936, Daniel Sabater<br /></div><div><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Some of them look friendly enough</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwV6iGRhnwNZW_M53XH0mEU06e0Io4rTK8tS9FfR032900KI_bSklmnJ4uH3wm0ckhb-WB494zvqBgj_1V5kKH8ILWll88eh_WXhn0NoqltSHRbFDOLChyu6-ElciJANWresXE7c-VdJAc/s1600/skeleteons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwV6iGRhnwNZW_M53XH0mEU06e0Io4rTK8tS9FfR032900KI_bSklmnJ4uH3wm0ckhb-WB494zvqBgj_1V5kKH8ILWll88eh_WXhn0NoqltSHRbFDOLChyu6-ElciJANWresXE7c-VdJAc/s1600/skeleteons.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.thrillomatic.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.thrillomatic.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">but you don't get the feeling you want to reach out to them.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWWXrPYlW4CZMW-QJ5wniPy8nl3NshV5gziqrPbkgj-hBFixRXgudedu-McQlvPCYpcjCcMLwrLLDhDNDF4gQEdE_DuMLiMhKAFrGhgTUy8X6BMqJjRLJoM2d0RNu9PEasNys0pVweBCcN/s1600/Screenshot_2013-10-17-22-14-26-1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWWXrPYlW4CZMW-QJ5wniPy8nl3NshV5gziqrPbkgj-hBFixRXgudedu-McQlvPCYpcjCcMLwrLLDhDNDF4gQEdE_DuMLiMhKAFrGhgTUy8X6BMqJjRLJoM2d0RNu9PEasNys0pVweBCcN/s320/Screenshot_2013-10-17-22-14-26-1.png" width="178" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Joanna Michalak</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You certainly don't want them giving you a massage.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseqEdyLVWRCQaa9vf1xFoRRBSzIkUQtJSmYge2PwcVprKa3Uvsij_12AEDSRq2r3SiYsoib6CWg5JNxeJLspZOwbJ9-FhVKI3fqXnrBdQ2F9hG3945J0gyf8y2D3qMZ2cr958hhX5sveP/s1704/FB_IMG_1604937915178.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1704" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseqEdyLVWRCQaa9vf1xFoRRBSzIkUQtJSmYge2PwcVprKa3Uvsij_12AEDSRq2r3SiYsoib6CWg5JNxeJLspZOwbJ9-FhVKI3fqXnrBdQ2F9hG3945J0gyf8y2D3qMZ2cr958hhX5sveP/s320/FB_IMG_1604937915178.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you don't like skeletons, it's best to avoid benches in cemeteries.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxDhv73rzBxSHFnKfACLpLC1che90eppj3HSNyIPHis4xzp1bgvi7774ukMyGUghOtySSq9Qpgqp1XGykFxi6avAWxmBXQ5iy5MxwZ0Trn9ePzwD72ZPosb88RB7mciQNeaIcOCWWbPbN/s1600/cemetery.best.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxDhv73rzBxSHFnKfACLpLC1che90eppj3HSNyIPHis4xzp1bgvi7774ukMyGUghOtySSq9Qpgqp1XGykFxi6avAWxmBXQ5iy5MxwZ0Trn9ePzwD72ZPosb88RB7mciQNeaIcOCWWbPbN/s320/cemetery.best.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm avoiding benches in parks too. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You get those smiling zombies who sit beside you on a bench and try to chat about the economic crisis. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPul1nodgCweyVVglN-BmEyZuF6V6qNNBRNdDA9Ek6y5RVE9jMae2JzDmT26Y3tb73KO4nHdgEj0J6nR6rv6fMCCzE_iHLHdkcQPAEtveWNTwoBsUO88LtvMhpXW5P6Lrnupf0RECjMpe/s1600/JohnTavaresJr.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPul1nodgCweyVVglN-BmEyZuF6V6qNNBRNdDA9Ek6y5RVE9jMae2JzDmT26Y3tb73KO4nHdgEj0J6nR6rv6fMCCzE_iHLHdkcQPAEtveWNTwoBsUO88LtvMhpXW5P6Lrnupf0RECjMpe/s320/JohnTavaresJr.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/johntavaresjr/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/johntavaresjr/</a> </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This zombie girl tried to befriend me by asking for advice about makeup.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixMwtLevcUgB-l85Vb4iqBXHDtlJPdZFzqvQdQKTyNA32l1lMpllqmvZKrTf9SZRkNyKe-yZY_EiNMNIhQSBo92Gn6-8C2vooW77Xl89hCylr4U_9Hg7HgQ1EmAQlvLxlsAQ2Zs8mgInLc/s1600/Ryan+Hayes.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixMwtLevcUgB-l85Vb4iqBXHDtlJPdZFzqvQdQKTyNA32l1lMpllqmvZKrTf9SZRkNyKe-yZY_EiNMNIhQSBo92Gn6-8C2vooW77Xl89hCylr4U_9Hg7HgQ1EmAQlvLxlsAQ2Zs8mgInLc/s320/Ryan+Hayes.FKCC.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Take care! They weave a web of deceit.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteJHuohtgiHACzHYL8kgQ06hojDt475Fp9VbBBSGhrx0k-U_dfm09Xr4cApzBg0Vqi6JE1RrGjaQ4S1sokEby6B7t2reuXNXLOeYhsTcWyEDZqlhFSTtUWn_BIOn5BIkRVAvQwqWMKuHj/s1600/debbie.courson.smith.spider+web+bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteJHuohtgiHACzHYL8kgQ06hojDt475Fp9VbBBSGhrx0k-U_dfm09Xr4cApzBg0Vqi6JE1RrGjaQ4S1sokEby6B7t2reuXNXLOeYhsTcWyEDZqlhFSTtUWn_BIOn5BIkRVAvQwqWMKuHj/s320/debbie.courson.smith.spider+web+bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.boisedailyphoto.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.boisedailyphoto.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I am particularly careful around witches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I know there are good ones, like this one playing with her dog in the park . . . </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh737ey23AEA6wQBsPSjS_JMIGdBLkJbXzvqDEji55_FF1jh2GUn1qP6YbRXKSSik9rXINKSlJPZyteVN5j_kmcMHvMCP3jYxgkCD6oMjoaiKKsY5mpclFqmgq9FGyTWeRxrDYI3QmoUpXX/s1600/Cresney.2007.FKRok.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh737ey23AEA6wQBsPSjS_JMIGdBLkJbXzvqDEji55_FF1jh2GUn1qP6YbRXKSSik9rXINKSlJPZyteVN5j_kmcMHvMCP3jYxgkCD6oMjoaiKKsY5mpclFqmgq9FGyTWeRxrDYI3QmoUpXX/s320/Cresney.2007.FKRok.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cresny/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/cresny/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. . . and this little one I saw in the bike shop.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKV5-HQAhaXPiFDvaiLlaL1qHwazDa64646Cw5Wtur5Eqi_bQie_VYCS5cwj_8IfC95wBymVCS0jZU-rB0OqDiVkZ5CZLp5YACJcV_HO8iRhpqoqBo25OPOvaUbCB0BkUWcMIg_YBPto7/s1600/amber+witch.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKV5-HQAhaXPiFDvaiLlaL1qHwazDa64646Cw5Wtur5Eqi_bQie_VYCS5cwj_8IfC95wBymVCS0jZU-rB0OqDiVkZ5CZLp5YACJcV_HO8iRhpqoqBo25OPOvaUbCB0BkUWcMIg_YBPto7/s320/amber+witch.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But next thing you know, they're leaving their spoons in your coffee . . .</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOv75VW9CUs9S5u8loLM_19CNcA7lQqRql8Iu3Lq9eGzBrdJOV2rW1y0nEnlfYNj3z_dpaT8fvTkwpVaXutoE-XQ30IPcjPUymra0D0OJ49PetGAc_S9YXyOZdbhwJT94HeCEo5EjvTmsn/s1600/milkandhoneyluxuries.etsy+(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOv75VW9CUs9S5u8loLM_19CNcA7lQqRql8Iu3Lq9eGzBrdJOV2rW1y0nEnlfYNj3z_dpaT8fvTkwpVaXutoE-XQ30IPcjPUymra0D0OJ49PetGAc_S9YXyOZdbhwJT94HeCEo5EjvTmsn/s320/milkandhoneyluxuries.etsy+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and parking their brooms near your lovely orange bench.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IFUTnoppzsyxxPM5Y5bp3S9pdZ4Rcilg9a5PYKFOptPebSyfm5xs7v0gdWT7XwB-PPA3uVwUK84lSxdQCwjg4GRW70Sd5-Tqrovo9DP1RzcTD3S9PSjHYbjLpH8h8SFxFXXa2bmswet_/s1600/wordybirdstudios2.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IFUTnoppzsyxxPM5Y5bp3S9pdZ4Rcilg9a5PYKFOptPebSyfm5xs7v0gdWT7XwB-PPA3uVwUK84lSxdQCwjg4GRW70Sd5-Tqrovo9DP1RzcTD3S9PSjHYbjLpH8h8SFxFXXa2bmswet_/s320/wordybirdstudios2.etsy.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/wordybirdstudios" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/wordybirdstudios</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They fly off and you never know when they're coming back.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm8O4Gx-ltKg8Ph61cipRFDOpZIQl8e9WwGbFTZtqToaKqstBcSzZ9Oxy4vUgSOsn9x0BkCr54vm4-KCkm5ie3oDGC4rZ-k8uQjfWx0hREi6HEDQy_L2Qolh-c6gD50veCNr9bx0GnqfCf/s1600/riapereira.fkr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm8O4Gx-ltKg8Ph61cipRFDOpZIQl8e9WwGbFTZtqToaKqstBcSzZ9Oxy4vUgSOsn9x0BkCr54vm4-KCkm5ie3oDGC4rZ-k8uQjfWx0hREi6HEDQy_L2Qolh-c6gD50veCNr9bx0GnqfCf/s1600/riapereira.fkr.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/riapereira/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/riapereira/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dare to complain and you'll get threats.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGRdV_sL7TDPZFsqWgrGK30d-u8ZjciCWHKKle9obsUcrWr_VoJ2ns1bJSmz3ZnlJKleS3HrdRuOCSmfHpBd4T1fFkjB3elhOHVmfsU_LAwYfjKqydaL2T2tkTxgl2PW7zDXRswLQsXqs/s1600/2chicksandabasket.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGRdV_sL7TDPZFsqWgrGK30d-u8ZjciCWHKKle9obsUcrWr_VoJ2ns1bJSmz3ZnlJKleS3HrdRuOCSmfHpBd4T1fFkjB3elhOHVmfsU_LAwYfjKqydaL2T2tkTxgl2PW7zDXRswLQsXqs/s320/2chicksandabasket.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/2chicksandabasket" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/2chicksandabasket</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Coffee anyone?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aauRjHE7W3Rt_4Diowq4bOWOy30mPGPPcEWYVl0RBuWny4Jaw6o2PMl3csJMEPOQasNQcqlzJNb_Fjus3NjiJLQGljjTet-3s-l2tHHwzMUNA5ZiKBAGKj6hq45Fyk3yUi026BTp5s9w/s1600/milkandhoneyluxuries.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aauRjHE7W3Rt_4Diowq4bOWOy30mPGPPcEWYVl0RBuWny4Jaw6o2PMl3csJMEPOQasNQcqlzJNb_Fjus3NjiJLQGljjTet-3s-l2tHHwzMUNA5ZiKBAGKj6hq45Fyk3yUi026BTp5s9w/s200/milkandhoneyluxuries.etsy.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>It's no wonder people are terrified.</div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEUDNYDHOl6BhNJb7ME6X6lv-bo_s04iLx99q3JV0PxH2oESIGgAp-cbQz_gV4_OBiEKF36z9hWky6vMXflu6lXO1MhXmKG8DCTbbs6dwwlJIsFviaCRewsrOTWgujJoXGfQl2BEsqSMO/s1600/scared+couple.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEUDNYDHOl6BhNJb7ME6X6lv-bo_s04iLx99q3JV0PxH2oESIGgAp-cbQz_gV4_OBiEKF36z9hWky6vMXflu6lXO1MhXmKG8DCTbbs6dwwlJIsFviaCRewsrOTWgujJoXGfQl2BEsqSMO/s320/scared+couple.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br />And no one will hear you scream. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XE2dE1sI1rf76-VlZNC_t1PR1Kd_09SKEW3I15EzfM7TziLL2Nd3WB4zlTz6XhueV5P5Xd37HoOVU9XKGBGxXmussYNEmkC1sqs-E0FCLoB2CFtJXeE7q7ACyeZmeEpuHXghTxFLuVM3/s1919/The_Scream_by_Edvard_Munch%252C_1893_-_Nasjonalgalleriet.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1919" data-original-width="1546" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XE2dE1sI1rf76-VlZNC_t1PR1Kd_09SKEW3I15EzfM7TziLL2Nd3WB4zlTz6XhueV5P5Xd37HoOVU9XKGBGxXmussYNEmkC1sqs-E0FCLoB2CFtJXeE7q7ACyeZmeEpuHXghTxFLuVM3/w323-h400/The_Scream_by_Edvard_Munch%252C_1893_-_Nasjonalgalleriet.png" width="323" /></a></div> <i>The Scream</i> 1893, Edvard Munch<br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Beware of demons sitting on benches, even if they appear to be just sending a text.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5aNIxPf6pI0LnKEkWJX_obDmBKkMWtKrl0FfkjGhyxxNIjLmtayghLh0hsokhaml4lips1gTk0Jj7loL92G3R6RJOTyJBDL_7gCTuEPpI8Vv6bLjZAenSDuJkBIddwgO4lAKvoCmTQzy/s1600/Demons_onB.2005.MartijnvandeStreek.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5aNIxPf6pI0LnKEkWJX_obDmBKkMWtKrl0FfkjGhyxxNIjLmtayghLh0hsokhaml4lips1gTk0Jj7loL92G3R6RJOTyJBDL_7gCTuEPpI8Vv6bLjZAenSDuJkBIddwgO4lAKvoCmTQzy/s320/Demons_onB.2005.MartijnvandeStreek.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/treenaks/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/treenaks/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And take special care with people who are absorbed by light. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQKD5wlCkkGQCSaFSGDYbFtGBc18Rj-YIMIzQVt6a18Ihr6xpf1q63Yqumtcr-NdwSnkV9YtOQS6XWN-ylGNrL8MRIgGkyKOyTylJgzzRMg1dyX7DcCyNT5GXU4k0hdg8HK59IgkI1koh/s720/FB_IMG_1601830547966.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQKD5wlCkkGQCSaFSGDYbFtGBc18Rj-YIMIzQVt6a18Ihr6xpf1q63Yqumtcr-NdwSnkV9YtOQS6XWN-ylGNrL8MRIgGkyKOyTylJgzzRMg1dyX7DcCyNT5GXU4k0hdg8HK59IgkI1koh/s320/FB_IMG_1601830547966.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Absorbed by Light</i> 2018, Karoline Hinz</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Watch out for vampires who want to suck your blood. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-lkG3NssJ9v5sAaklU6ucQWDybfW9xk9XLGhh1qoRjMpPg6L9YYYhXZzAQz4vTCKPmBXUUYKmAnKUef9ERF84C7pAIpRXpn72sNwVH_p4CllXWj3tRatuhp1qLsdLGxYrwHST3Oxz5Cl/s1140/FB_IMG_1603808102509.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-lkG3NssJ9v5sAaklU6ucQWDybfW9xk9XLGhh1qoRjMpPg6L9YYYhXZzAQz4vTCKPmBXUUYKmAnKUef9ERF84C7pAIpRXpn72sNwVH_p4CllXWj3tRatuhp1qLsdLGxYrwHST3Oxz5Cl/s320/FB_IMG_1603808102509.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>City Vals</i> 1910, Sven Brasch</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This woman may not realise the danger she is in. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyimgSR_ZLc_U-21pvueQAwWLuNZczsrEkgJn8RU2yFx864iTT6UX7ftR1ki_g-6ll1Y8TEqdi9XTJvRAK3ZpSqdtlioMRqQcAuzGcXlZPFP57-Ri67oB01sZE8MKOQRCo9EXP8V7vJ3Fy/s1600/royallibrarydenmark.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyimgSR_ZLc_U-21pvueQAwWLuNZczsrEkgJn8RU2yFx864iTT6UX7ftR1ki_g-6ll1Y8TEqdi9XTJvRAK3ZpSqdtlioMRqQcAuzGcXlZPFP57-Ri67oB01sZE8MKOQRCo9EXP8V7vJ3Fy/s320/royallibrarydenmark.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofmapsprintsandphotographstheroyallibrarydenmark/8043671034/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/theroyallibrarydenmark/8043671034/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This girl though, seems more alert. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Plus the vampire is small and very cute.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V8bMMHiZWxL0_AO0NNRos_ZUPBsqkF4_Gj9BnhL9v8RpFJZREOovLy-AYQF5Y3rpRPcUUxl8EdZqG2WZqYBFBWcVlMxJpcq818D65NmWnXiaV5BI3WlP8GAfDsfqGBJ2xFmGiiia0cBC/s1600/alleykitten.FK.CC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V8bMMHiZWxL0_AO0NNRos_ZUPBsqkF4_Gj9BnhL9v8RpFJZREOovLy-AYQF5Y3rpRPcUUxl8EdZqG2WZqYBFBWcVlMxJpcq818D65NmWnXiaV5BI3WlP8GAfDsfqGBJ2xFmGiiia0cBC/s320/alleykitten.FK.CC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alleykitten/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/alleykitten/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Some scary creatures will jump out at you and yell BOO.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDiwj7o8a5hZ0hGeH9MexyWDgV7zsSkP5VefqZ95lNlrNC0SZr5ov24pT4i7Z3fZBLIPfwhpTCIFj2TPTlbb-AkL0Nw-148kdgtfhRnZHvPRkJ6MX4PjPaDHq0FSX6LhBz8k38aKRDvCO/s1600/kitschcafe.B.Monday.FKR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDiwj7o8a5hZ0hGeH9MexyWDgV7zsSkP5VefqZ95lNlrNC0SZr5ov24pT4i7Z3fZBLIPfwhpTCIFj2TPTlbb-AkL0Nw-148kdgtfhRnZHvPRkJ6MX4PjPaDHq0FSX6LhBz8k38aKRDvCO/s320/kitschcafe.B.Monday.FKR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/drew-o-rama/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/drew-o-rama/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's not so bad. Lots of these are just pumpkinheads. </span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbdaAlJZFN9Ef4v73RJ5UQOvSL1pVZwdY4Co_-xLMVRFRngte62GAcRi2OLAoV55pwH3pmT2Ajdk3nrFx41_dv-jZv-V2__zvhgD2cwzbtDJNj8qGA9Pk6qxOT5SgQ_mOJL6hfxyo_m4O/s250/FB_IMG_1603644611966+pump+kimono.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="146" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbdaAlJZFN9Ef4v73RJ5UQOvSL1pVZwdY4Co_-xLMVRFRngte62GAcRi2OLAoV55pwH3pmT2Ajdk3nrFx41_dv-jZv-V2__zvhgD2cwzbtDJNj8qGA9Pk6qxOT5SgQ_mOJL6hfxyo_m4O/w234-h400/FB_IMG_1603644611966+pump+kimono.webp" width="234" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">vintage Halloween card c.1900-1918</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's the murderers you have to watch out for.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQYwMPjUzHXo0AJ6r_4Zzob-Ru1fBLDMRz07oowJ4s75AL88p4lgSmnLziModfT9-Y6_RdJLs8YFVj7u1gCmyExe3OYTpQru2Utcg3S4FLROBskOGFcEVsfjNXrS-kPUhmQ824-wrVGQi/s500/FB_IMG_1603808352877.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQYwMPjUzHXo0AJ6r_4Zzob-Ru1fBLDMRz07oowJ4s75AL88p4lgSmnLziModfT9-Y6_RdJLs8YFVj7u1gCmyExe3OYTpQru2Utcg3S4FLROBskOGFcEVsfjNXrS-kPUhmQ824-wrVGQi/s320/FB_IMG_1603808352877.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Murderer</i> 1910, Edvard Munch</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And the ghosts. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3ySspeloVGXp47-W0TzQth16FFWJpAzpeYrSPn6LLy9OPrA1VccpL-2lCX1_HKhuN5TIVSJY5b-dB2zlehy0LkCSTspXoUJrfDn0v1-ClQGRcic6qCw_K-FTo4WpFqqHCwKFgLUXYcDg/s1600/amber+ghost.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3ySspeloVGXp47-W0TzQth16FFWJpAzpeYrSPn6LLy9OPrA1VccpL-2lCX1_HKhuN5TIVSJY5b-dB2zlehy0LkCSTspXoUJrfDn0v1-ClQGRcic6qCw_K-FTo4WpFqqHCwKFgLUXYcDg/s320/amber+ghost.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They fade in and out and surprise you when you least expect it.</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQchNelFtG0yyv5IjV9Guo15aq1qnIUu_ymC7WvYlgd04X6Iz7yBhySPPsKx9pU4tvxgUZOYauTAPyIHz5k1qkcdup2_gbKQOVYViux24yFYzqdAYxVVgC0cPLY8x5lTRWQKSHx_geatpj/s1600/William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray,_Design_31,__A_Long_Story___-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQchNelFtG0yyv5IjV9Guo15aq1qnIUu_ymC7WvYlgd04X6Iz7yBhySPPsKx9pU4tvxgUZOYauTAPyIHz5k1qkcdup2_gbKQOVYViux24yFYzqdAYxVVgC0cPLY8x5lTRWQKSHx_geatpj/s320/William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray,_Design_31,__A_Long_Story___-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray,_Design_31,_%22A_Long_Story.%22_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No bench is safe from these ghostly figures. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AKqRVFmS7YpDEvKd7T5wCFKgSQyM8c-WX8rKBHdrQx_YptST0A9QhIh3ExnSlK8FWJmJ2cC9m6Gd2P7CSzzXgOVP7kRQayyoRNEPuVx8iuYT3c5qANWKVIBYib-eLmVR5TQDTFz0NI8Y/s630/5625476e1400006f003c890c.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AKqRVFmS7YpDEvKd7T5wCFKgSQyM8c-WX8rKBHdrQx_YptST0A9QhIh3ExnSlK8FWJmJ2cC9m6Gd2P7CSzzXgOVP7kRQayyoRNEPuVx8iuYT3c5qANWKVIBYib-eLmVR5TQDTFz0NI8Y/s320/5625476e1400006f003c890c.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div> <i>Die Nacht</i> 1922, Aksel Waldemar Johannessen<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">With terror like that, it's no wonder this fellow lost his head.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCRAvGsjP9uZLz7Fef7I0E2euy5awqUvhkjw74_Jwsm1GWaS22FqMPbuBUlkkyJloVPItg39yjmiShSu1PwTC986V4-yVAFT9RTupwXl083NlGRrsy0WpY3lbaF9YxckuzbZcj5p1qcIs/s1600/simongreig.FKok.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCRAvGsjP9uZLz7Fef7I0E2euy5awqUvhkjw74_Jwsm1GWaS22FqMPbuBUlkkyJloVPItg39yjmiShSu1PwTC986V4-yVAFT9RTupwXl083NlGRrsy0WpY3lbaF9YxckuzbZcj5p1qcIs/s320/simongreig.FKok.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xrrr/4060860832/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/xrrr/4060860832/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's important to keep calm and <strike>scary</strike> carry on. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here in Fribble we had a Halloween party where everyone dressed up as people from different countries. It was meant to be fun rather than frightening.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Innocent wore her new designer pumpkin frock. She and her cat look innocent enough on their Halloween bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguiCzbv6nxKBzX7V-_cQQQ7-zkxMHt7dVGW87oGIXzIfObdU4QMHadobpm-rUEST00IfvWcd1iJWuvEnGn0DDPsmtZLPqVsG__vd_muJwH9spGsbzJbPgjvHjLs9gFu5gkOsj7s-6POaDi/s1600/Innocent.halloween.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguiCzbv6nxKBzX7V-_cQQQ7-zkxMHt7dVGW87oGIXzIfObdU4QMHadobpm-rUEST00IfvWcd1iJWuvEnGn0DDPsmtZLPqVsG__vd_muJwH9spGsbzJbPgjvHjLs9gFu5gkOsj7s-6POaDi/s1600/Innocent.halloween.JPG" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Her husband Root was a little weird in a Greek toga and Tamsin was an Egyptian mummy. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But the scariest it got was Lord Brassica as Zog, King of Albania.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyO3cXLT2eLoyu5QpsinTA-fOPC3cWCEyACzQ_KJ7K1XHwwpSjvQGokZMp5YAIJytEXlVe2pc2rQHCiyoFxu1ljGurqqF5XSZQutkAUkjzaEttkjkA422VZLTegyjTZU1xSpA8sd1L7Us/s1600/Hallw.+nations.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyO3cXLT2eLoyu5QpsinTA-fOPC3cWCEyACzQ_KJ7K1XHwwpSjvQGokZMp5YAIJytEXlVe2pc2rQHCiyoFxu1ljGurqqF5XSZQutkAUkjzaEttkjkA422VZLTegyjTZU1xSpA8sd1L7Us/s320/Hallw.+nations.JPG" width="308" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Far worse are the people who sit on benches without heads . . .</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFafI3GFsOkHafP_NjbI7FS6Tw7J-3R0SCymb5Ajn4PW02gY-7Lp78Euf63p0nOr-MLwTSdu8NclizkJfzQ8041hGW9t9o3mWpDkD6ifZjJjEYtc1IrRi_HOE0rJ9NNySetA4UmsuPtzIo/s1600/expatwinnipegger.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFafI3GFsOkHafP_NjbI7FS6Tw7J-3R0SCymb5Ajn4PW02gY-7Lp78Euf63p0nOr-MLwTSdu8NclizkJfzQ8041hGW9t9o3mWpDkD6ifZjJjEYtc1IrRi_HOE0rJ9NNySetA4UmsuPtzIo/s320/expatwinnipegger.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wunderlich/" style="text-align: left;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/wunderlich/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. . . or the ones who have a head but lack anything substantial in the way of a body . . .</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWnKE8_WWJK5FK6b8_qKNT-pQKJe4PIIXg9rNLbqmS7xzNzoOFm8T-bK9pvY_8um6VAtgKwIShaKVt0Ser5YsZ0DshnfrzDdEhtKPUXbzEf6RSb2z8DOBIjj2_pv_k4N9VubI5i2ytjQpB/s1600/Screenshot_2013-10-17-22-13-29-1-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWnKE8_WWJK5FK6b8_qKNT-pQKJe4PIIXg9rNLbqmS7xzNzoOFm8T-bK9pvY_8um6VAtgKwIShaKVt0Ser5YsZ0DshnfrzDdEhtKPUXbzEf6RSb2z8DOBIjj2_pv_k4N9VubI5i2ytjQpB/s320/Screenshot_2013-10-17-22-13-29-1-1.jpg" width="169" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Joanna Michalak</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The problem with skeletons is, they're just too thin. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But not as thin as wire people. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNwsd8W1PCVcKWrs8xl_45gtKZcAyGxEfPf9dqyxTgXJmEbTQly4iuk8fXPbmuJjOOy2ew9mri6Bc3Wpvat7ErCbIFmPSzrTvr7BORWCZEY94ayoMO8CNkZHaALvaCBd32ixLUOjn7l4N/s467/FB_IMG_1602923968234.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="346" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNwsd8W1PCVcKWrs8xl_45gtKZcAyGxEfPf9dqyxTgXJmEbTQly4iuk8fXPbmuJjOOy2ew9mri6Bc3Wpvat7ErCbIFmPSzrTvr7BORWCZEY94ayoMO8CNkZHaALvaCBd32ixLUOjn7l4N/s320/FB_IMG_1602923968234.jpg" /></a></div> <i>Man Geht Mil </i>1916, Hannah Hoch<br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Brassicas had another Halloween party over at Drizzly Manor which, I gather, was more sinister. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizaxzXD8pbIuHO6zV5kBpYnB4WXfzIqdyqh-J0-aKiiiBIGFdH51amFUMJY5hXIwnLQMyynBVudOOsbPUsjf8rAamyFSZCgsqeBFA8ziLug7EyxAnzekOF_3YLVlx8_bkJGSmvXaXs7k7c/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569835810.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizaxzXD8pbIuHO6zV5kBpYnB4WXfzIqdyqh-J0-aKiiiBIGFdH51amFUMJY5hXIwnLQMyynBVudOOsbPUsjf8rAamyFSZCgsqeBFA8ziLug7EyxAnzekOF_3YLVlx8_bkJGSmvXaXs7k7c/s320/PhotoFunia-1569835810.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">My imaginary friend Miggy turned up shrouded in secrecy. I don't even know which one she is here. She's been eating a lot of cake lately so it may have taken four shrouds to cover her. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU1LI9WF3j1q1QgZsWywv-QHWX0fxGQHLPea7sW8Zilisusz8NaXzyCNSh_WgK8L7TJ3YpFb5v53HhxgweMRN8vslj8qqJ1qN_u32gINNPCONLNn0OAJhUcKxQiQwgl6lCcABH3P7oZ1l/s1600/shrouded+women.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU1LI9WF3j1q1QgZsWywv-QHWX0fxGQHLPea7sW8Zilisusz8NaXzyCNSh_WgK8L7TJ3YpFb5v53HhxgweMRN8vslj8qqJ1qN_u32gINNPCONLNn0OAJhUcKxQiQwgl6lCcABH3P7oZ1l/s320/shrouded+women.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Time Guards</i>, Manfred Keilnhofer, my photo 2009<br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Root made a spectacle of himself, as did our police constable, Willie Wyme. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGLAEQwDvolBJZgjwoES8WLfQ5JccfB1BPP8RJ-m24bScWCmRkhkArtaBzmvJkeQRCo0XTJj6_IGxW7ei2PSeXnVABqOUDaAFWYsjMyv48hXEAt4PyMEPHcOSFmxXw3amUJtODF6RSzZr/s1600/root&willy.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGLAEQwDvolBJZgjwoES8WLfQ5JccfB1BPP8RJ-m24bScWCmRkhkArtaBzmvJkeQRCo0XTJj6_IGxW7ei2PSeXnVABqOUDaAFWYsjMyv48hXEAt4PyMEPHcOSFmxXw3amUJtODF6RSzZr/s320/root&willy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Unwin the butler served up a cauldron of arms and legs, some with shoes still attached. And then little April amused us by removing her head.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1AD4tcGVgElALXiSeTuTPFeXfXVaV72avJQ9FbpQkY3MxyTEdz6V9c2quY-nH-prxjpnQylcyHmdSdp6IsPzDZ-7_CTfPOyEN9cl-3_VQ3UGkvuzlmRVd8IMkTSoimFWsjmS_3u_ddcpz/s1600/limbs.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1AD4tcGVgElALXiSeTuTPFeXfXVaV72avJQ9FbpQkY3MxyTEdz6V9c2quY-nH-prxjpnQylcyHmdSdp6IsPzDZ-7_CTfPOyEN9cl-3_VQ3UGkvuzlmRVd8IMkTSoimFWsjmS_3u_ddcpz/s320/limbs.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">With a seasonably on-trend spider fascinator on her head Lady Jessica Brassica was a very elegant and dignified Morticia Addams.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0pb-ZYyris4_frXpqQapYcwxxRFrqrzFnUvXJ2kZehhy7k-V2BriD1RcI5bPaLeo379UeryKV5qIyvTfF2hFSPRLzkuvWeu1fao9QXFKnn-p1aqoUHLTLXykm_QMm7ZPn7D_xc-Pn-4v/s1600/LadyB.Halloween.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0pb-ZYyris4_frXpqQapYcwxxRFrqrzFnUvXJ2kZehhy7k-V2BriD1RcI5bPaLeo379UeryKV5qIyvTfF2hFSPRLzkuvWeu1fao9QXFKnn-p1aqoUHLTLXykm_QMm7ZPn7D_xc-Pn-4v/s320/LadyB.Halloween.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Not so dignified was Eddie, my Inner Editor.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEe7jmKSmSmjdyms6QEebCZ9K_q1houAsk9OSt-YrF4GoGiKKapFYidIjlLJb0QE1EaT4cCsS5bNHHEIGO-5qflQjGhB1z40Eds0jFUwlwpKUehaVFDxWRhGj0gyYJ7WWvrrtDw5tmA6MW/s1600/Eddie+baby.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEe7jmKSmSmjdyms6QEebCZ9K_q1houAsk9OSt-YrF4GoGiKKapFYidIjlLJb0QE1EaT4cCsS5bNHHEIGO-5qflQjGhB1z40Eds0jFUwlwpKUehaVFDxWRhGj0gyYJ7WWvrrtDw5tmA6MW/s320/Eddie+baby.JPG" width="229" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We wondered why on earth Eddie dressed himself as a baby. </span>He says he can't imagine anything scarier.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJGEdFqvBgZZVHL-N4V-bma_sWKag8rNT7XxAOTACm_hZt7-4HNojdONFP3eHrl_QDxL40awJz0OHE1CtPN2DFt2bVf3VJcoPrQgVI56HnOnc-Sx1cgz4JUQdzUG-Wa48Nem1l7cwsJjS882yqIgxEzqKbPTtHx3UQCKxsit_LrXfjq-lrl4O1AeNYeA=s799" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="609" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJGEdFqvBgZZVHL-N4V-bma_sWKag8rNT7XxAOTACm_hZt7-4HNojdONFP3eHrl_QDxL40awJz0OHE1CtPN2DFt2bVf3VJcoPrQgVI56HnOnc-Sx1cgz4JUQdzUG-Wa48Nem1l7cwsJjS882yqIgxEzqKbPTtHx3UQCKxsit_LrXfjq-lrl4O1AeNYeA=w305-h400" width="305" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johnson & Johnson Baby Lotion ad, c. 1944</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie explained that babies remind him of creepy crawlies. </span>You can see what he means.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-WVT5B0QA_W8ktHDUmMlvoOX18MRd6c9Jivd_Zah3pQ7jvOAJ5w26EaB6xtny7JaSZD__PHN-Ab2p8f7Kd-dAtn8g4MByj9qCezkLOUYCr70TRCp3Y_YaJMKB_YHgL9dVkd2-AbAA5xR/s1600/RyanHayes.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-WVT5B0QA_W8ktHDUmMlvoOX18MRd6c9Jivd_Zah3pQ7jvOAJ5w26EaB6xtny7JaSZD__PHN-Ab2p8f7Kd-dAtn8g4MByj9qCezkLOUYCr70TRCp3Y_YaJMKB_YHgL9dVkd2-AbAA5xR/s400/RyanHayes.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Which leads me to a question: whatever happened to Baby Jane?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFV92C6AncEXYshTyZ7LEKQ1pG3V1MBjV_T8o2B1SIfmwO7jNGjzaxyeg4UDKhy-YrC6N-1PVRh4YvNtQa74klke3WlPil5IZmQWwe8aINRNL5gsdPgFUm4Ii34A0bvByPuiKGul-cUrg/s1600/uneekdolldesigns.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFV92C6AncEXYshTyZ7LEKQ1pG3V1MBjV_T8o2B1SIfmwO7jNGjzaxyeg4UDKhy-YrC6N-1PVRh4YvNtQa74klke3WlPil5IZmQWwe8aINRNL5gsdPgFUm4Ii34A0bvByPuiKGul-cUrg/s320/uneekdolldesigns.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The haunting look of Baby Jane reminds me of our resident Evil Twin, Cora Boran. She frightens the life out of us by shuffling round the streets of Fribble with her walking frame.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQ9ARqctx3OTa3odCJU8uoqz43vrabhpBvQ81GxZ3x-O22XmpdD9GBgZDWu3PkDVj3SZ8E_4ToQ1HkKyzyoHU3QqQBM-CM2Fqy_9pIXPrkd2aQcsd9XOHStMR0jMyWTtAZtcGCZV1u19h/s1600/Hallw+Cora+(2).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQ9ARqctx3OTa3odCJU8uoqz43vrabhpBvQ81GxZ3x-O22XmpdD9GBgZDWu3PkDVj3SZ8E_4ToQ1HkKyzyoHU3QqQBM-CM2Fqy_9pIXPrkd2aQcsd9XOHStMR0jMyWTtAZtcGCZV1u19h/s320/Hallw+Cora+(2).JPG" width="196" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And now for something truly frightening. Are you ready?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbd-5RulX1fO0bsKUREQRmGyp71oLjqOg4Zk3mXThSATpTnuLKoi_pPe9gBRJmAOYJzhBVHg5XULsjmF4XRiRLQy8ExFV5crgDDoQzHZm0jiaDhVchWp3co1qfzuszYxGiTHUwh8KMyJ3/s1600/J0178843.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbd-5RulX1fO0bsKUREQRmGyp71oLjqOg4Zk3mXThSATpTnuLKoi_pPe9gBRJmAOYJzhBVHg5XULsjmF4XRiRLQy8ExFV5crgDDoQzHZm0jiaDhVchWp3co1qfzuszYxGiTHUwh8KMyJ3/s200/J0178843.JPG" width="132" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ever heard of <i>coulrophobia</i>?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You haven't? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, if you're scared of clowns, look away now.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwOmxBKDlka0_w3NlIFuQV-EFS8qfEoTKTQk2ArfYeP5-0FJlmWDvtvxixCqK4nOh2TtMHc-iVsht34-nPl25qn0XDoFWaX4s41rfCFAdOSz3gb64T2FAT2vDX73EeEDAcV_kIx1eSNDQ/s1600/GeorgeF.Der.Krampus.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwOmxBKDlka0_w3NlIFuQV-EFS8qfEoTKTQk2ArfYeP5-0FJlmWDvtvxixCqK4nOh2TtMHc-iVsht34-nPl25qn0XDoFWaX4s41rfCFAdOSz3gb64T2FAT2vDX73EeEDAcV_kIx1eSNDQ/s320/GeorgeF.Der.Krampus.FKCC.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfoster67/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfoster67/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Der Krampus</i> is very creepy indeed. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The only thing worse would be a clown zombie. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4ud3MqzoBU0EQ1pGvjek23WB8Gn3D8_yFW9GgORI64bSmK9RsZXGhsAzCvaBLBXeH7NaHT8LENJCHLn0T4kG0C_DVX403sbaPgnO9nA23ieV-vr-C49IxrPK5T64NnVsDjRsK5AIJuME/s1600/Scary_Clown_Zombie_-_Flickr_-_SoulStealer_co_uk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4ud3MqzoBU0EQ1pGvjek23WB8Gn3D8_yFW9GgORI64bSmK9RsZXGhsAzCvaBLBXeH7NaHT8LENJCHLn0T4kG0C_DVX403sbaPgnO9nA23ieV-vr-C49IxrPK5T64NnVsDjRsK5AIJuME/s320/Scary_Clown_Zombie_-_Flickr_-_SoulStealer_co_uk.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soul_stealer/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/soul_stealer/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">My imaginary friend Miggy is terrified of zombies and clowns. She is frightened out of her wits by Der Kraumpus. She says if she saw him she would leave home and run away to a motel. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But it's no good going to a motel, Miggy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xRBVmuLartkWGcoB-msfH0I_KR8K0boLGlfMpJwQfvt8Ti41R_uifc2MLA90tNfOfAueqoCfNY9cm9STdZeHv-D_n_tPstYJKgqmuIR2YXTwbzHQtdZij1DCoao3d8AqrFKVEFj2smQV/s1600/Jabbex.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xRBVmuLartkWGcoB-msfH0I_KR8K0boLGlfMpJwQfvt8Ti41R_uifc2MLA90tNfOfAueqoCfNY9cm9STdZeHv-D_n_tPstYJKgqmuIR2YXTwbzHQtdZij1DCoao3d8AqrFKVEFj2smQV/s320/Jabbex.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jabbex/7817593030/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jabbex/7817593030/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There'll be a clown in every room.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMpp4sgSjrUuLx11CIKl_uzlam6Ed6mOsNej1R7DkdNwaqudCSnMEGYAiLAMQhj-0FTGhEPbBvpsC8voHxX0d15b42RBNMcHGMhPrXYfzH-jLQC8uIEHCb8CB-frPts2zrJ2DpGkZa-Vlx/s1600/librariananguish.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMpp4sgSjrUuLx11CIKl_uzlam6Ed6mOsNej1R7DkdNwaqudCSnMEGYAiLAMQhj-0FTGhEPbBvpsC8voHxX0d15b42RBNMcHGMhPrXYfzH-jLQC8uIEHCb8CB-frPts2zrJ2DpGkZa-Vlx/s320/librariananguish.fkcc.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianguish/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianguish/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's no good trying to lock yourself in the room and settle down with a book.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmLEtc9QblO6ERtsL1fFr-svVUxn4K2AB_sKamwKWctnww2Xl5dB9P0yyQCdcnILk9FP7KtvnOqN21rQxxItKVAW4IcDSbYK4-a0bWoO4zA4DNu9at7hNfdAqN2FvejF4zDLN8xlyuuiY/s1600/here.be.clowns..jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmLEtc9QblO6ERtsL1fFr-svVUxn4K2AB_sKamwKWctnww2Xl5dB9P0yyQCdcnILk9FP7KtvnOqN21rQxxItKVAW4IcDSbYK4-a0bWoO4zA4DNu9at7hNfdAqN2FvejF4zDLN8xlyuuiY/s320/here.be.clowns..jpg" width="222" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You won't be able to sleep.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhe69Ux6j7o4_YOoy9PH3mi9OS0ZSjxXtYIBDcahg5rYoHdJ76BHJzl7BFygw6gViIEkaHlSrjI528QEt-Q1Vbp5LEEAXLvhnJqOp8BGBSWygPJna0p0YKgeO7bvuZLaq8TqsTpC3sjXF/s1600/Kohaku16etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhe69Ux6j7o4_YOoy9PH3mi9OS0ZSjxXtYIBDcahg5rYoHdJ76BHJzl7BFygw6gViIEkaHlSrjI528QEt-Q1Vbp5LEEAXLvhnJqOp8BGBSWygPJna0p0YKgeO7bvuZLaq8TqsTpC3sjXF/s1600/Kohaku16etsy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/kohakul16" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/kohakul16</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miggy found herself a simple non-clown motel and she likes the retro car.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0FmZ_NyS64f0mHgq0s98HW1JaI-wjhPEyz4xHN3ZvKWbhYiv_9jNTagyHDDyfTPu2bs8NS61xohTMK8ML89HGRsvT77lmr3o598vctdyRBD9IIo4fw_uZXLeY0ftybs-xe3Pa-7kxU-qX/s1600/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0FmZ_NyS64f0mHgq0s98HW1JaI-wjhPEyz4xHN3ZvKWbhYiv_9jNTagyHDDyfTPu2bs8NS61xohTMK8ML89HGRsvT77lmr3o598vctdyRBD9IIo4fw_uZXLeY0ftybs-xe3Pa-7kxU-qX/s320/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And what's this? A good-looking young man who owns the car. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Name of Norman . . . </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4pu9RVOXY2uADRGBHhuobgKAnxECajLvjBm6ccX2A84x5ftG2NeCqTiiavmYqsRzS4Hr0kv07XSEArmM8u-kPWw1146yZd_8gFsS1RlNM9_jOPg13OnJ4IDTcq8_PERVIS120JU5A5Wn/s1600/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4pu9RVOXY2uADRGBHhuobgKAnxECajLvjBm6ccX2A84x5ftG2NeCqTiiavmYqsRzS4Hr0kv07XSEArmM8u-kPWw1146yZd_8gFsS1RlNM9_jOPg13OnJ4IDTcq8_PERVIS120JU5A5Wn/s320/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Norman? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Bates Motel? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hmmmm. Something about that rings a bell.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Migs! Whatever you do, don't take a shower! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx1KILiGqbSbN1U-b37ssiNAKIfpe7kH2jTAW2VzZdgBMpBwDhoXVk1EA2Bn8nOQOVgfB6HyKl9BzTtwB4ResQYB_q0Dhbjd_gQgt36jyL7ID_CRdzoUOzlz5pt23oB2oH9vQydLJ6AwG/s1600/customshowercurtains.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx1KILiGqbSbN1U-b37ssiNAKIfpe7kH2jTAW2VzZdgBMpBwDhoXVk1EA2Bn8nOQOVgfB6HyKl9BzTtwB4ResQYB_q0Dhbjd_gQgt36jyL7ID_CRdzoUOzlz5pt23oB2oH9vQydLJ6AwG/s320/customshowercurtains.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/customshowercurtains" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/customshowercurtains</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="text-align: center;"><b>Credits</b></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The alien creature on the little whicker bench is a vintage Halloween costume from the 1930s. I saw it on Bored Panda, where in 2020 it was rated as Number 1 creepiest of all the creepy vintage costumes. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The large spider bench is from Steel Heart Ltd. in Illinois </span><a href="http://www.steelheartlimited.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.steelheartlimited.com/ </a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> They make stylish and unusual home and garden products from cast iron, metal and other materials. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Much Afraid is a character from John Bunyan's <i>The Pilgrim's Progress</i>, 1683. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The drowned bench and the girl coming out of the water is a photograph called <i>Broken</i> by John O'Nolan, 2010. and I saw it at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnonolan/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnonolan/</a> John is from Lincoln and is a passionate web designer, as well as an entrepreneur, programmer, blogger, & author. He's also a member of the WordPress UI Team. There are some stunning portraits on his photostream too. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The witch on the bench is by MOs810 in Poland, taken in 2013. It was taken at the beautiful garden Hortulus Ogrody Tematyczne in Dobrzycy. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hortulus_Dobrzyca_(12).jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hortulus_Dobrzyca_(12).jpg</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I just love these decal bats flying around the elegant bench sofa. They're from Sarah at Stickerhog in Massachusetts. Sarah sells all kinds of wall decals and vinyl graphics for the home; indeed there are decals for every room in the house. Love the cup of steaming coffee! <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/stickerhog">www.etsy.com/shop/stickerhog</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The skeleton in my ensuite is from the wonderful Powerhouse Museum Collection on Flickr Commons. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2980051095/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2980051095/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's a plate glass negative, taken about 1900, entitled Portrait of an articulated skeleton on a bentwood chair. It's a gift of the estate of Raymond W. Phillips, 2008. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The skeletons playing the piano are from the National Archives UK, 1893. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/8141311057/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/8141311057/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The dancing skeletons are a painting by Spanish artist Daniel Sabater (1880-1951). It was painted in 1936 at the start of the Spanish Civil War. No irony there then. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What is it with skeletons playing musical instruments? </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Day of the Dead skeleton couple are from </span><a href="http://www.thrillomatic.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.thrillomatic.com</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> I really like them! They</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> have featured on Benchsite before, at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gambling-on-love-in-las-vegas.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gambling-on-love-in-las-vegas.html</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Joanna Michalak sent me the skeletal hands holding up candles, and the skeleton head with a very flimsy body which looks like it might be made out of a hessian bag. I know Thin is Good and all that, but really, it's not much of a body, is it? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The very, very thin couple walking together are not skeletons but they <i>are</i> seriously thin. The work is called <i>Man Geht Mil</i> and I have not been able to get a sensible translation of this. It was created in 1916 by German artist Hannah Hoch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I photographed my local cemetery just a few days ago here in Fribble-under-Par. Fribble dates from the 14th century so this is a nice old cemetery with lots of Victorian headstones still just about standing. The weeds have taken over, which adds to the atmosphere, and the bench too is in a state of decay. For more about Fribble-under-Par and my paradise island see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">John Tavares Jr. lives in Toronto and uses his photos to document and report. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The zombie girl and the man with his newspaper on a bench is apparently</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Another Quiet Afternoon at Nathan Phillips Square,</span></i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> which suggests that zombies normally inhabit this park. If I'm ever in the area I'll pop along and see one. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/johntavaresjr/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/johntavaresjr/ </a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The intricate spiderweb bench featured as a Boise Daily Photo back in September 2008. It's from Debbie Coulson Smith, the Boise Diva, who posts pictures at <a href="http://www.boisedailyphoto.com/">http://www.boisedailyphoto.com/</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> As it happens, this bench was not for Halloween; it was in front of a tattoo shop.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The witch and her dog in the park (2007) are by David Creswell, who lives in New York City but is very well travelled, as reflected in his Flickr photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cresny/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/cresny/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The little witch in the bike shop and the ghost later on are both Miggy's niece Lettie. Like most kids, Lettie loves Halloween and now that she's older, she still carries on the tradition of dressing up. Lettie has a baaaaad sheep bench story to tell at </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two scary spoons are both from Sarah Parker in Virginia. Her etsy shop has handstamped silverware, etched glass and other unique gifts. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries">www.etsy.com/shop/milkandhoneyluxuries</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The broom parking sign is from Wendi West at Wordybird Studios in Utah. Wendi makes wall decals and stickers for every occasion. There are 11 pages of them in her etsy shop, all beautifully photographed against some eye-catching furniture. The orange bench is brilliant so I'm not surprised a witch would wan to park her broom there. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/wordybirdstudios">www.etsy.com/shop/wordybirdstudios</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ria Pereira from Miami took the <i>Happy Floating Halloween</i> image of Oliver the cat on the broomstick. Love the socks. Ria also has a way with coffee; her photos of cappucinos are enough to make me get on my broomstick and fly down to the nearest coffee house. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/riapereira/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/riapereira/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The <i>Don't make me drop a house on you</i> sign, as every witch lover will know, is from the Wizard of Oz. I recognise the socks. It comes from 2 chicks and a basket, who make primitive handpainted and handcrafted signs in their cozy workshop in Pennsylvania. There are plenty of signs for witches, as well as for Christmas and other holidays. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/2chicksandabasket">www.etsy.com/shop/2chicksandabasket</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The demons sending a text are by Martijn van de Street, photographed in 2005. Martijn reckons they were reading a map. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/treenaks/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/treenaks/</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> I saw them at </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demons_on_a_bench.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demons_on_a_bench.jpg?uselang=en-gb</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The three people on a bench with their phones are a sculpture by Berlin-based artist Karoline Hinz. The sculpture, <i>Absorbed by Light</i>, was created by Hinz and designer Gail Lucas for the Amsterdam Light Festival in 2018. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="open-sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Edvard Munch's painting <i>The Scream</i> (1893), is one of the most recognizable works in the history of art. His later works proved to be less intense, but his earlier, darker paintings ensured his legacy. A testament to his importance, The Scream sold for more than $119 million in 2012. His other painting, The Murderer (1910), is less well known but nevertheless very disturbing.</span><span face="open-sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No vampires are involved in the photo of the man and the woman; it's actually ghosts which are the problem here. The woman is actress Betty Nanser, performing in the Ibsen play <i>Gengangere</i> (<i>Ghosts</i>) in 1925. Her co-star is Henrik Bentzon. I can't help thinking she looks a little drained of blood, but perhaps that's the fear of ghosts. The photo is from The Royal Library of Denmark at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofmapsprintsandphotographstheroyallibrarydenmark/8043671034/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofmapsprintsandphotographstheroyallibrarydenmark/8043671034/</a></span></div><div><br /></div>The elegant woman in the green dress is actually not the victim of a vampire; the man is merely kissing her neck. <i>City Vals</i> was created in 1910 by Danish graphic artist Sven Brasch (1886-1970). <br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The little vampire and the girl on the bench were photographed in California in 2008 by Stacey Taylor-Kane. The vampire may look cute, but the photo is called <i>Looking Tasty</i>, which suggests the pretty girl is in some danger from the young vampire. No wonder she looks worried. The photo is from Stacey's photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alleykitten/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/alleykitten/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The pumpkinhead in a kimono is a vintage Halloween card from somewhere between 1900 and 1918. There was a huge fashion trend for kimonos at that time. Sorry, that's all I know. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Boo!</i> is the man in the mask standing on the bench. It's from Drew's Kitschcafe at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/drew-o-rama/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/drew-o-rama/ </a> Drew does a lot of Bench Mondays with this same bench. He likes french fries and vintage clothing and housewares. His photostream is full of colour: dishes, yarn, quilts, food, fabrics - all sorts of bright and brilliant things. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The ghost poem is William Blake’s painting <i>The Poems of Thomas Gray Design 31 (A Long Story</i>), painted between 1797-1798. Blake lived 1757-1827. This is a Google Art Project. The painting is now in the Yale Center for British Art, but, as with most ghosts, not on view. I found it <span style="font-size: x-small;">at </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray,_Design_31,_%22A_Long_Story.%22_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Blake_-_The_Poems_of_Thomas_Gray,_Design_31,_%22A_Long_Story.%22_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><div><br /></div>The ghostly woman beside the blue bench at night is a painting by Norwegian artist Aksel Waldemar Johannessen (1880-1922). Looks like the painting was done in the year of the artist's death. It's called <i>The Night</i>. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The man holding his own head is Simon Greig (xrrr), who is an IT architect and part-time photographer. He has made this photo available via Flickr Creative Commons at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xrrr/4060860832/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/xrrr/4060860832/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's called <i>Happy Headless Halloween</i> and apparently it only took him 15 minutes to make. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The pumpkin head beside the headless body is by Ex-pat Winnipegger John Wunderlich, who now lives in Toronto. His photostream includes great Halloween photos at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wunderlich/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/wunderlich/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The shrouded women are <i>Time Guards</i>, sculptures I saw at Cass Sculpture Park in West Sussex during a visit in 2010. (I have also seen them entitled <i>Guardians of Time</i> - not sure which is correct.) Either way, they are stunning. The work is by Austrian sculptor Manfred Kielnhofer and this year the sculptures have been on tour. This month they have been at the Festival of Lights in Berlin, looking somewhat different from when I saw them. <a href="http://www.artpark.at/2013/10/04/festival-of-lights-berlin-guardians-of-time-by-manfred-kielnhofer-contemporary-modern-light-art-festival/">http://www.artpark.at/2013/10/04/festival-of-lights-berlin-guardians-of-time-by-manfred-kielnhofer-contemporary-modern-light-art-festival/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here in Fribble and Drizzly we take Halloween very seriously. There are lots of parties and people enjoy getting out their costumes. Some are spine-tingly, others are entirely benign. For example, here's Ursula Makepeace, our Unicorn in Residence. She decided to come to the Halloween party wearing the same thing she wore for <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/imagine-its-world-peace-day.html">World Peace Day</a> back in September.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkegBJ-3MEUhESxSbWLRh1ZUtG1O0p4M8ZpYmRINO0VtXac1WYCGYHqeHU2OsmcqJAYyUZTxLCWKFiKkSEPIuPEXv38TmjeMSS7DY8__0uWC3u-x2IGBAP2iUYRpVIdagiMOKn9TOsyFq/s1600/100_5855.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkegBJ-3MEUhESxSbWLRh1ZUtG1O0p4M8ZpYmRINO0VtXac1WYCGYHqeHU2OsmcqJAYyUZTxLCWKFiKkSEPIuPEXv38TmjeMSS7DY8__0uWC3u-x2IGBAP2iUYRpVIdagiMOKn9TOsyFq/s320/100_5855.JPG" width="308" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Baby Jane is a Uneek Doll Design from Debbie Ritter's shop in Alabama. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</a> Debbie makes dolls for all kinds of historic and literary figures, including this Bette Davis doll from her role in <i>Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (date)</i> To my mind, this film is still one of the scariest ever. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Giant Scary Baby Things were photographed by Ryan Hayes in Prague in 2009. He saw them on the Mala Strana. Ryan is from Austin, Texas originally but now lives in London. He photographs a lot of creative people, including the Burning Man festival in Nevada, Halloween, and makeup artists at work. The zombie girl asking for makeup advice at the start of the post is also his. Ryan's photostream is oneflameinthefire at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhayes/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Der_Krampus is a candy coloured clown I found on Flickr Creative Commons. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfoster67/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfoster67/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He's by George F, perhaps he even </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> George F. I'm not coulrophobic but Der Krampus is very scary indeed. If you don't believe me, have a look at the set of photos of what clowns get up to on their holidays. Elsewhere, George F has some gorgeous, haunting photos of abandoned institutions; these really are the stuff of nightmares.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The coulrophobia badge is by Amber in Atlanta, Georgia. I thought this badge summed up coulrophobia rather succinctly. Apparently the term coulrophobia is a recent one, used mainly on the internet and not derived from any specific psychiatric condition, though it is well-established in research that many people, especially children, have a fear of clowns (Miggy included). A few years ago the Bestival had to change their theme when it became clear that many Bestival-goers are coulrophobic. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Amber's etsy shop sells pinback buttons, magnets, photoprints and art glass penants. </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/people/kohaku16" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/people/kohaku16</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The clown zombie is from Soul Stealer, who took the picture at World Zombie Day in London in 2012. There are a huge number of brilliant portraits on Soul Stealer's photostream, including goblins, steampunks, goths, zombies and some really creepy dolls. It's Halloween every day at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soul_stealer/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/soul_stealer/ </a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Clown Motel is in Tonopah, Nevada and it is very much photographed. According to Trip Advisor in August 2011, its rooms are clean and comfortable. Despite this recommendation, Miggy won't be going there. This photo is by Jon Jabbex, taken in 2012 for his Flickr photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jabbex/7817593030/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jabbex/7817593030/</a> Jon did not find the motel creepy at all, but didn't like the cemetery right behind it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The seated clown with another clown in his lap is also from the Clown Motel; I recognise the photos on the wall behind them. This photo is by librariananguish, who</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> describes herself as a librarian crimefighter. She</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> visited The Clown Motel in 2010 and lived to tell the tale. You can see more photos of the Clown Motel and other scary stuff at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianguish/with/5070021196/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianguish/with/5070021196/</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Here Be Clowns</i> is a book I found in an antique shop. It is an anthology edited by Dorothy Davies and published in 2012. I don't know anything about the plots of the stories but the front cover is enough to send Miggy screaming to the Bates Motel. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><a class="cboxElement" href="http://horrorbug.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/TheBenchPoster.jpg"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Bates Motel is at Universal Studios. It was photographed by Loren Javier in 2011 and appears on his photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you know Alfred Hitchcock's movie Psycho, you'll know all about the Bates hotel and what happened in the shower there. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Loren lives in LA and has an annual pass at Disneyland. But he has loads of photos from Universal Studios too, including a whole collection of Norman Bates and the Bates Motel. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The <i>Psycho</i> shower curtain is one of the many fabulously creative shower curtain designs from Joe. I don't suppose many motels buy them. Joe's shop is at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/customshowercurtains">www.etsy.com/shop/customshowercurtains</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The final Halloween party picture shows Fribble residents, from left to right: Cora Boran (with mask and walking frame); Tamsin Pink (wrapped in shroud); Garcon Orange, a French orange dressed as himself; Tamsin's baby with a spider on his head. In the middle row our Engineer Emily has a bowl of fruit on her head and is supposed to be Carmen Miranda. The wrench in her hand doesn't help. My two cats Rosie and Melissa are at the back, then our police constable Wyme the Crime under the ghost head. He couldn't be scary if he tried. Root, son and heir of Lord Brassica, is wrapped up in a green net (good place for him) and his mate Sk8T is upside down for some reason. In the middle is a little angel called Angela, who appears to be a party-crasher as no one knows who on earth she is. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaslBq67iEhYNHk4i3lg-2L26WwFmgO3-4-0lEqrtiN0RhMOF0Ti61qiAiWVpiJ5ac0R7znYuEeOrN4DiHUI8vwd5MWmRb6K1KfY2A9A-haOLTBQE6O7maEHVhLabMXVU4ScPzAyiHfnvo/s1600/hands.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaslBq67iEhYNHk4i3lg-2L26WwFmgO3-4-0lEqrtiN0RhMOF0Ti61qiAiWVpiJ5ac0R7znYuEeOrN4DiHUI8vwd5MWmRb6K1KfY2A9A-haOLTBQE6O7maEHVhLabMXVU4ScPzAyiHfnvo/s320/hands.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-67345354505690072402022-10-03T08:15:00.001-07:002022-10-03T08:15:20.976-07:00Noah's Ark Benches for World Animal Day<p> We found old Noah on his bench in the park</p><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_Gr8yfpVgc2J0sR_vmCv9GHT-EdspzVl2NHJ-lxMAoZbr0wYA51WTn3VCHJHwu-vtvcWOEpqJMdpVcO9MVLxwpluQWEW423np3LijqPgGVbv6eNyPPyDexwo6SmlTyG1iXeI2MgtxOI2/s1600/Noah&sheep2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_Gr8yfpVgc2J0sR_vmCv9GHT-EdspzVl2NHJ-lxMAoZbr0wYA51WTn3VCHJHwu-vtvcWOEpqJMdpVcO9MVLxwpluQWEW423np3LijqPgGVbv6eNyPPyDexwo6SmlTyG1iXeI2MgtxOI2/s320/Noah&sheep2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and asked his advice on loading the ark.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiVR7iGcxcd-N6jJsIm3I6H-xvBYK6hkYdqGjrIHin_Pik2YrZ3rhisMCDdveKXsDbP8BQlzaDPvEgwkzcNqX2cblz4_8OrazbEmx6B5-h7iSBl8ah54oOnn2Uq7XUHpLLHMgkzzjZcY0/s1600/boatB1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiVR7iGcxcd-N6jJsIm3I6H-xvBYK6hkYdqGjrIHin_Pik2YrZ3rhisMCDdveKXsDbP8BQlzaDPvEgwkzcNqX2cblz4_8OrazbEmx6B5-h7iSBl8ah54oOnn2Uq7XUHpLLHMgkzzjZcY0/s320/boatB1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It rained so long that we thought <i>Crikey!</i></span><br /><i>A flood of biblical proportions looks likely</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnKnFwDPGLvTS8CzY34ZH4FQbDstchVTpqWJXcn0D0UJZuAZ4lrE_In5BOhzbEgKuq4DP3nO32yCuG6d0SlIxAQiQF2aBySihnmaEczwHDmnt8j6yJ2BHWtEsyLLA2DwaeetiBvpS8t5_/s1600/rain!.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnKnFwDPGLvTS8CzY34ZH4FQbDstchVTpqWJXcn0D0UJZuAZ4lrE_In5BOhzbEgKuq4DP3nO32yCuG6d0SlIxAQiQF2aBySihnmaEczwHDmnt8j6yJ2BHWtEsyLLA2DwaeetiBvpS8t5_/s320/rain!.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Though rounding up animals is quite a chore</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Noah knew how - he'd done it before.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So the Fribble lads and the Drizzly wenches</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">set out to save our animal benches.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><i>Wenches</i> is a silly word. Is it just here to keep the rhyme? Editor</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The big ones went first: the tigers</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwOkpgoV5gZySBooHAv3KMd0ptsZLsWACpbef4lKS6pAyPOaZLeXDeCHH_ZiSpcjtDWryD67OpNoa4_bNeOfQXOmJVlTXglL9Kx7efirXaeLU6jyqrUAoFGi6OYrY-EBq9Djd5UZ77N7K/s1600/asianreplicas.siberian_tiger_animal_bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwOkpgoV5gZySBooHAv3KMd0ptsZLsWACpbef4lKS6pAyPOaZLeXDeCHH_ZiSpcjtDWryD67OpNoa4_bNeOfQXOmJVlTXglL9Kx7efirXaeLU6jyqrUAoFGi6OYrY-EBq9Djd5UZ77N7K/s320/asianreplicas.siberian_tiger_animal_bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/">www.asianreplicas.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the cows</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUcDdYp_AtYXVeg-c7WiD8VjRUWCko_AnfawAukBKNGAasBc3_clOnK1mH7dd7pmKZFWwrpDljVuzzhpWNHJ8je4i5VTxpqWYepjUv0MWVffqM2SOQY_wPcbH5EQMsg8vDlrlbYmLpxNK/s1600/kothen.anhalt.WK.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUcDdYp_AtYXVeg-c7WiD8VjRUWCko_AnfawAukBKNGAasBc3_clOnK1mH7dd7pmKZFWwrpDljVuzzhpWNHJ8je4i5VTxpqWYepjUv0MWVffqM2SOQY_wPcbH5EQMsg8vDlrlbYmLpxNK/s320/kothen.anhalt.WK.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-08_K%C3%B6then_(Anhalt)_12.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-08</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the zebra</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhDv6zMsQw-tpgmfDuRBJr2l9POXDYp4W7JX3Nf13J9KKudlAv20iT3MQvRVc84KDTErj2oryrP2LMaDSNKmCL0RAoLlhkISPDzZBF7EMC62ws5hyphenhyphenIs9gguifqikUlT9TuS2FThJBqBvg/s1600/ZEBRA+BENCH.lifesizemodels(7).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhDv6zMsQw-tpgmfDuRBJr2l9POXDYp4W7JX3Nf13J9KKudlAv20iT3MQvRVc84KDTErj2oryrP2LMaDSNKmCL0RAoLlhkISPDzZBF7EMC62ws5hyphenhyphenIs9gguifqikUlT9TuS2FThJBqBvg/s320/ZEBRA+BENCH.lifesizemodels(7).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""calibri" , "sans-serif"" style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000022/!x-usc:http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk/"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk</span></span></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the buffalo</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMGq9bT5tyEwvrDph_wlfQngJKMTsHWth7rtfFThC7f1Rlb3vHdpDQFecpOTaF2FvWk1Teej6spBmfKDhQ-0XEqUjEGCO-AKUggJ-Jp1YF9-poqy9-h59vuKsjcWJ8l1PWrv_wpP3xJeLC/s1600/creativecommonsbuff.fkr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMGq9bT5tyEwvrDph_wlfQngJKMTsHWth7rtfFThC7f1Rlb3vHdpDQFecpOTaF2FvWk1Teej6spBmfKDhQ-0XEqUjEGCO-AKUggJ-Jp1YF9-poqy9-h59vuKsjcWJ8l1PWrv_wpP3xJeLC/s320/creativecommonsbuff.fkr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the sun bear</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhq-x15Pc2YLn-ey5JF9ZvXZPVrn73Xjbakddhg_P8UdnsyGnwsJdAdcKQ6QREhd3_E210pQ5ISz4_8eZHxa40nWJxzMpdTmRuOK7eF3ubXnwZeJuOzPIGKDW2A9l0vNHcqBGGrz3gj9Dt/s1600/beartonguecommons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhq-x15Pc2YLn-ey5JF9ZvXZPVrn73Xjbakddhg_P8UdnsyGnwsJdAdcKQ6QREhd3_E210pQ5ISz4_8eZHxa40nWJxzMpdTmRuOK7eF3ubXnwZeJuOzPIGKDW2A9l0vNHcqBGGrz3gj9Dt/s320/beartonguecommons.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenzowie/with/8731733772/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenzowie</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the sows.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg626XQ8Fa6k5jB0kON2NGdBNm6ik9C5NVf6Ts0td5QTR3t_rvFoyZT8vEm34oWNBSZMkHJ6nkFZvjPDRrAtFxZsOTy0VJ5vFU0xKFGsgVGa4bw8__lfzBjtKkP5Lber0iTvriTujGYtslp/s1600/Gimme-PigB.pamela.silinpalmer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg626XQ8Fa6k5jB0kON2NGdBNm6ik9C5NVf6Ts0td5QTR3t_rvFoyZT8vEm34oWNBSZMkHJ6nkFZvjPDRrAtFxZsOTy0VJ5vFU0xKFGsgVGa4bw8__lfzBjtKkP5Lber0iTvriTujGYtslp/s1600/Gimme-PigB.pamela.silinpalmer.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "arial";">©Pamela Silin-Palmer 2013</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Noah referred to his <i>Ancient Ark Planne</i>r</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and asked them to wait in an orderly manner.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ugRtizM_-tLmjavog8k-pVNzP8wp3S-IZ3dSvG73bzZ7Yxzyj5UxLP17MFovOYilrc1aMmXGxVt41B0ecwCLaes_nP6WQKPK4FAtZdotamWmR_k4H7U6nX032cdUgB77MHaVhks0_6yL/s1600/scarycrow.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ugRtizM_-tLmjavog8k-pVNzP8wp3S-IZ3dSvG73bzZ7Yxzyj5UxLP17MFovOYilrc1aMmXGxVt41B0ecwCLaes_nP6WQKPK4FAtZdotamWmR_k4H7U6nX032cdUgB77MHaVhks0_6yL/s320/scarycrow.FK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarycrow/3520051220/sizes/m/in/photolist-6n4bAh/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarycrow/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The wolves howled their protest </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoV51YAfE0xpwgxJ_2ik79T7LHOk_mQLpxFVLGlWlRoEG0L5e6P1c4v3vd544ERaBEPQpfU0Q1MFZxJoAa7ZFmBJQ5L1RrvyWPupcjW1elhruaqu9QZyhtUYNU3BXZw7mglSfvpAOR27hC/s1600/artwooddesigns.com.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoV51YAfE0xpwgxJ_2ik79T7LHOk_mQLpxFVLGlWlRoEG0L5e6P1c4v3vd544ERaBEPQpfU0Q1MFZxJoAa7ZFmBJQ5L1RrvyWPupcjW1elhruaqu9QZyhtUYNU3BXZw7mglSfvpAOR27hC/s1600/artwooddesigns.com.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.artwooddesigns.com/">www.artwooddesigns.com</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The owl was a screecher</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cVbPpTARGV_vouRsz8K4WeGMVFJpYLflIiMp2x8f15xlsHkKtKwhO9nF7FgbAsGBxCruZVcDmSgJG3sFrqO_Zur4YwOhnoutioe2v67q82oW3VFBpPYKPdcVMmgAI4-eFix1glGxdHfz/s1600/Owl_Bench_-_geograph_org_uk_-_1423367.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cVbPpTARGV_vouRsz8K4WeGMVFJpYLflIiMp2x8f15xlsHkKtKwhO9nF7FgbAsGBxCruZVcDmSgJG3sFrqO_Zur4YwOhnoutioe2v67q82oW3VFBpPYKPdcVMmgAI4-eFix1glGxdHfz/s320/Owl_Bench_-_geograph_org_uk_-_1423367.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_Bench">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_Bench</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">but we wanted to save each precious creature.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">Dubious rhyme here, Seashell. Do sort yourself out. Editor.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The foxes</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyF3Kykv9Ozn_FCFTDaMvOwd4WQAfcIXky5FbKneY8cvSlfwyGo-IQctJMMQ3HfwjJWWhaCXuPPvrP52UEf_VYipzi6B9RPds0-3IAgH9QnHU8ayqVoFZ_DkwNP-viqt5DKqQuwBNGEOS/s1600/appley+bench+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyF3Kykv9Ozn_FCFTDaMvOwd4WQAfcIXky5FbKneY8cvSlfwyGo-IQctJMMQ3HfwjJWWhaCXuPPvrP52UEf_VYipzi6B9RPds0-3IAgH9QnHU8ayqVoFZ_DkwNP-viqt5DKqQuwBNGEOS/s320/appley+bench+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Joanna Michalak</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the horned frog</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Cmb4LlZZjPzw0MifdogA8uw-FIAzdnK7XPJYT8AIrLAEnc8bZcFhTvS5OmL065Ly6mcGVMeUeIHyWp-7b4CIvZO0VWXPsjn-eSukT79tv36b98d7z7pYsFZWG8Mne_2_c6zstEszEEX8/s1600/jimmywayne.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Cmb4LlZZjPzw0MifdogA8uw-FIAzdnK7XPJYT8AIrLAEnc8bZcFhTvS5OmL065Ly6mcGVMeUeIHyWp-7b4CIvZO0VWXPsjn-eSukT79tv36b98d7z7pYsFZWG8Mne_2_c6zstEszEEX8/s320/jimmywayne.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the bunnies</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibi-m7ufO-nqfhjaaYKRhSgAek93ZSTjf9Bd4J1xE1cxmPszhp1Q7ihRGRN_5kPFXAGcNVMJ0N7boRvLwzCN1XquBOe6LDCR4vSzMGEKpb4-wzQF4ey9ybKEdI6RZcsjHw-cbCydEE7dL_/s1600/rabbitBench1991.pamela.silinpalmer..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibi-m7ufO-nqfhjaaYKRhSgAek93ZSTjf9Bd4J1xE1cxmPszhp1Q7ihRGRN_5kPFXAGcNVMJ0N7boRvLwzCN1XquBOe6LDCR4vSzMGEKpb4-wzQF4ey9ybKEdI6RZcsjHw-cbCydEE7dL_/s1600/rabbitBench1991.pamela.silinpalmer..jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "arial";">©Pamela Silin-Palmer 2013</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the sheep</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1p1k8ROtrTBxLizp5y-LYUS-hoVqeTV1jXclWuU6Jbd3OiNS6h6h89aOeK9RU6EspsUULnf-jEYJEaUZvRPJj_YvtUbXGwqPhZTCNusNMUyDJWnbhFGI-yxh-6K-bNCemn7R7tOOFrywD/s1600/rosaliesherman.philart.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1p1k8ROtrTBxLizp5y-LYUS-hoVqeTV1jXclWuU6Jbd3OiNS6h6h89aOeK9RU6EspsUULnf-jEYJEaUZvRPJj_YvtUbXGwqPhZTCNusNMUyDJWnbhFGI-yxh-6K-bNCemn7R7tOOFrywD/s320/rosaliesherman.philart.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.philart.net/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.philart.net/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">each animal bench we wanted to keep.* </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79; font-size: x-small;">*Except snakes. I hate snakes.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The squirrel bench</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBJFk-HPiUU3N6o7bbF3IRAWmjudaEn1gtS6Jt-KB-4T8JxuSTmWCumoVlBQpPl7z0sJQ_dKYaemvHMy_RPn2rlKAWivXIDyWDKSSEOG9qpKFh0hRQ6CA73oHPrQhI12zwJaq7ivXsTL8/s1600/565px-Station_bench_-_geograph_org_uk_-_241759.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBJFk-HPiUU3N6o7bbF3IRAWmjudaEn1gtS6Jt-KB-4T8JxuSTmWCumoVlBQpPl7z0sJQ_dKYaemvHMy_RPn2rlKAWivXIDyWDKSSEOG9qpKFh0hRQ6CA73oHPrQhI12zwJaq7ivXsTL8/s320/565px-Station_bench_-_geograph_org_uk_-_241759.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_241759.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_bench</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and peacock</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGHmjyfoMqJWP0E2KRvF_M3RaRpPJM_yti3YV0ccqemuAtLYO5-CKL1Nc60i3A3CBC1FEjLakq-qZGo-9fNsOoh5mL9AaYQ8q9axQOdMvTwmNFRpgrClL2jorRltK6qWH9wkHXTcB-aK-/s1600/800px-Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGHmjyfoMqJWP0E2KRvF_M3RaRpPJM_yti3YV0ccqemuAtLYO5-CKL1Nc60i3A3CBC1FEjLakq-qZGo-9fNsOoh5mL9AaYQ8q9axQOdMvTwmNFRpgrClL2jorRltK6qWH9wkHXTcB-aK-/s320/800px-Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Jinnah</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">we put on the boat, along with the wombat</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1mi2psVtl5d4T6MR7sjZVys362sXB1SzB2pjRXbBOYJubwnsPzlJ7nEXv0zGrFBZmjyFEER9sX1ofdp05TmOUw9NMCTwe2HZAdJ9xouUWdjR-y-mQ6WtyegWycAxNvldyyWfhGe94WBQv/s1600/mikecogh.sturt.ade2012.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1mi2psVtl5d4T6MR7sjZVys362sXB1SzB2pjRXbBOYJubwnsPzlJ7nEXv0zGrFBZmjyFEER9sX1ofdp05TmOUw9NMCTwe2HZAdJ9xouUWdjR-y-mQ6WtyegWycAxNvldyyWfhGe94WBQv/s320/mikecogh.sturt.ade2012.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the horse</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKf0TErYOhMpkmfekFZiAAUxqMwf43Jbx-G9ZY9nCy_OnvGSHRPCdDHzDFfU9ovREcLPw4vVuME3NJ2Nkweb9QTdvsWVY8qrKUx4c4fIZuFCLZ7qqH8FVzqsNOhQpo3sv_EZTAcA8aAiO/s1600/queenofcreativity.BS.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKf0TErYOhMpkmfekFZiAAUxqMwf43Jbx-G9ZY9nCy_OnvGSHRPCdDHzDFfU9ovREcLPw4vVuME3NJ2Nkweb9QTdvsWVY8qrKUx4c4fIZuFCLZ7qqH8FVzqsNOhQpo3sv_EZTAcA8aAiO/s320/queenofcreativity.BS.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: x-small;">http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and the goat.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKewUaeTUcScrtoI3b-Z0OjM8UnhsApBlai_H3Ie6T0aHhDSiSyb6PBKqtbageJvnvPFWsG0gzpFW4hJoH9CGrko157ETRFD7wxSW4w5Sdglm9dXc3ngl8SF0pPP6bZs8BwEph1gDZurp7/s1600/erika.crofut.goat-bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKewUaeTUcScrtoI3b-Z0OjM8UnhsApBlai_H3Ie6T0aHhDSiSyb6PBKqtbageJvnvPFWsG0gzpFW4hJoH9CGrko157ETRFD7wxSW4w5Sdglm9dXc3ngl8SF0pPP6bZs8BwEph1gDZurp7/s320/erika.crofut.goat-bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.erikacrofut.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.erikacrofut.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">What about pandas? I'd like to see a panda bench. Editor</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There was space for the badgers</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloC9TCj0N0PNtWi3UmOW6iH0C9eyt6HddfalX9VnVr2W3GjbF4k8CHsxTQ7gX27exIgMSMBWeElLxrCsr9Kt8j6Kkad8eO4IeAHxmQ1GJLkkMUWQY3u8wPqU13KVyW8sIKe_ORQEnE6n9/s1600/carvedtree.badgers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloC9TCj0N0PNtWi3UmOW6iH0C9eyt6HddfalX9VnVr2W3GjbF4k8CHsxTQ7gX27exIgMSMBWeElLxrCsr9Kt8j6Kkad8eO4IeAHxmQ1GJLkkMUWQY3u8wPqU13KVyW8sIKe_ORQEnE6n9/s200/carvedtree.badgers.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a place for the frogs</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EDdpiv618C6Lh_l9UlLDiqPfGS2p9ny4D8W0V3RrgSDQYKQ29GJ_YKamocc9i0jq3AEKA_gtcXJ7XymJzJ_08xG2NjWUnCwti5VDwrThTQzkZfHl8e94BBz-M_g92WjLcrYWV2LpkJNM/s1600/rustilee.frog.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EDdpiv618C6Lh_l9UlLDiqPfGS2p9ny4D8W0V3RrgSDQYKQ29GJ_YKamocc9i0jq3AEKA_gtcXJ7XymJzJ_08xG2NjWUnCwti5VDwrThTQzkZfHl8e94BBz-M_g92WjLcrYWV2LpkJNM/s320/rustilee.frog.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/rustilee" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/rustilee</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">adorable monkeys</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSq2QZr2Tod6noMDhiwL0miVjXpf7veC8Ou6xvaNOunmz7fFuWVoCCq2mjsSzkhPeHx1Pei68wLKHNX2Xm0roAkK7k9jaZjaFhfjRIiCRQ47rTBLPDXAeLq1MiywQdRHOPmJuVk5RgC04W/s1600/kanmuryoumonkeys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSq2QZr2Tod6noMDhiwL0miVjXpf7veC8Ou6xvaNOunmz7fFuWVoCCq2mjsSzkhPeHx1Pei68wLKHNX2Xm0roAkK7k9jaZjaFhfjRIiCRQ47rTBLPDXAeLq1MiywQdRHOPmJuVk5RgC04W/s320/kanmuryoumonkeys.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and a couple of dogs.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjXfrJ_Wcx68pflUV8q_7lCcwoYm5DiWla9omLe5PqvutvIT3fmEcPAepaGOpRWFEh8wu8vq5mdhtZ6EY7nIKzwmCnJ0niDrDDsAjwreUz_7ye6xL9BLV4VMIv8Yez0mwJrAnbct-VAlz/s1600/eclectic-benches.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjXfrJ_Wcx68pflUV8q_7lCcwoYm5DiWla9omLe5PqvutvIT3fmEcPAepaGOpRWFEh8wu8vq5mdhtZ6EY7nIKzwmCnJ0niDrDDsAjwreUz_7ye6xL9BLV4VMIv8Yez0mwJrAnbct-VAlz/s320/eclectic-benches.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.dogmt.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.dogmt.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Some were wood </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYX6mTCzC2P09cg29bZAWFdJKsWU3nM1mx_QppHdfuJaGYkCTBm4q8iI2eyII_C4YJunFYj0XYe-WR7vmqadx-xLrZs2L-PzoUYC9bgvmMfgaIshWwYE_eBSVmaLJvXFEN6O5iBAht5DQ/s1600/dragonwooddesigns.turtle.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYX6mTCzC2P09cg29bZAWFdJKsWU3nM1mx_QppHdfuJaGYkCTBm4q8iI2eyII_C4YJunFYj0XYe-WR7vmqadx-xLrZs2L-PzoUYC9bgvmMfgaIshWwYE_eBSVmaLJvXFEN6O5iBAht5DQ/s320/dragonwooddesigns.turtle.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and some were stone</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2eaRXQ-VvCNwXWhQafn0Tacqt_P0uEj7VlkyPD6zhphJmDGk9uwZqzQKwRm_-akR4KxQR3ZdndUJbGzOWa-htGPZKqegJ5sNmO7jMkd84AP9bB76Qy1ut2Q6r3eupBiZ38z2NU-ioU6K5/s1600/ell-r-brown.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2eaRXQ-VvCNwXWhQafn0Tacqt_P0uEj7VlkyPD6zhphJmDGk9uwZqzQKwRm_-akR4KxQR3ZdndUJbGzOWa-htGPZKqegJ5sNmO7jMkd84AP9bB76Qy1ut2Q6r3eupBiZ38z2NU-ioU6K5/s320/ell-r-brown.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">some were skeletons</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfRLaDE8Tkv9OILT-nyMBlVQCpEHBT9rDmusKg4Kitz0OoTxyMZX7hHN5tTloiH0Q-0wKs5IQw22cnxRrwRdTc5ELNR6fPxcaIqwyZUgcneq7CTGuNqDAgww3P0cCXEmvaqgBEed3MXT3/s1600/mieke.tachen.studiojob..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfRLaDE8Tkv9OILT-nyMBlVQCpEHBT9rDmusKg4Kitz0OoTxyMZX7hHN5tTloiH0Q-0wKs5IQw22cnxRrwRdTc5ELNR6fPxcaIqwyZUgcneq7CTGuNqDAgww3P0cCXEmvaqgBEed3MXT3/s320/mieke.tachen.studiojob..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and some were bone.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mEZFPhObUfbxHCBv3CKmmb3Lt2VAWXX2XywqXOcLBBBXsWzqA4BfpoiPOF9psRrB16k31wXlKZ8tdJP94pkMt0ZPVQJx0kYbOjvdxl57rt6eCKwBofYWfodAhatfp9Ge0verwr_dusl_/s1600/dogboneB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mEZFPhObUfbxHCBv3CKmmb3Lt2VAWXX2XywqXOcLBBBXsWzqA4BfpoiPOF9psRrB16k31wXlKZ8tdJP94pkMt0ZPVQJx0kYbOjvdxl57rt6eCKwBofYWfodAhatfp9Ge0verwr_dusl_/s1600/dogboneB.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.marenakos.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.marenakos.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">That's lucky. Those dogs will need something to eat. Ed.</span><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There were lots of lovely paw benches saved</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvASO1apWbyVPoLQbSh_8IuYJ_XSlxDiEuN1GA4GS4BMSxYaX8e_Mzzc1g3rThvxTiU25N_5AGWFnRlzcDriz4Xxr_-ESfaQPr2FgnbjwQX82hmoMWw4P91F7eFxfL31gbiweF02V7Sbqd/s1600/paws.katerobertson.qofcreativity.ID.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvASO1apWbyVPoLQbSh_8IuYJ_XSlxDiEuN1GA4GS4BMSxYaX8e_Mzzc1g3rThvxTiU25N_5AGWFnRlzcDriz4Xxr_-ESfaQPr2FgnbjwQX82hmoMWw4P91F7eFxfL31gbiweF02V7Sbqd/s1600/paws.katerobertson.qofcreativity.ID.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: x-small;">http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">though some of the dogs </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">were not well behaved.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HpclnGIpV653rbFVX48PaEEs4lAxJbBJBeLDHvY8JjgIsOzNAA-No8_pPMvBrcBZJEzbz9oqUA6mNK_vp9xnA-0KUj-Cs-Y_DFtxLlc1HnjdcWn61zoxH_yi7AMHH9-qRKwoPE_8D-Cf/s1600/spicytec.com.Straight+Line+Designs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HpclnGIpV653rbFVX48PaEEs4lAxJbBJBeLDHvY8JjgIsOzNAA-No8_pPMvBrcBZJEzbz9oqUA6mNK_vp9xnA-0KUj-Cs-Y_DFtxLlc1HnjdcWn61zoxH_yi7AMHH9-qRKwoPE_8D-Cf/s320/spicytec.com.Straight+Line+Designs.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000032/!x-usc:http://www.straightlinedesigns.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">www.straightlinedesigns.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">You could take off some of those dogs and save a panda. Ed.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79; font-size: x-small;">What's with the pandas? They get enough publicity as it is. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about dragonflies?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85XMZWuLp3PyT6W4chRLtlnt_biEd9nqLcXsy3LItZPVo_Y_7PI5wqV-AnkK6kMAIgJKbsVGYLGzQAzdFOlmrkkUMFDr4YDr22IKwQ34EiQBHjB8sliP5jiZF2IFyLoEL6RcmDmZbsBzT/s1600/houzzdragonfly.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85XMZWuLp3PyT6W4chRLtlnt_biEd9nqLcXsy3LItZPVo_Y_7PI5wqV-AnkK6kMAIgJKbsVGYLGzQAzdFOlmrkkUMFDr4YDr22IKwQ34EiQBHjB8sliP5jiZF2IFyLoEL6RcmDmZbsBzT/s1600/houzzdragonfly.bmp" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.cottageandbungalow.com/">www.cottageandbungalow.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about bats?*</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87pfwwAyYfy3wTV-4tPIKgmWAuxbS6WU0CgJ4mDXULU5eNZ6EmQSytwXZDPvwQnmiNMCCCr2Jb0I1C0gCYUk6QaOyNL5NxLVKWqlxOo4WARBDOPOz0m2c-23od74iEa67w_wq2ZphG5VF/s1600/tuscalosajoe.commons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87pfwwAyYfy3wTV-4tPIKgmWAuxbS6WU0CgJ4mDXULU5eNZ6EmQSytwXZDPvwQnmiNMCCCr2Jb0I1C0gCYUk6QaOyNL5NxLVKWqlxOo4WARBDOPOz0m2c-23od74iEa67w_wq2ZphG5VF/s320/tuscalosajoe.commons.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dziadzia/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/dziadzia/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">*It seems to have escaped your notice that these are baseball bats. Ed.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Centipedes matter!</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlGH5Weq6NLtlA7M7VWKSjRQqi_HK2TyXC0B5f53BEAFSvGOxBF9cYhVHN5L-cQswD1m_V4KKD3obwaPtM1AJtOQCMaawcKeQDBeTZdxHeCb9oQ_W6VwsEket5gZggalI7u0JDS-Ot3lcH/s1600/Shongololo_bench_by_louis_henri_02.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlGH5Weq6NLtlA7M7VWKSjRQqi_HK2TyXC0B5f53BEAFSvGOxBF9cYhVHN5L-cQswD1m_V4KKD3obwaPtM1AJtOQCMaawcKeQDBeTZdxHeCb9oQ_W6VwsEket5gZggalI7u0JDS-Ot3lcH/s320/Shongololo_bench_by_louis_henri_02.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.louishenri.com/">www.louishenri.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and so do cats.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVT0sP1wNstW5Lsjmj0G5gnxTVEUVf-ocdqI51hxn0JgR6gd7vY8bgp4Qv7LwTCC618T9wC4ANjHlBsByvcdIzcsGqx476OO-Jnr1NHwmqo52LyIYyZAOjVFine7gZHmkPr-707XP4WRGD/s1600/DonDrummcatbench.lehcar1477.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVT0sP1wNstW5Lsjmj0G5gnxTVEUVf-ocdqI51hxn0JgR6gd7vY8bgp4Qv7LwTCC618T9wC4ANjHlBsByvcdIzcsGqx476OO-Jnr1NHwmqo52LyIYyZAOjVFine7gZHmkPr-707XP4WRGD/s320/DonDrummcatbench.lehcar1477.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There's space for a rabbit</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfI8abcBl8Jhl-2x8Kw6we7M8F58uzvRWIgMY7lPUkDyU3j-7-XT9ujOE85IX7U6fUz16qaUk6oWRUCAkMNw5Z4BVWpkRRYjqQjM2SNE_HYg2P_l_TltmThO4ou0nE_KWmU02UGaypdz4/s1600/georgia.gerber.Rabbit-Bench-web.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfI8abcBl8Jhl-2x8Kw6we7M8F58uzvRWIgMY7lPUkDyU3j-7-XT9ujOE85IX7U6fUz16qaUk6oWRUCAkMNw5Z4BVWpkRRYjqQjM2SNE_HYg2P_l_TltmThO4ou0nE_KWmU02UGaypdz4/s1600/georgia.gerber.Rabbit-Bench-web.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.georgiagerber.com/">http://www.georgiagerber.com/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and a lizard, of course</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkkhAiVxGxwwB2UJRSwxeZnFAk-43qhmL898-qdS76sRS0iwAjEVsf_Uyl654Huw9duMJUCDy5oUjFYCQjE8TK53ufKrK2CrY67fGMSepKD7eE4UWr3jhAiqKSKnOFOEGOE-fRRL_orkLS/s1600/Mosaic_street_bank.Adelaide..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkkhAiVxGxwwB2UJRSwxeZnFAk-43qhmL898-qdS76sRS0iwAjEVsf_Uyl654Huw9duMJUCDy5oUjFYCQjE8TK53ufKrK2CrY67fGMSepKD7eE4UWr3jhAiqKSKnOFOEGOE-fRRL_orkLS/s320/Mosaic_street_bank.Adelaide..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_street_bank.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_street_bank.jpg</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">we can fit in a deer</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMvoOuNxWCbDQzX-eT95GX3bx2NonPNRSZsPw8JyzS_ozvxvOEXn_MVgSme689cKS_W31v7FsvdgxwkPbIaKtuTGBPKzLBKjk5nNw1n3TKBrgLNhtSzhO7sX3uwvoyRUQ0yiqF9DgVS0A/s1600/Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMvoOuNxWCbDQzX-eT95GX3bx2NonPNRSZsPw8JyzS_ozvxvOEXn_MVgSme689cKS_W31v7FsvdgxwkPbIaKtuTGBPKzLBKjk5nNw1n3TKBrgLNhtSzhO7sX3uwvoyRUQ0yiqF9DgVS0A/s320/Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruno_Weber</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and another nice horse. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sxQVJReGvzzJGsacZgLpNuua12AFaacsVpkFhM5tx6BXu4jq_tbM4hDVY1DI6Ya3Drn0gbN17UCXWKBBj6P8PaRnWkhapN7ZvxE3nqEejgXfU72H2R1qJlhUBEwGgqrk8WgK5aI4a8fL/s1600/horse_bench.3Drivers.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sxQVJReGvzzJGsacZgLpNuua12AFaacsVpkFhM5tx6BXu4jq_tbM4hDVY1DI6Ya3Drn0gbN17UCXWKBBj6P8PaRnWkhapN7ZvxE3nqEejgXfU72H2R1qJlhUBEwGgqrk8WgK5aI4a8fL/s320/horse_bench.3Drivers.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.3drivers.com/">http://www.3drivers.com/</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">So why no panda then? Why two horses and no panda? Ed.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We can fit in a snail if it's not very big</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2r_8Rrl1gE6BFPKNY8aRjqhFvYiFvv8iHRJUtGKU8L3juD6UeuAorW4Nx1EFYByzaPGaASLv0du7kVKsGL3TmAGzn4FVIhPKK6jKGwoqewJqezME1U0Em9EgdXSNX2eUMWjLGngYpnzke/s1600/simon.speed.SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2r_8Rrl1gE6BFPKNY8aRjqhFvYiFvv8iHRJUtGKU8L3juD6UeuAorW4Nx1EFYByzaPGaASLv0du7kVKsGL3TmAGzn4FVIhPKK6jKGwoqewJqezME1U0Em9EgdXSNX2eUMWjLGngYpnzke/s320/simon.speed.SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.JPG?uselang=en-gb" style="text-align: start;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SnailBench</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a nice salamander</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmxCq2BorBAq-wSZOIBHKQzPgSq8NAYOsIZBb12NdrS1wluDBBocuZxi5K6zZRsFQsTsjTyjsyaXYAMuoG6Uo5kTptAXpac8gKSLORYKt1m_DJZY6psXTIixMHp-tryqJWz01bD9flEpY/s1600/salamandra.Herzlyia.Yael.Shmueli.2010.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmxCq2BorBAq-wSZOIBHKQzPgSq8NAYOsIZBb12NdrS1wluDBBocuZxi5K6zZRsFQsTsjTyjsyaXYAMuoG6Uo5kTptAXpac8gKSLORYKt1m_DJZY6psXTIixMHp-tryqJWz01bD9flEpY/s320/salamandra.Herzlyia.Yael.Shmueli.2010.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_7389_bench_in_shape_of_salamandra.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_7389</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and some lovely pink pigs.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56XmK3HzECgZ0BhdATx0Id-n62pR-l1cwrOEVjjYHuswAJskGLriKd0f0ippXk8PA0yUtacMQvbPmcRl5UZAyrbZgB6aZGzYC-Tre-OnF__Xkw4RqR3ZUL1S4clMyoGmsGOG3aMsEFosf/s1600/hangcat.FKR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56XmK3HzECgZ0BhdATx0Id-n62pR-l1cwrOEVjjYHuswAJskGLriKd0f0ippXk8PA0yUtacMQvbPmcRl5UZAyrbZgB6aZGzYC-Tre-OnF__Xkw4RqR3ZUL1S4clMyoGmsGOG3aMsEFosf/s320/hangcat.FKR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hangcat/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/hangcat/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We couldn't find spiders or chickens or drakes</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">What about reptiles?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No way am I googling <i>benches</i> and <i>snakes</i>. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a crocodile bench, if you really insist</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MbpeZzolO5NCK1A93psMK_2p-kzFjNI-rv0BOgSwZ8KaUzXW-sIyouvQOkAnZ6eM9YvR4xOESvtCtMp_PfaFqRzzHmv7ru52giQCzat5e33KJ4RUVZIHgIlzNaRo1qTQlGEg_kxOeLB_/s1600/crossroadsmall.bellevue.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MbpeZzolO5NCK1A93psMK_2p-kzFjNI-rv0BOgSwZ8KaUzXW-sIyouvQOkAnZ6eM9YvR4xOESvtCtMp_PfaFqRzzHmv7ru52giQCzat5e33KJ4RUVZIHgIlzNaRo1qTQlGEg_kxOeLB_/s320/crossroadsmall.bellevue.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/carson/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/carson/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and a lovely giraffe that we just about missed</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBbAWE9CKa-qNAfaRYF1I95xdR1CBZ31jFeorfg_pYtu41wmtr98sNJaxowu4J0AsjYD-V-URWttDKrqY3H3ulMOix6wwOn2FHopzJDnPBI4B5ZzgMiBiz65vXGXOQiBwT3C_3NueujX6n/s1600/broxap.animal_themed_bench2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBbAWE9CKa-qNAfaRYF1I95xdR1CBZ31jFeorfg_pYtu41wmtr98sNJaxowu4J0AsjYD-V-URWttDKrqY3H3ulMOix6wwOn2FHopzJDnPBI4B5ZzgMiBiz65vXGXOQiBwT3C_3NueujX6n/s320/broxap.animal_themed_bench2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/">http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a beautiful camel that will really enchant us</span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCSr7LroXswy2U7Q4_W9rXPurEMkXV9X2mDukRsQ3JdBhyYwTuvhxqUFrF8yHDd58ndfPUWQztimSIqWNMmzK-_Oj1ygHlP-IaMkHnx1QfJILDdFFwGGtK__HE6s-0MtIn4xmh0MgeNn1f/s1600/3299495331_a6cd1b1593.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCSr7LroXswy2U7Q4_W9rXPurEMkXV9X2mDukRsQ3JdBhyYwTuvhxqUFrF8yHDd58ndfPUWQztimSIqWNMmzK-_Oj1ygHlP-IaMkHnx1QfJILDdFFwGGtK__HE6s-0MtIn4xmh0MgeNn1f/s320/3299495331_a6cd1b1593.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofsecrets/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofsecrets/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and last but not least, a praying mantis.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYyDjvh8w-eCnvOhM2A1rLWUtK8cvob_m2S6izOBdMKkHLVJ2Va8Rjr_3g6giM0wapoJJu6JUk_8z7_WT3D5r6Lvk8Z2z2kBjvuDifTG_jzAPYpdsgP_p0IzmLpTna7hvY0ZyVHx3AgjV/s1600/prayingmantic.dragonwood.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYyDjvh8w-eCnvOhM2A1rLWUtK8cvob_m2S6izOBdMKkHLVJ2Va8Rjr_3g6giM0wapoJJu6JUk_8z7_WT3D5r6Lvk8Z2z2kBjvuDifTG_jzAPYpdsgP_p0IzmLpTna7hvY0ZyVHx3AgjV/s200/prayingmantic.dragonwood.etsy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><i>Enchant us</i> and <i>mantis</i> is a terrible rhyme. Ed.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">I know. It's a half rhyme.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, it isn't. It's just rubbish.</span> </span><div><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about leprechauns?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnVhyphenhypheni8H0TkAx3wmLWGJdDOxKLLMcYrdltJ9qk4LOnWwqjqcDPNYWqkBHa4rVOaTBeSIg9PXH_8yez63zWnSehwFGKTBa6TzsS1oFmfp-ZuRiiirQ2_DxmlOCOwDYTykeqlwztBqp6pnb/s760/uneekdolldesigns.etsy+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="570" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnVhyphenhypheni8H0TkAx3wmLWGJdDOxKLLMcYrdltJ9qk4LOnWwqjqcDPNYWqkBHa4rVOaTBeSIg9PXH_8yez63zWnSehwFGKTBa6TzsS1oFmfp-ZuRiiirQ2_DxmlOCOwDYTykeqlwztBqp6pnb/s320/uneekdolldesigns.etsy+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div> www.etsy/shop/uneekdesigns<br /><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about rats?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0sPQ_h7TbaA_X6zN7R_gWwY9P9mn1dgKxKtivE5oCCNyhmVpOpMsAI84zJFZWVEHZ8s7OUqg5BGgJoRzLQlcB66xU7Kc7-WzHNYHE5HLcuBdKKrVeBBgjElW2HTbfU7ldVOkpX4cXzmO/s2048/20200115_151233+Year+of+Rat.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1996" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0sPQ_h7TbaA_X6zN7R_gWwY9P9mn1dgKxKtivE5oCCNyhmVpOpMsAI84zJFZWVEHZ8s7OUqg5BGgJoRzLQlcB66xU7Kc7-WzHNYHE5HLcuBdKKrVeBBgjElW2HTbfU7ldVOkpX4cXzmO/s320/20200115_151233+Year+of+Rat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> benchsite.blogspot.com.The-Year-of-the-Rat-Bench<br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about unicorns?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ros2WrEcQQJ1V-sVLgIIFJbxBKnE-CfMBH7AjTBD5dor6XKXFHj3LEzu6f8tZCQV7XqzFJqAmtzc1Rd2urzpCjaXWvK-GY-ySlz8Y3d9RNQWdzAqMWTLupRLyVromhUib4Z8Ld16XutB/s1687/100_7383.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1647" data-original-width="1687" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ros2WrEcQQJ1V-sVLgIIFJbxBKnE-CfMBH7AjTBD5dor6XKXFHj3LEzu6f8tZCQV7XqzFJqAmtzc1Rd2urzpCjaXWvK-GY-ySlz8Y3d9RNQWdzAqMWTLupRLyVromhUib4Z8Ld16XutB/s320/100_7383.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> benchsite.blogspot.com.we-all-scream-for-ice-cream <br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And trolls?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNHwoEJvcWctv32kvP2jz3zkOqJoZKS3fp9b0ej6xAQOVhCnc4CL06ioeYgIQ51qUNirQj-lKirvp_nGrkxxhE-Pqv32goSTwvdrh_RVp5g3DYOMAcgv64JJD1ydtLOhEA_ZnTczYSZVK/s320/coyoterimstudios.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNHwoEJvcWctv32kvP2jz3zkOqJoZKS3fp9b0ej6xAQOVhCnc4CL06ioeYgIQ51qUNirQj-lKirvp_nGrkxxhE-Pqv32goSTwvdrh_RVp5g3DYOMAcgv64JJD1ydtLOhEA_ZnTczYSZVK/s0/coyoterimstudios.etsy.jpg" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Kelly Riley @ coyoterimstudios </span> <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And bats?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">We've already done bats. Ed</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rats then. 2020 was the Year of the Rat.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Rats to that.</span> </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Trolls and leprechauns should go on The Ark shouldn't they?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">No. Trolls and leprachauns do not exist. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's because they didn't make it onto The Ark.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">Unicorns do not exist either.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I beg your pardon. Ursula is our Unicorn-in-Residence here in Fribble-under-Par. She's a peace campaigner, a romantic, and a lover of ice cream.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbO62UusbSJTCcuqwh-DFKLHbviJIRZgk79i_TRy1tH_WXXvbwxyl8xUnQQFPKZC2pA4F5Sp3lYFfvev_TsTKRJUYDLFEra6JinUkRK8M2wfOEQAaskEtZOIzsRs4Q87ZTrWxwwYYEriP/s2048/Ursula.valentine.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1343" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbO62UusbSJTCcuqwh-DFKLHbviJIRZgk79i_TRy1tH_WXXvbwxyl8xUnQQFPKZC2pA4F5Sp3lYFfvev_TsTKRJUYDLFEra6JinUkRK8M2wfOEQAaskEtZOIzsRs4Q87ZTrWxwwYYEriP/s320/Ursula.valentine.JPG" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394;">I have only one thing to say to that. Ed </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0E0sJcfGuK5WJtAb-hk6rW0B6VnIgaPt5HiMDJNlUATAb4jqrSgrWTSR3fxWiLqp-IA8cCCNWzotSoiDRXgr-_x_bUcp4Prriw_4p4wfUryvEcZi4hkcz17z6nk_9Z2SK4YBqZnD7gepN/s500/3390098439_26ba13467c_z.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0E0sJcfGuK5WJtAb-hk6rW0B6VnIgaPt5HiMDJNlUATAb4jqrSgrWTSR3fxWiLqp-IA8cCCNWzotSoiDRXgr-_x_bUcp4Prriw_4p4wfUryvEcZi4hkcz17z6nk_9Z2SK4YBqZnD7gepN/s320/3390098439_26ba13467c_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/trilbybutton/3390098439/in/photolist" style="font-size: 16px;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/trilbybutton/3390098439/</a></div><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Wait! A couple more camels were found in the park!</span><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEiSihYjtDeeVRsOEwrEX-zdBE1wi8Nlo-e7WJcv-FYo6h0oUEy_9WRKxYWOF-tYtXMYS3MJE7bCYUk6re4a5JD-Ze0Lh2GrnHIWUR1rxYyEkc3cdqBo0CGuvJbNn7oqDVBq_1F7FZamE/s1600/andys.londoncamel..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEiSihYjtDeeVRsOEwrEX-zdBE1wi8Nlo-e7WJcv-FYo6h0oUEy_9WRKxYWOF-tYtXMYS3MJE7bCYUk6re4a5JD-Ze0Lh2GrnHIWUR1rxYyEkc3cdqBo0CGuvJbNn7oqDVBq_1F7FZamE/s320/andys.londoncamel..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oiyou/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/oiyou/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We need to ensure they are saved in the ark. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's pretty crowded though.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3tY1WcYvwV8MaOl7VfgZejGH2-pGRKD7uK3DYHWUVLm2EjCWft-AuplW2dE48feD6PxkwZXJNmQT3KuXPjVt8b6Gae7uwoJ5w6z-6o8YCXEdv4Otk1yosOK-qIgZ0AnMd41-JW7s4Av32/s1600/campana_cakestool_004.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3tY1WcYvwV8MaOl7VfgZejGH2-pGRKD7uK3DYHWUVLm2EjCWft-AuplW2dE48feD6PxkwZXJNmQT3KuXPjVt8b6Gae7uwoJ5w6z-6o8YCXEdv4Otk1yosOK-qIgZ0AnMd41-JW7s4Av32/s1600/campana_cakestool_004.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/">www.larcobaleno.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I wonder how many chameleons have snuck on?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">Is that it?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's it. That's the ark full, with all the animal benches loaded.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJT3EPCArlA3CrWJbqEsR9fUFGMI-TZKC-MuAfECXMIXW37nGE2NLFxIfX91bz5xWNA5PiGwAhkV8tuGpYod-qbAeE5-FFj9eoF7PQkgD9Fdw5iaEcc2DZmezP9PLW5S7Ph3fO_LzXjAII/s1600/ventrytoy.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJT3EPCArlA3CrWJbqEsR9fUFGMI-TZKC-MuAfECXMIXW37nGE2NLFxIfX91bz5xWNA5PiGwAhkV8tuGpYod-qbAeE5-FFj9eoF7PQkgD9Fdw5iaEcc2DZmezP9PLW5S7Ph3fO_LzXjAII/s320/ventrytoy.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/ventrytoys">www.etsy.com/shop/ventrytoys</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">What about snakes?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oh, alright, here's one. </span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWBjsEk_fZmTViNK4cWQyD0-dtxSNTV1SzNQrhwM_ipClsNDazMQLPeYPvdCzdx1OFB_BjVVUNej9G4dElcjdFWGCZMU5_8AkF7lbWylOOlrNDvAGu4GihWMDqfXTi5PlzYB1UMmpmnHo/s1600/Highgate.Plgrnd.Birm.EliBrown.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWBjsEk_fZmTViNK4cWQyD0-dtxSNTV1SzNQrhwM_ipClsNDazMQLPeYPvdCzdx1OFB_BjVVUNej9G4dElcjdFWGCZMU5_8AkF7lbWylOOlrNDvAGu4GihWMDqfXTi5PlzYB1UMmpmnHo/s320/Highgate.Plgrnd.Birm.EliBrown.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">What about pandas? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sorry, couldn't find one. They're very elusive you know.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">And what happened to the rhyme? </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #3d85c6;">It seems to have become as extinct as the dodo.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Best I can do. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hasn't Noah done a marvelous job rounding up all these animal benches?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">In celebration of all animals </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">on World Animal Day 2021</span><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">( Including pandas)</span><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_rZoiO-Tf9W12_8uELVt7n1NtUVPnMsGkRwYZG1j4zcvyLkviC_xxlUlkKvQ3uZDodbjaOBhbp9SL8KhjzqnFebbXQF30VndgdFNIgMKEiQNuYK_epSG_Zzgb3IHqQ8oIIHeAcKLy3J6/s1600/krittervilleusa.fkr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_rZoiO-Tf9W12_8uELVt7n1NtUVPnMsGkRwYZG1j4zcvyLkviC_xxlUlkKvQ3uZDodbjaOBhbp9SL8KhjzqnFebbXQF30VndgdFNIgMKEiQNuYK_epSG_Zzgb3IHqQ8oIIHeAcKLy3J6/s320/krittervilleusa.fkr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And here is a Panda Banquette with all the pandas you could possibly need.</span><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7thsqeM_UTK3-RKjTtd4GayIRc2-vnAJ0nYrAezoLQRPpoaSakG7pC5F5AHkTq2XGO3rpJ9Ii-dB1gG4WFbIJ1WcXRsGk6Lh1yNqAUglRPoB54c1eCvKubL8nHxcR1n08a6cWXZLKGKd/s1600/_campana_panda_banquete_chair_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7thsqeM_UTK3-RKjTtd4GayIRc2-vnAJ0nYrAezoLQRPpoaSakG7pC5F5AHkTq2XGO3rpJ9Ii-dB1gG4WFbIJ1WcXRsGk6Lh1yNqAUglRPoB54c1eCvKubL8nHxcR1n08a6cWXZLKGKd/s1600/_campana_panda_banquete_chair_1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/">www.larcobaleno.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><strong>Credits</strong></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Isn't Noah splendid? I found him in the RSPCA charity shop back in 2013 when Benchsite began. As the shop helps to rescue thousands of animals every day, I just knew this was Noah and I couldn't wait to write a blog about him. Some people have expressed concern that he is smoking a pipe and of course smoking is bad for health and October is Stoptober month. However, as Noah is several millennia old now, I don't think this is a problem. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I found the boat bench far from the sea in a beautiful walled garden high on the hill overlooking Wells Cathedral and Glastonbury Tor in Somerset. More boat benches are rocking up at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/boat-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/boat-benches.html</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The white Siberian tiger bench is from Asian Replicas, who make</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana";">a huge variety of lifesize statues and furniture in the Philippines <a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Elsewhere on Benchsite you will find their <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html">edible benches</a> such as tacos and ice creams. You could also have pizza bench, a cake bench, or a chicken and chips bench. Their extensive catalog is at </span><a href="http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip</span></a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The cow bench was photographed by Ralf Lotys in Kothen, Anhalt in 2007. Kothen is a city in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. The cow bench appears in Wikimedia at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: blue; font-size: small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-08_K%C3%B6then_(Anhalt)_12.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-08_K%C3%B6then_(Anhalt)_12.jpg</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">Let Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, show you <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">the cream of bovine benches</a>.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The zebra is from Jolly Roger Ltd. Lifesize Models in the UK. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk/">http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk</a> </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They have thousands of quality resin and fibre-glass 3D life-size models, figures, signs, statues, props, furnishings, etc. Their showroom has over 2000 themed models, which include animals, people, and <i>everything from counter-top coffee beans to fullsize elephants. </i>Their Facebook page shows some of the models in amazing situations <span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><b><span style="color: blue;"> </span></b></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheJollyRogerLtd">https://www.facebook.com/TheJollyRogerLtd</a> You will also find them talked about on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/lifesizemodels">https://twitter.com/lifesizemodels</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The splendid buffalo bench is from Papillion, Nebraska, photographed by Jimmy Emerson in 2012. He also photographed the delightful horned frog bench in Springerville, Arizona in 2010. Jimmy lives in Georgia and likes to photograph county courthouses and post offices. He hopes to visit all 3,143 counties or county equivalents in the United States and from the looks of his photostream, he's made a very good start. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The sunbear is known for having an extraordinarily long tongue. The sunbear's tongue bench at Edinburgh Zoo is much photographed. This photo is by Greenzowie at Flickr. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenzowie/with/8731733772/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenzowie/with/8731733772/</a> I don't know anything about greenzowie but there are some excellent model shoots on the photostream, as well as glorious landscapes from a wide variety of places. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The howlin' wolf bench is by Eric Widitz in Fox River Grove, Illinois. Eric is a chainsaw sculptor who makes all kinds of statues and furniture from huge chunks of American wood. A lot of his stuff has a nature theme but he does people as well. See his catalogue and videos of his work at </span><a href="http://www.artwooddesigns.com/"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">www.artwooddesigns.com</span></a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This bench also appears on Benchsite in a very different context at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/festive-festival-benches-liveblogged.html">festivals</a></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are many splendid bird benches here on Benchsite. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/troys-thanksgiving-turkey-benches.html">Turkeys</a>, for example. And <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/no-spring-chicken-benches.html">chickens</a>. The <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-great-british-bird-bench-survey.html">Great British Bird Bench survey</a> also yielded a lot of brilliant birds, including owls. The Owl Bench is near <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Bowling</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Harbour in central Scotland</st1:placetype></st1:place>, photographed in 2009 by Lairich<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rig. In the background are the Kilpatrick Hills. </span></div><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_Bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1423367.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_Bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1423367.jpg</span></a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The colourful fox and badger bench is near Ryde, Isle of Wight. It was photographed by Joanna Michalak earlier this year.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> It is inscribed in loving memory to Eric and Joyce Harris from Stephen and Christine Harris.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Paul Sivell makes intriguing chainsaw sculptures and is inspired by nature, local traditions, and mythology. His distinctive style is well known around the Isle of Wight though he also works throughout the UK and abroad. The badger bench is one of his many functional sculptures (benches!) which can be seen at </span><a href="http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/</a><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The wombat photo is by Mike Cogh, who has an extensive collection of brilliant benches on his Flickr photostream <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/</a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> I was delighted to find this wombat just in time for World Animals Day. I can honestly say it's the only wombat bench I have ever seen. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Pamela Silin-Palmer is a decorative artist, fine artist, and illustrator who now lives in Ireland. She makes magical paintings, greeting cards, dolls, paper products, and glorious hand-painted fantasy furniture. From renaissance rabbits to royal boars, her website is full of fun and fantasy - a real delight! <a href="http://www.pamelasilinpalmer.com/">www.pamelasilinpalmer.com</a> She provided the pigs and bunny benches in this story. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are loads of lovely bunny benches around but I thought these the loveliest of all.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Three Men on a Bench are waiting patiently to enter the ark. They are dressed appropriately as a deer, a pig and a horse. The photo is from Davey Scarycrow, who likes to photograph assemblages, birthday parties on benches, and vintage stuff, including old cars. I think I recognised my old 1976 Ford Fiesta in his photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarycrow/3520051220/sizes/m/in/photolist-6n4bAh/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarycrow/3520051220/sizes/m/in/photolist-6n4bAh/</a></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I've done <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">Sheep Benches</a> before. Oh, indeed I have. With my artist/designer hat on I have even made sheep benches, like this one, entitled <em>Don't B Sheepish 2</em>.</span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSIN-ESyeC_MMWZe7mBtqukpeQ_4YzvLGcdSg8E4FmaBVeUawdjYg7U4ea6U399yAuDWqSDSOwTmKr6Y82vzRkVsDsz0ITG99aclhno4DZtGVt2j31YCcFL8RILC-brfYIIrZdnKGDcyuY/s1600/bathmat+B.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSIN-ESyeC_MMWZe7mBtqukpeQ_4YzvLGcdSg8E4FmaBVeUawdjYg7U4ea6U399yAuDWqSDSOwTmKr6Y82vzRkVsDsz0ITG99aclhno4DZtGVt2j31YCcFL8RILC-brfYIIrZdnKGDcyuY/s200/bathmat+B.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><em>Don't B Sheepish 2</em>, subtitled <i>Bathmat on a Piano Bench, </i>is available for $4,500. Contact Bo-pEEp via this blogspot. No, just joking. Benchsite is non-commercial and always will be. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The sheep bench shown in this post is one of several bench sculptures called <i>Eastwick Park Farm,</i> 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.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The scale of the Philart project is really quite something and it's being added to all the time. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.philart.net/">http://www.philart.net/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Squirrel Bench is near the station at Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria. It was photographed by John Illingworth in 2006 for Geograph</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_241759.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_241759.jpg</span></a></span></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The elegant peacock bench is in Jinnah Garden in Lahore, Pakistan. It was photographed in 2010 by Khalid Mahmood</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg</span></a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">As 2014 is <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/2014-year-of-horse-bench.html">The Year of the Horse</a>, I thought horses ought to have a blog of their own. And so they have. We galloped into the new year with a lot of gorgeous horses. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The first horse and the lovely pawprint benches were photographed by Kate Robertson from Idaho Falls. Kate is the Queen of Creativity.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> She describes herself as </span><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">a painter, mixed media artist, weaver, spinner and writer. Besides that, s</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">he photographs all kinds of stuff wherever she goes on her creative pursuits. She is a Kaizen-Muse creativity coach and she has loads of ideas on how to get your creative mojo working. She has various blogs; I first saw her at </span><a href="http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com</span></a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And 2015 is <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/2015-year-of-goat-bench.html">the Year of the Goat</a> bench. Erika Crofut from Connecticut made the beautiful goat bench and she has other bright, fun animal benches and sofas on her website at </span><a href="http://www.erikacrofut.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.erikacrofut.com/</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Erika explains that she has </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">always loved the process of transforming a thought from my head into something physical that can be shared with people . . . My projects are all attempts to interpret and visually articulate ties between history, family, and stories. . . I use my art to express my amazement and gratitude for how beautiful an average day can be</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rusti Lee from Colorado made the cheerful green frog stool. Rusti's shop is at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/rustilee" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/rustilee</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> She makes whimsical handpainted stuff for the home, especially knobs, frames, boxes, and more. I love her painted signs. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The lovely carved wood Japanese monkey couple are from </span><a href="http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you particularly like monkey benches, or for that matter, dragons, there are plenty of monkeys and dragons at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html</a> And remember that 2016 is the Year of the Monkey so Eddie, my Inner Editor, finally gets his say at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/2016-year-of-monkey-bench.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/2016-year-of-monkey-bench.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I was intrigued when I saw <i>Studio Job</i>, the black and white bench of animal skeletons by Mieke Tacken in Amsterdam. Mieke's photostream shows a real commitment to design: she goes to all the design shows and takes photos of amazing things. Like some other people I know, she seems to have an interest in photographing seating of various kinds. Chairs? There are thousands. And quite a few brilliant benches too. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two stately Labradors 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. <a href="http://www.dogmt.com/">http://www.dogmt.com/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dog Mountain</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> is set on a 150 acre private mountaintop and is </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">always open to people and their dogs. Its</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> unspoiled haven is covered with hiking trails and dog ponds. T</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">here is no leash law on Dog Mountain:</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">d</i><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ogs are not just welcome here, they are cherished! </i><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dogs are free to run, play, swim and best of all meet other dogs!</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Stephen's artworks, include paintings, sculptures, books, and a Dog Chapel,</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "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." </i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Stephen died in 2010 but his love of dogs lives on in his artwork.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The stone elephant bench is at Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa in the UK. It was photographed by Ell Brown, who lives in Birmingham and has a HUGE Flickr photostream at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/" style="text-align: center;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Elliot Brown also photographed the snake bench at the end of the story. It's from the Highgate Playground in Birmingham. I found it just about non-snakey enough to put on the ark. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">Dog benches</a> are very popular here on Benchsite and a dogbone bench comes in handy when you have a lot of hungry dog benches to feed. The</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Tenino Dogbone bench is from Marenakos in Preston, Washington. They make a variety of granite dogbone and other types of benches. </span><a href="http://www.marenakos.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.marenakos.com</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are some very nice medical dogs on Benchsite at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The lifted leg dog bench is actually a table: it's called <em>Bad Table</em>. It's one of many 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. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.straightlinedesigns.com/">www.straightlinedesigns.com</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The pretty dragonfly bench is by Cottage and Bungalow and costs $2,260. It's at </span><a href="http://www.cottageandbungalow.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.cottageandbungalow.com</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> a small store which offers personal one-to-one service in furniture, quality home furnishings and accessories. Their coastal home products make you want to go out and live on the beach. As for animal benches, they do a stunning blue peacock, a dolphin, and the pretty dragonfly shown here. For more intriguing insect benches, see what's buzzing for National Insect Week at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/national-insect-week-buzz-about-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/national-insect-week-buzz-about-benches.html</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I was aware that these are baseball bats rather than animal bats. This bat bench is the suitably named Johnny Bench baseball bench. It's in Cincinnati and was photographed by Tuscola Joe way back in 2003 and made available on the Flickr Creative Commons.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dziadzia/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/dziadzia/</a> See Miggy's choice of good sport benches at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/miggys-good-sport-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/miggys-good-sport-benches.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Louis Henri's <i>Shongololo</i> bench is inspired by his African roots; shongololo is the Zulu word used for centipedes and millipedes. The Shongololo bench has 56 hand-turned walnut legs. Louis Henri </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Bührmann</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> grew up in South Africa in a family of designers and innovators. He now resides in London where he produces opulent interiors and distinctive designs at his own business </span><a href="http://www.louishenri.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.louishenri.com</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Louis' Twitter is at <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/louishenrii">www.twitter.com/louishenrii</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The cat 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. 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 </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you like cats, you'll want to see the purrfect benches I found for <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html">World Cats Day</a>. And <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/tuning-in-to-piano-benches.html">cats who play the piano</a>? No problem, tune in here. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Georgia Gerber sculpted the beautiful bronze rabbit. Georgia creates bronze sculpture primarily working with life size animal and human figures, often incorporating architectural or abstract elements with an emphasis on creating accessible public art which encourages viewer interaction. She has an amazing studio and garden at Whidbey Island, Washington. Her bronze sculptures can be seen at <a href="http://www.georgiagerber.com/">http://www.georgiagerber.com/</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> For more sunny bunny benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The bright blue mosaic lizard is a street bench in Adelaide, Australia. It was photographed by Dinkum in 2010. </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_street_bank.jpg"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_street_bank.jpg</span></a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The deer is by Bruno Weber </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">on Uetliberg in the canton of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Zurich. It was photographed by </st1:city></st1:place>Roland zh<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> and made available on Wikimedia at </span></span></span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: blue;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg</span></a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The second horse is from 3D Rivers, whose</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">mission is <i>to help the internet community meet the growing need for a wide range of well-designed, high quality 3D models and consumer goods products in a constantly changing environment</i>. They offer a huge range of 3D products including things like buildings, transport, everyday objects, characters, model packs, animals, and yes, of course, benches. This Indian-style horse is one of the many different kinds of benches available via their online site at <a href="http://www.3drivers.com/">http://www.3drivers.com/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The snail bench is in Priory Country Park in Bedfordshire. It was photographed by Simon Speed in 2010 and comes from Wikimedia at </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.JPG?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.JPG?uselang=en-gb</a><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The salamander bench is</span> <span style="font-family: "arial";"> by Yael Shmueli in Herzliya in Israel. It was photographed by </span>אבישי טייכר <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and appears in Wiki Commons at </span> <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_7389_bench_in_shape_of_salamandra.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_7389_bench_in_shape_of_salamandra.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two cheery pink pigs were photographed by Hangcat in Chicago. He's a young photographer who makes the most of his city by capturing quirky features of city life. He does benches too, and graffiti that people write on benches. Hmmmm, that's got me thinking of another post . . . <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hangcat/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/hangcat/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The saw-tooth crocodile bench is a little scary. It's in the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, Washington. I don't know if I'd want to sit down on it even if I had shoppers' feet. Jim Carson from Seattle photographed it in 2009. It's part of his photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/carson/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/carson/</a> Jim's cycling photos of rural Washington, Oregon and Idaho bring back the happy travelling days of my childhood. According to Jim, Wallace, Idaho is the centre of the universe. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The giraffe bench is one of a range of recycled plastic animal-themed benches made by Playline Design in Devon in the UK. There's also a hedgehog, a dinsosaur and a frog <a href="http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5">http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5</a> The</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> business provides active and imaginative playground equipment for schools, holiday parks and local authorities throughout the UK. They also cater for special educational needs children with a variety of play equipment based around visual stimulation, and sensory items such as sand and water play. </span></span><br /><a href="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000016/!x-usc:http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5" target="_blank"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></a><a href="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000016/!x-usc:http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5" target="_blank"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The gorgeous camel bench was photographed by Hilde Heyvaert at Adventureland in Disneyland, Paris. Hilde's Flickr photostream is called House of Secrets Inc. and it certainly is full of secrets and surprises: festivals, animals, costumes and loads of colourful stuff from Disneyland Paris. </span></a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofsecrets/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofsecrets/ </a> </span><a href="wlmailhtml:{FBF0BF40-8183-42A0-8523-2B330B35BB96}mid://00000016/!x-usc:http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5" target="_blank"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hilde lives in Belgium and is described as <i>a steampunk fashionista extraordinaire</i>. She writes for <i>The Gatehouse, </i>a blog about all things steampunk and dieselpunk. </span></a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I felt so lucky to find the praying mantis bench, which is from Dragonwood Designs in Pennsylvania.So is the little green turtle bench. </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns</a><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dragonwood's</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> owner is a professional cabinetmaker/woodworker who designs and makes unique and beautiful furniture and objets d'art from woods such as honduras mahogany, walnut, bubinga, hard maple and German beech. <i>I try to provide an eclectic mixture of meticulously crafted furniture with useful items integrating natural aspects of the materials with which I work. I strive to create the sublime as well as the mundane, furniture and objects which are unique designs and not available anywhere else.</i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> That has certainly been achieved with the praying mantis bench; I didn't see one anywhere else! </span></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #212124; font-size: 16px;">Trilby Button is interested in color, texture, illustration, words on walls, and weird hair. Back in 2009 her Second Life avatar got involved in the first of the Unicorn Wars. I’m not certain but I think Trilby was on the Pro-unicorn side. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/trilbybutton/3390098439/in/photolist" style="font-size: 16px;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/trilbybutton/3390098439/in/photolist</a></span></div><div><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The camels who just made it onto the ark at the end are from Andy Davison in London. The camel bench-ends were photographed on the London Embankment along the River Thames. Andy's camels are part of a varied photostream which includes ciabatta bread, cats, and lots and lots of football games. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oiyou/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/oiyou/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The jumble of animals is called the <i>Cake Stool</i>. It's by brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana at the mind-blowing design company L'arco Baleno. <a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/">http://www.larcobaleno.com/</a> The Cake Stool is described as<i> "an iconic example of the Campana brothers’ signature style" </i>and we see it again with the Panda Banquette at the end of the story. These playful pieces repurpose stuffed animals, which the brothers Campana consider <i>'a humble, often overlooked material'</i>.<i> </i>The Cake Stool is described as<i> ". . . a poetic, vibrant stool, that plays on the irony in these soft representations of predatory animals. The stuffed animals are hand-sewn onto canvas stretched over a stainless steel structure. Another exemplar of this limited edition of 150 is in the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts." </i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The <i>Panda Banquette</i> is is a limited edition of 25. At $44,170 it's the most expensive bench ever featured on Benchsite.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Noah's Ark, fully loaded, is a wooden toy made by Rosario at Ventry Toys in Tralee in Ireland. It was photographed at Ventry harbour and really looks ready to go. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/ventrytoys">www.etsy.com/shop/ventrytoys</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The joke about how many chameleons might have snuck onto the ark is by Adam Hess and is one of the best one liners from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017. That's not just me saying so - it's on the official list.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The snake bench was photographed by Elliot Brown at <span class="meta-field photo-title">Highgate Park -Adventure Playground in Birmingham. </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Kritterville USA makes brightly coloured and very cute benches, chairs and stools. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The panda bench was photographed in 2010 and appears in Kritterville's photostream at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/</a> There are also frogs, beetles, bugs, and a variety of other kritters. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eddie, my Inner Editor feels that primates did not get their fair dues in this story so I've agreed, as usual, to let Eddie put up a picture of himself. Here he is last summer with his Factor 500 suncream and everything he needs for a day at the beach.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_L-FITYKTc9bgA6lSF8fwf6BWRnIqrQFXyMbjUqZyqPHa1NE2naOYtcl9t_psMar_kCLR1li0-WoJaz2MBSHVq467cKObmblbBsCDeJ8a6lmOjKCCJzMuk-JRzb1Ztx83Xa01Z5fc1tSo/s1600/Eddie+beach.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_L-FITYKTc9bgA6lSF8fwf6BWRnIqrQFXyMbjUqZyqPHa1NE2naOYtcl9t_psMar_kCLR1li0-WoJaz2MBSHVq467cKObmblbBsCDeJ8a6lmOjKCCJzMuk-JRzb1Ztx83Xa01Z5fc1tSo/s320/Eddie+beach.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-88392258728497224072022-08-26T10:08:00.002-07:002024-03-05T06:20:07.613-08:00Questions about punctuation benches for National Punctuation Day<p> <span style="font-family: verdana;"> How's your punctuation?</span></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl8Uv8rw9r6kRS4_Xb8d28iNxJf_QuJn0zhYBDjCCycFUYFctDYL18NJlhTsOb-oU9b91Z81XwLpsARAw0EI5q80Funq6lSEVPdhoIf3OBUhvLioB4Wdz9MaUhxojPpEaI7OsbqMwSnIq/s1600/alexanderhenningdrach.drachmann.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl8Uv8rw9r6kRS4_Xb8d28iNxJf_QuJn0zhYBDjCCycFUYFctDYL18NJlhTsOb-oU9b91Z81XwLpsARAw0EI5q80Funq6lSEVPdhoIf3OBUhvLioB4Wdz9MaUhxojPpEaI7OsbqMwSnIq/s320/alexanderhenningdrach.drachmann.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302</span></a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Do you know what quotation mark benches are for? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3P54YcLjmMN3uwPdgFMDVXDLO4MFjn8U_sgsflhPBc0P-U-sHaPVnuesBc7r4zG7pbCTK0wDIbf3U61IRRNOFmT5ekmvIyrCJnu7pBA12IicGP05XM5YNuZxlRKH1ypJ2pPM3qM6lBEQb/s1600/TABISSO-YOU.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3P54YcLjmMN3uwPdgFMDVXDLO4MFjn8U_sgsflhPBc0P-U-sHaPVnuesBc7r4zG7pbCTK0wDIbf3U61IRRNOFmT5ekmvIyrCJnu7pBA12IicGP05XM5YNuZxlRKH1ypJ2pPM3qM6lBEQb/s320/TABISSO-YOU.gif" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.tabisso.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: verdana;">www.tabisso.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Have you made your peace with apostrophes?</span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeCS2c6U8e5BpXPqpu16b0Q0DHaRJmo9skg-hlKA4V8Mpj7PShxMQDOM8Rz1OwkN3K5uNS1gEaIuVekb0PXHfpBjqzAVAGGmOcNJuWwo6s6vE-Nv76PRojPn2Elr-Mw3EGPqs6ZVtXUk-/s1600/Rachel.K.kimonomania.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeCS2c6U8e5BpXPqpu16b0Q0DHaRJmo9skg-hlKA4V8Mpj7PShxMQDOM8Rz1OwkN3K5uNS1gEaIuVekb0PXHfpBjqzAVAGGmOcNJuWwo6s6vE-Nv76PRojPn2Elr-Mw3EGPqs6ZVtXUk-/s320/Rachel.K.kimonomania.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimonomania/474758933/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimonomania/474758933/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie, my Inner Editor, who just happens to be a primate: You refer to apostrophes here but then you show a question mark. That's confusing.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sorry, Eddie. I'm just trying to introduce National Punctuation Day, which is on September 24th. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: It's best to begin with a picture of me.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's the (inevitable) picture of you.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ1vhRJFPKlwes8KzDpI3ZYymCsz1jEvvtVrvLdf2s04y10CaStMKnWYaVNucSBs9bxN4SXvmFiGVkyUT_R6BU5S_0by3Mit7MS7cVbxyKs13zG-MJS-tGRqTivQj2nDNsNZsKsZUSGtD/s1600/Eddie.writing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ1vhRJFPKlwes8KzDpI3ZYymCsz1jEvvtVrvLdf2s04y10CaStMKnWYaVNucSBs9bxN4SXvmFiGVkyUT_R6BU5S_0by3Mit7MS7cVbxyKs13zG-MJS-tGRqTivQj2nDNsNZsKsZUSGtD/s16000/Eddie.writing.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: I notice that you've used parentheses here.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes. As regular readers of Benchsite will know, I'm very fond of good grammar and correctly-used punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODum82EvOc-G5tpIAuWbf-gPcLql3DaO6zTNThd7NgqSttvxGDM0UFNAS-Bp5DvMo5cwcDeu-ocw6oCCHQmlpW8YEKMHNn9HfMFxzYF6zFwq41DluP3w3Z33pKHxhI9DOB1uSM_cAgYng/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570097489.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODum82EvOc-G5tpIAuWbf-gPcLql3DaO6zTNThd7NgqSttvxGDM0UFNAS-Bp5DvMo5cwcDeu-ocw6oCCHQmlpW8YEKMHNn9HfMFxzYF6zFwq41DluP3w3Z33pKHxhI9DOB1uSM_cAgYng/s320/PhotoFunia-1570097489.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency, one of my husbands: This looks like it's going to be a heavy punctuation crossing.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1vFckf00qyg-wrPAZv2Ul8UTyIbkztvfjkTqpLncBKh1JDgOvr21WMScJXsHRjH07dBFBUl8jcx9s35CJbptEQPfFLZ1dM8S1cr6zZtpB7TOV5AwvJ-FdBlIEKVIWZZQkr3JHTGy-PYp/s1600/kevin.trotman.fkccdonotuse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1vFckf00qyg-wrPAZv2Ul8UTyIbkztvfjkTqpLncBKh1JDgOvr21WMScJXsHRjH07dBFBUl8jcx9s35CJbptEQPfFLZ1dM8S1cr6zZtpB7TOV5AwvJ-FdBlIEKVIWZZQkr3JHTGy-PYp/s320/kevin.trotman.fkccdonotuse.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/in/photolist-LNrP" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin, a local girl who works in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy: I've never understood punctuation. I have a lot of questions about it. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0IiYDumG4ueXBwqFhmJxaTCeYPUsfkX_5L2LOEPn1oLLURWRaMxp3_xXU1ZyKKhMkt-kKqrzzTPDB0xbqi7SZSYktEkElD4QLBuFl5XHpgI2Yn-M4AEzUtHuSwfTUik8paO-nbJCzm8D/s1600/tsahi.levent-levi.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0IiYDumG4ueXBwqFhmJxaTCeYPUsfkX_5L2LOEPn1oLLURWRaMxp3_xXU1ZyKKhMkt-kKqrzzTPDB0xbqi7SZSYktEkElD4QLBuFl5XHpgI2Yn-M4AEzUtHuSwfTUik8paO-nbJCzm8D/s320/tsahi.levent-levi.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/" style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, then you're like lots of people, Tamsin. That's what National Punctuation Day is for. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly: Do we really need a whole day for it? I'd have thought a minute or two would do.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There's a lot of punctuation to get through, Lord B. There's the colon and the semi-colon and hyphens and exclamation points and ellipsis . . .</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: And of course the question mark, which is often used incorrectly.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lrmG95z3K9UzpQ0PNITbsR5_y3udF15AP26JP5aK4wf0jryP63FOmXCZfbdu_Ixz3UC7NP_PzHP1ucW0Et32xwnnqCcpWUMf7IMW1dUPMVeO4BJ8bLHg6GDiIYCUAVhNmo3JYgO1O2py/s1600/Raymond.Bryson.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lrmG95z3K9UzpQ0PNITbsR5_y3udF15AP26JP5aK4wf0jryP63FOmXCZfbdu_Ixz3UC7NP_PzHP1ucW0Et32xwnnqCcpWUMf7IMW1dUPMVeO4BJ8bLHg6GDiIYCUAVhNmo3JYgO1O2py/s320/Raymond.Bryson.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: I see you are illustrating this with a cross-section of the public.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: He doesn't look cross to me. He looks like a topnotch chap.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: This is President Obama, my long-standing friend.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Really? How long has he been standing?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Is it ok to stand on a bench with a question mark on your head?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOfXFsvqoM-iFfVmIF772hXjlrdA5SkJ9ksVsPppgwwm8I-2EVfUG7AaCCi0NCE_tA6A4-OPVDlJnFYgg2URScofF7NZX57J3U26swEgojusjxyMsWuzuszec3CqD7x3L7PVV37Ivp13f/s1600/marco.belluci.FK3534516458_48e4e8595f_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOfXFsvqoM-iFfVmIF772hXjlrdA5SkJ9ksVsPppgwwm8I-2EVfUG7AaCCi0NCE_tA6A4-OPVDlJnFYgg2URScofF7NZX57J3U26swEgojusjxyMsWuzuszec3CqD7x3L7PVV37Ivp13f/s320/marco.belluci.FK3534516458_48e4e8595f_z.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Of course not. Standing on furniture is always bad manners what?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You can't have a question mark here, Lord B because t</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">he word 'what' is not a question in this context. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I can jolly well have a question mark wherever I please. If Her Majesty doesn't bestow one on me, I am in a position to purchase one. Harrods do a nice line in question marks I'm told. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Maybe we should have some Q&As. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: In my day it was Ps and Qs. You had to mind them or you'd get a clip around the ear. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Let's just stick with the <b>and</b> then.</span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYY36wa2R3_wcj-emH8OMsCpIpnd-TItYA57_Ef_MHrJSaV5pDF4jkOsbO5XG-V3fsen38BFADf4Q6BiMjAx471LXC1D5Nd1ycEwTsecmCcqQ0WtvVdwShZKD2NDoZmhfVKx1RsPcTJ_yL/s1600/edgeplot.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYY36wa2R3_wcj-emH8OMsCpIpnd-TItYA57_Ef_MHrJSaV5pDF4jkOsbO5XG-V3fsen38BFADf4Q6BiMjAx471LXC1D5Nd1ycEwTsecmCcqQ0WtvVdwShZKD2NDoZmhfVKx1RsPcTJ_yL/s320/edgeplot.fkcc.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This is the kind of hour-glass figure I enjoy seeing on the female form. My wife has a figure like this. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-MIy9xE1o86w9QXioHPv4Mtcab0C6S-i5ZmdIqnAsInM-gheiVKzebFDM4DKNpE3EkAHMWqV7yyaBXeFWqPdGN0WtSDYWxPo89pxLTD7RypaM0J1vxkQ6pddCGw6IllJ-IgzWYHpP2Iu7/s1600/ladybcasualbest.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-MIy9xE1o86w9QXioHPv4Mtcab0C6S-i5ZmdIqnAsInM-gheiVKzebFDM4DKNpE3EkAHMWqV7yyaBXeFWqPdGN0WtSDYWxPo89pxLTD7RypaM0J1vxkQ6pddCGw6IllJ-IgzWYHpP2Iu7/s320/ladybcasualbest.JPG" width="104" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Punctuation <b>please</b>.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency, my husband: There are different levels of punctuation. I, of course, am highly conversant to the highest level of the Punctuation Pyramid.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWgBOaHCiinKux7PwgziiQvW6uAZGXBvQ1bhxQ1HOiDVOeGQwEqtnYO8K-NRmA0OlVPqo2DMmuruQk7KqsgODaE5Ar9xkBOw5ZZGi9Mf-O0AL5hYMgda4UFkrzEyXC3nsqKHVNVk24EGr/s1600/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWgBOaHCiinKux7PwgziiQvW6uAZGXBvQ1bhxQ1HOiDVOeGQwEqtnYO8K-NRmA0OlVPqo2DMmuruQk7KqsgODaE5Ar9xkBOw5ZZGi9Mf-O0AL5hYMgda4UFkrzEyXC3nsqKHVNVk24EGr/s320/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">May I quote you on that?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaFsvc0RMIz_uDWXpcf1fTJiMNUL_d70Ijo5XWRWNhDb-Q_HygknG2Lvq4ETS6ysb-98PXlNJPUvKkPL90i3KT32ivLSIv0us7ek8Z603wjfErv20ZeFNmp1C66q4xYLa_yPzu8x-kzBt/s1600/plainkacyjane.FKNOTCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaFsvc0RMIz_uDWXpcf1fTJiMNUL_d70Ijo5XWRWNhDb-Q_HygknG2Lvq4ETS6ysb-98PXlNJPUvKkPL90i3KT32ivLSIv0us7ek8Z603wjfErv20ZeFNmp1C66q4xYLa_yPzu8x-kzBt/s320/plainkacyjane.FKNOTCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/plainkacyjane/2254145743/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/plainkacyjane/2254145743/ </span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some people are sticklers for punctuation. The self-confessed punctuation geek Lynne Truss had a hit in 2004 with a book about punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I know that joke: a panda bench walks into a restaurant. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9tGSVFGqclfeLcTBnIs9hydCRTTfF58bMQGodVHcfdMnlt4q4sJ0fR6pvAjtWLTOKJACkpYxNxKrFOYiBG6rJzlmLEx0qn-RiF0T1UDSwobPGp8TtfTeghnwHhsgL0JiFZvhNqZFRapg/s1600/krittervilleusa.fkr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9tGSVFGqclfeLcTBnIs9hydCRTTfF58bMQGodVHcfdMnlt4q4sJ0fR6pvAjtWLTOKJACkpYxNxKrFOYiBG6rJzlmLEx0qn-RiF0T1UDSwobPGp8TtfTeghnwHhsgL0JiFZvhNqZFRapg/s320/krittervilleusa.fkr.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">He orders a bamboo sandwich and he eats shoots and leaves.</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Eddie: No. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">A panda walks into a restaurant . . . </span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFEAlJHQBpGGRZD-tJrRMqdXJqFsV-Lo8-J-vDe1PLdoW0YOjGS8QPdsARJ1kOQiQK85fX638p3jmoKZEa6GqqWxqDffYu8xMZUM1NsX7nPH7Gszja1EC1nYCG6ndRICnx_olyw41XsaD/s1600/_campana_panda_banquete_chair_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFEAlJHQBpGGRZD-tJrRMqdXJqFsV-Lo8-J-vDe1PLdoW0YOjGS8QPdsARJ1kOQiQK85fX638p3jmoKZEa6GqqWxqDffYu8xMZUM1NsX7nPH7Gszja1EC1nYCG6ndRICnx_olyw41XsaD/s1600/_campana_panda_banquete_chair_1.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">http://www.larcobaleno.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Golly, Eddie, this is some panda bench!</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: These pandas are soooooo cute!</span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: orange;">His Excellency: This is a Panda Banquette.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: I'll start again.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">A panda banquette walks into a restaurant and orders a sandwich, after which he takes out a gun, fires two shots into the air, and exits. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">In other words, he eats, shoots and leaves.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I'd have that blighter arrested if he's going to fire a gun in restaurants. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I guess he didn't like the sandwich?</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You're missing the point. Whether that panda is bamboo-eating or gun-toting all depends on a single comma. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I love cuddly pandas but I make lots of mistakes in punctuation.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: As a professional editor I advocate a Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation</span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: The Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa argued that even to have touched the feet of Christ is no excuse for mistakes in punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I think you'd better find a bench and do your punctuation sudoko.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineHZS1G_AcKawitgAtG6aAGs1EUkDrpHZ9DOcPSoYkZyZiTkpjv3X9I6ReLLkJTGTLY7ud_Rod12NmCdIJMRESnMx20Y_PCiaGtk-xBlkPKFJgxZuwu13JLpaUv18CR3B-SzSOiTbrQ5P/s1600/purplepenning.dawn.mcilvain.stahl.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineHZS1G_AcKawitgAtG6aAGs1EUkDrpHZ9DOcPSoYkZyZiTkpjv3X9I6ReLLkJTGTLY7ud_Rod12NmCdIJMRESnMx20Y_PCiaGtk-xBlkPKFJgxZuwu13JLpaUv18CR3B-SzSOiTbrQ5P/s320/purplepenning.dawn.mcilvain.stahl.FKCC.jpg" width="315" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Good heavens! I don't think we had all this when I was at school.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Of course you did. Punctuation has been around as long as written language.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: We had it. My school was a Centre of Excellense. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: This would be a good opportunity to show a pencil bench.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmNqhOddnCJ3nbr1Bd9djr0ngATZKzg3OIMSaUG5Jv5krfFQEAXs_DFcWNSJInt092PvFEgMwyyntzhhMa4q6Z3euHVikJxIIgD0qQ1EC2SznsDMoGktMttqSMXzGokFJlHIh6DPM7f1s/s1600/Hanneorla.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmNqhOddnCJ3nbr1Bd9djr0ngATZKzg3OIMSaUG5Jv5krfFQEAXs_DFcWNSJInt092PvFEgMwyyntzhhMa4q6Z3euHVikJxIIgD0qQ1EC2SznsDMoGktMttqSMXzGokFJlHIh6DPM7f1s/s320/Hanneorla.FK.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006" style="text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Good point, Eddie. You're very sharp.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: Yes. I'm</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> the Keeper of the Apostrophe.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And I'm the Queen of Commas.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: What exactly is a comma?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Here's a little verse to help you remember:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana;"><i>A cat has claws at the ends of its paws.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana;"><i>A comma's a pause at the end of a clause.</i></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Cats are so cute and fluffy! </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: What's all this nonsense about cats? I've got milking to do. Let's bring this chat to a stop.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">A full stop?</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: How do you feel about fullstop benches?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHzwfEDz67sWqGESViZQrWPcFcxDU17FF9Hvx92yi6nFmfbMsPRQBFPbrUWn6MGByVU3NwF7ywMbSb9RpYk8BYeD9pWYvaqac6dspI1CW4-WcIEWlNwIwd3_RQMePsO3Sz83vkGuuLvv1/s1600/B+logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHzwfEDz67sWqGESViZQrWPcFcxDU17FF9Hvx92yi6nFmfbMsPRQBFPbrUWn6MGByVU3NwF7ywMbSb9RpYk8BYeD9pWYvaqac6dspI1CW4-WcIEWlNwIwd3_RQMePsO3Sz83vkGuuLvv1/s1600/B+logo.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This is not a sentence so there is no reason whatsoever that it should have a fullstop. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: You're ok with the capital B though. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Of course. Capital letters are for proper nouns. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: In my house hounds behave quite properly.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1IOiPn1riE7BB1081v0SsJG2yLFY92wZ7afQf2e1fJ5bRp4C-vYFxtlaLi657IMUR-aX2FNSEYyksFGYe9EpBjJC0RsjfumM-JfTx9BUsdwdhVQoNr2yWgBXHyTYFqw_0QjlJfOkxjbeE/s1600/100_8436+Lord+B+in+den.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1600" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1IOiPn1riE7BB1081v0SsJG2yLFY92wZ7afQf2e1fJ5bRp4C-vYFxtlaLi657IMUR-aX2FNSEYyksFGYe9EpBjJC0RsjfumM-JfTx9BUsdwdhVQoNr2yWgBXHyTYFqw_0QjlJfOkxjbeE/s320/100_8436+Lord+B+in+den.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;">I said <b>NOUNS</b>! </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: You're getting quite worked up, Seashell. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm-V0sJyO0bh-PChfqAGnGXBVZROdI2NQ6ZU8-DvJvFRw4O3kxi5EpI915_BfKmRZRh3Km1plgXkSRqXGNALkN2nmJ_ex8QN-_orvtyLznjwbJrT1vE2yubifxZuWx6mm6cKZN_Z-0aWR/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569523215.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm-V0sJyO0bh-PChfqAGnGXBVZROdI2NQ6ZU8-DvJvFRw4O3kxi5EpI915_BfKmRZRh3Km1plgXkSRqXGNALkN2nmJ_ex8QN-_orvtyLznjwbJrT1vE2yubifxZuWx6mm6cKZN_Z-0aWR/s320/PhotoFunia-1569523215.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #990000;">You need a coffee break.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No, I want to finish the punctuation benches. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAghrHePhGDT0KzHWyQEwWLfPpAK0lusvdkaIm0IRp_oK-L5CgAjZgPZeAGhPDUVTfo6TItWLrinNIB_mhAz4Nsfd3SDJCBOezLKXOKRYAGv2QNdckAYtuBamST5ileQaYJr5qHektq6xB/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570097315.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="607" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAghrHePhGDT0KzHWyQEwWLfPpAK0lusvdkaIm0IRp_oK-L5CgAjZgPZeAGhPDUVTfo6TItWLrinNIB_mhAz4Nsfd3SDJCBOezLKXOKRYAGv2QNdckAYtuBamST5ileQaYJr5qHektq6xB/s320/PhotoFunia-1570097315.jpg" width="258" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">My husband, His Excellency: It's unlikely that you w</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">ill find a bench to illustrate each of the marks of punctuation. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">You'll soon come to a fullstop.</span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWvlAdQfLrCCssfukTdWvLNxTK9bJ4uo71cQYY-FgSRf6AVcy3xBwy0JE7SpFm9Ulc8AeVssA01w0HdjW3O_sqlDDP3W79WTpK_CfoTEuRyqoQVl-wZz-Rcn8slJVcFhk9HY8PNhNuIyz/s1600/leo.reynolds.fullstop.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWvlAdQfLrCCssfukTdWvLNxTK9bJ4uo71cQYY-FgSRf6AVcy3xBwy0JE7SpFm9Ulc8AeVssA01w0HdjW3O_sqlDDP3W79WTpK_CfoTEuRyqoQVl-wZz-Rcn8slJVcFhk9HY8PNhNuIyz/s320/leo.reynolds.fullstop.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/85990435/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/85990435/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'll be fine. I have plenty of benches stacked up.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jguMp03sOYYMw1dWKQSO2JWApa_z9hZEuERFgCoc9Jt-T4NtgFS2yVWaADnKhJeEOkGeJvyCxU8my1moIAkzyIMY5I5xVhyrHwd5unhuvSFqQCh6K105FOi10_tFhKKOCOqnlrGOtArV/s1600/SB22+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jguMp03sOYYMw1dWKQSO2JWApa_z9hZEuERFgCoc9Jt-T4NtgFS2yVWaADnKhJeEOkGeJvyCxU8my1moIAkzyIMY5I5xVhyrHwd5unhuvSFqQCh6K105FOi10_tFhKKOCOqnlrGOtArV/s320/SB22+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">photo by Sheila B</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: orange;">His Excellency: That's what I'm afraid of. I'm getting bored.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Go back to your bench and wait then, please. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisE8lmEopM88R-7LnRAfo_Ex8bpXA3UNBF9uFes3GATBQz9-1qtEfYrsyj9Y-obRR0l0zG0N5uLH5MTzdqrVkiKzLRWDf87MOipePjV1ROV8FvukE8GLCeZgCgUFCo40EjBho6kYzeUr6y/s1600/iluvcocacola.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisE8lmEopM88R-7LnRAfo_Ex8bpXA3UNBF9uFes3GATBQz9-1qtEfYrsyj9Y-obRR0l0zG0N5uLH5MTzdqrVkiKzLRWDf87MOipePjV1ROV8FvukE8GLCeZgCgUFCo40EjBho6kYzeUr6y/s400/iluvcocacola.FKCC.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/</a></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: orange;">His Excellency: I'd like to make it clear that this is not me.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Poor chap, I wonder how long he's been waiting? </span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: According to the punctuation on the sign, this is just one husband's bench. It's not a bench for all husbands.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">True. This is the catastrophe of the apostrophe.<span style="color: #990000;"> <br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This chap looks chilly. He wants taking down to the Duck and Dog Collar for a Ploughmans and a warming pint. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Is that Ploughman's belonging to one ploughman or Ploughmans' belonging to all who plough? Just asking.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Unless this bench belongs to just this one husband, it's not properly punctuated.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The same with this guy's bench:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-R9-mYAXGvEalfcsOe1qxl83dIf9P47yzzQX-QK2pWaScDsN_Q1NVjPi5lXWX0f0EnMYvXXiJLWy1xn2DVLxVIKPfq7cNWoZfUNZoqexdHe-DOcHuqwdEX9TFCMMSgpB5xpJ1DRYCW-4/s1600/sarahbrowning.smichael.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-R9-mYAXGvEalfcsOe1qxl83dIf9P47yzzQX-QK2pWaScDsN_Q1NVjPi5lXWX0f0EnMYvXXiJLWy1xn2DVLxVIKPfq7cNWoZfUNZoqexdHe-DOcHuqwdEX9TFCMMSgpB5xpJ1DRYCW-4/s320/sarahbrowning.smichael.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smichael/3863185306/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/smichael/3863185306/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: So are you saying I can't sit on this bench because I'm not a guy?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: No one can sit on it, except a guy named Guy. It's Guy's bench.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If it's for other guys, it would need different punctuation. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: Or indeed no punctuation at all. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKsgpGKvA3PgFVdCudwD-2A6D3nkZMoPltnECKzHaA47LipNoIZtZgSqFX_cqr-yuukXNSRk7fi3kUEzFFNmtWYbRID2phBHqR9inT5k1bd_HfyVhJhX2yJdlA2VBSyn6NMZPOMdoCFpt/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570097375.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="720" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKsgpGKvA3PgFVdCudwD-2A6D3nkZMoPltnECKzHaA47LipNoIZtZgSqFX_cqr-yuukXNSRk7fi3kUEzFFNmtWYbRID2phBHqR9inT5k1bd_HfyVhJhX2yJdlA2VBSyn6NMZPOMdoCFpt/s320/PhotoFunia-1570097375.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Wow, I'm getting more and more confused. My head is full of questions.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUdDSw2LpSRvZgdE5IIDZ-oRMfITg-mZObj1Ue6BqT_9qNYAPBFsH2yAuICLK76JA-VEvfjSSqZFS0dUK_IyTU7q2LyBdH1aa9KiQAIS_v-fAxRnbf35qmxebmRrSOvafIEYO7KG8yqEk/s1600/scott.mcleod.mcleod.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUdDSw2LpSRvZgdE5IIDZ-oRMfITg-mZObj1Ue6BqT_9qNYAPBFsH2yAuICLK76JA-VEvfjSSqZFS0dUK_IyTU7q2LyBdH1aa9KiQAIS_v-fAxRnbf35qmxebmRrSOvafIEYO7KG8yqEk/s320/scott.mcleod.mcleod.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, Tamsin, tell me your three favourite things.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I like cooking babies and puppies. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Cooking babies? That's not so bad. But cooking puppies! What kind of monster are you?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: black;">I think you mean you like cooking, babies, and puppies.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: That's what I said.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here's another example. I am giving up eating chocolate for a month.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: verdana;">His Excellency: That seems very unlikely. You would never give up chocolate.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">You're right. What I meant to say is I am giving up. Eating chocolate for a month.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: I love chocolate! But I couldn't eat it for a month.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord Brassica: Well, are you or aren't you? Make up your ruddy mind! </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's the fullstop, Lord B. It makes all the difference to the meaning of the sentence.</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I can't see what all the fuss is about. I didn't get where I am today by knowing where to put a semi-colon. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;">Well, excuse me, Lord B, you got where you are through inherited wealth. Drizzly Manor is inherited.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAV2LKMlrMOHqAWmkTfI8NVsYzx6_VwUxn0vijJ0wqdlDZtPqcJo-My8vSDbtPjoHBvX07CrgZhumMOdYKxjejZlTbEjDydYRTbzN8CoQG_5S7Wg-J3tf4NAiEwfpX2Q9qJvy9FfuqciPT/s1600/100_8425+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAV2LKMlrMOHqAWmkTfI8NVsYzx6_VwUxn0vijJ0wqdlDZtPqcJo-My8vSDbtPjoHBvX07CrgZhumMOdYKxjejZlTbEjDydYRTbzN8CoQG_5S7Wg-J3tf4NAiEwfpX2Q9qJvy9FfuqciPT/s320/100_8425+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Is it? By jove, I guess it is. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;">As is Castle Broccoli. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldciPuKu5DuIW-IZh75Kzdq7AkldKURqKOU_F8vva4Fmf8Y_LWxKpRzRMUhH_Kv4_oKbD1ufyf4pimggOIUXxTuOsF17erp60v-x7AlghH0ACHGE283u-wMkIuwC9Mv2NVxvHGjJFClXo/s1600/royals%2526castle.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldciPuKu5DuIW-IZh75Kzdq7AkldKURqKOU_F8vva4Fmf8Y_LWxKpRzRMUhH_Kv4_oKbD1ufyf4pimggOIUXxTuOsF17erp60v-x7AlghH0ACHGE283u-wMkIuwC9Mv2NVxvHGjJFClXo/s320/royals%2526castle.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: The words 'entitled' and 'twit' come to mind.</span></span><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica: That was my great grandfather: Manley Randolph Godfrey de Puking Entwit. </span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;">Eddie: I've looked him up.</span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFBjn0-yYQ5blL-0GTGjom3HvHmSXh13Is5nb3Fi5iQTku8NgjSrcQ2JXSSgTjrRgWSNTjo5XVF87dIXgN00_e2l4fpzufVp7-SegnqnfwwK3xdFMVpo-DaUFyqvOQqXSmWIAKCt4lATb/s2015/FB_IMG_1603228737052.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2015" data-original-width="1435" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFBjn0-yYQ5blL-0GTGjom3HvHmSXh13Is5nb3Fi5iQTku8NgjSrcQ2JXSSgTjrRgWSNTjo5XVF87dIXgN00_e2l4fpzufVp7-SegnqnfwwK3xdFMVpo-DaUFyqvOQqXSmWIAKCt4lATb/s320/FB_IMG_1603228737052.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Scholars</i>, Gabriel Ritter von Max </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;">Eddie: He was known as De Puking Entitled-Twit.</span><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #ff00fe; font-family: verdana;">Tamsin: So hyphenated words have a hyphen? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yes, it's only non-hyphenated words that don't have a hyphen.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #bf9000;">His Excellency: I note an irony in the spelling of the words hyphenated and non-hyphenated. </span></div><br /><span face="" style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: I still don't see why we need spelling. Or punctuation. </span><span face="" style="color: magenta;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Because meanings change where punctuation is not used properly. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxpXkITYf2jXBJNkeDlaSEljmtNX1EfvdDBHXAtT4X6dEdZE1rhQZAFDs3wPbJ_2JgEV8st0mEv7jn4euaKQnk1qiS8UB1UbSvyRq6Ydhcx5QntAICdNyoJ1rzA1olG1Nr6JUDQCRZXVz/s1600/20140921_133721.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxpXkITYf2jXBJNkeDlaSEljmtNX1EfvdDBHXAtT4X6dEdZE1rhQZAFDs3wPbJ_2JgEV8st0mEv7jn4euaKQnk1qiS8UB1UbSvyRq6Ydhcx5QntAICdNyoJ1rzA1olG1Nr6JUDQCRZXVz/s1600/20140921_133721.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">my photo, Wiltshire</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;">Eddie: Shouldn't Starbucks have an apostrophe?</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">His Excellency: This isn't Starbuck's. This is St. Arbuck's, a different thing altogether. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: Their cappuccino is excellent.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"></span><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFJnmUDfbIzTwqJFCi9-P34aP7ncZT9HOjZ46o1mdQrgXyM8YMwL_WjeJ8AP8yTD04gdMYTNrlBMtGDWngxH3FeZ2TyxPGX_6DSzBzRd5lSXWoUmzIrqCtn55a-OW6-7XZ-9B3AeJ6Me_/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFJnmUDfbIzTwqJFCi9-P34aP7ncZT9HOjZ46o1mdQrgXyM8YMwL_WjeJ8AP8yTD04gdMYTNrlBMtGDWngxH3FeZ2TyxPGX_6DSzBzRd5lSXWoUmzIrqCtn55a-OW6-7XZ-9B3AeJ6Me_/s320/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Either way, you need an apostrophe to make the meaning clear. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's another example for you:</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUNrXJcnuLje5tkh6eUlW_A9pJ15FcXdXfvIfxCRF6vIxKYFyH3bJ11qU7fo8_FMgM1Zp6tafflk4tVnaFpaEGMF8YgQRIySeQS_9WyRAkZ-IBqF5T5R9IermguOvGhQghhNiHxr9OHJ8/s1600/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUNrXJcnuLje5tkh6eUlW_A9pJ15FcXdXfvIfxCRF6vIxKYFyH3bJ11qU7fo8_FMgM1Zp6tafflk4tVnaFpaEGMF8YgQRIySeQS_9WyRAkZ-IBqF5T5R9IermguOvGhQghhNiHxr9OHJ8/s320/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4294873069/"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4294873069/</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: My own polo ponies drive rather faster than most. One of them has six penalty points for speeding. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Ohhhhh, I LOVE ponies! </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's another sign for you from the drive-through safari park. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V-QEgx44qV2shB2CTwxF1LP4U1VrJIOsHBgAE1dgBFqGhFIWufeg8QuZbqUmS9XJrC8Z6Wsm8FXbRrtqleP1u12u8pHti_x3nnno5FqYwQx1cJBvcN3W8kRXJmHY7h1a3DQOqG1k4gGa/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570094967.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="373" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V-QEgx44qV2shB2CTwxF1LP4U1VrJIOsHBgAE1dgBFqGhFIWufeg8QuZbqUmS9XJrC8Z6Wsm8FXbRrtqleP1u12u8pHti_x3nnno5FqYwQx1cJBvcN3W8kRXJmHY7h1a3DQOqG1k4gGa/s320/PhotoFunia-1570094967.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Quite. You don't want elephants roaming free. They're much safer in cars. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I think you'll find this is the imperative form in which the 'you' is implied. </span><br /></span><div><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I don't want a ruddy elephant in my Land Rover. I've already got a cow and a couple of dogs in there. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVPBBNQ0yeX0Q3TbePemdAPQyjWqUVAWozu9eVH3XOmgDUGEV4UC0sScqI5FZpHK8SWmKHJrE-T1WPEL0kWO-bH9OKE6OtAvO8sFyMbl9jMqAarNkv6OsI4-Q9ADgfNIiVZAlixAfnY1x/s1600/LordB1+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="1171" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVPBBNQ0yeX0Q3TbePemdAPQyjWqUVAWozu9eVH3XOmgDUGEV4UC0sScqI5FZpHK8SWmKHJrE-T1WPEL0kWO-bH9OKE6OtAvO8sFyMbl9jMqAarNkv6OsI4-Q9ADgfNIiVZAlixAfnY1x/s320/LordB1+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;">My horse Tonks has to ride in the carriage.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW4ohH3hi-TqCN6WfCF5ZLvB9VezeiYXYsBKo8VV6OZVXkHI5QOtUP_JvLAQ5hKL49bwKfzw1VSm3vIMKic7cQTu6qMo0Luu4fFBh59M82vR8nlfyLmv5QpZaTPoHkmo3dqf29Qy2Zn2J/s1600/tonks+in+carriage.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1316" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW4ohH3hi-TqCN6WfCF5ZLvB9VezeiYXYsBKo8VV6OZVXkHI5QOtUP_JvLAQ5hKL49bwKfzw1VSm3vIMKic7cQTu6qMo0Luu4fFBh59M82vR8nlfyLmv5QpZaTPoHkmo3dqf29Qy2Zn2J/s320/tonks+in+carriage.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Let's try again. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJWQZbJpUbeD-xAp47EoG-cedJZWbZfWBi5dPvzj1l5WvlgtA8_8_4_G1Omu4x8Mhms4mehmV1RlfETRxWDdMzb2ku3yDn_1mUHrQmzFxJGe7TzOLNBwvqN6J7fO_Z1Wq5Y8b2KcJj2o4/s1600/TeenieTees.etsy.il_570xN_655741873_inb3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJWQZbJpUbeD-xAp47EoG-cedJZWbZfWBi5dPvzj1l5WvlgtA8_8_4_G1Omu4x8Mhms4mehmV1RlfETRxWDdMzb2ku3yDn_1mUHrQmzFxJGe7TzOLNBwvqN6J7fO_Z1Wq5Y8b2KcJj2o4/s400/TeenieTees.etsy.il_570xN_655741873_inb3.jpg" width="318" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/teenietees"><span style="font-family: verdana;">www.etsy.com/shop/teenietees</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Good Lord. What sort of people eat their ancestors? </span></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Not to put too fine a point on it, punctuation saves lives. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Speaking of points, in some places the fullstop is known as a period. It goes at the end of a sentence. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Unless the sentence is a question. </span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqQgzghB0S_5t_iHKgrxbjWO_CkSoQtzkCNALgIW_FSiyVTi89-Ai6tGdTzeOoqYAQ9YyF39LacNtbmG_vuftJiOarflsZtTd-eHpLC8AYQfhyphenhyphenGOrZpOqPuVnmbDMkuJxRMGxJa2GKQoJ/s1600/mauro.un+gatto.fkcc+IT.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqQgzghB0S_5t_iHKgrxbjWO_CkSoQtzkCNALgIW_FSiyVTi89-Ai6tGdTzeOoqYAQ9YyF39LacNtbmG_vuftJiOarflsZtTd-eHpLC8AYQfhyphenhyphenGOrZpOqPuVnmbDMkuJxRMGxJa2GKQoJ/s320/mauro.un+gatto.fkcc+IT.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: This cat is sooooo cute!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Punctuation is quite straightforward; I hope you're not going to bore us with a lesson. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Good use of the semi-colon here, HE.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MeovY6DJ5CXO3KBTLdjySgdb82aGQx_W7znI5E1uyUjpuqlCqtnOf6cUFol_kvuEqdyp7mEMOagNQKo_6FoEXMEvmbS0KhmoTqjJJJzpdfzREEhlYqGN4eaDwNlNoyw8oKsRF_NnpsBx/s1600/rebecca.wilson.saucysalad.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MeovY6DJ5CXO3KBTLdjySgdb82aGQx_W7znI5E1uyUjpuqlCqtnOf6cUFol_kvuEqdyp7mEMOagNQKo_6FoEXMEvmbS0KhmoTqjJJJzpdfzREEhlYqGN4eaDwNlNoyw8oKsRF_NnpsBx/s320/rebecca.wilson.saucysalad.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/ </span></a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Oh, I know this one! It's the winky face! ;</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: No. Just NO. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdCZkh3Yn9k1dzzLUeFq0An5r4ULk5vUtienY-Q8DmyhAY2oBw3taa3vqOqp57I3KDV3XQOb3Gjkvq-q_LTjA0jXRjA8DKiiM6lZV2oMn0et9z4DIxXiGdQsETXDeEePZ4WGF2OF4ii5h/s1600/grammaticalt.etsy.il_570xN_676053398_13pq.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdCZkh3Yn9k1dzzLUeFq0An5r4ULk5vUtienY-Q8DmyhAY2oBw3taa3vqOqp57I3KDV3XQOb3Gjkvq-q_LTjA0jXRjA8DKiiM6lZV2oMn0et9z4DIxXiGdQsETXDeEePZ4WGF2OF4ii5h/s200/grammaticalt.etsy.il_570xN_676053398_13pq.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: What on earth is going on here? Polo ponies. Winky faces. This discussion is making me feel quite befuddled. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">I suppose you're going to say there's a punctuation mark for that? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Indeed there is, Lord B. This is the interrobang. It's a combination of an exclamation and a question.</span><br /></span><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHdEzDmiE7n-YyuxByJHFGp2X5W4DM8MRWEYPCuTsKWzKV-GQkoHSwl4rQ3KTarelHJPZqYVqrfbk6EHONwO0eGPXUT5gHjoCqeZSlZwG2W0i9Nm3bKN0uTQEAv1nfpFepKPmTWgnnwv7/s1600/larry.tenney.fkcc..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHdEzDmiE7n-YyuxByJHFGp2X5W4DM8MRWEYPCuTsKWzKV-GQkoHSwl4rQ3KTarelHJPZqYVqrfbk6EHONwO0eGPXUT5gHjoCqeZSlZwG2W0i9Nm3bKN0uTQEAv1nfpFepKPmTWgnnwv7/s320/larry.tenney.fkcc..jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I love little squiggles like this! lol What am I like?! </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, done, Tamsin. This is proper use of the interrobang.<span style="color: magenta;"> </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Punctuation is brill!!!! I think I've nailed it!!!!</span> </span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCfJgfHa6DfbZsLthgvDucYM4JiDb8PqryMYsmBon9sMeXmH7ii4WOQsh1VL89VUIuspVYnHEB7x1ZbNsP1uGgIA_mneiuWwx3rPOxxrhD1BGrkqth4-wi0J2Y9yimZdd-tWxTnSXTCA6/s1600/borispumps.NeilMilne.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCfJgfHa6DfbZsLthgvDucYM4JiDb8PqryMYsmBon9sMeXmH7ii4WOQsh1VL89VUIuspVYnHEB7x1ZbNsP1uGgIA_mneiuWwx3rPOxxrhD1BGrkqth4-wi0J2Y9yimZdd-tWxTnSXTCA6/s320/borispumps.NeilMilne.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: You haven't. Multiple exclamation points are always incorrect. They </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">should only be used in situations of extreme excitement, for example a 30th birthday party.</span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqI5gjCmbVt2OmNU4gZDWAbc_3hRA95VTRFBYldyGP3Rh2sA-CeLAmvtnRIlhkb7qP5mF_KmfFVWraxFvFZKYGlTLIBFjA2i_YAq1yKQZIQ-9ohkGNvyR8tEGe0yV75ojTqzPNNyFq4pHh/s1600/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqI5gjCmbVt2OmNU4gZDWAbc_3hRA95VTRFBYldyGP3Rh2sA-CeLAmvtnRIlhkb7qP5mF_KmfFVWraxFvFZKYGlTLIBFjA2i_YAq1yKQZIQ-9ohkGNvyR8tEGe0yV75ojTqzPNNyFq4pHh/s320/TomBarrett.kardon.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Parties are fab!!!</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I go to as many as I can!!!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: As illustrated here, the exclamation point is seriously over-used. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I agree, Eddie. There are too many exclamation points around.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5D5-nl6pcn9HKtAlMqhPGque8F1I711jJ0dyajl2RsEMVFRn94F-pibSmzcWV8hEpfgCCAPkmmtr8FHueCBt_beq29mbclNwxPYUJgY-w-mifYh_gXXdOohq5i3lPw9ruiR9vDaN6ee-/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569524930.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5D5-nl6pcn9HKtAlMqhPGque8F1I711jJ0dyajl2RsEMVFRn94F-pibSmzcWV8hEpfgCCAPkmmtr8FHueCBt_beq29mbclNwxPYUJgY-w-mifYh_gXXdOohq5i3lPw9ruiR9vDaN6ee-/s320/PhotoFunia-1569524930.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">These days you can't find a bench without sitting on an exclamation mark. </span><br /><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbczF_f0ZtzzI2S6730opzbi8HdN74BXxe7FAyAiHcTysgj3xmcl15g6OxIHz9PCA-IW1QlubZ32drKzjNfjgiCQKCZY6UFrKlxWk3BhstrUrGCrpMwvjMMfzxtpjd0x1XqUQjPlnZEo6d/s1600/loonatic.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbczF_f0ZtzzI2S6730opzbi8HdN74BXxe7FAyAiHcTysgj3xmcl15g6OxIHz9PCA-IW1QlubZ32drKzjNfjgiCQKCZY6UFrKlxWk3BhstrUrGCrpMwvjMMfzxtpjd0x1XqUQjPlnZEo6d/s320/loonatic.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoscribe/4246687403" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoscribe/4246687403</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Snow is sooooo lovely!!!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Exclamation points leave me cold. People are far too free with them.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lord Brassica: Giving away things for free makes people lazy and lacking in motivation. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Nothing should be free.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What, even air?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54S81UF17h0B2TQidvp8rubMNMwCZ7qn9ViF53K55c6EcTz3w5eH5SbO4gDgNo1dRtZldNf4mRJZMqlV_mCZKTu5v4HPJlY4EfPIzd3oM9fDqHUPCzv2LehEDnOUV2zsYbqVvgQ3SaltN/s1600/robwatling.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54S81UF17h0B2TQidvp8rubMNMwCZ7qn9ViF53K55c6EcTz3w5eH5SbO4gDgNo1dRtZldNf4mRJZMqlV_mCZKTu5v4HPJlY4EfPIzd3oM9fDqHUPCzv2LehEDnOUV2zsYbqVvgQ3SaltN/s320/robwatling.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I personally can afford all the air I need, and for that matter, all the punctuation. I'd like to see people pay for punctuation if they need it. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: What price the exclamation point?</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: About £3.75 I think. </span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Golly, I've run up quite a bill!!!!! </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: We're not making much progress. Punctuation Day is going to be here before we've finished. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Punctuation isn't very sexy, is it?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It depends, Tamsin. I've seen some rather racy correspondence about quotation marks.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ik6eTdCEdEQsL5FnF6f1y5q6_2aiWFis9VS7uzxbrU0me-s-FCXBtvsdcrv0XRAiB05TUMHwOodWxCgwEcz0LFsrIY1Vk57xV1A0qwyrjgMB7YFQGyaKjfHf_ru8P7qnPJn8KsKRHE0Z/s1600/saplingpress.etsy.il_570xN_676589944_l77m.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ik6eTdCEdEQsL5FnF6f1y5q6_2aiWFis9VS7uzxbrU0me-s-FCXBtvsdcrv0XRAiB05TUMHwOodWxCgwEcz0LFsrIY1Vk57xV1A0qwyrjgMB7YFQGyaKjfHf_ru8P7qnPJn8KsKRHE0Z/s400/saplingpress.etsy.il_570xN_676589944_l77m.jpg" width="343" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">His Excellency: And then there's the Comma Sutra . . . </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiDLEQazokvumuMXAvHWz65eHRqEt1LNtsSqnwo9yxPNW8WobqxhrtUqygcgaHEkyKiIhxjOZnkezf3hoe9q2jWT2q0G886u-dtAejpA8c2b1cQexaB4PiFUfEhaUKiE80S6oFdVa0Y3o/s1600/seeminglee.FKCC.commasutra.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiDLEQazokvumuMXAvHWz65eHRqEt1LNtsSqnwo9yxPNW8WobqxhrtUqygcgaHEkyKiIhxjOZnkezf3hoe9q2jWT2q0G886u-dtAejpA8c2b1cQexaB4PiFUfEhaUKiE80S6oFdVa0Y3o/s320/seeminglee.FKCC.commasutra.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/8378437207/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/8378437207/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I hope they're practising safe text.</span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: An illustration from The Joy of Punctuation is more than I can bear. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, let's move on. I want to show you what happens when punctuation goes bad.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jKq_69dZDg6nZgtD0Pjo-U6SE7kU0pV5Ltu77srsG9bkjAgsvMy7ObXm1MNjp_cV0PxgwahGJKK8iVfJQUiqe-E7PG9soBtDWCws3sEkgLIApHMcaG9fzg0rwcufZdmRGQa-vJig2K9R/s1600/bad+comma.dlanham.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jKq_69dZDg6nZgtD0Pjo-U6SE7kU0pV5Ltu77srsG9bkjAgsvMy7ObXm1MNjp_cV0PxgwahGJKK8iVfJQUiqe-E7PG9soBtDWCws3sEkgLIApHMcaG9fzg0rwcufZdmRGQa-vJig2K9R/s320/bad+comma.dlanham.FKCC.jpg" width="282" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This German comma chap seems to have run amuck, as Europeans are wont to do. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Do the words <i>British</i> and <i>Empire</i> mean anything to you?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: As editor-in-chief of this post I suggest we avoid politics.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">My bêtes noir</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> is the comma splice, that's where independent clauses are joined by a comma, it's a thing that happens a lot these days, it's really irritating it doesn't make any sense, and I wish it would stop. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotYSvfztubR0pHpocg8QJ_keEXHSey-yqa7rKIIAH8FYJPSoTsniMtLooE1jX0D_Y3Hdq-L-IgOlrxkh2vSnEIEjaWyQc_wxGA60Io-pWZMcYOzvYu3EDIQGsrNLlrXFyufxYJbL0kFPm/s1600/grammaticalArt.Etsy.il_570xN_830896447_hp72.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotYSvfztubR0pHpocg8QJ_keEXHSey-yqa7rKIIAH8FYJPSoTsniMtLooE1jX0D_Y3Hdq-L-IgOlrxkh2vSnEIEjaWyQc_wxGA60Io-pWZMcYOzvYu3EDIQGsrNLlrXFyufxYJbL0kFPm/s320/grammaticalArt.Etsy.il_570xN_830896447_hp72.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: This is an excellent example, Seashell. The three ways of avoiding the comma splice are . . .</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sorry, HE, this isn't a punctuation lesson. We're not at Oxford, you know.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I personally dislike the Oxford comma even though I went to Oxford.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqYdzZlxw6ThNMcAwJsr6f7KytRhDJhddEN8HHwEM_lMkoXM1oHA_fql4di5f8KIW3HUHzQBpR_2leG1TzCia8SZ9BWErw0uwPMiKs2jSIr85RE1j_skLBmRujdtWRZZQmn4w10346cf4/s1600/RedHedgePhotos.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqYdzZlxw6ThNMcAwJsr6f7KytRhDJhddEN8HHwEM_lMkoXM1oHA_fql4di5f8KIW3HUHzQBpR_2leG1TzCia8SZ9BWErw0uwPMiKs2jSIr85RE1j_skLBmRujdtWRZZQmn4w10346cf4/s320/RedHedgePhotos.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos</span></a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I disagree. The Oxford Comma has its place. And so does good grammar. </span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh90Iu_5SYqz5aco74VvFemhMcZmTMAD39rl6jnlkNUmNqQMCoj_2VSjJJP5pkn0IqvBkxMvDQbQ1tm9e9vCBK0O712verwgdL_F7C_Yk5FU5UOTuNg8UY_6kAqnaUTzf2U8l6CYNCABz-/s1504/20200611_095208.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1301" data-original-width="1504" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh90Iu_5SYqz5aco74VvFemhMcZmTMAD39rl6jnlkNUmNqQMCoj_2VSjJJP5pkn0IqvBkxMvDQbQ1tm9e9vCBK0O712verwgdL_F7C_Yk5FU5UOTuNg8UY_6kAqnaUTzf2U8l6CYNCABz-/w256-h222/20200611_095208.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">many online sources</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#0f9d58" face="verdana">Lord Brassica: Never saw a dog! By jove that's an unlucky girl.</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#ba67c8" face="verdana">Tamsin: Never smiled. She must have been miserable.</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#0b8043" face="verdana">Lord Brassica: Why couldn't someone just show this poor woman a dog?</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is called an amphiboly; because of poor grammar, you're misunderstanding the meaning.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#f57c00" face="verdana">His Excellency: She couldn't see a dog without smiling. That in itself is a problem.</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now we need to tackle the most misunderstood punctuation of all - the apostrophe.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I know this place! They have really nice pastries!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYUfLAC9ALmWIjIDT_XpMP3QPDVybPtPVvZY4o7aLxbPjWoHY-eLlBlDYPJx7ciYszzOpJaxwWJMdy8CDosSdE87NlvbzG1RGM1hSBxVS__Gyi26WbDklNlPrm1gq4RO5Jw2QmBLs4MxK/s1600/apostrophe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYUfLAC9ALmWIjIDT_XpMP3QPDVybPtPVvZY4o7aLxbPjWoHY-eLlBlDYPJx7ciYszzOpJaxwWJMdy8CDosSdE87NlvbzG1RGM1hSBxVS__Gyi26WbDklNlPrm1gq4RO5Jw2QmBLs4MxK/s320/apostrophe.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: They make great cappuccinos.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsix9mI0bRwcQEkq7stP5y-XoigJS9QOCq5xE93Gy_OzrAP9lyyzh8FW2eLfNcrcXRDIovforH7SoTtUrvY_rY86NNzBIlccakTTiEzGYmas4aQuRnRWJC4auW0LOrrMbUOy3ZHTmL6Vh/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsix9mI0bRwcQEkq7stP5y-XoigJS9QOCq5xE93Gy_OzrAP9lyyzh8FW2eLfNcrcXRDIovforH7SoTtUrvY_rY86NNzBIlccakTTiEzGYmas4aQuRnRWJC4auW0LOrrMbUOy3ZHTmL6Vh/s320/PhotoFunia-1569612665.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We're talking about punctuation here, not coffee shops.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Wow, this is fun!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vRrayN2eQxq2lP0L47WVOh_1Lr6qH-FQ0qogpgOdCGsd0fUdIoCSNIHdhiEKVbMIjiXtzcCVVkw08KTFvKAG327n1_Yz-SslxGr9DHaMRXkm1L06bb-LWV06Ktaju-_c9PPxG9TIM353/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570094736.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="849" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vRrayN2eQxq2lP0L47WVOh_1Lr6qH-FQ0qogpgOdCGsd0fUdIoCSNIHdhiEKVbMIjiXtzcCVVkw08KTFvKAG327n1_Yz-SslxGr9DHaMRXkm1L06bb-LWV06Ktaju-_c9PPxG9TIM353/s320/PhotoFunia-1570094736.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #e69138;">His Excellency: Looks like we've got some way to go on apostrophes.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We begin with a simple fact.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwGatUNuyrXJdQ6P8ukUF_OTo41o5kvWeDvn_Fhyphenhyphendn8Lwh8NPq9XTr5FVNuuru7U78us1fIo42K66PRl-6q6k4DGYZQDe43aCoChaT7hyphenhyphenztJMPqvwDSiKBoqxE9WeeK7_hlcn7APFYDXxD/s1600/shopsaplingpress.etsy7514963986_859a0b5987_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwGatUNuyrXJdQ6P8ukUF_OTo41o5kvWeDvn_Fhyphenhyphendn8Lwh8NPq9XTr5FVNuuru7U78us1fIo42K66PRl-6q6k4DGYZQDe43aCoChaT7hyphenhyphenztJMPqvwDSiKBoqxE9WeeK7_hlcn7APFYDXxD/s320/shopsaplingpress.etsy7514963986_859a0b5987_z.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Let me make this clear:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitiS6Q-gc8ddokQ3TfmtO9kpM1ASOcpxI1evoR4zbSA5VG88grM0Ch2MOn5pVhYJtTbvxnSTIGIye2EVL48tAXPVIjlQC3_L4FRpvtTpcRUvcOR3WkTF4JTODCxJoGSeNVdyOZkAGvbWL7/s1600/BookFiend.etsyil_570xN_650457337_4a6p.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitiS6Q-gc8ddokQ3TfmtO9kpM1ASOcpxI1evoR4zbSA5VG88grM0Ch2MOn5pVhYJtTbvxnSTIGIye2EVL48tAXPVIjlQC3_L4FRpvtTpcRUvcOR3WkTF4JTODCxJoGSeNVdyOZkAGvbWL7/s320/BookFiend.etsyil_570xN_650457337_4a6p.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />The incorrect apostrophe is sometimes known as the Grocer's Apostrophe, as in banana's, lemon's, potatoe's. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here in Fribble-under-Par, </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Squeezy, our pet lemon, gets sour about apostrophes.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirP688D-UvrrjKpJCpvxsI41eWnRAM_LHFmUaFCXWVH2ddYMbMV2_7isRRDOnI5IV0EgCiDT8IZYh0pV1E5IywBRwJ0A_vIJUluwJ7uGY2HK6wsZMowvoZHpw20O_lcuc17fyG3vnRatiG/s1600/100_7523.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirP688D-UvrrjKpJCpvxsI41eWnRAM_LHFmUaFCXWVH2ddYMbMV2_7isRRDOnI5IV0EgCiDT8IZYh0pV1E5IywBRwJ0A_vIJUluwJ7uGY2HK6wsZMowvoZHpw20O_lcuc17fyG3vnRatiG/s320/100_7523.JPG" width="318" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span style="color: purple;"> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">Squeezy: The Grocer's Apostrophe shows no respect whatsoever for lemons.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw855C6QuV3VNkn08sSNQgmr2_libM2WQoIZrTuMKdTvlrOBi8sHTgMKvbvLnUTHT9ceCzG_vM1jraIlj1PNBfzd-txwedojOWJ7-Sz1XWSlw6SqLZOjQEuVF1uYDo0-h-Inp0ZkQ3Nqp/s1600/fishcakesoboy.etsy.il_570xN_799871360_78yy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw855C6QuV3VNkn08sSNQgmr2_libM2WQoIZrTuMKdTvlrOBi8sHTgMKvbvLnUTHT9ceCzG_vM1jraIlj1PNBfzd-txwedojOWJ7-Sz1XWSlw6SqLZOjQEuVF1uYDo0-h-Inp0ZkQ3Nqp/s320/fishcakesoboy.etsy.il_570xN_799871360_78yy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I say, this little fellow doesn't look much like a grocer. </span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: It's a hedgehog I think. Or in the plural, <i>hedgehogs</i>.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: How hard is it to just add an s?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, English spelling <i>is</i> quite tricky. People seem to have a lot of problems with plurals. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjkrSjdQ_2aBIcZ-0LBIfCXuC1h5cXF5neurdiculcWVrYeH-Ggt6jX8wad3qAtWpPl_J0L8iA38OJAMAX7dUqFaXu76F8yivShecjXSr7mJAr1Dv8YT7Jqf29ed1v8Yh4YMf_AICubO-/s1600/20141101_152746.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjkrSjdQ_2aBIcZ-0LBIfCXuC1h5cXF5neurdiculcWVrYeH-Ggt6jX8wad3qAtWpPl_J0L8iA38OJAMAX7dUqFaXu76F8yivShecjXSr7mJAr1Dv8YT7Jqf29ed1v8Yh4YMf_AICubO-/s400/20141101_152746.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: A pre-loved baby? Does that mean the baby isn't loved anymore? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;">Eddie: Cheekie. WRONG. And Monkies. Just WRONG. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Like a multi-storey carpark, it's wrong on so many levels.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: You know what though? I don't care about the proper use of apostrophe's.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9X9oy1UM8sIaOHxZ282P-sXCjfzbprmGbhQCAdX7I6hwir2LSRvmWiqELecD4NOE-jWHg1lea4NhWJAkxee2lruU8cheBXoIiwvQJ1B7cfkbbL-TqfHGSUPg34X5e0Ljwn4B9q-zO01re/s1600/odysseyroc.etsy.il_570xN_627435476_ju1v.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9X9oy1UM8sIaOHxZ282P-sXCjfzbprmGbhQCAdX7I6hwir2LSRvmWiqELecD4NOE-jWHg1lea4NhWJAkxee2lruU8cheBXoIiwvQJ1B7cfkbbL-TqfHGSUPg34X5e0Ljwn4B9q-zO01re/s320/odysseyroc.etsy.il_570xN_627435476_ju1v.jpg" width="293" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/odysseyroc">www.etsy.com/shop/odysseyroc</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />OK, Tamsin, fair enough. But you should know that the rogue apostrophe slayer is about.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuP9zMOyzJI_BeghVK1bGlH9IV6tCDYYRg6xuQhpJMyO5uxbxvcM6k-AC-lkDhyphenhyphennEKIMMoUNDJMTrfYXl-oCSc5ugc4tmK0IwJhCxBR9ANifMiJ-KB02r3wWpRFxVlRIKxCBAPI7fVczJ9/s1600/wordtree.etsy.il_570xN_719462029_mfp0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuP9zMOyzJI_BeghVK1bGlH9IV6tCDYYRg6xuQhpJMyO5uxbxvcM6k-AC-lkDhyphenhyphennEKIMMoUNDJMTrfYXl-oCSc5ugc4tmK0IwJhCxBR9ANifMiJ-KB02r3wWpRFxVlRIKxCBAPI7fVczJ9/s320/wordtree.etsy.il_570xN_719462029_mfp0.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Is it the slayer who's rogue or is it the apostrophe? Just asking.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #ff00fe; font-family: verdana;">Tamsin: I don't care about apostrophes. Or commas. Or spelling. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What do you mean? SPELLING RULES! </span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8y6gnDpf1wpxMYOXCkHKCmeONKfW-jvx1_pFznZ-1Vu9PUER9tonBNUd_vq2epS5B7jFzNhO7RriFV5s0oB5145FqwIKn39Y2RYFVCD1U1XZZTeonWn_cVjTZ_ueSs9yDv8ysodYrVwVOaN0IuMNtny6G-0vWVvSJ8Pyn7wQszue-PopUqa0qAlVbR42/s974/FB_IMG_1709647578772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="922" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8y6gnDpf1wpxMYOXCkHKCmeONKfW-jvx1_pFznZ-1Vu9PUER9tonBNUd_vq2epS5B7jFzNhO7RriFV5s0oB5145FqwIKn39Y2RYFVCD1U1XZZTeonWn_cVjTZ_ueSs9yDv8ysodYrVwVOaN0IuMNtny6G-0vWVvSJ8Pyn7wQszue-PopUqa0qAlVbR42/w379-h400/FB_IMG_1709647578772.jpg" width="379" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sign Appreciation Society, Facebook</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Enough! I'm going to find a bench and sit down with this plate of <strike>cookeys</strike> <strike>cookie's</strike> cookies for Punctuation Day. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JkZ-t8XILEwTzTq3wo7AAMfIOlwzgVfJzKavYhhEmwR6Fi0xYJfBWBVXN9WNj0fV2Pw5ypV-VoP1OO6mXO1UTNVQTlvURiRV9_YKHXvYiUs285LfhIOaC8w-FuvJhDdGbuQDxwZYvLay/s1600/David.Erickson.fkcc.punctuationday.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JkZ-t8XILEwTzTq3wo7AAMfIOlwzgVfJzKavYhhEmwR6Fi0xYJfBWBVXN9WNj0fV2Pw5ypV-VoP1OO6mXO1UTNVQTlvURiRV9_YKHXvYiUs285LfhIOaC8w-FuvJhDdGbuQDxwZYvLay/s320/David.Erickson.fkcc.punctuationday.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Eddie: This is a clear case for a dictionary.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I looked up the word 'bench' in my wife's dictionary and I couldn't find it. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKrE7qjmXmKaJPr8cEGUjWqi3jmKJYy6Jtj7ETtwb3Zh1-HvZPJlVYaICEvOuRv49iBXGqh2Xg9NYW9vWSyvc9zcZMD2EFQmocwGfdeQIPTzoAK_ARlSD1vpchxP0bdAkZbcMO60V8D73/s1600/givingnot%2540rocketmail.com.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKrE7qjmXmKaJPr8cEGUjWqi3jmKJYy6Jtj7ETtwb3Zh1-HvZPJlVYaICEvOuRv49iBXGqh2Xg9NYW9vWSyvc9zcZMD2EFQmocwGfdeQIPTzoAK_ARlSD1vpchxP0bdAkZbcMO60V8D73/s320/givingnot%2540rocketmail.com.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/</a></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well done, Lord B. So fa, so good.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I have no idea what you're on about, Seashell.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Me neither. I feel like my brain is upside down.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPBy-c69lO8vMC1K51mD3qwUpUL0CEV5t86VHkfxE8JC0tDPWcKy-iZ7_0IvYftCCIEPX4mH_7bLMzEmqVumkRiqynviVj_NA2wllS_nLLPY5gwwRuYJPx5rM-3fAcjbqti5Y15ZhXzbP/s1600/artotemsco.fkcc.artotem.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPBy-c69lO8vMC1K51mD3qwUpUL0CEV5t86VHkfxE8JC0tDPWcKy-iZ7_0IvYftCCIEPX4mH_7bLMzEmqVumkRiqynviVj_NA2wllS_nLLPY5gwwRuYJPx5rM-3fAcjbqti5Y15ZhXzbP/s320/artotemsco.fkcc.artotem.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/</a></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I too am partial to some inverted Spanish punctuation.</span> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Do I speak Spanish? I don't think I do.</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There's no need to feel like an idiot, Tamsin.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFoXoldFjTA3JXxvz-WjoYOX4GzWLEQR9BHmRJsDo8Z7XvIEJ56rko181THZXd3ICEYU0nhgzyKsSGjVYy2ILosOaOy0Jn6R-WNCsOxVEU5QkxpWvEBc8oXbMpquzmvZGe2_a3Et2_EROb/s1600/Michael.Beitz.coma56a3af0e87b7641023a13ef14e75939.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFoXoldFjTA3JXxvz-WjoYOX4GzWLEQR9BHmRJsDo8Z7XvIEJ56rko181THZXd3ICEYU0nhgzyKsSGjVYy2ILosOaOy0Jn6R-WNCsOxVEU5QkxpWvEBc8oXbMpquzmvZGe2_a3Et2_EROb/s320/Michael.Beitz.coma56a3af0e87b7641023a13ef14e75939.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html"><span style="font-family: verdana;">http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's easy. For the principles of punctuation, you just have to remember this little poem: </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>The stops point out, with truth, the time of pause</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>A sentence doth require at ev'ry clause.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>At ev'ry comma, stop while one you count;</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>At semi-colon, two is the amount;</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>A colon doth require the time of three;</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>The period four, as learned men agree.</i> </span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Do women agree though?</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: I'm not aware of any learned women in this neck of the woods. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Present company <strike>accepted</strike> excepted, Lord B?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: I have no idea what company you mean. Fortnum and Mason?</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, we've covered commas, quotation marks, fullstops, question marks and exclamation points. Does anyone have any questions?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: A philosophical question: is the exclamation point justified in the name of this seaside town in the west of England?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nysrKof5Emv-_TLhv78bYnJ9s4Ees06HTIcNobye7XgjK27aH2il0dxrCLJzXvVFXcX68FU67M4p8D9WtUibs1Bm-vliVE2XwFSEFyXJad5_s8UvKFQpYOAOjkcJsJc4Y8zWhTVCbknF/s1600/mark.robinson.westwardho.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nysrKof5Emv-_TLhv78bYnJ9s4Ees06HTIcNobye7XgjK27aH2il0dxrCLJzXvVFXcX68FU67M4p8D9WtUibs1Bm-vliVE2XwFSEFyXJad5_s8UvKFQpYOAOjkcJsJc4Y8zWhTVCbknF/s320/mark.robinson.westwardho.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/ </a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: Westward Ho! When I was 18 I spent a jolly summer holiday there with my nanny! </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There are two exclamation points here, Lord B. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Three pounds seventy-five each! That's ummmm . . . quite a lot of money!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: This punctuation lark is all ruddy nonsense. I'll say toodle pip to you all and get back to my cows.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLf-AGCKkFYkfM1Jt7vH5_V9P8jZEuTTa_zpVlglUbSvNTxrm_Vi4jaB5D7Idzz8sHx4IZvfKn1_iLSGoAMWAqjy0IOttfG7KZJktK-zL8yWoXag0WhXcFhhhPfugSu_EcoMMXln4h5Mi8/s1600/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLf-AGCKkFYkfM1Jt7vH5_V9P8jZEuTTa_zpVlglUbSvNTxrm_Vi4jaB5D7Idzz8sHx4IZvfKn1_iLSGoAMWAqjy0IOttfG7KZJktK-zL8yWoXag0WhXcFhhhPfugSu_EcoMMXln4h5Mi8/s320/HelenST.orangebrompton.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4255861037/%C2%A0" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4255861037/ </span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Golly. If asked nicely, Lord B's cows are clever enough to close the gate. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Now <i>that's</i> something to celebrate on Punctuation Day!</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We're very literary here on Benchsite. A stack of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-stack-of-book-benches-for-world-book.html">book benches for World Book Day</a>? We got 'em. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html">Poetry benches</a>? Yes, please. We even have <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/world-book-day-dewey-need-library.html">Dewey benches for militant librarians</a>, and a whole <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/an-alphabet-of-dutch-benches.html">alphabet of Dutch benches</a>. And there's an <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/an-alphabet-of-dance-benches-for-world.html">alphabet of dance benches</a> as well. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">According to Alexander Henning Drachmann, Alexander Henning Drachmann is a charming, reflective and relatively young artist from the west coast of Denmark. He loves books, music and films but he hates most modern pop music and also opera. He loves films and documentaries and he's green with a capital G (so that's Green). He took the photo of the question mark bench sculpture at the start of the story, which he saw in Esbjerg, Denmark in 2006. I wonder if it's still there. That's not a question by the way, which is why there is no question mark. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The brilliant "You" seating is by TABISSO®, a dynamic French design company focusing on a new concept of high-end typographic lounge furniture. Typographia was inspired by teaching the alphabet in a township in South Africa. Their collection of typographic furniture allows you to freely communicate names, acronyms, or any personalised message by displaying chairs and floorlamps side byside. The set of chairs includes all letters from A to Z and numbers from 0 to 9, and the set of floorlamps covers over 20 punctuation marks.They were nominated finalists of best new product in a London design show in 2011. </span><a href="http://www.tabisso.com/" target="_blank">www.tabisso.com</a><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There are lots of question mark photos on Flickr. One that caught my eye is the slightly out-of-focus green cube, taken by Rachel K. Rachel lives in a pretty swell place with her delightful husband, though she doesn't say where. They have good times. Rachel's photostream is emotional and personal pieces mixed with just plain visual diary entries, in other words, life.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimonomania/474758933/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimonomania/474758933/</a></span><br /><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white;">Eddie is my Inner Editor, who just happens to be a primate. If you've seen much of Benchsite you will know what a problem Eddie is for me. He has <s>ruined</s> helped me edit the post about my swimming bench and the </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/blue-benches-for-blue-monday.html"><span style="background: white; color: #848484;">Blue Monday benches</span></a><span style="background: white;">. He <s>interfered with</s> stepped in to help with the </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/an-orange-bench-mystery.html"><span style="background: white; color: #848484;">Orange bench mystery</span></a><span style="background: white;">. However, he has a habit of setting his own agenda with the benches. Look what <s>a mess he made</s> great job he did on <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html"><span style="color: #848484; text-decoration-line: none;">St. George's Day</span></a> . And as for my </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/seeing-red-benches-for-february.html"><span style="background: white; color: #848484;">Red benches</span></a><span style="background: white;"> in February? No wonder I was <s>very grateful</s> seeing red. It's lucky he was around for National Insect Day though; his <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/national-insect-week-buzz-about-benches.html">insect benches</a> are buzzing.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="background: white;"><br /></span><span style="background: white;"></span><span>Kevin Trotman is the Rocketeer and he makes brilliant fake industrial signs. His hometown is somewhere in Texas but now he lives in South Carolina. I wonder if they have Heavy Punctuation Crossing signs in South Carolina. No, I don't think so since The Rocketeer said he had fun making this using <a href="http://www.stclaire.com/">www.stclaire.com</a> and PhotoShop. It's in the Punctuality Gallery on Flickr. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/in/photolist-LNrP">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/8741169/</a></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>His Excellency is one of my two husbands. He is a philosopher and a man who takes an interest in many subjects, apart from chemistry. He's particularly keen on <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html">poetry benches</a> and also <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/an-alphabet-of-dance-benches-for-world.html">dancers</a>. For more about my two husbands and their education see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html</a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Some people are just so clever and creative that other people take their stuff and use it for their own purposes. Such is Tsahi Levent-Levi, who made the finger face with a question. It's one of his many brilliant teaching and presentation photos which appear in all kinds of galleries and is, fortunately, available on Creative Commons. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/86979666@N00/7623744452/</a></span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>Tamsin is a sweet local girl who works here in Fribble-under-Par in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy. Ever a follower of fashion, Tamsin likes to try anything new. <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html">Fifty shades of pink benches</a>? It didn't scare her. Tamsin has a French fiance, Garcon Orange, and a baby named Isambard Kevin, whose paternal origins are unknown. </span><span>And she has a rather odd perspective on life, as shown in the post she helped me with about</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/big-bench-small-bench-cute-and-tiny.html">big and small benches</a><span>. If you think size doesn't matter, you ought to see it. </span><br /><span><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtGlcpHnQUJIedHTsoHgLt71en8CRD7mz7NzTAArArAEMCYrGCchdgi0gfcyb2eIXDOcrfufyd8QxgQTI0YDD10912Pw1H7wkYcM8h2PhxahiQEyWHG7LC1VImdywS2IVO6x3gWRE4jM-/s1600/godparents.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtGlcpHnQUJIedHTsoHgLt71en8CRD7mz7NzTAArArAEMCYrGCchdgi0gfcyb2eIXDOcrfufyd8QxgQTI0YDD10912Pw1H7wkYcM8h2PhxahiQEyWHG7LC1VImdywS2IVO6x3gWRE4jM-/s320/godparents.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Tamsin and family</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">President Obama faced a lot of hazy questions in his time, which is why Raymond Bryson made a series of Obama versus, well, all kinds of stuff. Raymond Bryson's profile is empty but his albums are full of toys, animals and yes, quite a few question marks. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647624750/</a></span><br /><br /></span><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer here on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Paradise</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>. He loves his horse Tonks, his dog Pru,and his 1947 Landrover, in that order. He indulges his wife, Lady Jessica Brassica with a replica mall in the basement of Drizzly Manor, a beach hut on the Esplanade, and unlimited amounts of cash for shopping. However, it has emerged that he doesn't know as much as you'd think about farm animal benches, especially<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">cow benches</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">sheep benches</a>. He knows a bit more about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/2014-year-of-horse-bench.html">horse benches</a>, learned from his horse Tonks, and possibly something about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">dog benches</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>from his dog Pru. What he really knows though, is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html">picnic benches</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The question mark sculpture person is from the Florence Exhibition of sculptor Jean-Michel Folon.It was photographed by Marco Bellucci in 2005 <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We can't do punctuation without reference to the lovely ampersand. Ampersand/Needle is a photograph showing detail of Roy McMakin's sculpture Love & Loss in Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park. The neon object above is the ampersand from the sculpure, which uses various shapes - including a tree trunk, a concrete bench and a tiny artificial pond - to spell out the title Love & Loss. Edgeplot was there to photograph it in 2007. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgeplot/364284317/</a></span><br /><br /></span><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lady Jessica Brassica is a fashionista and former model with Studio Joop from Overbearing in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Holland</st1:place></st1:city>. Now she has her own fashion house at Ballyfrumpy in <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Offhand</st1:placename> in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. She loves shopping at her replica mall and having poetry read by Young Male Readers dot com. She is happily married to Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly but<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/summer-bench-days-are-here-again.html">last summer</a> Lady Jess spent rather a lot of time at her beach hut with <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Troy</st1:place></st1:city></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 13.5pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Tom Barrett is a Year 5 classroom teacher, ICT Subject Leader and Assistant Headteacher in a large primary school in Nottinghamshire. He has been blogging about the implementation of technology in his classroom for over three years at edte.ch. He also photographed the Punctuation Pyramid, which is helpful for Year 5 students and just about everyone else, including His Excellency. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardon/2246419748/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Kacy Matthews-Hall, aka Plain Jane, has provided photos of lovely punctuation benches from downtown Portland. The quotation bench is from her photostream back in February 2008. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/plainkacyjane/2254145743/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/plainkacyjane/2254145743/</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) was a Portuguese writer. <i>The Book of Disquiet</i>, from which the punctuation quotation is taken, was published posthumously in 1984 and is a Penguin Classic. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lynn Truss's <i>Eats Shoots and Leaves</i> was book of the year in the UK in 2004. Some of its examples are hilarious. What's it about? The rest of its title is <i>The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation</i>. In this case you <i>can</i> tell a book from its cover. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Kritterville USA makes brightly coloured and very cute benches, chairs and stools. The panda bench was photographed in 2010 and appears in Kritterville's photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/</a> There are also frogs, beetles, bugs, and a variety of other kritters. See which pandas and other animal benches Noah saved on the ark for World Animal Day </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html</a><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The jumble of pandas is The Panda Banquette by brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana at the mind-blowing design company L'arco Baleno. <a href="http://www.larcobaleno.com/">http://www.larcobaleno.com/</a> It's described as <i>an iconic example of the Campana brothers’ signature style - playful pieces made from repurposed stuffed animals</i>, which the brothers Campana consider <i>a humble, often overlooked material</i>. The stuffed animals are hand-sewn onto canvas stretched over a stainless steel structure. The Panda Banquette is a limited edition of 25. At $44,170 it's the most expensive bench ever featured on Benchsite.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Punctuation sudoku was for International Apostrophe Day in August 2013. Gosh, the apostrophe gets a day of its own! It comes from Dawn McIlvain Stahl, aka PurplePenning, who kindly brings style and order to writing, and lives to tell the tale. Dawn is a professional freelance copyeditor and writer with many interests. Exceptions: calculus, catheters, and cake. She's in Monticello,Illinois. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/purplepenning/9526323256/</a><br /><br />There really is, or was, a St. Arbucks coffee shop in a village in Wiltshire, UK. Sadly, it did not have the required apostrophe to show ownership of the shop. In every other way, though, it's a very clever concept and I hope they gave that other Starbucks a run for their money. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The two primate <i>Scholars</i> were painted by German artist Gabriel Ritter von Max (1840-1915). Now that's a name to rival the very entitled Puking Entwits.<br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The giant pencil bench is by Ron Parks (2009). It's in Jocelyn Sculpture Park in Omaha, Nebraska and was photographed by Hanneorla for her photostream at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/8243041006</a> Hanneorla loves travelling and taking pictures around the world. She is fascinated by contemporary visual art, cutting-edge sculpture, modern architecture, and futuristic designs. The pencil bench features in the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/schools-out-for-summer-benches.html">school's out for summer benches</a>. No more pencils, no more books . . . </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Leo Reynolds from Norwich says that photography with Flickr feeds his obsession of collecting things and it's a lot cheaper than CDs, DVDs and books. He just can't leave the shutter shut. Leo has a very extensive photostream, which includes sooooo much punctuation you won't believe it. There are ampersands galore. And where else would I find a fullstop bench? <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/85990435/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/85990435/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The stack of benches are lounge chairs (sort of benches) and they were photographed by my good friend Sheila B, who lives in Cyprus. She's always there offseason and has a good eye for stuff that's stored, put away, waiting for something to happen. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Bill and Vicki T live in Rochelle, Illinois. Back in 2007 they visited Alaska, where they saw the log cabin and the inviting Husband's Waiting Bench. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/iluvcocacola/534017717/ </a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sarah Browning is from Lancaster, California. She was in Kauai, Hawaii in 2009 and she found a Guy's bench for her dad outside one of the shops. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smichael/3863185306/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/smichael/3863185306/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Scott McLeod photographed some very colourful question mark cookies which someone baked in 2012. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcleod/7150176115/</a> Scott, originally from Virginia, is a Director of Innovation. Associate Professor. CASTLE Director. Blogger. Idea generator. Solution builder. Agitator. Catalyst. And here's a quote for you, properly punctuated: “If the leaders don’t get it, it’s not going to happen.”</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Helen ST is from Haslemere in the UK. She loves cycling, photography, baking, travelling, ducks and lots of other things which appear in her photostream. She is also something of a grammar vigilante and she has a fine collection of signs in different languages. Her signs include the speeding polo ponies <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4294873069/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4294873069/</a> and the clever cows. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4255861037/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/4255861037/ </a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Tina Marie's shop is Teenie Tees, where they are dedicated to creating fun, funny, cute and trendy shirts designs that you will love and love to wear for years. Just one of her Tees is the one showing the importance of a comma. Let's eat Grandpa has a completely different meaning than inviting Grandpa to eat. Commas really do save lives. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/TeenieTees%C2%A0">www.etsy.com/shop/TeenieTees </a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cats have a way of asking perfectly punctuated questions with their tails. This cat photo is Punto interrogativo? The photographer is Mauro from Umbria in Italy. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/80417459@N00/2471314610/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Rebecca Wilson is a girl after my own heart. She believes that punctuation is truly the glue that's holding civilization together, however tenuously. Back in 2010 she bravely defended the semi-colon, a misunderstood punctuation mark which comes in for a lot of schtick. You can read it here: <a href="http://saucysalad.com/2010/08/26/a-punctual-defense/">http://saucysalad.com/2010/08/26/a-punctual-defense/</a> And you can see it on her photostream at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/saucysalad/4929247829/ </a> Rebecca is a professional web editor and writer and an amateur photographer who now lives in Portland, Oregon.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Natalie in Phoenix, Arizona is a nerdy chemist by day and a graphic designer by night. Her brilliant Etsy shop, Grammatical Art, combines her love of grammar, graphic design, and science to make prints, tees, and cards for the nerd in all of us. I have used two of her semi-colon prints to show why comma splices are not cool; a semi-colon is much cooler. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GrammaticalArt</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The interrobang (‽) is a combination question mark and exclamation point. It's out of fashion now but it was once used to punctuate an excited or rhetorical question like #WTH‽ .Some people have been campaigning to bring it back. Larry Tenney took this photo in 2013 <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrytenney/9921675363/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Neil Milne from Glasgow is otherwise known as boris pumps. Among other things, he photographs nail art, including the freehand exclamation marks on a black background. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/borispumps/7427448686/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's apparently by Buzz Buzz at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/buzzbuzznailart">www.facebook.com/buzzbuzznailart</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ian is holding a portable exclamation mark but he doesn't look very excited about it. The photographer is bysfonline at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsyf/4979582864/</a> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Thanks to punctuation geeks like myself on Flickr, I was lucky enough to find a snowy exclamation mark! Isn't life great! <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoscribe/4246687403">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoscribe/4246687403</a> It's by Peter Prehen, photographed in Leavensworth in January 2010. Here is Peter's comment on the photo: <i>Somehow, imperfections from a knot in the grain of the wood, provided a slightly more gravity overcomeable place to cling and aggregate, thus further weathering this spot more intensensely than the surrounding grain which is probably more porous and dryer... </i>The snow bench has featured previously in Benchsite. Our benches were <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">frozen last winter</a>.<i> </i></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sometimes Rob Watling from Nottingham UK takes photos, and sometimes he posts them on Flickr. Free Air! is a 2010 photo <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/robwatling/5074906164/</a> </span><br /><br /><font>In April 2018 benches were big news on the internet. Well, one was anyway. When Nicole Campbell died, age 35, in Los Angeles, a nice memorial bench was put up in her name intending to celebrate her love of dogs. Instead, what became celebrated was the amphiboly (misunderstanding) arising from poor grammar on the bench plaque. RIP Nicole. <br /></font><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lisa Krowinski owns the Shop Sapling Press in Pittsburgh, specialising in letterhead printed stationery. There are quite a few very useful Fact sheets, for example did you know that on the internet you're never more than three clicks away from a cat? Nice to know. Fact 79 concerns the apostrophe and there is an interesting personal letter from Question Marks. Lovely stuff, Lisa! <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress">www.etsy.com/shop/shopsaplingpress</a> And speaking of cats, my cat editor Meredith can show you some purrfect cat <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html">benches for World Cat Day</a>.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">See-ming Lee is the executive director of an interactive media company in Hong Kong. He posted the Comma Sutra on Flickr in 2013. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/8378437207/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/seeminglee/8378437207/</a> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">And he loves nerds because they read a lot of random things, they tend to have an insane capacity for processing large amounts of data, and their creative minds prompt them to create genius ideas. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">David Lanham is an illustrator and designer living in Greensboro, North Carolina. He made the Bad Comma cartoon which says that a comma in the wrong place can be a dangerous thing, even in German. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlanham/2425029201/</a> For some greatly diverse European benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/united-in-diversity-28-benches-for.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/united-in-diversity-28-benches-for.html</a><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Oxford bench was photographed by Stephanie Byron, who is from Iowa. I don't know if she was actually in Oxford at the time, or maybe even another place called Oxford, other than the well-known university one. Her shop is Red Hedge Photos, which sells simple, beautiful, and unique products inspired by nature. There are floral prints, animals, textures, objects, letters and all kinds of prints to add a dash of cheerful inspiration to everyday life. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos">www.etsy.com/shop/RedHedgePhotos</a> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There are Apostrophe cafes all over the place. I took a photo of this one in London. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Elizabeth is a Book Fiend from Belmont, North Carolina. Fittingly, she runs Book Fiend, a shop selling literature-inspired jewelry, stickers, magnets, cuffs and gifts. There are safe text warnings and Oxford commas, and one of her weatherproof vinyl stickers is a great reminder that apostrophes do not make plurals. She does grammar too: the past, the present and the future walked into a bar. It was tense. </span> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend">www.etsy.com/shop/bookfiend</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here in Fribble-under-Par we have a six year old named April, and her parallel selves, May and June. Squeezy is their pet lemon. Here they are at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html">Easter, when things were going a bit sour</a>.</span><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBsFud9tJRCYoTEwF9h8tokDQfz6X2nz2ZzEp88e6BM3i6sWw9-uvUwhdGjsGTfCOAF5PjyWjXiJiapCAkIAmN2To_3tuvRKOMH-USokkvDJJh73u0biR6wOAd__9BrDOVkPL7Fl_d5TR/s1600/pet+lemon+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBsFud9tJRCYoTEwF9h8tokDQfz6X2nz2ZzEp88e6BM3i6sWw9-uvUwhdGjsGTfCOAF5PjyWjXiJiapCAkIAmN2To_3tuvRKOMH-USokkvDJJh73u0biR6wOAd__9BrDOVkPL7Fl_d5TR/s320/pet+lemon+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Respect Apostrophes button is from Voz in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His Etsy shop, Fishcakes, makes nifty stuff like buttons, books, mugs and keychains. There is evidence of the grammar police and spelling vigilantes amongst the many colourful buttons. Great to see that! <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/fishcakesoboy</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Oh dear. Although it has a thriving literary scene and many writers, the Isle of <strike>White</strike> Wight is the home of Cheekie Monkies. You can see the sign writer meant well. He or she understood that some words are made plural with ie. Unfortunately, cheeky and monkey do not follow this rule. Cheeky monkeys are needed. Goes to show that when in doubt, check your dictionary or your spellcheck. But even that won't save you from pre-loved babies. For some monkey business with cheeky monkey benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Tony Avina is from St. Louis and he runs Odysseyroc, a shopfull of tshirts and other junk (his words, not mine). One of his shirts advocates living every day as if it's Taco Tuesday, which sounds like very good advice to me. On the other hand, another shirt says <i>I don't care about the proper use of apostrophe's</i> and this one has me worried. I suspect it rings a bell with a lot of people though. Let's face it, apostrophes ain't popular. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/odysseyroc">www.etsy.com/shop/odysseyroc</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">From their base in Cardiff in Wales Team Wordtree are a specialist brand language consultancy. They create styles of language and write for companies all over the world. In their spare time, these cunning linguists create some nice wordy, printed things, such as the rogue apostrophe slayer.They are never lost for words. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Wordtree</a></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">David Erickson photographed a splendid plate of punctuation cookies for National Punctuation Day in 2008. He's a strategic communications professional, director of e-Strategy, and expert media source on online communications from Minneapolis. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviderickson/2884998707/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The dictionary bench defining the word 'sofa' is Dr Johnson's Wild World Book Bench from London in the summer of 2014. The designer is Scriberia and it was photographed by givingnot@rocketmail.com, who has nothing in his/her profile but lots of albums of London and some from Berlin, including quite a few benches. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/57474170@N05/14746919618/</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">¡I really like the Spanish language convention of inverted question and exclamation marks! Artotem captured these beautifully in 2009. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/3622165199/</a> You can see some fabuloso Mexican benches at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Michael Beitz, a Fine Arts graduate of the University of Buffalo, exhibits throughout Europe and the US. He makes all kinds of weird and wonderful sculptures which have emerged from his years as a furniture designer. Sofas in knots, upside down tangled tables - it's great to see his quirky, twisty, mind-bending stuff. The idiot bench, made of wood, is from 2013.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html">http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html</a></span><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The poem <i>Principles of Punctuation</i> is by Cecil Hartley, published in 1818. It's not really the way we understand punctuation these days but someone might find it useful. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Westward Ho! beach was photographed by Mark Robinson in 2008 and yes, Westward Ho! is a real place and it has a real exclamation mark as part of its name. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/2792976701/</a> Not to be outdone by Westward Ho!, the small town of Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! in Quebec has two exclamation points, three hyphens, and space between Ha! and Ha! So there.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div></div></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-83448294119544737732022-08-03T03:05:00.010-07:002024-02-16T07:43:13.430-08:00World Cat Day - Cats Love A Bench!<p> Is World Cat Day a great day for cat benches?</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-8ZAH4Jqsu9t2r4yOM2svimeKxrY4yvy4eV6o8Xlvk3julfTvKcVgImdrClJ05u9KjnrTBbLAlVRcwKtNnGxPsyPB_8fKEx1g_nBm6Mgow3cdxvInY7HwPKc7AQJgtYw7E-KGIxt2x7uKKvAiEqYNCT78B-lGWNWIWuD5FeG_US0yR5kwXeiVfsfQgv3/s2570/original_ab3a39cd-9f14-445b-9481-ba8eaf52666a_20230917_120719.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2570" data-original-width="1897" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-8ZAH4Jqsu9t2r4yOM2svimeKxrY4yvy4eV6o8Xlvk3julfTvKcVgImdrClJ05u9KjnrTBbLAlVRcwKtNnGxPsyPB_8fKEx1g_nBm6Mgow3cdxvInY7HwPKc7AQJgtYw7E-KGIxt2x7uKKvAiEqYNCT78B-lGWNWIWuD5FeG_US0yR5kwXeiVfsfQgv3/w295-h400/original_ab3a39cd-9f14-445b-9481-ba8eaf52666a_20230917_120719.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cydweli/Kidwelly, Wales</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Yes, it's really something to meow about. </p><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3pQl9h4wRVXdzaCpqaTVFUhGymDxCLLtb7I2mTR4uaMY5N03hHdDYoAbncZIZeFVsIRoqxqY9Fuhs0N_jBhS3a7iOi9Zcvl0GYry8JUezzw1doamVeHtwUIv5b-3rcUTAHA4oFFOKHAO/s815/20190221_112615+Tills.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="815" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3pQl9h4wRVXdzaCpqaTVFUhGymDxCLLtb7I2mTR4uaMY5N03hHdDYoAbncZIZeFVsIRoqxqY9Fuhs0N_jBhS3a7iOi9Zcvl0GYry8JUezzw1doamVeHtwUIv5b-3rcUTAHA4oFFOKHAO/w410-h230/20190221_112615+Tills.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cats and benches are very popular on the internet; they go viral.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9YrUi72DaO2OwBcrHpgPo1lkcR_IVmI33lauISuKgU2hBrZa7gxNqohUoiww9kMSlBhEd9pIOtwCvDSJ5mqSiO70jx8fXMJDVFE4VHvOi0j7Jz6lBaunCQs3LbwgOplneexiBsA3F5kHJWuVGhavF-QXeHqa7no5LrPjh6tcDR4TMh5U1T-kvXMglfA/s750/FB_IMG_1677925673973.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="750" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9YrUi72DaO2OwBcrHpgPo1lkcR_IVmI33lauISuKgU2hBrZa7gxNqohUoiww9kMSlBhEd9pIOtwCvDSJ5mqSiO70jx8fXMJDVFE4VHvOi0j7Jz6lBaunCQs3LbwgOplneexiBsA3F5kHJWuVGhavF-QXeHqa7no5LrPjh6tcDR4TMh5U1T-kvXMglfA/w400-h190/FB_IMG_1677925673973.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tombili, the Istanbul Station cat</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div>Because people love cats on benches</span><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQi9GaSSF8sW28wK9Gv3T0Rh84i776I9pCfIsp-yzSLpCynWnl8xQIjx3d5CxCKJHUPmCJY12DKagczATWZI7fsGj1XoCZAgqclDp-0MCK5g-Dwv28pJJpVFhVgTfHP5bdhPm3_NT3TsMlm2SGNHWomWsH0nn65LwpcZ6HfwzsfN7vV4-U8MQTVsJPL35j/s596/FB_IMG_1701462645999.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQi9GaSSF8sW28wK9Gv3T0Rh84i776I9pCfIsp-yzSLpCynWnl8xQIjx3d5CxCKJHUPmCJY12DKagczATWZI7fsGj1XoCZAgqclDp-0MCK5g-Dwv28pJJpVFhVgTfHP5bdhPm3_NT3TsMlm2SGNHWomWsH0nn65LwpcZ6HfwzsfN7vV4-U8MQTVsJPL35j/w323-h400/FB_IMG_1701462645999.jpg" width="323" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marmaris, Turkey</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /><div>Andcthere is something about a cat that always loves a bench. </div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2d7WgrX-IPNsnEWw9YlRXHaclPXIHbnAqpOoQ9xfWO5pz_2PgsFCj9xOh4Qwd227XEIvuqCsOZK5BQiOET_30UmKSoXL9M_-5eYdGSTxBLBj7Puv-wXmisx2kI9-T0EkCRUjYn8IROlt/s1600/100_4414.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2d7WgrX-IPNsnEWw9YlRXHaclPXIHbnAqpOoQ9xfWO5pz_2PgsFCj9xOh4Qwd227XEIvuqCsOZK5BQiOET_30UmKSoXL9M_-5eYdGSTxBLBj7Puv-wXmisx2kI9-T0EkCRUjYn8IROlt/s320/100_4414.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">World Cat Day is on August 8th and it seems a good time to celebrate our bench-loving feline friends with a Cat Map of the World. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQr_h364Cw5WnI7fj0Ag_tp6HqBqE3GhvhPZoeFFlpkaevyyp_eMoQVB0MP4Vb29DSyYS4TFJXk8Lebz1_shmM1hfO6PrIUtCAO-HPRdmxnMRwaZew0p10iV_qJd_TtQaNUZhXG-asIO4/s1600/artpause.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQr_h364Cw5WnI7fj0Ag_tp6HqBqE3GhvhPZoeFFlpkaevyyp_eMoQVB0MP4Vb29DSyYS4TFJXk8Lebz1_shmM1hfO6PrIUtCAO-HPRdmxnMRwaZew0p10iV_qJd_TtQaNUZhXG-asIO4/s400/artpause.etsy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtPause">www.etsy.com/shop/ArtPause</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What better guest editor could I choose than Meredith, who comes highly recommended from Felineeditors.com? </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">She has previously edited both Mathematica Felinica and The Litter Tray Times, as well as the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html">St. Helier Benches </a> and the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/tuning-in-to-piano-benches.html">piano bench story</a> here at Benchsite.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVo-EtMUMKICNhYWDRzbtZFSI2CQ2cFEr0YzeDBTpJzQATRCsYT5gax9Za_UaUWYNJl0AjNP_YAd5MXt4z9_NHVdK_FCiDzdyOVAIzjEWtjDacwH1l1DtJ86Ys3L5YocMluiEx7qWG-6z5/s1600/Melissa+glasses.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVo-EtMUMKICNhYWDRzbtZFSI2CQ2cFEr0YzeDBTpJzQATRCsYT5gax9Za_UaUWYNJl0AjNP_YAd5MXt4z9_NHVdK_FCiDzdyOVAIzjEWtjDacwH1l1DtJ86Ys3L5YocMluiEx7qWG-6z5/s320/Melissa+glasses.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: I would like to make it clear that I am not on a bench. I prefer a soft double bed with a good thick duvet. Most cats do.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7ryKURWtX5yyPrGKGw_Is05ZXsXYV4YD1IhzQ8gcP1Rfze2JSrSctbuM4fOeBc_GX6940Wd2Y0tul_cxA5hrXvGgB-OC5Whs2jc2mQG5jEO3LmFzycRHMhC-bjTaBNs1LeZB-pgKESGk/s1600/3crows.sarapulver.colour.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7ryKURWtX5yyPrGKGw_Is05ZXsXYV4YD1IhzQ8gcP1Rfze2JSrSctbuM4fOeBc_GX6940Wd2Y0tul_cxA5hrXvGgB-OC5Whs2jc2mQG5jEO3LmFzycRHMhC-bjTaBNs1LeZB-pgKESGk/s320/3crows.sarapulver.colour.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/3crows">www.etsy.com/shop/3crows</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm trying to start out on a positive note here because I had a few problems when Meredith edited my St. Helier post. I won't go into detail but suffice to say that Meredith went off to have a nap and I had to finish the post by myself. That won't happen here, I'm sure.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">So Meredith, what advice can you give cat lovers about benches for World Cat Day?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: Get a cat. Get a bench. Go away. Once the cat has had a nice kip on the bench, put down some food. Go away. Let the cat eat the food in peace. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes, I'm sure cat owners understand this.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: There's no such thing as a cat owner.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes, of course you're right. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: I am always right. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZre9PWmNebZj0ia2xhtQQQXstnFRy0Ux1KWXRA_hPkkg3d1i_ZFmB5CNGOLKkUWULf4WoBmQPLkeZmO_CoGUV0iK4m9ULF6Mi-qELg_OMJwd9dR1zQULrBaiI90YRa2XkL7J9ZiVK0dl/s1600/Boo1+(1).JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZre9PWmNebZj0ia2xhtQQQXstnFRy0Ux1KWXRA_hPkkg3d1i_ZFmB5CNGOLKkUWULf4WoBmQPLkeZmO_CoGUV0iK4m9ULF6Mi-qELg_OMJwd9dR1zQULrBaiI90YRa2XkL7J9ZiVK0dl/s1600/Boo1+(1).JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Kelly Riley</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meredith, this is a picture of you. There is no bench in this picture and it is irrelevant to the story. Please will you stick with cat bench images. </span><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #990000;">Meredith: How about this?</span><br /><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-4WjPifezoMtLoP3zB8vfcISRuVx2QHe8GCunQm0slSmlBEXK91B-4T7zKlrgVYaHxU9fFBzQ8x6Cv4PwzgnmNwG-bkFu-wFEsPstYlHIsuH2wr-oyVrpKvvcI03Rx--ZQUlk4Vg2k3cridg1VySTaPMO1hNzNhG7TUrvfcp1TSN24G0Wl3N2-z5tA/s1024/FB_IMG_1679742231025.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-4WjPifezoMtLoP3zB8vfcISRuVx2QHe8GCunQm0slSmlBEXK91B-4T7zKlrgVYaHxU9fFBzQ8x6Cv4PwzgnmNwG-bkFu-wFEsPstYlHIsuH2wr-oyVrpKvvcI03Rx--ZQUlk4Vg2k3cridg1VySTaPMO1hNzNhG7TUrvfcp1TSN24G0Wl3N2-z5tA/s320/FB_IMG_1679742231025.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AI Art Universe</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Not quite. It's not a bench.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Meredith: This? </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXpAXYcuv_fYXb8mkE9mDdcFkLm_F8TfNR15Yb0JJUYfnTpoXcGTsMDcxkvzGc39KR8oJWMJXdjCmP_BQdDBN36lGFNyf7UfA3fgVb1vQTXqIUU5aedTNv70o8z6duC7lCv-uOfCvA13ztZpKBxpx2Rx91MqscxXiY-uS26lDhbsbunNxnuKJRnWStng/s1024/FB_IMG_1679742203381.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXpAXYcuv_fYXb8mkE9mDdcFkLm_F8TfNR15Yb0JJUYfnTpoXcGTsMDcxkvzGc39KR8oJWMJXdjCmP_BQdDBN36lGFNyf7UfA3fgVb1vQTXqIUU5aedTNv70o8z6duC7lCv-uOfCvA13ztZpKBxpx2Rx91MqscxXiY-uS26lDhbsbunNxnuKJRnWStng/s320/FB_IMG_1679742203381.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AI Art Universe</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div>Nice, but no. </div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Meredith: Depends on your definition of <i>bench</i> I guess.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5-EvcrXNZk4JW5LOfrN71JdXqL2pYSt0TLZurr-31S7Jn9BoNGWyo9uhxjQcdwwg2DkMvyPPHUwRo1eHmTMTAJDl9yyxQ55PrEHh0O2qfAvtXPYJJgM1mmAviyrB0DvX05x6p7mZTKnzqg6S48wP-MEWKgW7cIwenPAl0KgNk01Kxno5S59-qSHxwr-A/s680/FB_IMG_1688068763596.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="680" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5-EvcrXNZk4JW5LOfrN71JdXqL2pYSt0TLZurr-31S7Jn9BoNGWyo9uhxjQcdwwg2DkMvyPPHUwRo1eHmTMTAJDl9yyxQ55PrEHh0O2qfAvtXPYJJgM1mmAviyrB0DvX05x6p7mZTKnzqg6S48wP-MEWKgW7cIwenPAl0KgNk01Kxno5S59-qSHxwr-A/s320/FB_IMG_1688068763596.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This is not a bench. I mean </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">actual cat benches</i><span face="verdana, sans-serif">. </span></div><div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: Like this?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWW-_fft-Bm-KcqjM0UNANo5l_XvOCHYtSK4HIbdrCocgy2lp8eJNmz8XnuUq8WM3fK3VETSHmdKsjprfqaIidXRuxG6noOaSHEHEUekMRSTVcqz6CppXaT7ZvOR8-haF0bp9DlRuuGR5Q/s1600/6464905013_20cfd72f03_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWW-_fft-Bm-KcqjM0UNANo5l_XvOCHYtSK4HIbdrCocgy2lp8eJNmz8XnuUq8WM3fK3VETSHmdKsjprfqaIidXRuxG6noOaSHEHEUekMRSTVcqz6CppXaT7ZvOR8-haF0bp9DlRuuGR5Q/s400/6464905013_20cfd72f03_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/janepaludanus/6464905013/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/janepaludanus/6464905013/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No! Not at all like this. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: Maybe more like this?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDGf6ONmr-Xf41uzkE7LBouKjg23z95wDnfSEuq_fN87wt0APSlw5Yts1x6xS75SESIJSxhcWZfUVd_2TgDzQXQD4_XcJYcks_I6r3cwzC-29qnxn5LekvUaEcjj6OeN5QkUpBJ2-ZJjt/s1600/tartancats2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDGf6ONmr-Xf41uzkE7LBouKjg23z95wDnfSEuq_fN87wt0APSlw5Yts1x6xS75SESIJSxhcWZfUVd_2TgDzQXQD4_XcJYcks_I6r3cwzC-29qnxn5LekvUaEcjj6OeN5QkUpBJ2-ZJjt/s400/tartancats2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No. These are lovely tartan cats but this is not a cat bench.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>THIS is a cat bench!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOg76o4PZPtUVpFDU66mRisCWwEdiYxFAEaLWj7hILTqOhP0WYHWlUztCb4sJBOecpeApVH5W2rnCbUBUpo9HNN9fLzG8KyMKMMDIs1qUgC6byAh_4FUBET9PxhtXqn5RnBEGPQ7RPe65ND7D1scTruD39ugxDR80AQImlNe8214Gax7-AfTGl7FofoQ/s745/FB_IMG_1680074411226.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="745" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOg76o4PZPtUVpFDU66mRisCWwEdiYxFAEaLWj7hILTqOhP0WYHWlUztCb4sJBOecpeApVH5W2rnCbUBUpo9HNN9fLzG8KyMKMMDIs1qUgC6byAh_4FUBET9PxhtXqn5RnBEGPQ7RPe65ND7D1scTruD39ugxDR80AQImlNe8214Gax7-AfTGl7FofoQ/w400-h354/FB_IMG_1680074411226.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Bawden (born 1936) UK</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And here is a proper Cat Bench from sculptor Don Drumm, who makes beautiful metal sculptures, some of which are cat benches:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ALdqYbzwckR4NzxS36Ux5RFK5AyfLmKXJbiSgw7La-SYacKG9PLfMvARvINIDu6ntsLJUK2rQ8DR55EP3W6i0ltu85erNloa2V73Wj0Rfa37UZExtWJ7Mho-9vucoMGZJ5PAVv0E5NFw/s1600/ravenwoodcurioshop.lehcar1477.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ALdqYbzwckR4NzxS36Ux5RFK5AyfLmKXJbiSgw7La-SYacKG9PLfMvARvINIDu6ntsLJUK2rQ8DR55EP3W6i0ltu85erNloa2V73Wj0Rfa37UZExtWJ7Mho-9vucoMGZJ5PAVv0E5NFw/s320/ravenwoodcurioshop.lehcar1477.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">See what I mean, Meredith? The cats aren't just <i>on</i> the bench; they <i>are</i> the bench.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqpjF22wwcgIvD3RkRMb58c4u92WhD7PFApKK0hdWxjIebKS4lZOlOzz5GNSGnerVdKKTqy4A6MtzTL6ep-OIHUeu42bibkfpwUQ2qvn5r-UKoEYw8XFLefEltkc_VTrwOQ1KZIBdJpwS/s1600/DonDrummcatbench.lehcar1477.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqpjF22wwcgIvD3RkRMb58c4u92WhD7PFApKK0hdWxjIebKS4lZOlOzz5GNSGnerVdKKTqy4A6MtzTL6ep-OIHUeu42bibkfpwUQ2qvn5r-UKoEYw8XFLefEltkc_VTrwOQ1KZIBdJpwS/s320/DonDrummcatbench.lehcar1477.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: I don't think I'm in the swing of it just yet.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVSe6FBXiV6TsiZruaISYybUp_4J_gMUeGaVtQWq7Q2EKTZlggCz6Atd7jCyYorli2Jdg_o32vFLouzZJEVtTe1ivA1efZl3HviE-InBXVhyphenhyphenMDrvW2ciV17GOXWMSPp4lmKD8aAI50mNu/s1600/100_8318+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="1600" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVSe6FBXiV6TsiZruaISYybUp_4J_gMUeGaVtQWq7Q2EKTZlggCz6Atd7jCyYorli2Jdg_o32vFLouzZJEVtTe1ivA1efZl3HviE-InBXVhyphenhyphenMDrvW2ciV17GOXWMSPp4lmKD8aAI50mNu/s400/100_8318+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's another one. It's from the Willow Glen Elementary School in San Jose, California.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_nTc_VmYb2vl794qJnVG_ohP7nNVCOfyCn6CiZsEgIRiuKkXe2q2SWPAdxQnwwADBgFwNN7wkxVRZR1N4bo-6lf06I7c2wUdQZp3kCofL1P6hU5BNN5Dl0WD9caxwxkt44UNgaabT8zp2/s1600/waymarking.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_nTc_VmYb2vl794qJnVG_ohP7nNVCOfyCn6CiZsEgIRiuKkXe2q2SWPAdxQnwwADBgFwNN7wkxVRZR1N4bo-6lf06I7c2wUdQZp3kCofL1P6hU5BNN5Dl0WD9caxwxkt44UNgaabT8zp2/s320/waymarking.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMDN8X_Striped_Cat_Bench_San_Jose_CA" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMDN8X</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And here's a French one. It's the Toulouse Lautrec cat bench celebrating Le Chat Noir, the black cat nightclub that was so popular in Paris in the 1880s.</span><br /><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPSXzgSrluCYS4Q-K_P5mI2JoiBTYIfHt6JtjBAud5z16VKrU8bU5eWNwG3HHfNenOatOJQ1BB96iAZ_MBNcVSRGrVnRyKivPvqHQZuA2UHqza3e7JkWIVsixA-KuoG38MNpXi5Gy2IN9/s1600/toulouselautrec.B.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPSXzgSrluCYS4Q-K_P5mI2JoiBTYIfHt6JtjBAud5z16VKrU8bU5eWNwG3HHfNenOatOJQ1BB96iAZ_MBNcVSRGrVnRyKivPvqHQZuA2UHqza3e7JkWIVsixA-KuoG38MNpXi5Gy2IN9/s320/toulouselautrec.B.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/18417558@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/18417558@N00/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: Before my time.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, here you go then: a brightly coloured mosaic cat bench from Dordrecht in Holland.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsHIDIoFEW-EVWfGC5M5-ZPfNez_PoSp_8pyaIka9YKnFSo-IsyxlAJt3-Q2Mz3y_AiOTssHvesn6fViCYAI3YJb6EB8HyJVbcFL1f8NhsBNa1cHEhEhIeF1rj6yYDNanRCWEcA9IszjQ/s1600/Dordrecht+cat+bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsHIDIoFEW-EVWfGC5M5-ZPfNez_PoSp_8pyaIka9YKnFSo-IsyxlAJt3-Q2Mz3y_AiOTssHvesn6fViCYAI3YJb6EB8HyJVbcFL1f8NhsBNa1cHEhEhIeF1rj6yYDNanRCWEcA9IszjQ/s320/Dordrecht+cat+bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">my photo</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: I steer clear of the Low Countries. I never feel at home in a place where you might get your feet wet. </span> </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Alright then, here's a cat bench from Essex. </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58krwoUUVgqlakWsjTmM4u1pvP-g2KJjqRi1_dR1Eck6vwF_mKFFOpDIZgHI9b4TCi2IfAISqaJq5-W1QQf2qFjxS5UlIy2RN2ypgai8ePgZ05nNrH-Ic4qTRbQabPgEa6FMZGapUD4Tu/s600/p1010491.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58krwoUUVgqlakWsjTmM4u1pvP-g2KJjqRi1_dR1Eck6vwF_mKFFOpDIZgHI9b4TCi2IfAISqaJq5-W1QQf2qFjxS5UlIy2RN2ypgai8ePgZ05nNrH-Ic4qTRbQabPgEa6FMZGapUD4Tu/w384-h288/p1010491.jpg" width="384" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://northoneartist.com/2012/09/30/white-cat-on-cat-benc<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Meredith: Nice. Does it come in any other colours?</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What, the bench or the cat?</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">It's your blog, you make the rules.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Nice of you to say so, Meredith. Would you like to come sit on my lap?</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQnvH9YBLRi3q7Nlb7FurYCJjMYOaA04ElQHDv2qcQbS9KpMbfjwxmWuIsbYixkj6OCat0WTza-EKSWPQwXzfRKxTjBqGRq25N4e-x42rEi-1gSoM7GCst32G2VcEYZID15eJ6nsWpuRwG/s600/FB_IMG_1627985351607.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="408" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQnvH9YBLRi3q7Nlb7FurYCJjMYOaA04ElQHDv2qcQbS9KpMbfjwxmWuIsbYixkj6OCat0WTza-EKSWPQwXzfRKxTjBqGRq25N4e-x42rEi-1gSoM7GCst32G2VcEYZID15eJ6nsWpuRwG/s320/FB_IMG_1627985351607.jpg" width="218" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Woman With Cat </i>1921, Fernand Leger </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span style="color: #990000;">Meredith: What's in it for me?</span></div><div><br /></div><div>A warm lap I guess.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #990000;">Not enough. I'm not some soppy kitten. But if you threw in some clotted cream . . .</span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8CaKfjIFtsR2M7YXjtxtoM0Y3X5E3PaQ6p6uPVARJJdRNKv8PX596293OOPb_qy703yUk3Kc2L8yCxkv0-dCzs-qNSTdynIciCLEOVbCHwG54xTwKE30Hb9rojdqIt03SQADy7RPvp9A/s960/FB_IMG_1627985325802.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="793" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8CaKfjIFtsR2M7YXjtxtoM0Y3X5E3PaQ6p6uPVARJJdRNKv8PX596293OOPb_qy703yUk3Kc2L8yCxkv0-dCzs-qNSTdynIciCLEOVbCHwG54xTwKE30Hb9rojdqIt03SQADy7RPvp9A/w330-h400/FB_IMG_1627985325802.jpg" width="330" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Morning Meal</i> 1880, Emile Munier</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>I like the art but we've got to find some cat benches. This a very special art bench made by Swiss sculpturor Housi Knecht in 2013. </div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaGilwy9DJyEOvNpRoqMEXAbpL8G7ZP0zq1eq0HvZkhY0DS4WSDh0M3wAlyGAD2BL6pLDLjJaac1815oaRzZ5zW-4jYpO6hUXmk4ovS4yOfH68xsAH9rlMcvF535Is9OpubnfJqecBQgd/s338/b0ef3a04-a6d3-480d-95c0-7d7800f427d8_338.webp" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaGilwy9DJyEOvNpRoqMEXAbpL8G7ZP0zq1eq0HvZkhY0DS4WSDh0M3wAlyGAD2BL6pLDLjJaac1815oaRzZ5zW-4jYpO6hUXmk4ovS4yOfH68xsAH9rlMcvF535Is9OpubnfJqecBQgd/s0/b0ef3a04-a6d3-480d-95c0-7d7800f427d8_338.webp" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Housi.ch<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Meredith: Nice. This bench is the cat's meow.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I don't want to hog the limelight here. Have you got any cat benches to show us, Meredith?</span><br /><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: I thought you'd never ask.<br /></span><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span>Alley Cat here has found himself a pleasant spot in front of a library in Cambridge, Massachusetts.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSDixpo1wZsc-9FlOvKRyK8M3uY_YjyoTfjS2kA8u-RDsK7JVxvJiOFukDESPKOznuTz6Iu3mKBcmCo2-TAzyyh1D1kkpTexPJmhYoZPWkjlg6c9V2f6HPaB8NsbmTmeDbA6bpJwqdTrP/s1600/alleycat.artfan70.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSDixpo1wZsc-9FlOvKRyK8M3uY_YjyoTfjS2kA8u-RDsK7JVxvJiOFukDESPKOznuTz6Iu3mKBcmCo2-TAzyyh1D1kkpTexPJmhYoZPWkjlg6c9V2f6HPaB8NsbmTmeDbA6bpJwqdTrP/w311-h400/alleycat.artfan70.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artfan70">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artfan70</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Cats are very at ease in cultural spaces. My friend Tilly is currently in an exhibition.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6G3H-_p4o76wHaT-GGLcOnMggq5YRylRARBsQgJxQwG9BlwpBz3rDoriJCdyVUuDi499k3gVcGZnckgSUpXFzEo-82adDmJhS5t-eeI1vLlIFyM7CyWHmET0vqh1MCQ46QIj6ZYAs8LWl/s1600/PhotoFunia-1570053314.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="551" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6G3H-_p4o76wHaT-GGLcOnMggq5YRylRARBsQgJxQwG9BlwpBz3rDoriJCdyVUuDi499k3gVcGZnckgSUpXFzEo-82adDmJhS5t-eeI1vLlIFyM7CyWHmET0vqh1MCQ46QIj6ZYAs8LWl/s320/PhotoFunia-1570053314.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes, but this isn't a cat bench, is it? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: I'm trying to set the scene here with sophisticated city cats. This angora cat is in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.</span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaDhl7yRFD8j7X409feg172Gsj_oX7fbXDcVk10gDgCUgxAwDzwqDklQcJ6flxTdjtTISWyXz1XEOjZ5gND7pVIQXm7eyqL7a5GoI_fr4EC37yMd3jQtwpz8pESZk-CyCKwaQeqaN1d7z/s2000/FB_IMG_1597654381477.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1628" data-original-width="2000" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaDhl7yRFD8j7X409feg172Gsj_oX7fbXDcVk10gDgCUgxAwDzwqDklQcJ6flxTdjtTISWyXz1XEOjZ5gND7pVIQXm7eyqL7a5GoI_fr4EC37yMd3jQtwpz8pESZk-CyCKwaQeqaN1d7z/w410-h334/FB_IMG_1597654381477.jpg" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Angora Cat</i> 1937, Morris Hirschfield<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Well, at least it's on a bench. Sort of. <br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Cats can be quite happy in cities. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWqMzixOYgzrKnYdRHNuypxry-ah7PZxb5chOMspm21TydolnY0SeDEbnJuCO8PqbgjKdPItmrB0oeAAWBNsYkXHUgXDAtGx64NzbEKcpsLTb0FCN9MnL_n5aHHasoBk4ul4rypUjAeKx/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569525788.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="750" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWqMzixOYgzrKnYdRHNuypxry-ah7PZxb5chOMspm21TydolnY0SeDEbnJuCO8PqbgjKdPItmrB0oeAAWBNsYkXHUgXDAtGx64NzbEKcpsLTb0FCN9MnL_n5aHHasoBk4ul4rypUjAeKx/s320/PhotoFunia-1569525788.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">They're fine in the suburbs too; some cats are great commuters.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzkyaj9A6tsAmRiy6beZ-h-qWXEqtYuYHkcIfwLGgAJUkaROydKIXJsaM3s-ktRrb7CURdJIOOdhNrm1KWbS_7DAS8W9ccLExD30cn6h9lhakKHPG9PAFi1AWtBMJ1VQXYbuBn9mbi1Ho/s1600/subway6.pixamatic.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzkyaj9A6tsAmRiy6beZ-h-qWXEqtYuYHkcIfwLGgAJUkaROydKIXJsaM3s-ktRrb7CURdJIOOdhNrm1KWbS_7DAS8W9ccLExD30cn6h9lhakKHPG9PAFi1AWtBMJ1VQXYbuBn9mbi1Ho/s320/subway6.pixamatic.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/pixamatic">www.etsy.com/shop/pixamatic</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I doubt very much if cats like commuting. Do you think we could see a bench at some point?</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Of course. This is His Excellency's cat Maxi. </span><br /><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsMk7wwSf6EuXNQYzGZiwihh8hV0DT0xAgBeXMpnihbYGEQcQ3cbMLN9Cb38SxSqjRCZMAPkw1HOi5UHPdITtnHF8s4hQr81Agas-gBYZoB3ZkpjmFZnOA0tkurDj_z3qsvRIuEV8xRIKN/s1600/Maxi+B.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsMk7wwSf6EuXNQYzGZiwihh8hV0DT0xAgBeXMpnihbYGEQcQ3cbMLN9Cb38SxSqjRCZMAPkw1HOi5UHPdITtnHF8s4hQr81Agas-gBYZoB3ZkpjmFZnOA0tkurDj_z3qsvRIuEV8xRIKN/s320/Maxi+B.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meredith, this is a cat <i>by</i> a bench. It is not a cat bench. Although Maxi is lovely, this is not the kind of picture we want for World Cat Day.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Here is another picture of Maxi. It shows his true character as a cat of a relaxed nature.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRITTxHYTNaGsUvxLj5Dcc98f6tnZAvvrEOH9jLw2qYbom5ePkXCVYkIAlBtd9VMeZvjcUR7VzSO2dbDIJbrpGCMtv4IRHT4s3EYDzSQ_OWTAy4D7KuePEk1oe37d6hSC1LydMwx9yGeS4/s1600/maxi+sit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRITTxHYTNaGsUvxLj5Dcc98f6tnZAvvrEOH9jLw2qYbom5ePkXCVYkIAlBtd9VMeZvjcUR7VzSO2dbDIJbrpGCMtv4IRHT4s3EYDzSQ_OWTAy4D7KuePEk1oe37d6hSC1LydMwx9yGeS4/s320/maxi+sit.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This is a cat <i>under</i> a bench. It is not a cat bench. We should be showing <i>actual cat benches</i>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Here's a cat bench dedicated to a cat called Sammy, who used to live with Chris Davis in Portland. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xVlvTh1b373i4gRoe7-gC-0mNRzaDdqUHise5cRyq1y0EByYa9IAEqjoFOdnL6xOvL8ceboQywU16TPVk3OizdbrHjaQW0yNE84kPSS4BdqJS9tI62orABAoZu_cvuLdefVHPtA_lhgM/s1600/lightheartedpress.BS.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xVlvTh1b373i4gRoe7-gC-0mNRzaDdqUHise5cRyq1y0EByYa9IAEqjoFOdnL6xOvL8ceboQywU16TPVk3OizdbrHjaQW0yNE84kPSS4BdqJS9tI62orABAoZu_cvuLdefVHPtA_lhgM/s1600/lightheartedpress.BS.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.lightheartedpress.com/">www.lightheartedpress.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">I am having difficulty in seeing the point of a cat bench that does not have a cat on it.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It <i>has</i> a cat on it. The painted cat is an integral part of the bench. That's what I mean by a Cat Bench for the purposes of this post. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">The words <i>narrow</i> and <i>minded</i> come to mind. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, I'll try again. Here is a bench dedicated to black cats. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Or <i>chats noirs</i>, if you want to put it that way.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7m5iLpFpDSd9JfbzMusTYvk5eLwNQxZiTRrZwragza32VX7zPKb1VupVH0uE7R730B_Am4RFPPsxV4NXQ38zDu0vEIwlZM0EA9-W8GkQlTGggFMmoYBkmq5_w8RG_OWHMgz3wLIulDTRV/s1600/artshaman.org.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7m5iLpFpDSd9JfbzMusTYvk5eLwNQxZiTRrZwragza32VX7zPKb1VupVH0uE7R730B_Am4RFPPsxV4NXQ38zDu0vEIwlZM0EA9-W8GkQlTGggFMmoYBkmq5_w8RG_OWHMgz3wLIulDTRV/s1600/artshaman.org.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.artshaman.com/">http://www.artshaman.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">I hope we're not going to get hung up on fur colour. That's what people do. They paint their living room and want a cat to match the carpet.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I don't think that's going to happen here.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">It already has. Here's my friend Suu Kii, who perfectly matches the garden swing.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwgutBjUsBNx5UfGnZu2uxOWmJbM78ZRoRAbRrzn21ncZ__3bG5wFrwULoDXkRaB5-frRmx0bd_JOc2NbIB5tukBU57Q0flpdLe3X8NOFSV25xtombYHaBuYNlOg25bvYBmFNojyYPIGM/s1600/suu.kii.boudoir.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwgutBjUsBNx5UfGnZu2uxOWmJbM78ZRoRAbRrzn21ncZ__3bG5wFrwULoDXkRaB5-frRmx0bd_JOc2NbIB5tukBU57Q0flpdLe3X8NOFSV25xtombYHaBuYNlOg25bvYBmFNojyYPIGM/s320/suu.kii.boudoir.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Helen Danby</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I see what you mean. She looks splendid. But that's beside the point . . .</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Mungo's cat Abbey has the most gorgeous pink cream fur.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSpPV6-qaAE8N1Hf_HzZznKFt-rflmBjJGME-b_5knUBbpk_MbA8jBdnqWQSbq3XsoxlxLUprNmXQRhbqU7_sNRklhaKIC9xUuMLUsidwGbI-5t9I_EOIpSpE8QQ8xU1sXBm4N6dt8z7fY/s1600/Abbey1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSpPV6-qaAE8N1Hf_HzZznKFt-rflmBjJGME-b_5knUBbpk_MbA8jBdnqWQSbq3XsoxlxLUprNmXQRhbqU7_sNRklhaKIC9xUuMLUsidwGbI-5t9I_EOIpSpE8QQ8xU1sXBm4N6dt8z7fY/s320/Abbey1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">A human friend of mine took a picture of Abbey to her hairdresser and demanded to have her hair highlighted like Abbey's fur.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If I can just cut in here . . . </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">My friend Mackie has excellent fur as well.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHiaJKxAZFjDSRhqGqThd7u99x-cZhqbRqocnNwuZWKZp98c1xScmo_4xJOFv5R6kohHclkkwH7JPU0vV_s5js2DCgpjXgvQOTFNug_lMqChif68luPPo7Xs-G6-1sVlVFhZ1fIEj2x2W/s1600/IMG_0469_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHiaJKxAZFjDSRhqGqThd7u99x-cZhqbRqocnNwuZWKZp98c1xScmo_4xJOFv5R6kohHclkkwH7JPU0vV_s5js2DCgpjXgvQOTFNug_lMqChif68luPPo7Xs-G6-1sVlVFhZ1fIEj2x2W/s320/IMG_0469_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Joan Waddleton</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meredith, we need to show some cat benches here. That is the point of this post. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Abbey never cared for benches. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghA8eZVwjfoIQFs3RCLzaT1ybhyphenhyphen6V7zAMuEfekB2O8vtUCr6NFcukvVJ1195g2U63lPfxYXn4avWkK0dIl6M0F_RAAYy_Sqv8a7eVwGUcj1Xeen3BmZ9oB4AyybKrUZGvNJktmW_DBcICI/s1600/abbeyinsink.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghA8eZVwjfoIQFs3RCLzaT1ybhyphenhyphen6V7zAMuEfekB2O8vtUCr6NFcukvVJ1195g2U63lPfxYXn4avWkK0dIl6M0F_RAAYy_Sqv8a7eVwGUcj1Xeen3BmZ9oB4AyybKrUZGvNJktmW_DBcICI/s320/abbeyinsink.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Nor did Bertie for that matter. He preferred picnic tables.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQVe6K6NnsTNToG438XwScc_NlxEjk_0hSpzGlSRy6YJbEBRHhzwriFUrxWUVOMTZP2mrMnoOmcY7Ogm5TqK6FVrkUtzrn5Ht04-n7m2VpJr8xMnCIlufcWv7EtgG-q4n6UZpskOcCsL3e/s1600/Bertie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQVe6K6NnsTNToG438XwScc_NlxEjk_0hSpzGlSRy6YJbEBRHhzwriFUrxWUVOMTZP2mrMnoOmcY7Ogm5TqK6FVrkUtzrn5Ht04-n7m2VpJr8xMnCIlufcWv7EtgG-q4n6UZpskOcCsL3e/s320/Bertie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">George prefers beds.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8nIVa9xlxHCQ2BeHkUlNIO5HsaIJr45DXkYEwVNJ6kH5tk30LJZ0aG5d1AY-2ZvvLgPwb2Km33Sx31aCBe8r7_97sp3giJNPJqVqy3p4Yex7C_ZbQ98y2PXdZzqiwZYm_sOeSuWhvJX_v/s4032/IMG_1916.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8nIVa9xlxHCQ2BeHkUlNIO5HsaIJr45DXkYEwVNJ6kH5tk30LJZ0aG5d1AY-2ZvvLgPwb2Km33Sx31aCBe8r7_97sp3giJNPJqVqy3p4Yex7C_ZbQ98y2PXdZzqiwZYm_sOeSuWhvJX_v/s320/IMG_1916.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <i>George</i> 2020, Monica Matthews<br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meredith, could you please stop showcasing your friends. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #a64d79;">OK. Here is Regan, who seems to be sitting on a fur bench in Victorian times. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">I don't know Regan as I didn't live in Victorian times.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcYz1ERTDNWo3ICZCxmmoVSu6LttdviUMg6I7dmaTbv6J2Wszw5TyDNPs-ng31IPRgFgFSsmmSt08dpOKfCMwBtxKSQQIjDLFNyCmbtswdUMPiCfB_wXEbpRUUH9-Uxjiyy7GzgJ4yxAFW/s1600/regan.animalfancy.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcYz1ERTDNWo3ICZCxmmoVSu6LttdviUMg6I7dmaTbv6J2Wszw5TyDNPs-ng31IPRgFgFSsmmSt08dpOKfCMwBtxKSQQIjDLFNyCmbtswdUMPiCfB_wXEbpRUUH9-Uxjiyy7GzgJ4yxAFW/s320/regan.animalfancy.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/animalfancy">www.etsy.com/shop/animalfancy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This isn't quite what I had in mind . . . </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">My friend Cotton was <i>put</i> on a bench.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJGs1olwBlOWHtR6VyAJZvsFAUgOYdrtrhqnv7Rlagz8Xg5rc6cXgGW9b6mYUeihWm9cYVs3vdqs1F8VceSBC8Sqd_pjwYDvBsZajK5csXtcYKetx3OQw-XI0Pc5jRDt7m7gwK76iMejr/s1600/IMG_0446.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJGs1olwBlOWHtR6VyAJZvsFAUgOYdrtrhqnv7Rlagz8Xg5rc6cXgGW9b6mYUeihWm9cYVs3vdqs1F8VceSBC8Sqd_pjwYDvBsZajK5csXtcYKetx3OQw-XI0Pc5jRDt7m7gwK76iMejr/s400/IMG_0446.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Joanna Michalak</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">He had to claw his way off.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgZ8nea-Rxr8rmYgOaE185i2CYFC1GfxKHoPbreSHSdOFpmVatvr3Al1mkK-l3mxxn-FjbgqX-q7dkTcPjYVab5ukEeUjqjjyW0s3hh-ar88QS9w-2LC16fu2tbpK7gmzO6EhAyU0AKJL/s1600/IMG_0447.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgZ8nea-Rxr8rmYgOaE185i2CYFC1GfxKHoPbreSHSdOFpmVatvr3Al1mkK-l3mxxn-FjbgqX-q7dkTcPjYVab5ukEeUjqjjyW0s3hh-ar88QS9w-2LC16fu2tbpK7gmzO6EhAyU0AKJL/s400/IMG_0447.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Joanna Michalak</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Really, Meredith, this show of your friends has got to stop!</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">This French cat doesn't like benches either. He's <i>under</i> the bench, relaxing on the gravel. Even gravel is better than a bench.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpEM1oKgAhD0mzibjBSvzBlppKsFnwfuNBvtLCq0mUIPCjaaSSZXunHlwSPJAhGfF-Or8ctRJqyYtRzl_v1ecyZQmQsTFiTVmttkgi66zsWfrIN4f04oUoOZenAMyCJIdCo1K7YRe5EfZ/s1600/aurel.grone.WK.800px-Katze_in_beaufort-en-argonne.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpEM1oKgAhD0mzibjBSvzBlppKsFnwfuNBvtLCq0mUIPCjaaSSZXunHlwSPJAhGfF-Or8ctRJqyYtRzl_v1ecyZQmQsTFiTVmttkgi66zsWfrIN4f04oUoOZenAMyCJIdCo1K7YRe5EfZ/s320/aurel.grone.WK.800px-Katze_in_beaufort-en-argonne.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katze_in_beaufort-en-argonne.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katze_in_beaufort-en-argonne.JPG</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">But this is a post about benches, Meredith. I think you've misread the situation.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzFfnOpbILMg-s_2laG6yl2ecGvejIa6Wkpge9tZIwzVIKxI4wxkiln62gIv8Qqpm7QDssKHRAgtJTItz8gtignctUYZaP-HhEKdMqatMn0rRGXTCFhiY0fqh3VYXn5sIw_QpDvUd-La4/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569955861.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="700" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzFfnOpbILMg-s_2laG6yl2ecGvejIa6Wkpge9tZIwzVIKxI4wxkiln62gIv8Qqpm7QDssKHRAgtJTItz8gtignctUYZaP-HhEKdMqatMn0rRGXTCFhiY0fqh3VYXn5sIw_QpDvUd-La4/s320/PhotoFunia-1569955861.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Cats love reading. I belong to a cat book club.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZariK-cFDLKPKUlQgkgRiwpgR6g4Z9ejSl75cPTXBMPtd0W7ShS2oppIbhd6O0TllqJA22gSG_JXFW0pZKFAC3K0fSXrCe9Vvku_BaaKL75sk5Y1fQilRdJuHClJV_3z_1r5qMSOT5R7M0TdwAa-UxCZR0SNQrkH0c1-Z2P6P5zImlsy0yBEAk418tEc/s651/FB_IMG_1690718502968.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="554" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZariK-cFDLKPKUlQgkgRiwpgR6g4Z9ejSl75cPTXBMPtd0W7ShS2oppIbhd6O0TllqJA22gSG_JXFW0pZKFAC3K0fSXrCe9Vvku_BaaKL75sk5Y1fQilRdJuHClJV_3z_1r5qMSOT5R7M0TdwAa-UxCZR0SNQrkH0c1-Z2P6P5zImlsy0yBEAk418tEc/w340-h400/FB_IMG_1690718502968.jpg" width="340" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scott Metzger Cartoons</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">I love to curl up with a book. Or a stranger.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAKPSc83z2Zng1VbE94QV62mFJvgk593iy-vr6Chrw1fs8Aro2FmyMAhSSMonP1CZw01YidqJj2sSB7jzLu1oZvpM-0Ea-v7PgZkH5tvWf0NNwUFp4WnjIYBdybTkUAg7LR7_GwfdhZ4Bm-SurjYM1LDP-DM3rmT__DA02I86YbAg5eMDvfRbc3pws3fXU/s843/FB_IMG_1701462697665.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="843" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAKPSc83z2Zng1VbE94QV62mFJvgk593iy-vr6Chrw1fs8Aro2FmyMAhSSMonP1CZw01YidqJj2sSB7jzLu1oZvpM-0Ea-v7PgZkH5tvWf0NNwUFp4WnjIYBdybTkUAg7LR7_GwfdhZ4Bm-SurjYM1LDP-DM3rmT__DA02I86YbAg5eMDvfRbc3pws3fXU/s320/FB_IMG_1701462697665.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I do not want books, I want benches</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">. </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Would a piano bench do?</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzTheNFTnJnu3Yn99580S-PFE2B9Tl6u-pVDhPbRDzw-DaKQVNdGlmY3wTeWjyHXXMx523E9osKCDo74yzD4nbMIVFzwnFashjDjfEWTTVUuuca8rDRx1Ikh-5frVw_eCzWp2FwoRC0Bpz0XFsJZHFUdo5JWjooepvoAR49GsuCP_WdzZmo6aZd1boTZa/s720/FB_IMG_1707907048523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzTheNFTnJnu3Yn99580S-PFE2B9Tl6u-pVDhPbRDzw-DaKQVNdGlmY3wTeWjyHXXMx523E9osKCDo74yzD4nbMIVFzwnFashjDjfEWTTVUuuca8rDRx1Ikh-5frVw_eCzWp2FwoRC0Bpz0XFsJZHFUdo5JWjooepvoAR49GsuCP_WdzZmo6aZd1boTZa/w400-h400/FB_IMG_1707907048523.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It would, but there's no bench here.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">You want benches? </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRVgCGcTEC7eySWB90_pNJ9SKj8kp_VYg_OUzeaBoUEwEp9h58PdHAfC4nRb8ZmXgq2LdCMVZ89MVUx2v4Ie6pVTV-MlSMuuFJqQT4AtIJCA132qc2JejGRWFP5D3m-LvrGskSeMkjAIbb/s815/IMG-20200103-WA0001+Dolly+pajamas.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="815" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRVgCGcTEC7eySWB90_pNJ9SKj8kp_VYg_OUzeaBoUEwEp9h58PdHAfC4nRb8ZmXgq2LdCMVZ89MVUx2v4Ie6pVTV-MlSMuuFJqQT4AtIJCA132qc2JejGRWFP5D3m-LvrGskSeMkjAIbb/w328-h246/IMG-20200103-WA0001+Dolly+pajamas.jpg" width="328" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><font face="verdana" size="1">image by Joanna Michalak</font></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="color: black;">I don't see a bench here. Just saying. </span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">It's my friend Dolly on a very posh cat tower. </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="color: black;">Is there any chance of a cat on a bench?</span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Of course. T</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">his is a London cat, Boutros Boutros, on a church pew.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWMfYDRPfMaU77lq40yEj6ONPl2gR-qqc67-4wkDT4yuyOuFxVqOELvEcUqcSeOJ0316G21btlo0lfZgNAiCbMRuX5Ek1qv_dP8VlZkiWLIC0Ku8Sr9YjpdepvlA3v9vKC85ZGeVKoT1O/s1600/Boutros.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWMfYDRPfMaU77lq40yEj6ONPl2gR-qqc67-4wkDT4yuyOuFxVqOELvEcUqcSeOJ0316G21btlo0lfZgNAiCbMRuX5Ek1qv_dP8VlZkiWLIC0Ku8Sr9YjpdepvlA3v9vKC85ZGeVKoT1O/s320/Boutros.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Boutros Boutros was a peacekeeper cat, so just to keep the peace, I'm going to consider a church pew as a bench. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Good. Just remember, cats are the crowning glory of the internet.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MW2UREPhZAG08EZoi5CrSmIqdvovslZjxXZhJmYdjdOYbgAlovR7uYol1NRvbRZVNY-frqS1ysQaku29X3PGPusMaBVuDtCJ_pPNyJVsPoZw6oPuh2ihfYJU67qGqnU898YSxKmnlVZ-/s1600/image1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MW2UREPhZAG08EZoi5CrSmIqdvovslZjxXZhJmYdjdOYbgAlovR7uYol1NRvbRZVNY-frqS1ysQaku29X3PGPusMaBVuDtCJ_pPNyJVsPoZw6oPuh2ihfYJU67qGqnU898YSxKmnlVZ-/s1600/image1.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;">photo by Joanna Michilak</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">This is my friend Dolly, duly crowned.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Dolly is gorgeous and I'm delighted that the internet has cats on it. But I would really like to show some of the lovely cat benches I've found.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> That's if you can stop putting up pictures of yourself and your friends.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Does the phrase Talk To The Paw mean anything to you?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLiGz-CbsWiqspyyYUdf5qZa8MFslGDu_PEDHtFuAqjxXbrZSRkxpV1GUqHWzi-2jih7kADw2WbIK41VJ6K-oVM9X-7Z_9MS8PcMbEQTdXbMWhd3OvDYr88r25B0_-WXtQH4f_YcAbFSh/s1600/talk+to+the+paw+5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLiGz-CbsWiqspyyYUdf5qZa8MFslGDu_PEDHtFuAqjxXbrZSRkxpV1GUqHWzi-2jih7kADw2WbIK41VJ6K-oVM9X-7Z_9MS8PcMbEQTdXbMWhd3OvDYr88r25B0_-WXtQH4f_YcAbFSh/s320/talk+to+the+paw+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You've done this before, Meredith. You were rude to me in the St. Helier post. But this time I'm going to bounce right back.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rTXTTl_sPRKO0Vlhp2ey0G7m8_iiUz-6bCue8IJhARQF2O6UJdSJfySSt9Dzahy8MeM1SEGdDZCRW76myKFRKviLfXY0LrJ-sthXyxOEdbKkKHW-uYthHB8xHewYb6lESWbdDt6AAX0h/s1600/catbounce.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rTXTTl_sPRKO0Vlhp2ey0G7m8_iiUz-6bCue8IJhARQF2O6UJdSJfySSt9Dzahy8MeM1SEGdDZCRW76myKFRKviLfXY0LrJ-sthXyxOEdbKkKHW-uYthHB8xHewYb6lESWbdDt6AAX0h/s320/catbounce.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://cat-bounce.com/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">http://cat-bounce.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Are these cats by any chance bouncing?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Indeed they are. At </span><a href="http://cat-bounce.com/">http://cat-bounce.com</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> you can choose a cat and make it bounce. You can even make it rain cats <strike>and dogs</strike>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">You have reached a new low, Seashell.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I know. But I digress. I need to sit down.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PcnEIkUdBRWrmGSdRCbhdFbgI4dokl9tyP4SiFuc6W0B1wfD8zsKA0E2NtaQx_T1lAKLbSsWRDJtJOZSef4BZJmnidN1N4p4MaOKSUtapOvhgApk_FBlp9VBWADnFOHbN8y_rHkushJwr_ErzUdZ3ameynicu71RdWSetOBY8MIfdesJLK38EvH5UQ/s1024/FB_IMG_1679742248707.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PcnEIkUdBRWrmGSdRCbhdFbgI4dokl9tyP4SiFuc6W0B1wfD8zsKA0E2NtaQx_T1lAKLbSsWRDJtJOZSef4BZJmnidN1N4p4MaOKSUtapOvhgApk_FBlp9VBWADnFOHbN8y_rHkushJwr_ErzUdZ3ameynicu71RdWSetOBY8MIfdesJLK38EvH5UQ/s320/FB_IMG_1679742248707.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AI Art Universe</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">I thought there would be some arty cats in this story. I do a bit of painting myself you know.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Something like this?</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzvKh_Gnd5XsLQ7XZVJxfzr030b4Iw8xLMXOhU_5Rl-WTQ1jKlQhkajZgW917H0f2SyJEsGwSkamF4ZkjsasM5BSeTTU9uguc9paI2afA2EszES4rEeR6UkmRpyP-IQyVgFaL43QIaWB30/s788/FB_IMG_1596904522487.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="788" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzvKh_Gnd5XsLQ7XZVJxfzr030b4Iw8xLMXOhU_5Rl-WTQ1jKlQhkajZgW917H0f2SyJEsGwSkamF4ZkjsasM5BSeTTU9uguc9paI2afA2EszES4rEeR6UkmRpyP-IQyVgFaL43QIaWB30/w410-h312/FB_IMG_1596904522487.jpg" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Black Cat</i> by Nikolai Tarkhov 1871-1930</td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><p><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">Lovely, but one black cat is too conventional for my tastes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">What about two cats then?</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnkZ6aQ-ihPam4Z_pPaWtkRzB8j1KIGBnSAjEHfh-vknyxWQAqkx3ITLey265t5bzO9_0j_o9l-6iT2Yk1uTZadS9hKrL2mOOi5BpaFj1yS4RCq4OMY-fYyMH0BCRxtrInTdXSOV3vddo/s633/FB_IMG_1596904539371.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="633" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnkZ6aQ-ihPam4Z_pPaWtkRzB8j1KIGBnSAjEHfh-vknyxWQAqkx3ITLey265t5bzO9_0j_o9l-6iT2Yk1uTZadS9hKrL2mOOi5BpaFj1yS4RCq4OMY-fYyMH0BCRxtrInTdXSOV3vddo/w405-h307/FB_IMG_1596904539371.jpg" width="405" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Two Cats</i> by Suzanne Valldon 1918</td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p><span style="color: #990000;">No. And there's no bench.</span></p><p><span>Three cats? </span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCJc-6wVvWXeS0Tl8MFrBNc_BzCNQ5Q1HG8XIJ9FU6EvsTNsi14xmBUQAcL7IjIrWqpmpcWLniJVDQITkRUZ28rEPsQ4tWM-shIBurawBGcVPJNOhPz1y5mnlEzbcH2g9lkaHPlAgGs7K/s1008/FB_IMG_1627984993689.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCJc-6wVvWXeS0Tl8MFrBNc_BzCNQ5Q1HG8XIJ9FU6EvsTNsi14xmBUQAcL7IjIrWqpmpcWLniJVDQITkRUZ28rEPsQ4tWM-shIBurawBGcVPJNOhPz1y5mnlEzbcH2g9lkaHPlAgGs7K/w286-h400/FB_IMG_1627984993689.jpg" width="286" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Three Cats</i>, 1920s, by Adolf Fleischmann </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span style="color: #990000;">No.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">What about a woman reading on a bench with a dog and a cat?</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEvWcLXMD65UPrL9VuTxXwaTIGfMLg1L9Ke3jiHAyZId304XFogP9oFo51KMZD9pmRsXDv94BVz6WM5VOcZfakPd5J8s-hBHAW-EzYMHsmPBDIUQTAuBOGipxe7cWd67IE0amDYQ-n5wL/s640/s-l640.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEvWcLXMD65UPrL9VuTxXwaTIGfMLg1L9Ke3jiHAyZId304XFogP9oFo51KMZD9pmRsXDv94BVz6WM5VOcZfakPd5J8s-hBHAW-EzYMHsmPBDIUQTAuBOGipxe7cWd67IE0amDYQ-n5wL/w513-h384/s-l640.jpg" width="513" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><i>Woman Reading on a Bench with Dog and Cat</i> by Carl Larsson (1913)</span></td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote></blockquote><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Or something completely classic; a cat with a pearl earring.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAFGyvBU4BKfuB23bEuboyXfVbCiJwbs9GLROaYYeH0g6ovuA6nq2Fat6IMQO7PvWIrOss8-KPQ2A0m0HqKFz5ACEICqU4ce83-sUUVoXFRxZHNFy0eMMVxymQp0aNJZ-zNWrV9IdUDHw/s851/6c37eef874b473dce2688c2bd2e9baca.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="676" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAFGyvBU4BKfuB23bEuboyXfVbCiJwbs9GLROaYYeH0g6ovuA6nq2Fat6IMQO7PvWIrOss8-KPQ2A0m0HqKFz5ACEICqU4ce83-sUUVoXFRxZHNFy0eMMVxymQp0aNJZ-zNWrV9IdUDHw/w254-h320/6c37eef874b473dce2688c2bd2e9baca.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">internet meme</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Too dated. I lik</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">e Modern A</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">rt.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIA8PoP9RP2m0ASW09-uh5L6yj67xqivdujChSx-AjLhjx3DRzmY-K2ztnzfxIPbPfdt9_Ni9RX08pNuK50uIroAAbhwibsW5v2U_kgpAqdaYUojGd0fRnsiB3DRpO50yGZzT-5qKN2s2/s574/20200806_120842+de+stilo+cat.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="574" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIA8PoP9RP2m0ASW09-uh5L6yj67xqivdujChSx-AjLhjx3DRzmY-K2ztnzfxIPbPfdt9_Ni9RX08pNuK50uIroAAbhwibsW5v2U_kgpAqdaYUojGd0fRnsiB3DRpO50yGZzT-5qKN2s2/w320-h303/20200806_120842+de+stilo+cat.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><i>De Stijl </i>Cat by Meredith (2020)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This is appalling.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Do the words De and Stijl mean anything to you?</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">You obviously don't understand abstract art.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And you don't understand benches.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">Meet me at the cat bench and I'll explain.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxi3WOdcRbv0LbvBO2EbtiywJt7DmSHgx3Kw8BgZvFvZNzz5TsdIbhR3LRqSI0oTw62RwKANQD9GWRsOlgIuXcovFV25_GlL5KWqE80YBmOuIU3naBrm1P21_AdY4hMO_-INf3LEX-cXQJ/s706/cat+on+bench.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="706" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxi3WOdcRbv0LbvBO2EbtiywJt7DmSHgx3Kw8BgZvFvZNzz5TsdIbhR3LRqSI0oTw62RwKANQD9GWRsOlgIuXcovFV25_GlL5KWqE80YBmOuIU3naBrm1P21_AdY4hMO_-INf3LEX-cXQJ/w410-h258/cat+on+bench.png" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Globalhealth.washington.edu/file/6348<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p> Well done, Meredith! You're social distancing.</p><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #990000;">My work here is done.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Not yet. What do you think of this lovely hand-woven bench from Mexico?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wFLNcSgrXQ8zBirLHXTYzI8DNUiNpV3CxU8bFxsIrll6p72Q98K7BF8fhIbSNVCfwTaOcxduzWaPG0JmAhzRmL6Kre6ovrejZt8Qz3DTpNY3V_fLB0nkWdFXvYiyYdYvJVeqD_SvnYhV/s1600/800px-Bioartesanias36.FKCCjpg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wFLNcSgrXQ8zBirLHXTYzI8DNUiNpV3CxU8bFxsIrll6p72Q98K7BF8fhIbSNVCfwTaOcxduzWaPG0JmAhzRmL6Kre6ovrejZt8Qz3DTpNY3V_fLB0nkWdFXvYiyYdYvJVeqD_SvnYhV/s1600/800px-Bioartesanias36.FKCCjpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bioartesanias36.JPG" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bioartesanias36.JPG</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Great for sharpening claws.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK, what about this shabby chic miniature cat bench?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6gue92goxkddSLj2yq325vHThsvHk0OLTIlhGFl2enzKMLzL2jf9dvVMpUsq-vHBE1my4xW85OjAs4gEUIexLOEplxwNyYTPc9UhobYqfAlLda0vg2nauPh99DGGDDrCPSi37SKlaz88/s1600/Mycupteaminiatures.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6gue92goxkddSLj2yq325vHThsvHk0OLTIlhGFl2enzKMLzL2jf9dvVMpUsq-vHBE1my4xW85OjAs4gEUIexLOEplxwNyYTPc9UhobYqfAlLda0vg2nauPh99DGGDDrCPSi37SKlaz88/s320/Mycupteaminiatures.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/mycupofteaminiatures">www.etsy.com/shop/mycupofteaminiatures</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">I wouldn't be able to stretch out on this bench. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You might not. But there are some very small cats around . . . </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqEjNUGzCDKPPeXeibsLQUUzPvMZ0tNZy8g6BnOt0tmgnwMcq8szYwE5GhNplhtWPIwq6UFWRdnfupdx25lsYdiyXfofUevOQ3MNrh0iKOPaIQh3atAbzjPnHwFEXLQjrrMDrblgt0kxPO/s1600/suescami.etsy.cat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqEjNUGzCDKPPeXeibsLQUUzPvMZ0tNZy8g6BnOt0tmgnwMcq8szYwE5GhNplhtWPIwq6UFWRdnfupdx25lsYdiyXfofUevOQ3MNrh0iKOPaIQh3atAbzjPnHwFEXLQjrrMDrblgt0kxPO/s320/suescami.etsy.cat.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/suescami">www.etsy.com/shop/suescami</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">You seem to be getting off the subject here, Seashell. This isn't a post about size, is it? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I agree. Shall we stick to showing cat benches? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You may remember this book bench from my <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-stack-of-book-benches-for-world-book.html">World Book Day</a> post. It nicely combines the affinity between cats and books and benches. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg06eQBaw3wwraJxsYWUmvvtFIRGXHWBwshsg_OdoaS2wzkB1fXDk-VG6h2ZI13bELhMArL2w5fwoZew75qlva2QmlGAssXM3C46fBr9mg2CkGaR1GSRuavMAR6-km9LpYDP8cK_YVw2MK_/s1600/artshaman.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg06eQBaw3wwraJxsYWUmvvtFIRGXHWBwshsg_OdoaS2wzkB1fXDk-VG6h2ZI13bELhMArL2w5fwoZew75qlva2QmlGAssXM3C46fBr9mg2CkGaR1GSRuavMAR6-km9LpYDP8cK_YVw2MK_/s1600/artshaman.com.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.artshaman.com/">http://www.artshaman.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This cat is outside the Broughty Ferry Library in Scotland. He seems to be running toward the book. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uE9YX0GDwi09BttnG_CcATs5jCnY2tg3xHoF7s_VL9gNC-zjcGTyI3I4Skcl9biVvuJgjx_VNkL_oKrRlBYBQWeGRvW-u06NlYwaG9Cehi6fpZNrHZHvDIBzwQrPu7p-dNHCIDRdj33G/s1600/mccrow.org.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uE9YX0GDwi09BttnG_CcATs5jCnY2tg3xHoF7s_VL9gNC-zjcGTyI3I4Skcl9biVvuJgjx_VNkL_oKrRlBYBQWeGRvW-u06NlYwaG9Cehi6fpZNrHZHvDIBzwQrPu7p-dNHCIDRdj33G/s320/mccrow.org.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> Malcolm McCrow at <a href="http://www.mccrow.org.uk/">www.mccrow.org.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">No, he's running toward the earth under those trees. I'll say no more.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">People often find cats' intentions a bit of a puzzle. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> is a one thousand piece jigsaw puzzle from a painting by Francien Westering; it was photographed by jigsaw fanatic Leonisha for her Flickr photostream. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQ1s5yauIOHfXrn-0VVOMYXLuntWIng5hJjRqggxoSw4Pze6GMffJF7jkygNwCkeSWAvxq7GQfmyI9ymxilkjrqG_FXDKZrrUN-M6kHtQkhyphenhyphen_LYWTtcrStP-MuxjJG39wDQbmvS_YAuPT/s1600/francien'scats.leonisha.FKR.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQ1s5yauIOHfXrn-0VVOMYXLuntWIng5hJjRqggxoSw4Pze6GMffJF7jkygNwCkeSWAvxq7GQfmyI9ymxilkjrqG_FXDKZrrUN-M6kHtQkhyphenhyphen_LYWTtcrStP-MuxjJG39wDQbmvS_YAuPT/s400/francien'scats.leonisha.FKR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonisha">http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonisha</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">It's cats on a bench though, did you notice that? You're breaking your own rules here; you said you wanted cat benches.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Indeed I do. Cats and benches go together like, well, mice and cheese.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8iPQRNc7SLFLefCVGVgReNqoy_LluwkFpeB-WEdvA8YWAdFT4amZcbND9Yrc6XOhgYXMvHPAONqUAUElGpZJWC02NszNoOMA3eCt2mem3fc2XfLuAZoxxqEhhjqgNJLRa5Ip6Ff8i9Sx/s1600/cats,mice&cheese.yaybenches.FK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8iPQRNc7SLFLefCVGVgReNqoy_LluwkFpeB-WEdvA8YWAdFT4amZcbND9Yrc6XOhgYXMvHPAONqUAUElGpZJWC02NszNoOMA3eCt2mem3fc2XfLuAZoxxqEhhjqgNJLRa5Ip6Ff8i9Sx/s1600/cats,mice&cheese.yaybenches.FK.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/yaybenches/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/yaybenches/ </span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Interesting. One of these cats seems to be pretending to be a mouse. I can see some advantages to that.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm sure you can. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">These </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">two cats are at either end of a bench on Moor Common in Luton. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha86jSgy-68fe-cOWYFGoL3V6W-wJhrCSPk0_EhOuj5cFxK7fiRyudrLqJGX4tXbv5Bbrg2gh25I75T3RHjDoLavu5IJ743d7-tw95Y42m7PRikmsRf6OrF66-ErBDMruenBfDCcYY7vg-/s1600/10._cat_bench,_moor_common,_luton.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha86jSgy-68fe-cOWYFGoL3V6W-wJhrCSPk0_EhOuj5cFxK7fiRyudrLqJGX4tXbv5Bbrg2gh25I75T3RHjDoLavu5IJ743d7-tw95Y42m7PRikmsRf6OrF66-ErBDMruenBfDCcYY7vg-/s200/10._cat_bench,_moor_common,_luton.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">w<a href="http://www.friedelbueckingwoodsculptor.co.uk/">ww.friedelbueckingwoodsculptor.co.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Their sculptor, Friedel Buecking, says they are not just wary of each other but also uneasy about a small creature in the middle of the bench which could be a baby dragon.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cats like wooden benches because the wood reminds them of trees for sharpening claws.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Only when there's no expensive sofa within reach. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This wooden cat is very happy on his wooden bench. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPtWulys07gch7wmws8Vhb-bjbmC3AkHU2mQQmfNya469RcCNOYbEcRG2fdCkd6OzDMYO6xUOjGhxNz5Q-0x7dn-hn3cdS1CuCzkxfEZWuvA2sVyPw0WdDztLt7Bn3kdktZDmh_ec6_iC6/s1600/big+cat+wall+2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPtWulys07gch7wmws8Vhb-bjbmC3AkHU2mQQmfNya469RcCNOYbEcRG2fdCkd6OzDMYO6xUOjGhxNz5Q-0x7dn-hn3cdS1CuCzkxfEZWuvA2sVyPw0WdDztLt7Bn3kdktZDmh_ec6_iC6/s1600/big+cat+wall+2.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Nice wallpaper. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Some of these cats are wearing silly costumes, though. </span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">I don't approve of that.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meredith, you have been known to wear a hat at times.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rRjTg14idnu8-QtF1EY2a_cJSZ2BOeSccv8T_87RYqCRkTgEKziPDTbfnQvzLLBSwJqfw-2CF5t-vLrRG5nORGMOtcNTcbG6fpm5pdZbuvKBxA1CXs_F4cncTBOTmxzgChIcliJXmph4/s1600/100_5591.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rRjTg14idnu8-QtF1EY2a_cJSZ2BOeSccv8T_87RYqCRkTgEKziPDTbfnQvzLLBSwJqfw-2CF5t-vLrRG5nORGMOtcNTcbG6fpm5pdZbuvKBxA1CXs_F4cncTBOTmxzgChIcliJXmph4/s320/100_5591.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Only under duress.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And sunglasses.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKyLYmiaKrwyVN9HsjiwgaY-727qYFBIMJlpJGN1i90pcVMsk6wXQDgy1V0EhwbeYXYR2iaRpVkMZmfpmLbP_lRe9ghy-FaBuhXMQ_H0NAXnyBWywhhAmIq0Ud6AlpLh4mRfs6AaVmmia/s1600/100_5593.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKyLYmiaKrwyVN9HsjiwgaY-727qYFBIMJlpJGN1i90pcVMsk6wXQDgy1V0EhwbeYXYR2iaRpVkMZmfpmLbP_lRe9ghy-FaBuhXMQ_H0NAXnyBWywhhAmIq0Ud6AlpLh4mRfs6AaVmmia/s320/100_5593.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">I hope you're not going to get into the cat bearding thing. Are you? </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I know what you mean, Meredith. It's that thing where people suddenly realise their cat can become a beard.<span style="color: #a64d79;"> </span>Like this:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJYRZadZmgRQDCmylZVquM3HdEcO5IHdKkH5AOQcHYgfhwoVC6YrwxK58YQ_lRR2kUitJe9is595etxx3pdNfC-87GvSzyqWDE3gUhZjX-E8s07bKrDq1jERAR1QgHY7-hjUMrA0cRb0N/s1600/too+sour.FKR8811087555_f19a92f9c2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJYRZadZmgRQDCmylZVquM3HdEcO5IHdKkH5AOQcHYgfhwoVC6YrwxK58YQ_lRR2kUitJe9is595etxx3pdNfC-87GvSzyqWDE3gUhZjX-E8s07bKrDq1jERAR1QgHY7-hjUMrA0cRb0N/s320/too+sour.FKR8811087555_f19a92f9c2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/toosour/with/8811087555/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/toosour/with/8811087555/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Don't even think about it. </span></span><br /><br />As well as benches, cats have an affinity with baskets. </div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Here are my friends Benny and Boo in a basket. I think their owner ought to fork out for a bigger basket.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ST3MLdAfGRas4MJf2wYWhsvYhaF1YsfVdoYYv0QFdxMyxcvTlqueg8vN5_rBp9D4SJ0T_NH1Jlg-35xjexKrl7HQjIv4G03rFuoG_1tgjsFQ1VfYMLZDGbtDhE4eQ90w-ef2ibHBHOoJ/s1600/A+Basket+Full+of+Cats.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ST3MLdAfGRas4MJf2wYWhsvYhaF1YsfVdoYYv0QFdxMyxcvTlqueg8vN5_rBp9D4SJ0T_NH1Jlg-35xjexKrl7HQjIv4G03rFuoG_1tgjsFQ1VfYMLZDGbtDhE4eQ90w-ef2ibHBHOoJ/s320/A+Basket+Full+of+Cats.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Kelly Riley</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">My friend Mills preferred her trug to any of the benches in the garden. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Mind you, she rejected a lot of baskets before she finally settled on this one.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0NmaZ0jxk250Vmwl1Ewd2yk49V3erkNhtS9gBYGK9Y86gQ43vYIseQ_p70XWxd2XyFa2d9uHtDpkkEf1zRAEl40sgXJOr9d1TTIbdX9ttUott-cr6a1dXB4wEjW5pOgHW4O7E_CacneG/s1600/100_3163.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0NmaZ0jxk250Vmwl1Ewd2yk49V3erkNhtS9gBYGK9Y86gQ43vYIseQ_p70XWxd2XyFa2d9uHtDpkkEf1zRAEl40sgXJOr9d1TTIbdX9ttUott-cr6a1dXB4wEjW5pOgHW4O7E_CacneG/s320/100_3163.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We've got work to do here. I wish you'd quit arguing. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: inherit;"><span>I'm not arguing, I'm explaining why I'm right.</span> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meredith, I am getting really fed up with you now. You have put in so many pictures of yourself and your friends that I haven't been able to show the cat benches I collected.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRu57c4CwY1aNnEUx-E7eo2VnkEUr-MmudueyAFRxxAwucpWjB61QvuDj1j4TwLA4_NMBzk936rp1orZsLhIHZ4Jd1YIRQY7etS64WmNjRDVaQOnmlgHrU3FIHBpARnPDrWu4FDhgGhcE/s1600/Boo2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRu57c4CwY1aNnEUx-E7eo2VnkEUr-MmudueyAFRxxAwucpWjB61QvuDj1j4TwLA4_NMBzk936rp1orZsLhIHZ4Jd1YIRQY7etS64WmNjRDVaQOnmlgHrU3FIHBpARnPDrWu4FDhgGhcE/s320/Boo2.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Kelly Riley</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I know, I know. I have confused you with someone who cares.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">But we need to work together here. It's no good giving me the cold shoulder. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzIhCoRE655yvd-IPMYZGw9fPsoEzr6RfsvUgl6tSa7NZK-0qfKT10ZLMgQYcP56n7K48OSObzVDjNYh0dha9p466Sfb1US5rmtN_K-bn6xKVkwme8ViC77t6rGBlaCwX7U6HUpjQew2f/s1600/celie.snowcat.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzIhCoRE655yvd-IPMYZGw9fPsoEzr6RfsvUgl6tSa7NZK-0qfKT10ZLMgQYcP56n7K48OSObzVDjNYh0dha9p466Sfb1US5rmtN_K-bn6xKVkwme8ViC77t6rGBlaCwX7U6HUpjQew2f/s320/celie.snowcat.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">©AC Manley at <a href="http://acmanley.wordpress.com/">acmanley.wordpress.com/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">A snow cat. Very funny.</span> </span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cats don't mind snow but they prefer a sunny spot. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">My friends Rosie and Melissa enjoy their seat in the conservatory. Though I would like to point out that this is not, strictly speaking, a bench. </span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXa1wlf5r4ZeBLBFL6prh8wpf77_VeHJIbmYeCbzn8Eglat93niRSSeXaNSfRYkZB_iZztgX2j2tHiTDpebbegRJTBRKnZsLNkSTpt5IlatfhAT69qkFNBXRcLKnaBSpI3D8Pvn1FUBhaw/s1600/100_3705.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXa1wlf5r4ZeBLBFL6prh8wpf77_VeHJIbmYeCbzn8Eglat93niRSSeXaNSfRYkZB_iZztgX2j2tHiTDpebbegRJTBRKnZsLNkSTpt5IlatfhAT69qkFNBXRcLKnaBSpI3D8Pvn1FUBhaw/s320/100_3705.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I would like to see at least one picture of a cat bench.<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;">No can do. How about a self portrait?</span></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBzkg_qlpLIt6FTDWIb3p4361XteiFBQcMcKnYvfndEwZZT3FdBht6dRTz2RbO8PLlquGeu4ATVoZ6fWO20N4srsWUkZhI5koG0ZguID0AqDBtx4Vmztc9raOgTRLoWVJ7gQzhWYuxb87M/s895/FB_IMG_1603208594296.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="895" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBzkg_qlpLIt6FTDWIb3p4361XteiFBQcMcKnYvfndEwZZT3FdBht6dRTz2RbO8PLlquGeu4ATVoZ6fWO20N4srsWUkZhI5koG0ZguID0AqDBtx4Vmztc9raOgTRLoWVJ7gQzhWYuxb87M/w323-h400/FB_IMG_1603208594296.jpg" width="323" /></a></div> <i>Norman Catwell,</i> Lucia Heffernan<br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />This is terrific, Meredith! But it's not you. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Do you think you could show even one cat bench, Meredith? Would that be too much to ask?</div><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">What you have proven, Seashell, is that very few cats prefer benches. In the whole of this post there are only a couple of cats on benches and none of them are there by choice. They have been put there for photo opportunities by people who believe cats prefer benches when in fact they prefer just about anything else. </span></span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #444444;">I'm clinging to the idea that cats like benches.</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDQhkccNG0ftvhlSAXpVS-lzmPXh6lH2XC-HyNYc0tnT81MeEXIKNg-JkbnX4rguxLqqFvNlzHpaxuycR8BAYqVTYfD68dzP8q6yGX3r_pW1VCB1c5sK1Egv1b-CXrcgFmNTd0ET3egyrMaOaFEjqxizzMBIIsHHCWTw0kMZXAvtC30rMIPxVsjhf6A/s1440/FB_IMG_1659024500172.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1440" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDQhkccNG0ftvhlSAXpVS-lzmPXh6lH2XC-HyNYc0tnT81MeEXIKNg-JkbnX4rguxLqqFvNlzHpaxuycR8BAYqVTYfD68dzP8q6yGX3r_pW1VCB1c5sK1Egv1b-CXrcgFmNTd0ET3egyrMaOaFEjqxizzMBIIsHHCWTw0kMZXAvtC30rMIPxVsjhf6A/w400-h280/FB_IMG_1659024500172.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Meredith: You're mistaken. Much mistaken.</span><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meredith, I found you difficult to work with, as ever, but thank you for sticking with me this time. No catnaps, no sneaking off, no disappearing to get snacks. You did really well. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meredith?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meredith?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxvXOVxsDU-LKgkHKyjVAPEKmrHcRf9RVeRK6tqaftwXvEsP7MHsz5jr5MBJNK2UJdu7yv_QbK9uE3sxbQ12XkdUDTmKJ_ysHerV7Qo2gmNZclrh1gFtwU_MGbnkEBJzFQNpEw14OmUNS/s1600/Boo+on+bench+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxvXOVxsDU-LKgkHKyjVAPEKmrHcRf9RVeRK6tqaftwXvEsP7MHsz5jr5MBJNK2UJdu7yv_QbK9uE3sxbQ12XkdUDTmKJ_ysHerV7Qo2gmNZclrh1gFtwU_MGbnkEBJzFQNpEw14OmUNS/s320/Boo+on+bench+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">photo by Kelly Riley</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I've had it with cats. They're too difficult to work with. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Next time my guest editor is going to be a dog.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRWCaWF4HwLhX0HQ2iJE0akY3IdKmeyjc8nTlKdPdWQuVCy0OWZBzE39Xb91pJPpleCNPD4Ur57vR5HrOVKos5fbY9E6kaDBTywd9_hwkSKZ1MZIWIGoIx0zBcKiG1DYpJe26-_ar9_loW/s1600/Greek.cats.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRWCaWF4HwLhX0HQ2iJE0akY3IdKmeyjc8nTlKdPdWQuVCy0OWZBzE39Xb91pJPpleCNPD4Ur57vR5HrOVKos5fbY9E6kaDBTywd9_hwkSKZ1MZIWIGoIx0zBcKiG1DYpJe26-_ar9_loW/s400/Greek.cats.JPG" width="295" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The cat shouting about benches at the start of the story is my cat Tilly. She was 11 years old and prone to getting her own way in pretty much everything. <br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The pretty cobby body cat on the wooden bench lives in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight and was photographed in 2013. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Cat Map of the World is by Michael at ArtPause in Coventry, UK. He makes contemporary art and canvas prints in all sorts of interesting ways, for example maps of the world, countries, states, cities and yes, cat maps. The Cat Map of the World comes in bright colours, like this one, and in natural cat colours too. Michael's shop is at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtPause">www.etsy.com/shop/ArtPause</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meredith is modelled by two cats, one of whom is my own cat Melissa. The other Meredith is Boo, from Bend, Oregon. Melissa and Boo posed for the original cat post about St. Helier. 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. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If you like Meredith's style of editing and you don't mind cats, see what she did to my post about <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/tuning-in-to-piano-benches.html">piano benches</a>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Anyone who has cats on the bed will recognise what happens to people when there are two large cats in a double bed. The delightful print is called <i>Night Night</i> and it's from Sara Pulver at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/3crows">www.etsy.com/shop/3crows</a> </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Angora Cat painting was done in 1937. It's by Polish-born American artist Morris Hirschfield (1872-1946). As Meredith said, the painting is in the MOMA in New York City.<br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Jane Paludanus is the girl who keeps changing human heads to animal heads. This is her, the Garden Cat, sitting on a bench, in </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">the garden of her old home. I'm not sure where that home is, but Jane lives in the Netherlands now. She misses her old home and </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">felt quite emotional about all the memories stirred up by this picture. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/janepaludanus/6464905013/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/janepaludanus/6464905013/</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>British artist Richard Bawden (born 1936) is a lover of cats, as was his father, Edward Bawden. Edward was one of the celebrated Great Bardfield artists and Richard grew up there in Brick House. The Bawden cat bench is at the Fry Gallery in Saffron Walden in Essex.<br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">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 <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The colourful bus stop cat bench is in the Willow Glen neighbourhood of San Jose, California. It was made in 2006 by the pupils of Willow Glen Elementary School and can be seen at <a href="http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMDN8X_Striped_Cat_Bench_San_Jose_CA">http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMDN8X_Striped_Cat_Bench_San_Jose_CA</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I found the Toulouse Lautrec cat bench on Flickr. The photostream is by someone who describes himself as a point-and-click photographer. Fine with me. He has an interesting photostream and the very long title of weshallmeetonthebeautifulshore at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/18417558@N00/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/18417558@N00/</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Cubism was a thing in painting at the start of the twentieth century and French artist Fernand Leger (1881-1955) was known for it, though he developed his own version of it, called Tubism. <i>Woman with Cat</i>, done in 1921, is typical of his style.</div><div><i><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></i></div><div><i>Morning Meal</i> was painted in 1880 by Emile Munier (1840-1895), who was a student of William Bouguereau, a realist amongst the realists of French academic painters. The kittens are cute, sure, but look at the lovely little girl! <br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Alley Cat is a sculpture by Judy Kensley McKie (2005) at <a href="http://www.artworksfoundry.com/">www.artworksfoundry.com</a>. It is sited near the Valente Library at Wellington-Harrington in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was photographed by ArtFan70 at Flickr. ArtFan's photostream is at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/artfan70">http://www.flickr.com/photos/artfan70</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Maxi was a beautiful white cat His Excellency and I had in London and brought with us to Paradise Island. Maxi was a huge, joyous cat who was fond of sunbathing and loved life. He had a penchant for baked potatoes and he once devoured a whole barbecued chicken. He lived to age 18 and died happily in the garden. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The painted bench is by Portland, Oregon author Christine Davis from Lighthearted Press. Christine writes books for animal lovers, looks after animals herself, and provides help for people who are bereaved after losing a much-loved pet. She looked after a semi-feral cat called Sammy for years. Sammy disappeared in 2011 and the bench with the painted cat on the back is made in his memory. Christine's work can be seen at <a href="http://www.lightheartedpress.blogspot.com/">www.lightheartedpress.blogspot.com</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The cat on the New York subway bench is from Subway 6, one of a collection of vintage subway photographs by Lisa Futterman, who lives and works in Brooklyn. She loves to go out with her camera and capture unique moments around New York City and she also has an obsession with photographing county fairs. Her fine art photographs can be seen at <a href="http://www.flickr.photos/pixamatic">http://www.etsy.com/shop/pixamatic</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Maison des Chat Noirs bench and t</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">he A Cat is a Cat book bench are both from Bob Dodson, the Art Shaman, who creates digital art, woodwork, bowl turning, ceramics and all kinds of objects from mixed media. He has a Cat Gallery and reports that his cats have recently learned to type, which could create havoc on his website at </span><a href="http://www.artshaman.com/" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">http://www.artshaman.com</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> A Cat is a Cat appeared in the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-stack-of-book-benches-for-world-book.html">World Book Day post</a> in April. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Suu Kii lives with Helen Danby, who took this lovely picture of her new garden swing. I don't know if Suu Kii just happened to be there, perfectly matching the colour of the swing, or if the swing was chosen to match Suu Kii. Maybe Helen popped into a garden centre with a picture of Suu Kii and asked if they had a swing to match the colour of the cat. </span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Abbey National is the only cat we had from a kitten. She quickly became Mungo's cat and was inseparable from him. For twenty years she travelled with us in several countries and was equally comfortable in tents, caravans, and good quality hotels. She knew what to do on ferries and had her own passport for going abroad. The stories of her travels were read onto tape for blind people throughout the 1980s and 90s and she received fan mail from those who enjoyed her stories. And yes, a picture of her was once presented to a hairdresser in London and the colours of her fur were reproduced with some success. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Mackie is a beautiful pure-bred cat who one day walked into the home of my friends Joan and Harry and demanded to live with them. After some weeks, Joan located Mackie's original owner and it was established that Mackie had left his perfectly good home and wandered quite a few miles away to find Joan and Harry. Happily for Joan and Harry, the original owner agreed to leave Mackie with them and there he has remained. However, Joan and Harry no longer go on holidays or do anything at all which might cause Mackie to decide to walk away and choose another home. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's true, Burlington Bertie preferred picnic tables to benches; they're higher and you can get a better view. Bertie came to us from the Cats Protection League when he was four. He had been terrorised by children and was full of fear. But he turned out to be a terrific little character, loving and clever and funny. He was also an excellent traveller and loved the car. And if you like <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html">picnic benches</a>, let Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, be your guide.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Regan is one of many Victorian cat prints from Donna, who sells anthropomorphic animal art prints. It was a popular art form in Victorian times. Donna's shop is at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/animalfancy">www.etsy.com/shop/animalfancy</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>George is a kitten, born in 2020, who found himself taken in by the cat-loving Matthews family in Arkansas. Lucky boy. He was photographed by Monica Matthews on the bed, very soon after he moved himself in. <br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cotton used to live with Joanna Michalak in Southampton, UK. He is one of three cats in her household. Lucky her! Now she has Dolly, a one year old Ragdoll. Dolly has everything a cat could possibly want or need, including a very nice red pajama onesie. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The beautiful French cat was photographed by Aurel Grone and is available on Wiki Commons at</span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katze_in_beaufort-en-argonne.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katze_in_beaufort-en-argonne.JPG</a>. I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to see people putting good quality photographs in the Commons. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Maxi and Abbey shared the same house but it would be putting it mildly to say they were not good friends. And then along came a wiry little stray who climbed in through the roof window and made himself at home. The little black cat who restored peace in our house was named Boutros Boutros, after the United Nations peacemaker at the time. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cat Bounce is an opportunity to get cats to bounce. I'm not sure why, but maybe that's not the right question. You just pick a cat and make it bounce or spin and when you get bored with that, you can make it rain cats. It's all at <a href="http://cat-bounce.com/">http://cat-bounce.com</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yah Benches make mosaic concrete benches. What a find! </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/yaybenches/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/yaybenches/ </a><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> They're enthusiastic about the art making process and each bench they make is done with a lot of laughter. They have even had to make a rule, "No laughing while moving heavy concrete!!" And they say "Yay!!" all the time. They made the clever, lovely Cats, Mice and Cheese bench. And yes, there is a cat pretending to be a mouse, which no doubt has serious advantages for the cat. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The two cats on the bench in Luton are a wood sculpture by Friedel Buecking, at w<a href="http://www.friedelbueckingwoodsculptor.co.uk/" style="text-align: center;">ww.friedelbueckingwoodsculptor.co.uk</a> F<span style="color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">riedel's public bench sculptures are often commissioned for particular sites to become part of the landscape. They invite people to rest and to contemplate the environment. Some of his bench sculptures are carved in one piece from large oak trunks and can weigh over a ton.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Thanks to Helen Danby for sending me Cat Bounce. Should you feel the need, you can select a cat and make it bounce up and down to your heart's content. You don't have to worry about being cruel: it's only a virtual cat. Should you get bored of the stripey cats bouncing, you can introduce colourful cats raining down. It sort of depends on how desperate you are for something to do. <a href="http://cat-bounce.com/">http://cat-bounce.com</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Drei Katzen</i> (Three Cats) were painted in the late 1920s by German artist Adolf Fleischmann (1892-1968). He loved painting and drawing cats, modtly in volours of black, brown, grey and blue.<br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Woman Reading on a Bench</i> with a dog and cat (1913) is a painting by the Swedish artist Carl Larsson (1853-1919). Sometimes known as the Swedish Norman Rockwell, Larsson painted delightfully colourful scenes of ordinary life and idyllic families. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Mexican cat is hand woven from local palm and exhibited in the Museum of Popular Art in Mexico City. The photo is by Laloreed22, a normal high school student who likes to takes photos. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bioartesanias36.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bioartesanias36.JPG</a> For a fiesta of glorious Mexican benches see </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html</a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Shabby Chic bench with cats at both ends is a miniature made by Ana Correia in Portugal. Ana is</span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">a nurse, amateur pianist, artisan and miniature lover. Her inspiration for handmade miniatures is vintage and shabby style, books, travelling and all the good things in life.</span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> Ana's shop is at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/mycupofteaminiatures">www.etsy.com/shop/mycupofteaminiatures</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The tiny cat on the bench is a stoneware miniature by Sue Scamihorn in Wabash, Indiana. It's called </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">That cat Won't Stay Off My Bench</i><span face="verdana, sans-serif">. She has a dog who won't stay off her bench as well; you can see him on the Benchsite <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/big-bench-small-bench-cute-and-tiny.html">big and small and cute and tiny post</a> </span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">The cat is just two inches tall and the bench is three inches. Besides stoneware Sue does garden miniatures, wall spots, whistles, deocrative pottery and jewelry. Her shop is at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/suescami" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/suescami</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p></o:p></b><br /></div><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The cat running along the back of the bench outside the Broughty Ferry Library was photographed by Malcolm McCrow as part of his photographic collection of Broughty Ferry in Scotland. Broughty looks like a brilliant place. Broughty Ferry and other British places can be seen at <a href="http://www.mccrow.org.uk/">www.mccrow.org.uk</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Millie was a tiny rescue cat we got from the RSPCA in 2008. She was 13 years old at the time and had lost her home for wetting the carpet. She had a tumour growing in her abdomen but despite this, she loved boisterous games and someone had taught her to fetch toys. She played an impressive game of football and could leap high into the air to catch feathers and stuffed mice. She was a good traveller and spent happy week-ends with us. She died age 15 and is much missed.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cat bearding is one of those strange internet things which occur when people realise they can post pictures of themselves doing weird stuff. So here are a bunch of people using their cats as beards. Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's weird. And yes, if you're a cat owner you're probably going to try it. </span><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/the-25-most-epic-cat-beards-of-all-time">http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/the-25-most-epic-cat-beards-of-all-time</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">David's cool cat beard took ten takes and I'm sure he's right in saying that getting a good cat beard photo is harder than it looks. David is from California and his photostream is a riot of glorious colour. He does terrific closeups of all kinds of stuff - lemons, flowers, insects and yes, cats. He belongs to every Cat Group going on Flickr. I'm addicted. Check out his photostream at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/toosour/with/8811087555/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/toosour/with/8811087555/</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The snow cat is a photograph by AC Manley, who says <i>One day of snow and London grinds to halt with the suspension of almost all public transport. Most people had to take the day off work and build cats</i>. AC Manley </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">describes himself as a creative in London. A selection of his photographs in different countries includes people, a colourful door, rubbish, a housing estate and a motion sickness bag. You can have a look at </span><a href="http://www.acmanley.wordpress.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.acmanley.wordpress.com/</a><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Melissa and Rosie were sisters, age 10, when they came to us in 2010. They had been starved and neglected but were both affectionate and trusting. At first they stuck together:</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvH9NjtN5bbSUJZ9q2DXwfT-EqXoVOnBd7SLJUULeF066PeowsQNfCaULvosNk_i9M6mmUv7QPBRVrcagLjelYWSKBKifr3BrAmQacY1T3nThUB1SUTpPc0e3Y-VNn6c0pv9wPK60PUOAd/s1600/100_3764.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvH9NjtN5bbSUJZ9q2DXwfT-EqXoVOnBd7SLJUULeF066PeowsQNfCaULvosNk_i9M6mmUv7QPBRVrcagLjelYWSKBKifr3BrAmQacY1T3nThUB1SUTpPc0e3Y-VNn6c0pv9wPK60PUOAd/s320/100_3764.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">After a few months they sat together but apart in the sunroom. Then,</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> as little Rosie gained confidence, they became more and more independent of each other. Eventually they wanted nothing to do with each other and went their own ways. When Rosie died, Melissa held the position of every cat's dream: a much-adored and very spoiled Only Cat.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div>"Norman Catwell" is by Lucia Heffernan, a Taiwanese American born in 1966. Lucia was inspired to paint and draw at a very early age by her mother, a water color artist and teacher. In the early 1990’s, after graduating with honors from Binghamton University in Fine Arts and Design, she established LDD, a multi-million dollar award winning creative design agen and then moved to Utah, where her creative focus shifted from digital design to oil painting. "My body of work is an expression & exploration of my fascination with animals, through my paintings, I seek to give animals a voice and a personality."</div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">If for some strange reason you prefer dogs to cats, you can sniff out some excellent dog benches at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">'My other pet is a dog' is a tea-towel I purchased in Greece. There are quite a few tea-towels about Greek Cats around in Greece. And lots of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/greek-bench-mission-impossible.html">Greek benches</a> too.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Apologies to non-cat readers who probably find this post too cat-centric. If you don't like it, all I can say is Talk To The Paw. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZzkDuYDPvLsVdp66dL_nlb7rnqAu8l2ZsgHPkBNYb88cSSzW0fb06S6bhuBYeZAe1ML1v6Y3mN0jwJv7OyiyG8hTO0hCiOvTvCo1smeXPeId1sRM3syyrvQ37Z717DMBGgaL70XU4onu/s1600/talk+to+the+paw+5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZzkDuYDPvLsVdp66dL_nlb7rnqAu8l2ZsgHPkBNYb88cSSzW0fb06S6bhuBYeZAe1ML1v6Y3mN0jwJv7OyiyG8hTO0hCiOvTvCo1smeXPeId1sRM3syyrvQ37Z717DMBGgaL70XU4onu/s1600/talk+to+the+paw+5.jpg" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-6596604810144062972022-07-01T13:52:00.006-07:002024-01-24T07:54:40.260-08:00We all scream for ice cream benches <p> </p><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's July and we're all screaming for ice cream benches.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3HzXuEtYxPiDdj-WIs6BYrATFUMJOgU_QhtqSs2SBXlfuZC-yhTQmif6EQdXANrdrIEAozi9tnoSzF0L0ttbXI3Kr221XUXnPNyc8E4dmMSdwdVqDwOTUg7gm_qDYOQYSSeOreDO4aPl/s1600/asianreplicas.com.Ice%252520Cream%252520Bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3HzXuEtYxPiDdj-WIs6BYrATFUMJOgU_QhtqSs2SBXlfuZC-yhTQmif6EQdXANrdrIEAozi9tnoSzF0L0ttbXI3Kr221XUXnPNyc8E4dmMSdwdVqDwOTUg7gm_qDYOQYSSeOreDO4aPl/s400/asianreplicas.com.Ice%252520Cream%252520Bench.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ursula Makepeace is our Unicorn-in-Residence here on Paradise Island. She's going to show us some cool ice cream benches for </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">National Ice Cream <strike>Bench</strike> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Month.</span><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face=""><br /></font><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ame8hREl0DvqbFAfQ5DAsZjnHswTlL3CWo9swJNGJLg_hABuM5bEnEZEp_QEeLY-LIZnPFzIsa76dIcZrdv27-4-6sS3ztHYdVa-3f34xiNALBDMen7aHcmFHVLwUh6uqF5z9UGcMndH/s1600/ursula.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ame8hREl0DvqbFAfQ5DAsZjnHswTlL3CWo9swJNGJLg_hABuM5bEnEZEp_QEeLY-LIZnPFzIsa76dIcZrdv27-4-6sS3ztHYdVa-3f34xiNALBDMen7aHcmFHVLwUh6uqF5z9UGcMndH/s320/ursula.JPG" width="272" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ursula herself is very fond of ice cream so she's got the scoop.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBL1TDvwGGuWuraDQ_vxB7Mwxda9fSAxTDJl0WzTc_uRMOpPmBkqulB7bFAQcuKt_CufZjOG2sXEx2lMHAeAUrnz7I32eTQOeDuVho_MZA4n4l9TU5BOIt5rFAvtOTq_XhJafu5crH8UYL/s1600/100_7384.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBL1TDvwGGuWuraDQ_vxB7Mwxda9fSAxTDJl0WzTc_uRMOpPmBkqulB7bFAQcuKt_CufZjOG2sXEx2lMHAeAUrnz7I32eTQOeDuVho_MZA4n4l9TU5BOIt5rFAvtOTq_XhJafu5crH8UYL/w256-h254/100_7384.JPG" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/07/unicorn-ice-cream-benches-for-ice-cream.html"><font size="1">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/07/unicorn-ice-cream-benches-for-ice-cream.html</font></a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What's all this about National Ice Cream month, Ursula?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Ursula: Well, it was started by President Reagan in 1984. He wanted the month of July to be National Ice Cream Month.</span><br /><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">And National Ice Cream Day is on the third Sunday.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Or is that sundae?</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-jdVCsynw2Weqdb7sjsabzOwU3eO9bbulRHJz67JIP2qLlAJi0Tavii6Si_jPVwkL3kC0j19KyGYgrTx6D1yKhS7N_6zfdPib6n8mheOyP6PhMgTp3zE5mz3s-j4UFvOpZF2iT_mSa1g/s1600/ice+cream+sundae+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-jdVCsynw2Weqdb7sjsabzOwU3eO9bbulRHJz67JIP2qLlAJi0Tavii6Si_jPVwkL3kC0j19KyGYgrTx6D1yKhS7N_6zfdPib6n8mheOyP6PhMgTp3zE5mz3s-j4UFvOpZF2iT_mSa1g/s320/ice+cream+sundae+B.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/angel2dream/2299534730" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/angel2dream/2299534730</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Ursula: In 2023 National Ice Cream Day is July 16th in the US, Canada and the UK.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Strange choice of month. I'd have put Ice Cream Month in winter.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIT1wHCguGSRIyJmxi6-shZatDClZUAp5evQ7QIj6k_2NeZB6c7NDWnvQcBr7Ud-NjZCsnQq3ltLhZHVwGgh7aIMPxDu-e5Oe9vZ1yii9QfkxqX5JshY-8zyULNBJ71b0bLMlPwlBdbg43/s1600/martyn.latenightmovie.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIT1wHCguGSRIyJmxi6-shZatDClZUAp5evQ7QIj6k_2NeZB6c7NDWnvQcBr7Ud-NjZCsnQq3ltLhZHVwGgh7aIMPxDu-e5Oe9vZ1yii9QfkxqX5JshY-8zyULNBJ71b0bLMlPwlBdbg43/s320/martyn.latenightmovie.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn/99338148/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn/99338148/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;">Ursula: Well, in February it's Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. It's a great holiday!</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;">Let me guess. You do two things, right? </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;">1. Eat ice cream</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;"></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white;">2. For breakfast</span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Ursula: Most people enjoy ice cream in summer. One of the joys of summer is hearing the ice cream van's tinkling music as it gets nearer. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlk53erwjJ5UfV1OW4zEPfhsDNSY0C1fTftKUnxVS-KrBX8vZVmOrfPN55Hd5pWzSn7jLxKq4yeC9BLjYAbcfBTTs-gjPAqKe-uylOxCdcpt79G47tFrjfEAn_rP5pjHBNMDGJFpAh0DE/s1600/evil_cheese-scientist.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlk53erwjJ5UfV1OW4zEPfhsDNSY0C1fTftKUnxVS-KrBX8vZVmOrfPN55Hd5pWzSn7jLxKq4yeC9BLjYAbcfBTTs-gjPAqKe-uylOxCdcpt79G47tFrjfEAn_rP5pjHBNMDGJFpAh0DE/s320/evil_cheese-scientist.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/evil_cheese_scientist/9279660732/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/evil_cheese_scientist/9279660732/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lord Brassica's ice cream van played Tchaikovsky.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Of course. He grew up in a posh neighbourhood.</span></span></div><div><font color="#ff00ff" face=""><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6mSaqfVJU78wfR0SSNETsjvWsYLVdnX4-m-9vkWy-vOnyehvB2PaCxZlRn-GCeb84aFsroffiiPxtO0M6mSNzgfM8kPjby-_cnBzD9nUrRreN7x0bEZzUZgwtJNfiS_IOiFIxs3_Tjx5S/s1806/LordB.Drizzlymanor.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><font size="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1806" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6mSaqfVJU78wfR0SSNETsjvWsYLVdnX4-m-9vkWy-vOnyehvB2PaCxZlRn-GCeb84aFsroffiiPxtO0M6mSNzgfM8kPjby-_cnBzD9nUrRreN7x0bEZzUZgwtJNfiS_IOiFIxs3_Tjx5S/s320/LordB.Drizzlymanor.JPG" width="320" /></font></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/05/one-sandwich-short-of-picnic-bench.html"><font size="1">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/05/one-sandwich-short-of-picnic-bench.</font></a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">My dad used to tell me the music meant the ice cream was all sold out. He said all those people rushing to the van were going to be disappointed, so I didn't bother. Saved him a lot of money over the years.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Well, now you can rush out and get yourself a triple treat.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1d70cKVR6hG2SYoVJslIhQmkQp812tq6B-DKyimJvzlq0mzSxGRJb2-WiFEF8liX-EneNOXxPVXmTj7bh-Lv27G_JvEbA8RX2AoT6KTr5rENejGt1h50dGqoFKjHkZI8F_fiJ22AC-za/s1600/asianreplicas.Chocolate%2525203D%252520Ice%252520Cream%252520Model%252520%2526%252520Statue.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1d70cKVR6hG2SYoVJslIhQmkQp812tq6B-DKyimJvzlq0mzSxGRJb2-WiFEF8liX-EneNOXxPVXmTj7bh-Lv27G_JvEbA8RX2AoT6KTr5rENejGt1h50dGqoFKjHkZI8F_fiJ22AC-za/s400/asianreplicas.Chocolate%2525203D%252520Ice%252520Cream%252520Model%252520%2526%252520Statue.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/">www.asianreplicas.com</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">But July is that time of year when everything is melting.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnIa9zYkP9w9KWnnPNP6lfJT5BCBr0pZ20Ucwf7UWDRkbUCj3j4m9RKHcYPfYiJX6Ng-FOMFbU5Av8vV63nuGmXhD9iznSDT8TtMgr-bInGQqJ3hj-nTHSlyFvmjxOvYtaY88GqNHP1w-/s1600/Neko.Dahl.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnIa9zYkP9w9KWnnPNP6lfJT5BCBr0pZ20Ucwf7UWDRkbUCj3j4m9RKHcYPfYiJX6Ng-FOMFbU5Av8vV63nuGmXhD9iznSDT8TtMgr-bInGQqJ3hj-nTHSlyFvmjxOvYtaY88GqNHP1w-/s320/Neko.Dahl.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NekoDahl">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NekoDahl</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And once your bench has melted, even your ice cream van is in danger. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt08DLXjaa0Z4LEgRMLITt5iwsHQ0O-tQJCDxYpENqkmCVDYg6VX7tPjCn6yRrid4d2lE3UuVpHJOoXa8mZ9HppIt7kqmqXWef0o2VpMXtZPAa8yhkgVhCFxxqXIlxrEVkQz7mCocs1aK0/s1600/jokideo.com554352_328242280583154_126894987384552_754025_829628602_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt08DLXjaa0Z4LEgRMLITt5iwsHQ0O-tQJCDxYpENqkmCVDYg6VX7tPjCn6yRrid4d2lE3UuVpHJOoXa8mZ9HppIt7kqmqXWef0o2VpMXtZPAa8yhkgVhCFxxqXIlxrEVkQz7mCocs1aK0/s320/jokideo.com554352_328242280583154_126894987384552_754025_829628602_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://jokideo.com/tag/melted-ice-cream-van/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://jokideo.com/tag/melted-ice-cream-van/</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Ice cream isn't normally associated with danger. I'd like to keep a positive note here, Seashell, if you don't mind. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm disappointed in you, Ursula. I was hoping you would shed some light on ice cream benches for us.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01HP0iNveDZAl4NHA9sNc9txPSbrD0vDGtn9Ka6QSUCqt88Q4HCJVnJMWyR_ThjQqxQepSzGhd1hKnWWe974diFp2oXTOM0uyzjqzp83zyfCFNnSpNUhIuhYWxMlMkH4o3XdpmAKiRNMc/s1600/tangyauhoong.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01HP0iNveDZAl4NHA9sNc9txPSbrD0vDGtn9Ka6QSUCqt88Q4HCJVnJMWyR_ThjQqxQepSzGhd1hKnWWe974diFp2oXTOM0uyzjqzp83zyfCFNnSpNUhIuhYWxMlMkH4o3XdpmAKiRNMc/s200/tangyauhoong.fkcc.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tangyauhoong/5866805977/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/tangyauhoong/5866805977/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Like where did Ben meet Jerry? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What did Baskins think of Robbins? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />And how far did the Arctic roll?<span><a name='more'></a></span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">You need to cool down, Seashell. I might have some ice cream that's right up your street.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcJN1DTQmzfXSiH2GP7aY1teHkZMF0D5QnFGw-Walqcr_F85wMNA0SUo_kvrwxUZ65V_QoexFaGPyJtJckllaBcYuKpdIg0twwt3LqDkGgBvd-KUgKrCQWKPN0vX2iwbACX3p8DyvCDgU/s1200/PhotoFunia-1593531063.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcJN1DTQmzfXSiH2GP7aY1teHkZMF0D5QnFGw-Walqcr_F85wMNA0SUo_kvrwxUZ65V_QoexFaGPyJtJckllaBcYuKpdIg0twwt3LqDkGgBvd-KUgKrCQWKPN0vX2iwbACX3p8DyvCDgU/s320/PhotoFunia-1593531063.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Not funny. </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">How about a nice colourful popsicle to suck on?</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRK2M5aY3ltd3K_q-CtSsOJnZOTEeA3cKmb39GD8sgG5oZVHCaTr4PTfNMD-HEv23-_I-QKXzMW5mTbYwshoqAWU8IcLhFACDvvOJjXE5d4w-7Ls0shRcA8nuxKBkJ3JEp0TJtpYz7BHc/s1600/icecreams2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRK2M5aY3ltd3K_q-CtSsOJnZOTEeA3cKmb39GD8sgG5oZVHCaTr4PTfNMD-HEv23-_I-QKXzMW5mTbYwshoqAWU8IcLhFACDvvOJjXE5d4w-7Ls0shRcA8nuxKBkJ3JEp0TJtpYz7BHc/s320/icecreams2.JPG" width="218" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">I think you'll find these are ice loll</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">ies.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> But I guess that depends on which side of the pond you're on. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I'll get on with the history now. Why don't you get yourself a cup of ice cream and have a seat on the bench?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_6SG0ZOhXsxAjtXrO4hey1laaNrCwL0aCzu844Iwd75QbzMFfT2H_-HcV5e6X16mBy8DEQ439_TvcdSWxYMjDu2TcNMNzFxBrj3vZnkp6-qULbUx5XHl7CR-vLJdFb9XKjxC5nZxSvQN/s1600/wonderlane.lapaz.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_6SG0ZOhXsxAjtXrO4hey1laaNrCwL0aCzu844Iwd75QbzMFfT2H_-HcV5e6X16mBy8DEQ439_TvcdSWxYMjDu2TcNMNzFxBrj3vZnkp6-qULbUx5XHl7CR-vLJdFb9XKjxC5nZxSvQN/s320/wonderlane.lapaz.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4162664610/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4162664610/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Looks good enough to eat. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Great. You get on with that and I'll show you what's hot in ice cream. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Right now it's unicorn flavour!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFFzTzaZZwX_ahY9uoG934WjZ0qVrgX6-f0kSzVwM1dTp8cvvZct7lnLY6jaKCnWKLC3QLU0qhTKzPbC-f-RPHAMOcJJCJsviWghi4IJVUzKXxPJVI-9PrrDrmXYlNXVjOcR8Y-DbGm9N/s1600/unicorn+ice+cream%252C+Montbaur+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="1600" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFFzTzaZZwX_ahY9uoG934WjZ0qVrgX6-f0kSzVwM1dTp8cvvZct7lnLY6jaKCnWKLC3QLU0qhTKzPbC-f-RPHAMOcJJCJsviWghi4IJVUzKXxPJVI-9PrrDrmXYlNXVjOcR8Y-DbGm9N/s320/unicorn+ice+cream%252C+Montbaur+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo, Montbaur, Germany</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Or <i>Ein Horn</i> as they say in Germany. It's magical! </span></div><div><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7L2TJBaaD82ZVaMAKJ4P_m-2Lb-qMfN2PKtrY7EqB_iYn9P2A98Zv-Jwb4y-nTl7OC11lzmS23H65oXyME-RCmMdRo-R_BLKFj1fP-Vc44XSl9BcNI56gl1OagyUvdGU3hxhLRlJRgTwpCOSZNHEueVCIkTue4D726Os9rp21S0lzXZtxRkkecsEsP9w/s1067/FB_IMG_1690488949939.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7L2TJBaaD82ZVaMAKJ4P_m-2Lb-qMfN2PKtrY7EqB_iYn9P2A98Zv-Jwb4y-nTl7OC11lzmS23H65oXyME-RCmMdRo-R_BLKFj1fP-Vc44XSl9BcNI56gl1OagyUvdGU3hxhLRlJRgTwpCOSZNHEueVCIkTue4D726Os9rp21S0lzXZtxRkkecsEsP9w/s320/FB_IMG_1690488949939.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Unicornament</i> 2023, Hannah Lipsey, UK</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Do you remember that 2017 was the Year of the Unicorn Dog Bench?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes. Too many dogs, too many unicorns.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">But is it true that Arctic Rush is the new name for slush?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I'll get to that.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I wish you'd get on with it. I've got my sunglasses on and I'm melting.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHz5_WtaOFAdP82bB4A0A-4ODkNRqFjKskf_TVEDiI4H68iu-UPkKalzT9lIDOIjNF2DRgVAjPFM189yLkNXhGqGOAP8he-pPur3kIR8T-u9l-qP_dP8q6XdLgetTRzXNtSKhhay5ckdMy/s1600/ice+cream+glasses%252C+Oldenburg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><font size="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHz5_WtaOFAdP82bB4A0A-4ODkNRqFjKskf_TVEDiI4H68iu-UPkKalzT9lIDOIjNF2DRgVAjPFM189yLkNXhGqGOAP8he-pPur3kIR8T-u9l-qP_dP8q6XdLgetTRzXNtSKhhay5ckdMy/s400/ice+cream+glasses%252C+Oldenburg.jpg" width="240" /></font></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><a href="https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/08/hot-stuff-benches-for-sizzling-summer.html"><font size="1">https://benchsite.blogspot.com/2018/08/hot-stuff-benches-for-sizzling-summer.html</font></a></b></p><p class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font size="1"><br /></font></p><font size="1"><br /></font></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Can I begin now or are you going to keep interrupting?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I've made a valid point about heat though: in July, ice cream benches melt.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileuIF5vZVW2DjUekGUYA-dcfLFiNDdDt0jRoBGfTHoeUK9nfZTP8hBwp9gThsaaiSGMy2GpF-73P5geqgi4qzc0nsoLFhAqm30LJFXn4QJd9O1zgR5Yf4DuUxpoTtSp-6SmX7_l096PTi/s1600/smoothie-by-florent-degourc.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileuIF5vZVW2DjUekGUYA-dcfLFiNDdDt0jRoBGfTHoeUK9nfZTP8hBwp9gThsaaiSGMy2GpF-73P5geqgi4qzc0nsoLFhAqm30LJFXn4QJd9O1zgR5Yf4DuUxpoTtSp-6SmX7_l096PTi/s320/smoothie-by-florent-degourc.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.florentdegourc.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">http://www.florentdegourc.com</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And now thinking about all this has given me </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. That's I</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">ce Cream Headache to you.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">The cure for ice cream headache is to find yourself a picnic bench, a little shade umbrella, and a cold vanilla cone.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSynlf2SWoleq5qG6mwakHctQq7wzaUbXS0nzYhe3Ue3xQ5NAiF1_0OnkFBUMisFnuI73sB3B0M4uw9v6ctLVzs8uPuwfC7PrXLXt-W4QkkdbPkfXDOkiS6v0oNkeYLUQ82mtY0l7cfS4/s1600/redditpics.com.6DpGNia.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSynlf2SWoleq5qG6mwakHctQq7wzaUbXS0nzYhe3Ue3xQ5NAiF1_0OnkFBUMisFnuI73sB3B0M4uw9v6ctLVzs8uPuwfC7PrXLXt-W4QkkdbPkfXDOkiS6v0oNkeYLUQ82mtY0l7cfS4/s320/redditpics.com.6DpGNia.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://redditpics.com./">redditpics.com.6DpGNia</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I can make a pig of myself with ice cream. But vanilla? Isn't that a bit boring?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Well, it's still the number one ice cream flavour in the US. There's a day for it: June 23rd. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0U_rLqLOwXYOy69B8GRrHChqgIgQKf961_0zNiS9vhYFI_Fu55WqeeW9Y5lAyjDYqUakXi6B8f1SoW5QPsIlHXmIfaCKDkHKiUBF36Jjq3hVHygyE7YOvhJwI8xW40Jp-NtGkDU3FmKP4/s1600/thomas.hawk.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0U_rLqLOwXYOy69B8GRrHChqgIgQKf961_0zNiS9vhYFI_Fu55WqeeW9Y5lAyjDYqUakXi6B8f1SoW5QPsIlHXmIfaCKDkHKiUBF36Jjq3hVHygyE7YOvhJwI8xW40Jp-NtGkDU3FmKP4/s320/thomas.hawk.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/31600080/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/31600080/</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">And did you know that vanilla is more expensive than silver?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">about £440 per kilo? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Though of course nowadays</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> you can get foie gras flavour, or horseradish or beetroot or haggis or . . .</span></div><div><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Wait a minute! These are absurd flavours for ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Maybe you'd prefer black sesame ice cream? That's big in Japan. Or crocodile egg ice cream, which has become a favourite in the Philippines.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">That's disgusting. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">How about coronation chicken gelato, which you can get in London, or cheeseburger ice cream in Colombia? Bacon, octopus, horsemeat - they've all been made into ice cream. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meat-flavoured ice cream leaves me cold. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I agree with you there, Seashell, but how about garlic ice cream or basil? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">You'd be surprised how delicious these new flavours are.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtW_WfAq-ThtYTkOYrIToWmQmLhbxvpvNJqeZL0caqi1h71kIHvoPgw7xmK-swn_m0oS0wSEurURGoOmtzJnsvpTThu8mrTMokYmrymWtA4Vtu4axNqBf8UxXVQrzBfG9IeprexMDuG9FA/s1600/george.thomas.hz536n.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtW_WfAq-ThtYTkOYrIToWmQmLhbxvpvNJqeZL0caqi1h71kIHvoPgw7xmK-swn_m0oS0wSEurURGoOmtzJnsvpTThu8mrTMokYmrymWtA4Vtu4axNqBf8UxXVQrzBfG9IeprexMDuG9FA/s320/george.thomas.hz536n.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hz536n/7470251916/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hz536n/7470251916/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br />How many are there? <br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JEiVBkC7Yd9Mt4YDJ-gBuTMoRUeaIipMttqIGumI6k5WB_-H-vzd-h-NWorBKS2QqyT6guw_K4mr0mI7NNujKQTu869ORQraMkjkwVk3LoDY8_n-ejNhZ3zOmLHqgivvWSAA6MaDm5yesSf5GvujvAEG90tZcTaclVHH0yDxky2mEm02sE5Qbu3voIV6/s1280/FB_IMG_1706111366446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JEiVBkC7Yd9Mt4YDJ-gBuTMoRUeaIipMttqIGumI6k5WB_-H-vzd-h-NWorBKS2QqyT6guw_K4mr0mI7NNujKQTu869ORQraMkjkwVk3LoDY8_n-ejNhZ3zOmLHqgivvWSAA6MaDm5yesSf5GvujvAEG90tZcTaclVHH0yDxky2mEm02sE5Qbu3voIV6/s320/FB_IMG_1706111366446.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adam DeFrance, Sign Appreciation Society Facebook</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">So what's wrong with a good old fashioned ice cream bar?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3xOa1tXHM_AA7rTlqFLqc4MF1hejV-A7bI7QmXiwSGHzJkuQ8_WgNgA9Ho35or7YBoXOefrvATpEEDPz5LQO_S6cXVAAeBho7fG2pe9tolp5DfLIMtgUkneLWZ_xrDBNh6d3g9GAnKg5/s1600/four+kids+on+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3xOa1tXHM_AA7rTlqFLqc4MF1hejV-A7bI7QmXiwSGHzJkuQ8_WgNgA9Ho35or7YBoXOefrvATpEEDPz5LQO_S6cXVAAeBho7fG2pe9tolp5DfLIMtgUkneLWZ_xrDBNh6d3g9GAnKg5/s320/four+kids+on+B.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishmish/3516676025"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishmish/3516676025</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Nothing. Children love them. </span></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I hope you aren't going to show a lot of kids eating ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Why not? Kids and ice cream go together like . . . strawberries and cream. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I suppose it's best to start them early.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJaAOzWjJgs2HZ6RJvdeQCaiooM2jG__1_XKX6ukeHqv12fN_pZmXgb1rSZ-HDm4uW1rxhp09DFmAi5YUTGzktOC43aRf1XOT8wWBDFlKHVM1y8ZdnkP6LXM54qjE3cPaRMeYsZVuQlmJk/s1600/donnierayjones.donnieray.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJaAOzWjJgs2HZ6RJvdeQCaiooM2jG__1_XKX6ukeHqv12fN_pZmXgb1rSZ-HDm4uW1rxhp09DFmAi5YUTGzktOC43aRf1XOT8wWBDFlKHVM1y8ZdnkP6LXM54qjE3cPaRMeYsZVuQlmJk/s320/donnierayjones.donnieray.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/14581168505/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/14581168505/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">It's never the wrong time to give someone ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxztiJQH7Zts7XGhF5lrJRfXcEbjny1R1atL5r5IA7T5XUbOx1AfVNCgf1x40St0FLWlpeKeiwteUnPwLkVqrch-Apj5TzBlzNcTVlsF-XcipaYQ8R3N-QlXhnADSZHj3kuQ-IsPENDEwO/s1600/jennifer-kecl.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxztiJQH7Zts7XGhF5lrJRfXcEbjny1R1atL5r5IA7T5XUbOx1AfVNCgf1x40St0FLWlpeKeiwteUnPwLkVqrch-Apj5TzBlzNcTVlsF-XcipaYQ8R3N-QlXhnADSZHj3kuQ-IsPENDEwO/s320/jennifer-kecl.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifer-kecl/4045300573/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifer-kecl/4045300573/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm not one to complain but I've noticed that this story is a bit pink, Ursula. The ice cream is pink. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVftJPo_aax2nGraCrapU6zP3KI1pwVE7G0QrDWBIJIdHpz4_WeHsYprMo7MDW-3EwUTldnver38M82Scw4uwUyDnBEaqR-RnVTWhG5ieSSA6Sjkwjz899ZShQmiQiS6qvyaWfJDEVKuu/s1600/3541994035_d7196a074f_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVftJPo_aax2nGraCrapU6zP3KI1pwVE7G0QrDWBIJIdHpz4_WeHsYprMo7MDW-3EwUTldnver38M82Scw4uwUyDnBEaqR-RnVTWhG5ieSSA6Sjkwjz899ZShQmiQiS6qvyaWfJDEVKuu/s320/3541994035_d7196a074f_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/joyosity/3541994035/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/joyosity/3541994035/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Lots of the benches are pink. </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYCBT-xN0tvzvpyKxRSL8FVB0XXY2mE25xda41dTb6uht4ysPY6c9Q-Tm7YVUNFy0vP5NdtXyUURjR4vB6RVNZmZGEAfyAxOzMfPWf68TZAqquttYFC-92lmXAt3_T8rUTC8qYSlKft4p/s1600/asianrepplicas.pink.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYCBT-xN0tvzvpyKxRSL8FVB0XXY2mE25xda41dTb6uht4ysPY6c9Q-Tm7YVUNFy0vP5NdtXyUURjR4vB6RVNZmZGEAfyAxOzMfPWf68TZAqquttYFC-92lmXAt3_T8rUTC8qYSlKft4p/s400/asianrepplicas.pink.com.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The ice cream van is pink. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And people are wearing pink.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThSU6QXaZwdsrDYgAhA-KjoNmm4-L4vDta8iK7pIJOcrpMVL37gmDzfV6ZVrot9KI8evPVUlYPOUGkTia6gjcPbMIkm0Yqt8NN7ZHmPtm4hnnUnHkTa3bvqfmXP-fm6mzut-XvQ7q6IBm/s1600/Jessica.Wilson.jek-a-go-go.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThSU6QXaZwdsrDYgAhA-KjoNmm4-L4vDta8iK7pIJOcrpMVL37gmDzfV6ZVrot9KI8evPVUlYPOUGkTia6gjcPbMIkm0Yqt8NN7ZHmPtm4hnnUnHkTa3bvqfmXP-fm6mzut-XvQ7q6IBm/s320/Jessica.Wilson.jek-a-go-go.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/budellison/15993132409">https://www.flickr.com/photos/budellison/15993132409 </a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Have you got something against pink?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No, it's just that here on Benchsite we've already done pink benches. Maybe you could show us some other colours of ice cream benches?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Of course. Here's a lovely multi-coloured popsicle bench. Or ice lolly as you say in the UK. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29eaP6OA-7bujMFQKYMjGXxM2JCCSWTS11babGBZlJOMhRiEWcP5muCdzi88TWDAD_4bpCuRhkUDLHypBlP_ioWVeXcfai604tgfsiio3uhkJyoPp578rxa_CPpTec5ZZMKlF_HFZMqMJ/s1600/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29eaP6OA-7bujMFQKYMjGXxM2JCCSWTS11babGBZlJOMhRiEWcP5muCdzi88TWDAD_4bpCuRhkUDLHypBlP_ioWVeXcfai604tgfsiio3uhkJyoPp578rxa_CPpTec5ZZMKlF_HFZMqMJ/s320/LorenJavier.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3716635389">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3716635389</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Delicious!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I was going to explain that the whole idea of ice cream started way back in China in 200 BC. Ice cream has a fascinating history.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNavwgDTPPJ1hMJW1kD4UhX0Y7-kTC_1jOgYNp5i0z-iYUgagMpARI0LKgGZAtHnzrK_3cuWThbmpF7h_NFiwUhbx5UpGhPSNERLK3O0Yj_GcY5qIdNK6bz84oKOTYaTxZuzE_t7jaFaz/s1600/shocked+woman.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNavwgDTPPJ1hMJW1kD4UhX0Y7-kTC_1jOgYNp5i0z-iYUgagMpARI0LKgGZAtHnzrK_3cuWThbmpF7h_NFiwUhbx5UpGhPSNERLK3O0Yj_GcY5qIdNK6bz84oKOTYaTxZuzE_t7jaFaz/s320/shocked+woman.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">source unknown</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Is this going to take long? Because if so, I'll bring a sandwich.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsg0i6sgoYAqxen2FpOVkHC16ogGxPNh6gz6nZk67pT_x7-o5qo7qyMYwnCcAXtApkdmkC2kBKevlOTJpL2i9ofR5zNRlk70WpXtrBC4wFGwgZf0rJ1mY9-HVAYq4oEnD9k5OL30T3mBFC/s1600/kiri_no_hana.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsg0i6sgoYAqxen2FpOVkHC16ogGxPNh6gz6nZk67pT_x7-o5qo7qyMYwnCcAXtApkdmkC2kBKevlOTJpL2i9ofR5zNRlk70WpXtrBC4wFGwgZf0rJ1mY9-HVAYq4oEnD9k5OL30T3mBFC/s320/kiri_no_hana.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiri_no_hana/9674443344/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiri_no_hana/9674443344/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">An ice cream sandwich bench of course.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUWSKyQaeM7JXxLZaQGVi8itA5C7P3wmAPIrmK1tRwWBFWwVZD0F9oMaJf0Yw2YgpH9CgV0A31vEQ-R4b6erExopjj2BGm9zWIPEZHqiSdoIIlRAwuIBD8Ice0BTyL-I0ekJbG-L_mvBK/s1600/jellio.com.ice_cream_bench_l_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUWSKyQaeM7JXxLZaQGVi8itA5C7P3wmAPIrmK1tRwWBFWwVZD0F9oMaJf0Yw2YgpH9CgV0A31vEQ-R4b6erExopjj2BGm9zWIPEZHqiSdoIIlRAwuIBD8Ice0BTyL-I0ekJbG-L_mvBK/s320/jellio.com.ice_cream_bench_l_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.jellio.com/">www.jellio.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I'd like to get on with it now if that's not too much to ask. Otherwise I'm going to the beach and you can do the history yourself.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9LjOjQ6YStnyRbSaBeJc6WSIY51cjl-H8kaRs-WzskArlKiffYKf0slfkWeiEMVBNr3nvMEKhtgPA2cZ2b9ENYfAmzSkZa9YPZZuxqtK3_URopmshX95Cfoq-GDz2kDXtfJJOOoW93Nj/s1600/ursula+summer.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9LjOjQ6YStnyRbSaBeJc6WSIY51cjl-H8kaRs-WzskArlKiffYKf0slfkWeiEMVBNr3nvMEKhtgPA2cZ2b9ENYfAmzSkZa9YPZZuxqtK3_URopmshX95Cfoq-GDz2kDXtfJJOOoW93Nj/s400/ursula+summer.JPG" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/sunny-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/sunny-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Let me guess - ice cream started with snow cones?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: magenta;">Well, yes. In the T'ang dynasty in China the king kept 94 ice men on hand to lug ice to the palace.</span></span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">And in</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> the Roman Empire the emperor sent runners into the mountains for snow, which was then flavoured with fruits and juices. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cool!</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Our friends Stanko and Darko are from Snowvenia. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtvKkAEicHAvze5L6qPtGOYJyi_MDaxg9S67uTeTzmTyAsXdxPwYZglL996lxcQ-oOnefdGW68nsdYUokQ_LPGiq9ESHjvMkViAc1xzzhndsXNKvWqBr6RW4aeG-PCSg-7XzPoSqoI00L/s1600/stanko%2526darko.darksnow.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtvKkAEicHAvze5L6qPtGOYJyi_MDaxg9S67uTeTzmTyAsXdxPwYZglL996lxcQ-oOnefdGW68nsdYUokQ_LPGiq9ESHjvMkViAc1xzzhndsXNKvWqBr6RW4aeG-PCSg-7XzPoSqoI00L/s320/stanko%2526darko.darksnow.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">They're very fond of snow cones though it can be hard to work out what's ice cream and what's just snow.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">You have to look carefully.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndHXnAhZvdSO3XPCwwRV1ffn7hwsJo324qTCpwngCvjQPZmP7poxgyhxbcI4hTgb0NBX3fFsQI_ASsW8-NGYbRNq3D1nAn9lEyp4JHKCPGI1Klbna6ixjg73t4T0MMtQW6qfQFHX4MKE7/s1600/Lynne+is+ice+fishing+%25281%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndHXnAhZvdSO3XPCwwRV1ffn7hwsJo324qTCpwngCvjQPZmP7poxgyhxbcI4hTgb0NBX3fFsQI_ASsW8-NGYbRNq3D1nAn9lEyp4JHKCPGI1Klbna6ixjg73t4T0MMtQW6qfQFHX4MKE7/s320/Lynne+is+ice+fishing+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image by Lynne Woodward</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The <strike>sladoled</strike> ice cream in <strike>Snowvenia</strike> Slovenia is brilliant though - so many gorgeous flavours.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIalvQck7IFzThtmqDdFDtI5DYp9QoIDFQS0TV2rOAhEk0xbIdMEKfm5M2eIHqUPa9GMhKZ2-d-h7GHduI59Y2ugpaZMOADfCqE9XpMDQzV7YwEzWIP9erAa1HU1hrA5PVKJor4awTzpJB/s1600/bohinj.icecream.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIalvQck7IFzThtmqDdFDtI5DYp9QoIDFQS0TV2rOAhEk0xbIdMEKfm5M2eIHqUPa9GMhKZ2-d-h7GHduI59Y2ugpaZMOADfCqE9XpMDQzV7YwEzWIP9erAa1HU1hrA5PVKJor4awTzpJB/s400/bohinj.icecream.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">And the ice cream looks as colourful as the benches!</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHzv03IzF5Nr3An6nTxbxKqlMd1XW9LTisfie_BoiPUO94X4sigDb0BDaEciexf-PmkyNMVF9duMuJlWJoEXlhGSFmqGAmp8B3p3wcgnquTZ5u8wAv3aUADB0VuGcihzrty6XHhqvy0N8/s1600/americo.meira.fkcc.loads.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHzv03IzF5Nr3An6nTxbxKqlMd1XW9LTisfie_BoiPUO94X4sigDb0BDaEciexf-PmkyNMVF9duMuJlWJoEXlhGSFmqGAmp8B3p3wcgnquTZ5u8wAv3aUADB0VuGcihzrty6XHhqvy0N8/s320/americo.meira.fkcc.loads.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/60083277@N00/4758515045/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/60083277@N00/4758515045/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I wondered if you were ever going to mention benches, Ursula. I don't want to be critical but you've wandered off the subject a lot. What's happened to your ice cream bench story?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">There were more than a few interruptions.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Alright. Carry on then.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Well, once upon a time there was a Dairy Queen . . . </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5DhCrRf-yUOv3SmXMi8PLboz_DPJmUBicJ5u8jc7oKd7WdCNrNc4Z2rZOTmJbWIAYHlplQq0_hItMS5WujHjJXCiRW2ixay4JP4eD3tUGHDQUDWQ6D_Q5hkF2fkZa2gAqY-6I8OEQBgQx/s1600/9340906101_e4445452b7_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5DhCrRf-yUOv3SmXMi8PLboz_DPJmUBicJ5u8jc7oKd7WdCNrNc4Z2rZOTmJbWIAYHlplQq0_hItMS5WujHjJXCiRW2ixay4JP4eD3tUGHDQUDWQ6D_Q5hkF2fkZa2gAqY-6I8OEQBgQx/s320/9340906101_e4445452b7_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/9340906101/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/9340906101/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Oh, no. No romantic stories this time. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">But there <i>was</i> a Dairy Queen! Still is. It's called DQ now though.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Just give us a potted history of ice cream. Make sure you give credit to the cows who provide it.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">You're udderly right, Seashell. We mustn't forget the cows.</span> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYQoLzgRo4uSgPF7-poi9dCf5wkpaaLh-F_mSZSR8tF5d2kn4XCtn6j9sEcIyBkmLZ3k7GZaymvjjwYAyXyhrW8lncVzEoX-W_oLg4VaTi80_WpA4H7tQq2QZ0KmKVcgBTWFJOkWgnbJh/s1600/caden.cow2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYQoLzgRo4uSgPF7-poi9dCf5wkpaaLh-F_mSZSR8tF5d2kn4XCtn6j9sEcIyBkmLZ3k7GZaymvjjwYAyXyhrW8lncVzEoX-W_oLg4VaTi80_WpA4H7tQq2QZ0KmKVcgBTWFJOkWgnbJh/s320/caden.cow2.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">As they say in the States, this cream is a non-dairy product.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">You're right. Lots of what we call ice cream doesn't actually have any cream in it. Or any fresh milk either. A recent survey in the UK found that only half of vanilla ice cream in the UK contains cream, fresh milk and vanilla. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I've worked out a way to know the ones that have everything good though.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Really? How do you know that?</span></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Two words: </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ben and Jerry. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Green and Black. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Haagen and Dazs. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Also Yeo and Valley. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Birch and Deen. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Wait and Rose. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And one of my personal favourites, Kelly and Cornwall. </span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">I think we need to make it clear that this isn't an exhaustive list of quality ice creams. </span></span><span style="color: magenta;">Other brands are available.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">My personal favourite is Butterscotch with Salted Caramel, sold only at . . . </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: #ff00fe;">This is not a brand placement blog, Seashell.</span> </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">OK. The best homemade ice cream is my very own Pomegranate and Rosewater, which is a delicious deep pink and made with . . . </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #ff00fe;">There you go with pink again. </span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Does the colour of cow matter I wonder?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSAhCIDfET_Kz4r9opQLZ_yYZOFf30fGc41G93kFgjDhOTZ9Essc76TRFuT5INtjUzCftuDVrjIs3up1kpW-kU6PREu4OvcxWg6_7FUJZ8OFRitlES6U9I5ZJ0GuN1W-BdfeE-eOU8x1z/s1600/800px-Cowstatue.wk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSAhCIDfET_Kz4r9opQLZ_yYZOFf30fGc41G93kFgjDhOTZ9Essc76TRFuT5INtjUzCftuDVrjIs3up1kpW-kU6PREu4OvcxWg6_7FUJZ8OFRitlES6U9I5ZJ0GuN1W-BdfeE-eOU8x1z/s320/800px-Cowstatue.wk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cowstatue.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cowstatue.jpg</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Like blue cow, blue ice cream?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKY22KJ07eNeMZTpwVoTn63QMxV_TIdee11udchCsb_3J_2-aR15_xJhL6mVopeXbPHGSql4vfPrMIeNuu5k2weuq0VYUgnHZudHAhI0YO1khhyo0xai-iuT3PPCcqjh-sSN2kKwinkK9/s1600/399px-Das_kind_im_manne_%2528207561933%2529.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKY22KJ07eNeMZTpwVoTn63QMxV_TIdee11udchCsb_3J_2-aR15_xJhL6mVopeXbPHGSql4vfPrMIeNuu5k2weuq0VYUgnHZudHAhI0YO1khhyo0xai-iuT3PPCcqjh-sSN2kKwinkK9/s320/399px-Das_kind_im_manne_%2528207561933%2529.WK.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/extranoise/207561933/in/photolist-jkNW2">https://www.flickr.com/photos/extranoise/207561933/in/photolist-jkNW2</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I would like to get on with my history if you don't mind.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Whatever <strike>ice cream</strike> floats your boat.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">So centuries ago the Arabs flavoured ice with rosewater, dried fruit and nuts. And the concept of ice cream spread all over the world.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I doubt if their rosewater was as good as mine. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">There are so many different ways of making flavoured ices: granita in Spain, kulfi in Southeast Asia and the Middle East; gelato in Italy.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I had one of the best gelatos ever. It wasn't in Italy though: it was at Glassissimo in Neuhaus in Germany.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Hp3ce2MXejpvwrDXNcdKlfn__ED26t3_LKzVXRjcyp0hjuuBDVthIBVmZGRcZlhxj2S18J-8f0eyCYQF-uR4cSY20p3w7qDL7vlA0Kf3ggeK_A2gv9ibXTN_vq-cr1fmeyw-W0bumL5p/s1600/Glassissimo+Dierhagen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Hp3ce2MXejpvwrDXNcdKlfn__ED26t3_LKzVXRjcyp0hjuuBDVthIBVmZGRcZlhxj2S18J-8f0eyCYQF-uR4cSY20p3w7qDL7vlA0Kf3ggeK_A2gv9ibXTN_vq-cr1fmeyw-W0bumL5p/s400/Glassissimo+Dierhagen.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And when we were at Lake Como we had gelato every day at Lo Scalino.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzqiW-cGoppyZV8cfxs2y9frreOlKAmVW4_9JeQc09dCwlmckaR-ZEgLk1ShhvJCdaXo_zVArzOCBSrFeuBcw9gGr7RVai91tniDMCVnFytLkdQp84XCgnAJAIm8rXjlquEL4O36uPoWfV/s1600/ice+cream.sign.como.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzqiW-cGoppyZV8cfxs2y9frreOlKAmVW4_9JeQc09dCwlmckaR-ZEgLk1ShhvJCdaXo_zVArzOCBSrFeuBcw9gGr7RVai91tniDMCVnFytLkdQp84XCgnAJAIm8rXjlquEL4O36uPoWfV/s320/ice+cream.sign.como.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html</a> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">We had limone, tiramisu, pesca, cioccolata, zabaione, pistachio . . . </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Did you try spaghetti ice cream?</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCagp3z6X0lEIOT533dqO02VuyjovCTP2I_9GTnuuoJhV4IsnHA75GWtAI1PXBDDq9yVF1ZYrpPQ2w8UVdMV5JYc3m5U9lsbsyiodX2MZbQiRMFSDrW4oV8fbHPIph5RWankrvFNm5dPrP/s1600/christian.cable.nexus_icon.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCagp3z6X0lEIOT533dqO02VuyjovCTP2I_9GTnuuoJhV4IsnHA75GWtAI1PXBDDq9yVF1ZYrpPQ2w8UVdMV5JYc3m5U9lsbsyiodX2MZbQiRMFSDrW4oV8fbHPIph5RWankrvFNm5dPrP/s320/christian.cable.nexus_icon.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nexus_icon/1191717420/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nexus_icon/1191717420/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No, I'm very conscious of my weight.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaJ1vD5YMkUuyriPRpWtIL5AJ4v2DjVK1vL1JHWcaMma5qruPCZzcRlkb4FzXEhc-8Ij-pqSRTYIwnTcCVgoF-7gn4xdaBKQZ5JpLmmsWZfi0gAJRtDJzLZ4_HwohINsY2sO5UzntpFF_/s1600/kamshots.kamyar.adl.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaJ1vD5YMkUuyriPRpWtIL5AJ4v2DjVK1vL1JHWcaMma5qruPCZzcRlkb4FzXEhc-8Ij-pqSRTYIwnTcCVgoF-7gn4xdaBKQZ5JpLmmsWZfi0gAJRtDJzLZ4_HwohINsY2sO5UzntpFF_/s320/kamshots.kamyar.adl.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/222011993/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/222011993/ </a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And I wouldn't carry my ice cream into the toilets either. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Not in a month of <strike>Sundays</strike> sundaes. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPz0XipQYypEuvRBIALBZmDAGDjGLQ3xIlmsD75DbvhjY2i89bOTxg3XNPcjbkCcnsiKnLQG_WFpmlTFAfepEyI_FCSbHAE0XIlw5K8WbxGRhKiwJPdejhPCDmsQaVf6SF81StUWuZ57c/s1600/asianreplicas.Ice%252520Cream%252520Shop%252520Furniture.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPz0XipQYypEuvRBIALBZmDAGDjGLQ3xIlmsD75DbvhjY2i89bOTxg3XNPcjbkCcnsiKnLQG_WFpmlTFAfepEyI_FCSbHAE0XIlw5K8WbxGRhKiwJPdejhPCDmsQaVf6SF81StUWuZ57c/s320/asianreplicas.Ice%252520Cream%252520Shop%252520Furniture.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">By the mid 18th century ordinary people in the Mediterranean region had access to ice cream. And i</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">ce cream reached the Americas in the eighteenth century. George Washington spent $200 on ice cream in the hot summer of 1790.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Cherry flavoured? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">No, it wouldn't be. He cut down the tree, didn't he?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Did you know that newly arrived immigrants to the United States were welcomed with ice cream at Ellis Island?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IsY-xc1BcIDo5ce6ANc8OmcFA98Olqsx_-3CKTQUuAq0h2ky3PXSFB0xzVJgdvdEBra0cQ8uq5grZub-Y-hJuOaYsREm5C8S0v2s8gJ81wl5f8R2NQQGpIUZfkUryWP2r4FtB94lXTEB/s1600/450px-Soft_liberty_th.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IsY-xc1BcIDo5ce6ANc8OmcFA98Olqsx_-3CKTQUuAq0h2ky3PXSFB0xzVJgdvdEBra0cQ8uq5grZub-Y-hJuOaYsREm5C8S0v2s8gJ81wl5f8R2NQQGpIUZfkUryWP2r4FtB94lXTEB/s320/450px-Soft_liberty_th.WK.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soft_liberty_th.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soft_liberty_th.jpg</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">With a welcome like that they wouldn't be up, up and away, would they?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmkC_2yXmfr22VFOVO0hDUmYxapxJmmrVU0HIOMvi_NT7kFuCICrCRhITW2_9taSyIv4aTYJUhJqQS9_LcDywqdhAfZ0To0IWRB7-YIUrvU-BOmzMpK-xya0AkzhnQgQVUPIjNnvQV3hk/s1600/balloon+cone.WK.M%25C3%25BCnster%252C_Montgolfiade_2007_--_2007_--_8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmkC_2yXmfr22VFOVO0hDUmYxapxJmmrVU0HIOMvi_NT7kFuCICrCRhITW2_9taSyIv4aTYJUhJqQS9_LcDywqdhAfZ0To0IWRB7-YIUrvU-BOmzMpK-xya0AkzhnQgQVUPIjNnvQV3hk/s320/balloon+cone.WK.M%25C3%25BCnster%252C_Montgolfiade_2007_--_2007_--_8.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%BCnster,_Montgolfiade_2007_--_2007_--_8.jpg">Dietmar Rabich, rabich.de, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Americans are the biggest consumers of ice cream to this day. In 2011 they ate 1.53 billion gallons of ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Must be hard carrying all those gallons of ice cream around. Especially if you have to carry the freezer with you. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">The invention of ice cream cones made ice cream more portable.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7sKcFi1cv5haGxXYtZNF8oinwNwHsGRS0zF4c2P4yT_abbsVInwHjqcCYPMFEeoiNCESrlJjIqK9AqxAngXzjL72ogHmCq-1om8e6MUQ63EJ4UQ6Bom6S-DCMhQWPxdFD1B8tmbT4sB/s1600/petalouda62.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7sKcFi1cv5haGxXYtZNF8oinwNwHsGRS0zF4c2P4yT_abbsVInwHjqcCYPMFEeoiNCESrlJjIqK9AqxAngXzjL72ogHmCq-1om8e6MUQ63EJ4UQ6Bom6S-DCMhQWPxdFD1B8tmbT4sB/s320/petalouda62.fkcc.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/30990153@N03/4564469223/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/30990153@N03/4564469223/ </a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I guess ice cream cones made quite a splash.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40OqXkLuD5eJk31Ecw9K3MsQU0qET4WZii_nH5qul_nsj-cE3ywUkEPm615cliji3mLm2tTfca8crwaDbWA17xZ4syMNU5WEdMhQi2egJP2TGvQYt39KqqfxrboNQypONbTJzSLN9UN6p/s1600/infomatique.william.Murphy.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40OqXkLuD5eJk31Ecw9K3MsQU0qET4WZii_nH5qul_nsj-cE3ywUkEPm615cliji3mLm2tTfca8crwaDbWA17xZ4syMNU5WEdMhQi2egJP2TGvQYt39KqqfxrboNQypONbTJzSLN9UN6p/s320/infomatique.william.Murphy.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6977754833/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6977754833/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Yes, they appeared at the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904. And around the same time, so did sorbet, sherbert, sodas, and ice cream floats. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Nowadays ice cream is wall-to-wall.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYnfiid9TKir6B6WfeKfXubl4pReBdtCnaaN6iejKHFL6BKYsvvqQ9mgPpHCtWYHkbqzA0rIMky_1zeTPl6Pt7sv3Ps7LSMoz0BoGmA847ixfCD81bAWiMrEZQkvlNclo4mw86FUMVvvb/s1600/joel.haas.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYnfiid9TKir6B6WfeKfXubl4pReBdtCnaaN6iejKHFL6BKYsvvqQ9mgPpHCtWYHkbqzA0rIMky_1zeTPl6Pt7sv3Ps7LSMoz0BoGmA847ixfCD81bAWiMrEZQkvlNclo4mw86FUMVvvb/s320/joel.haas.fkcc+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/macwagen/8261452492/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/macwagen/8261452492/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Young . . . </span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTEFmrBqo6lJgscfyjhcyRFJneIJig289Iq9oR4DTE06hs4DDLylynjyvfA-yHKcI72dO7hIqNuZBBpmTk6jaeVXz1xSOf30rDqM1JOwg3ACoKB8wLUZsGEPw7ZvSigarZwo2S4chIi1K/s1600/birthday+girl+on+B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTEFmrBqo6lJgscfyjhcyRFJneIJig289Iq9oR4DTE06hs4DDLylynjyvfA-yHKcI72dO7hIqNuZBBpmTk6jaeVXz1xSOf30rDqM1JOwg3ACoKB8wLUZsGEPw7ZvSigarZwo2S4chIi1K/s320/birthday+girl+on+B.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/makz/3383161472" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/makz/3383161472</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">. . . and old</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikzERRZLwkS6EZB5yiX3JOYuHrt0kBWZFDbJdygYJ6KtpkYNwiRgg9AFR5uwT_udoHdKBCyadkgoLf6ppiZelbgYTDPJuHHzQs8MAAiVZL9savBNAQADDYgxXeiDG5ECuQRF4Mi3WC27UX/s1600/kamshots.kamyar.adl.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikzERRZLwkS6EZB5yiX3JOYuHrt0kBWZFDbJdygYJ6KtpkYNwiRgg9AFR5uwT_udoHdKBCyadkgoLf6ppiZelbgYTDPJuHHzQs8MAAiVZL9savBNAQADDYgxXeiDG5ECuQRF4Mi3WC27UX/s320/kamshots.kamyar.adl.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/2453375667/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/2453375667/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">people all over the world love eating ice cream cones.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpdTO5UWc6ofDUiPADRJ_awK2qq658n8fVpbMSc_oAPT1ijuLxMY0aS1V3rVM9cc4nd5GFwIk4yWUovx2wIIiDiGTmsCHw9WYV-I6k6751sPZ5smdRqY3VajC0tWXJZYe-Hfu4sGA652WZ/s1600/Sharing_Bronze_Sculpture.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpdTO5UWc6ofDUiPADRJ_awK2qq658n8fVpbMSc_oAPT1ijuLxMY0aS1V3rVM9cc4nd5GFwIk4yWUovx2wIIiDiGTmsCHw9WYV-I6k6751sPZ5smdRqY3VajC0tWXJZYe-Hfu4sGA652WZ/s320/Sharing_Bronze_Sculpture.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hankzby/5939523357/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hankzby/5939523357/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes. Licks are unlimited.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIxSxDFLrHLO6BgcP5-GapiXg0gw_tA2a5ebG_tx9TU4vFtZ0UnyRxzzJBByRmT9CQIByKPWxDz-roWpQIvgoH_aObDw9V6ZC23D5CHvKDv7aR407ImY1VM9wc5Xpw5cr_aXZ2MVNM06u/s1600/jpellgen.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIxSxDFLrHLO6BgcP5-GapiXg0gw_tA2a5ebG_tx9TU4vFtZ0UnyRxzzJBByRmT9CQIByKPWxDz-roWpQIvgoH_aObDw9V6ZC23D5CHvKDv7aR407ImY1VM9wc5Xpw5cr_aXZ2MVNM06u/s320/jpellgen.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellgen/7686311858/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellgen/7686311858/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />There's even a <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/a-calendar-of-benches-for-september.html">National Ice Cream Cone Day in September</a>.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Lots of people get themselves an ice cream machine and make their own.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfBQjz3vTDnglJKjf6kDwdPhwlWAe3TZ8NOKBkZoxMdyeK4GSwic9sqM7K_zVUwYN8fFccte4ooGiC_JZYZm9HjiriOdYR0IxqiHmAiC61DzjH6cqbtNEukSz8jscuxlsSVZvqkng3N2Q/s1600/9404723700_fe1af8b894_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfBQjz3vTDnglJKjf6kDwdPhwlWAe3TZ8NOKBkZoxMdyeK4GSwic9sqM7K_zVUwYN8fFccte4ooGiC_JZYZm9HjiriOdYR0IxqiHmAiC61DzjH6cqbtNEukSz8jscuxlsSVZvqkng3N2Q/s320/9404723700_fe1af8b894_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9404723700/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9404723700/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This ice cream machine looks like a gem.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLU4w_GndJBhnIwng82Ja_9wkmC91VEl2mggB6aocSyFJ6S2v1aYb9JOHjs34g8JNx0M_q6t6rPt3pLUm1ijZQ28JZ3NwpOpSsY1yuCvgGxwFBTC0pDAsBD4CiPzLMbgmVZ2vUUyFhIH7j/s1600/9401965547_41c2639d74_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLU4w_GndJBhnIwng82Ja_9wkmC91VEl2mggB6aocSyFJ6S2v1aYb9JOHjs34g8JNx0M_q6t6rPt3pLUm1ijZQ28JZ3NwpOpSsY1yuCvgGxwFBTC0pDAsBD4CiPzLMbgmVZ2vUUyFhIH7j/s400/9401965547_41c2639d74_z.jpg" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9401965547/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9401965547/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">It's a simple recipe.</span></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmkJuiduNCCPLhHL4UE3heJPPV4Ty2VNH7pZjCHoQ2V9dYXXuMg3Kk1iUI0W8WJOu1MzkzqvAuiPXVVRJhsUTHdb6BIYrMC9jIfzQZ_sxnplpYWzXNTj2s-I1y3y9Lw2FS7f6ct1TifzV/s1600/kaytebug.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmkJuiduNCCPLhHL4UE3heJPPV4Ty2VNH7pZjCHoQ2V9dYXXuMg3Kk1iUI0W8WJOu1MzkzqvAuiPXVVRJhsUTHdb6BIYrMC9jIfzQZ_sxnplpYWzXNTj2s-I1y3y9Lw2FS7f6ct1TifzV/s320/kaytebug.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaytebug/16673657845/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaytebug/16673657845/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You don't need a machine though. My imaginary best friend Miggy makes fabulous ice cream without a machine. The only problem is, you have to get there quick.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioykpxdbq8if51iXt54DIT4JZGO47UnyCDzk8m9Pg36cdEaamtbMYgKIv6cS1ZOaFEEF9yxmYmy8gDW3Zge73RPcGNZwptTt4XQwZeR7NDJ3SYiLKR4tZ6YOlnnJEan3hx0FvLxq0N8b2U/s1600/Al__Wielkopolska_Poznan.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioykpxdbq8if51iXt54DIT4JZGO47UnyCDzk8m9Pg36cdEaamtbMYgKIv6cS1ZOaFEEF9yxmYmy8gDW3Zge73RPcGNZwptTt4XQwZeR7NDJ3SYiLKR4tZ6YOlnnJEan3hx0FvLxq0N8b2U/s320/Al__Wielkopolska_Poznan.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al._Wielkopolska_Poznan.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al._Wielkopolska_Poznan.jpg</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You know how some people are very keen on ice cream. They'll sit on an ice cream sundae bench and eat an ice cream cone.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKE4NehrXdo8doO3-iAVhCLkO6Ca91NUSmVm2V35ycX6gXKWHdalfUSV-HL1BBkWJfhX3s2kUc0IqhUwj1ex6gNt1nDZnrAO2F1zt7HnckALkf4-lVOFeUnK9YJGV5SS4iVrluvYS2AtV/s1600/asianreplicas.Fudge%252520Fiberglass%252520Ice%252520Cream%252520Bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKE4NehrXdo8doO3-iAVhCLkO6Ca91NUSmVm2V35ycX6gXKWHdalfUSV-HL1BBkWJfhX3s2kUc0IqhUwj1ex6gNt1nDZnrAO2F1zt7HnckALkf4-lVOFeUnK9YJGV5SS4iVrluvYS2AtV/s320/asianreplicas.Fudge%252520Fiberglass%252520Ice%252520Cream%252520Bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">It's probably better to buy individual cones rather than sharing a cup with someone like that.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTEzUHdtDZ8vY8m_lDZBYVIlFdGhV9fVn6bVLCqSTFV4ludO7Azw_6khukSNqKB8ze1K1LleyRvWLui3ZN5PHT3VF-1QGXiHgVGpANVTeMiYn8urY8VxKlV_q5AUUK-U4elr2gxuBgeaQ/s1600/100_5710.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTEzUHdtDZ8vY8m_lDZBYVIlFdGhV9fVn6bVLCqSTFV4ludO7Azw_6khukSNqKB8ze1K1LleyRvWLui3ZN5PHT3VF-1QGXiHgVGpANVTeMiYn8urY8VxKlV_q5AUUK-U4elr2gxuBgeaQ/s320/100_5710.JPG" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo, Minehead, Somerset</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yes, but Miggy often buys two ice cream cones, both for herself.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietnMa2M3Rybp8ZzxUerlSNPPE6SFJBstF5B4ucaHrelre8ACndliUgf4OEAzHyVbrXs3MMfoHRPgiHaG5b_W1wKUbG2J2-lmM6xNMIEWXPwz9SKHSFYr7zCO3fqRUhkIaKH1WxQolgR3i/s1600/ice+creams.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietnMa2M3Rybp8ZzxUerlSNPPE6SFJBstF5B4ucaHrelre8ACndliUgf4OEAzHyVbrXs3MMfoHRPgiHaG5b_W1wKUbG2J2-lmM6xNMIEWXPwz9SKHSFYr7zCO3fqRUhkIaKH1WxQolgR3i/s320/ice+creams.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">You might need to stand up and demand your own.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLT0RlUWxsbwAVVPSO_t2RYdkQy66aUd3g-pwLHVwBOWIjMCJ3g0lNp9HG4ZpA_1JTEJnqKz4hOU0Q4t5oU0sYNxSjuzxYIUxcsktXKjPWsigG94eCSUayXozyrQ_F0Lf8jcoourGklIA/s1600/Jessica.Wilson.jek-a-go-go.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLT0RlUWxsbwAVVPSO_t2RYdkQy66aUd3g-pwLHVwBOWIjMCJ3g0lNp9HG4ZpA_1JTEJnqKz4hOU0Q4t5oU0sYNxSjuzxYIUxcsktXKjPWsigG94eCSUayXozyrQ_F0Lf8jcoourGklIA/s320/Jessica.Wilson.jek-a-go-go.fkcc+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/3809224475/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/3809224475/</span></a><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">After all this, I feel like ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Funny, you don't look like ice cream. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I HATE that joke. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And anyway, some people DO look like ice cream. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FgVS7gL4p05sKhr2R75KlcE_m2Ig7gKcetI3_yxKdxnhH1B9jSIVeYplkpAYMmLCdwQSFYmBz-V6zi4JfgeOmRcQrc5w5ViL2jkxLTyDHUzPw9gS4xV1iks2x-CDdKVGmO25yN3rl1yo/s1600/letsdad.wordpress.comfunny-fat-man-ice-cream2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FgVS7gL4p05sKhr2R75KlcE_m2Ig7gKcetI3_yxKdxnhH1B9jSIVeYplkpAYMmLCdwQSFYmBz-V6zi4JfgeOmRcQrc5w5ViL2jkxLTyDHUzPw9gS4xV1iks2x-CDdKVGmO25yN3rl1yo/s320/letsdad.wordpress.comfunny-fat-man-ice-cream2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://letsdad.wordpress.com/tag/guide-to-dad-jokes/">https://letsdad.wordpress.com/tag/guide-to-dad-jokes/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I like the look of this Polish ice cream. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKlpco9wq7jXVQ4Z5hqtgla6p5UN6vTR7H0CMksLI_urgM84bvC7TQsLqbDfCWpcLcwDFLXup86qmmfixp8vSlf3D9bFsEbCu930kGBVYe4Sb3Rnwgv_QDKvckNeKq_Mf9gv4-yXZNrJJ/s1600/ice+cream+in+Poland.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKlpco9wq7jXVQ4Z5hqtgla6p5UN6vTR7H0CMksLI_urgM84bvC7TQsLqbDfCWpcLcwDFLXup86qmmfixp8vSlf3D9bFsEbCu930kGBVYe4Sb3Rnwgv_QDKvckNeKq_Mf9gv4-yXZNrJJ/s320/ice+cream+in+Poland.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/desperately-seeking-benches-our-summer.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/desperately-seeking-benches-our-summer.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I can recommend the truskawka. Or the czekolada. The wanilia is very nice too.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I've finished this history so I need a cup of coffee and an ice cream</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgFXPAEz0Ay6bf8ND3SXwk1HBtnQS4xwSvEnADM_kBn7_oWt1Qf1f7DzFmF95ajhwQu0l4LpNW7s7Yf-60LBF9nuyNLAYEvpD9S1cu1B-ngGK39XqzMyVXnJPtITsEyS83d5nLS414_uP/s1600/loreshdw.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgFXPAEz0Ay6bf8ND3SXwk1HBtnQS4xwSvEnADM_kBn7_oWt1Qf1f7DzFmF95ajhwQu0l4LpNW7s7Yf-60LBF9nuyNLAYEvpD9S1cu1B-ngGK39XqzMyVXnJPtITsEyS83d5nLS414_uP/s320/loreshdw.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/loreshdw/164346365/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/loreshdw/164346365/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'd like to carry on with the list of quality ice creams. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">What about <i>Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Vanilla</i>? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">No! I NEED ICE CREAM!</span></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Me too, Ursula. But have you heard about the newest ice cream flavour in the US? </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARuIqksuYGoY751t1uZhII9qbgAOuHZBDjI9Ir1fZa-euN5PE2uyMwvl_DfJlxCnYrdrD-V-5UiRMizb-QGBSqLiFJiGU52NLolHvlHkiYfeX3bzYQo7_bSdB-V9GoiCuDDezQm4XYOVF/s1600/IMG_1382.PNG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARuIqksuYGoY751t1uZhII9qbgAOuHZBDjI9Ir1fZa-euN5PE2uyMwvl_DfJlxCnYrdrD-V-5UiRMizb-QGBSqLiFJiGU52NLolHvlHkiYfeX3bzYQo7_bSdB-V9GoiCuDDezQm4XYOVF/s1600/IMG_1382.PNG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">source unknown</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">I'm not sure whether it's peach or mint?</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Hey, I think I can hear Tchaikovsky. Must be the ice cream van.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I'm </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">going to make like a banana and split.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKsODObtkraD7dnVN2jc8bhnysHWy3T8lKkEqaZWOGvbi6ZAT9uThKJWM8aNUYR_vvZqmR2S9HvudxUJQFdTahPeBHFANuH_WE87O8tnmrvqGQnpkNXqJczlEZtJwpDdUzkyKqfgoTLX6/s1600/bananasplit.northside365.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKsODObtkraD7dnVN2jc8bhnysHWy3T8lKkEqaZWOGvbi6ZAT9uThKJWM8aNUYR_vvZqmR2S9HvudxUJQFdTahPeBHFANuH_WE87O8tnmrvqGQnpkNXqJczlEZtJwpDdUzkyKqfgoTLX6/s320/bananasplit.northside365.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/91607162@N04/8387734091/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/91607162@N04/8387734091/</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Ursula Makepeace is our Unicorn in Residence here in Fribble-under-Par. She edited the story of</span><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/romantic-white-benches.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Romantic White benches</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif">,</span><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"> which turned into a long-winded fairy tale but with some very romantic white benches. She came back to G<a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/imagine-its-world-peace-day.html">ive Peace Benches a chance </a></span><br /><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieaV4VYNSf-2-BWciLyQSia7qCnZVK971VTdX7YviJSmuZjVp8fRVDzwyJgtPe492w4GWrAx6RguhjYFX3-Li8LGCqU41jS6I3FrG3kxNHUvUdzGFOal08Io8As4a30vYD1kU4SsgQkz97/s1600/100_5852.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieaV4VYNSf-2-BWciLyQSia7qCnZVK971VTdX7YviJSmuZjVp8fRVDzwyJgtPe492w4GWrAx6RguhjYFX3-Li8LGCqU41jS6I3FrG3kxNHUvUdzGFOal08Io8As4a30vYD1kU4SsgQkz97/s320/100_5852.JPG" width="253" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/imagine-its-world-peace-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/imagine-its-world-peace-day.html</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif">and then in February for <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hearty-heart-benches-for-valentines-day.html">a hearty Valentine story about Heart Benches</a>. My own heart was broken so maybe I wasn't as helpful as I could have been. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Unicornament is by UK artist Hannah Lipsey and appeared in her Breath of Fresh Air exhibition in 2023. Amazingly, this is not a 3D ornament, it's a coloured pencil drawing.<br /><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The three ice cream sundae benches at the beginning are from </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Asian Replicas in the Philippines and in this story there are five images of ice cream furniture from their shop</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> <a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/">www.asianreplicas.com</a> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> A</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">sian Replicas make a huge variety of food furniture, including ice cream benches and ice cream cone stools, a </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">pizza bench, a cake bench, and a chicken and chips bench. Miggy says she'd definitely go for the ice cream.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> Their extensive catalog is at <a href="http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip">http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip</a> For more edible benches and an incredible story about a chef from France, see </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html</a></span><br /><span class="apple-converted-space" face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The International Dairy Foods Association website shows a whole history of ice cream and the many activities included in National Ice Cream Month. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://www.idfa.org/news-views/media-kits/ice-cream/the-history-of-ice-cream">http://www.idfa.org/news-views/media-kits/ice-cream/the-history-of-ice-cream</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">And don't forget Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. The last one was February 6, 2022. It was devised by Florence Rappaport from Rochester, New York as a way of raising funds for charities.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I've shown some ice cream benches here on Benchsite in previous stories because benches and ice cream go together like <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/sunny-benches.html">summer and sunshine</a>. And also like <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/summer-bench-days-are-here-again.html">summer and ice cream</a>. The ice cream sundae one was photographed in 2007 by cherry2far and I'm not sure where, though it says Bahamas in the corner, which might be a clue. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/angel2dream/2299534730">https://www.flickr.com/photos/angel2dream/2299534730</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In February 2004 Martyn from Cardiff was travelling in the mountains of Japan with snow all around and totally freezing weather (and this means something coming from a Welshman). He was amazed to see a shop really going for the big ice cream sell with a cone in the car park. I see that it has its own little stool too. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn/99338148/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn/99338148/ </a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The miniature Walls ice cream van in the sand is actually The Ice Cream Van at the End of the Universe. It was photographed by </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Mr Evil Cheese Scientist in 2013. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/evil_cheese_scientist/9279660732/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/evil_cheese_scientist/9279660732/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Why a miniature ice cream van? Because sometimes you're not hungry enough for the restaurant.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The marvelous melting icing bench is by Lauren Doby in Dallas. Her shop is Neko Dahl, which is a curious little shop. At present it has some hair accessories and an iced donut stool. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NekoDahl">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/NekoDahl</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The melted ice cream van is an image from <a href="http://jokideo.com/tag/melted-ice-cream-van/">http://jokideo.com/tag/melted-ice-cream-van/</a> And oh isn't it sad? We all love the ice cream van, except possibly those who are irritated by the jingly music.</span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The arty ice cream flashlight cone is a 2011 design by Yau Hoong Tang, who lives in Kuala Lumpar. At his shop TangYauHoong, there are interesting fine art prints about light and other things. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tangyauhoong/5866805977/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/tangyauhoong/5866805977/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Yau Hoong Tang's website is at <a href="http://shop.tangyauhoong.com/">http://shop.tangyauhoong.com/</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Wonderlane from Seattle is simply wonderful. A Photographer Libre, she took some brilliant photographs in Mexico, including a delicious ice cream cup on a multi-coloured bench and a whole <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">fiesta of other Mexican benches</a>. Indeed she has a lot of bench pictures</span> <span face="verdana, sans-serif"> available on Creative Commons at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4162664610/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/4162664610/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The melted ice cream cone wearing sunglasses is one of a brilliant window display by a shop called Coblens Eyewear in Oldenburg, Germany. We saw it this summer while we were looking for a place to get ice cream.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /><i>Smooth & Smoothie</i> is the bench set by Florent Degourc <a href="http://www.florentdegourc.com/">http://www.florentdegourc.com</a> . Bubble-gum pink and mint green, the benches seem to be melting or dripping - perfect for ice cream. They were first exhibited at the Index interior design show in Dubai in 2010 and have received a lot of internet attention since then. The designer says about his work: <i>Studies aimed or rather confused, an atypical path, opportunism, here is the recipe with which I managed to do what I love. I do not pretend to revolutionize the discipline, far from it, but I try to make a playful and practical approach in my daily observations</i>. See more at <a href="http://degourc.florent.free.fr/about.php#sthash.xpetQYZb.dpuf">http://degourc.florent.free.fr/about.php#sthash.xpetQYZb.dpuf</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The adorable little pig eating ice cream at a picnic bench is an image seen at <a href="http://www.redditpics.com/">www.redditpics.com.6DpGNia</a> I'm always wary of posed animal pictures but this little pig looks like he's enjoying his treat. And as for the piglet-sized picnic bench . . . Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly knows a lot about <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html">picnic benches; let him be your guide</a>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Thomas Hawk is a prolific photographer and amongst many, many others, he happens to a photo of 21 vanilla ice cream cones from 2005. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/9340906101/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/9340906101/</a><span face="verdana, sans-serif">vanilla. </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Hi y'all, I'll be down at the DQ</i><span face="verdana, sans-serif">. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> He also has</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> an album of Dairy Queen photos. Some of them are vintage, featuring the familiar red Dairy Queen sign but some of them use the more modern abbreviation DQ. This one is in Mesa, Arizona, photographed by Thomas in 2013. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/31600080/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/31600080/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">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. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishmish/3516676025">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishmish/3516676025</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The beautiful, surprised little girl eating ice cream is Audrey. She was photographed in 2012 at Skidway Lake in Michigan by George Thomas. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hz536n/7470251916/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hz536n/7470251916/</a> </span><br /><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The two little twins were eating ice cream bars on the 4th of July 2014. Looks like it might have been their first Fourth, and possibly even their first bar. The photographed is Donnie Ray Jones at </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/14581168505/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/donnieray/14581168505/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Jennifer creates <i>The Diary of Danboard</i> (Danboard is the character I think) and there are some very interesting photos of Danboard, including Ice Box 3, in which Danboard (or someone looking remarkably like him) hands someone else a pink ice cream. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifer-kecl/4045300573/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifer-kecl/4045300573/</a></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The closeup of pink ice cream is fresh strawberry, made by Joy Huang, a Taiwanese-American who finds joyosity in cooking. Not that ice cream is cooked. You can see Joy's recipe and more about the Cooking of Joy at <a href="http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2009/05/fresh-strawberry-ice-cream.html">http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2009/05/fresh-strawberry-ice-cream.html</a> The photo also appears on Flickr at </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/joyosity/3541994035/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/joyosity/3541994035/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There's a clear Pink theme going on here, isn't there? We've had plenty of Pink Benches on Benchsite before - <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html">50 Shades of Pink</a>, in fact, including The hungry man in a pink shirt on a pink bench. He's about to enjoy his ice cream on a warm December evening in Puerto Vallarta in 2014. He was photographed by Bud Ellison <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/budellison/15993132409">https://www.flickr.com/photos/budellison/15993132409 </a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Green Tea ice cream sandwich is called Matcha and it's an ice cream dessert from Teanobi in Japan. Latte, pasta, cupcakes - Teanobi makes everything with green tea. And very intriguing it looks too. The 2013 photograph is by Kirinohana at </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiri_no_hana/9674443344/%C2%A0"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kiri_no_hana/9674443344/</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span></a> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">For some brilliant Japanese designer benches see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html</a><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Jellio is a world of fun childhood memories brought back as unique home furnishings: Rubik cube tables, lava lamps, cupcake stools - Jellio makes things to make you smile. Their brilliant ice cream sandwich bench certainly makes me smile. Check out their custom design projects and their really fun Jellio DIY projects to try at home <a href="http://www.jellio.com/">www.jellio.com</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The popsicle stick bench was photographed by Loren Javier at Princess Dot Puddle Park at Flik's Fun Fair in 2009. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3716635389">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3716635389</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Stanko and Darko come from the snow-bound republic of Snowvenia and they visited us in February when, in the depths of my winter despair, I failed to see the sense of their cheerful suggestions for making the most of being Frozen. Try any combination of the words ice, snow, cream, bench and fishing and you'll get the idea. Beware of snowy exclamation marks too! </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html</a><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />The blue person face down on the ice is my friend Lynne Woodward, who lives in Kiruna in Sweden. And she really is ice fishing. That's her sitting on an ice bench. She also took the photo of the beautiful church in Kiruna, and the icy pews inside the Ice Church. Lynne and Rolf run a very friendly B&B and know a lot about local customs and events. Oh, that B&Bs were always like this! Lynne writes a lively blog at <a href="http://www.blog.68degrees.se/">http://www.blog.68degrees.se/</a> It's Everything You Want to Know About Sweden and some gorgeous photos as well. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Slovenia word for ice cream is <i>sladoled</i>. Miggy and Mungo and I visited Slovenia in 2014 looking for benches and did we eat sladoled? We certainly did. Every day. More than once. This photograph was taken at Lake Bohinj, where there is an excellent ice cream parlour right on the lake. There were so many fruit flavours I had to go back twice. The blueberry was something to dream about. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The colourful Slovenia benches are in Ljublijana and were photographed by Américo </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Meira in 2010. Americo lives in Portugal and travels widely so his albums are full of brilliant scenes from places like Morocco, Turkey, and Slovenia. He also has a Bench album! </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/60083277@N00/4758515045/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/60083277@N00/4758515045/</a><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The baby cow is Caden Rand, photographed by his mother for Halloween a few years ago. You may have <strike>herd</strike> heard that we have some mooo-velous cow benches here on Benchsite; let Lord Brassica lead you out to pasture with the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">Cream of Bovine Benches</a>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The blue cow statue was in Budapest in August 2008. The author is </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">(WT-en) Kulmalukko at English Wikivoyage and the photo is in the public domain</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cowstatue.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cowstatue.jpg</a> Should you wish to see more blue benches, see what happened on <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/blue-benches-for-blue-monday.html">Blue Monday</a>.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Back in August 2006 Till Krech, a software developer from Berlin, photographed his friend Peter eating bubble gum ice cream. Although it apparently tasted awful, it gave a nice blue tint to Peter's tongue. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/extranoise/207561933/in/photolist-jkNW2">https://www.flickr.com/photos/extranoise/207561933/in/photolist-jkNW2</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The family Glass make terrific ice cream at Glassissimo, which I think is where they live. It's on the bike path at Neuhaus on the Baltic Coast of Germany. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">In Italy Miggy and Mungo and I ate ice cream every day at the unforgettable Lo Scalino in Abbadia Lariana on Lake Como. At Lo Scalino Camilla Candiani makes home made ice cream every morning in her kitchen and sells it at her front door from 2 to 5 pm. Long before 2 pm we were already waiting for her to open the door. Favourite flavour? Grape! For more tasty Italian benches - not just ice cream - see </span><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Christian Cable photographed the dish of spaghetti ice cream in Trier in 2007. Of course it's not really spaghetti and doesn't taste anything like spaghetti: it's</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> vanilla with a strawberry sauce. He assures me it's delicious and I have no reason to doubt it. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nexus_icon/1191717420/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nexus_icon/1191717420/</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Back in 2006 Kevin Trotman asked a question about his photograph taken in the airport in Ulura, Australia: </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Restroom for Fat Couples with Ice Cream? Nice idea but I don't think so. Probably more like a sign showing restrooms for people carrying babies. But these babies sure do look like ice creams. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/222011993/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/222011993/ </a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I keep reading that immigrant arrivals to the United States received ice cream at Ellis Island but I don't know if it's true. Seems unlikely, given the reception that immigrants anywhere receive these days. Still, this is a brilliant collage by Tilman Harte, who comes from Berlin. The source is selbst at <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soft_liberty_th.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soft_liberty_th.jpg</a> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The BoFrost hotair balloon was at the Montgolfiade 2007 at Aaseewiesen in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The photographer is © Dietmar Rabich Dietmar Rabich, rabich.de, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%BCnster,_Montgolfiade_2007_--_2007_--_8.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%BCnster,_Montgolfiade_2007_--_2007_--_8.jpg</a> His Flickr photostream is at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dietmar_rabich">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dietmar_rabich</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">petalouda62 has gorgeous albums of photographs from Iran. One of them from 2010 concerns <i>bastani </i>(ice cream). </span><i><span face="verdana, sans-serif">On a sunny day in Isfahan, I walked from Khaju bridge to Si-o seh Pol (another bridge). Along the river, the air heavy with the smell of roses and honeysuckle, </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I saw these 2 women enjoying an ice cream</span></i><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/30990153@N03/4564469223/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/30990153@N03/4564469223/ </a> </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">William Murphy in Dublin documents all kinds of Irish life, like Teddy's - Famous For Ice Cream. He writes: </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>Since 1950 people have come from all over Dublin and beyond to queue at the hatch at Teddy's in order to purchase an ice cream cone on Sunny days. </i></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>Teddy's is generally regarded as selling the best ice cream in Dublin but there is one problem in that it melts almost quicker than you can consume it</i>. That explains the two cones upside down in the street. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6977754833/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6977754833/</a> For The Top o' the Irish benches, see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/st-patricks-top-o-irish-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/st-patricks-top-o-irish-benches.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The white wall of the building covered with ice cream cones was in Ambridge, Pennsylvania in 2012. It was photographed by Dan Buczynski, who lives in Pittsburg and is founder and Editor-in-Chief of STRONGBOX Magazine, a free, downloadable photography (and more) project aimed at getting people to expand their creative boundaries. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/macwagen/8261452492/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/macwagen/8261452492/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /><i>Triple the Pleasure</i>, 2008 is by Mark Kirchner, who photographs his daughter each year on her birthday (25th July, just a few days after National Ice Cream Day). You'll notice that all three are the same girl at different ages. She's on the same bench at Central Market, eating strawberry ice cream. Mark says that this one was the easiest one to compose, as he had her move around on the bench; earlier attempts required more photoshopping. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/makz/3383161472">https://www.flickr.com/photos/makz/3383161472</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The old woman eating ice cream was photographed in Tairish-Tehran in 2008. The photographer is Oxford resident Kamyar Adl at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/2453375667/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/2453375667/</a></span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br />The man and boy on a bench with their ice creams is a bronze sculpture by Derek Wernher. It is greatly enjoyed in Cade Park, adjacent to the waterfront of Lake Winnepesaukee, in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. The photographer is Henry Zbyszynski, a photographer currentliy living in Capitola, California. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hankzby/5939523357/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/hankzby/5939523357/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">At <i>Licks Unlimited</i> in Excelsior, Minnesota, the top scoop is Mackinaw Island Fudge (vanilla with fudge pieces) and on the bottom is a scoop of Zoreo (chocolate with Oreo and marshmallow). Yummy. They were photographed in July 2012 by jpellgen, a </span><span style="background-color: #fefefe;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Minnesotan with Norwegian heritage. jpellgen is a published author/photographer who has lived in Japan and now works in education, as well as enjoying a variety of hobbies including travel, photography, dining, fitness, and spending way too much time on the internet. </span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellgen/7686311858/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellgen/7686311858/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><div><br /></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Gem Ice Cream freezer was The Best in the World round about 1890. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9404723700/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9404723700/</a> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">It's from the American Machine Company in Philadelphia and these are two of their American trade advertising cards. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9401965547/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/9401965547/</a> </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The items now live in the Boston Public Library.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Snow Ice Cream recipe is Kaylea Hutson's recipe for Snow Day Fun, sent to her in February 2015 by a reader of the publication she edits. Kaylea is a Missouri gal who now calls the land of Sooners & Cowboys home, but still has a dash of Dorothy and Razorbacks in her soul. Her photostream is at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaytebug/16673657845/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaytebug/16673657845/</a> and she's also at <a href="http://www.myscrappylife.com/">www.myscrappylife.com</a></span></div><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The empty ice cream cup on a bench was photographed by Aleja Wielkopolska in Poznan, Poland in June 2013. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al._Wielkopolska_Poznan.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al._Wielkopolska_Poznan.jpg</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The girl on a sundae bench holding an ice cream cone is another image from Asian Replicas </span><a href="http://www.asianreplicas.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.asianreplicas.com</span></a><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The blue chairs and cone were in Minehead in Somerset when Mungo and I visited in August 2013.</span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Did you know that <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/a-calendar-of-benches-for-september.html">September is National ice Cream Cone Month</a> and there are loads of fun events throughout the month? Miggy with two ice cream cones is at Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight, where there used to be a very good Minghella ice cream place. Minghella ice cream is made on the island by the Minghella family. Some people claim the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html">Isle of Wight is a paradise island</a>. Why not have a look and make up your own mind. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Jessica Wilson is totally committed to Bench Mondays. That's her, standing on a bench with some brilliant signs and a giant ice cream cone. It's a Vacation Bench, apparently, taken in the town of Lee Vining after visiting Mono Lake. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/3809224475/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/3809224475/</a> For a great time, have a look at jek-a-go-go's Bench Mondays. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">There is no getting round it; the man in a lemon sweatshirt is amazingly similar to the lemon ice cream cone. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">You know the tired old Dad joke: <i>I feel like an ice cream</i>. <i>Funny, y</i></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>ou don't look like an ice cream</i>. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">This man kind of does though. Let's Dad is a blog about Dadding. That includes Dad jokes of course. </span><a href="https://letsdad.wordpress.com/tag/guide-to-dad-jokes/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://letsdad.wordpress.com/tag/guide-to-dad-jokes/</a><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The bench with coffee and an ice cream cone was at the Makanda boardwalk in Makanda, Illinois back in 2006. The photographer is loreshdw, who doesn't even own a digital camera; </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">she borrows one from family and friends, not knowing what the quality will be like. </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/loreshdw/164346365/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/loreshdw/164346365/</a></span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">As the photographer asks, who doesn't want to eat ice cream while sitting on a banana split bench? The Royal Seat is a </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">commissioned artwork by Northside artist Mary Kwakenat located at the </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Camden Dairy Queen. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/91607162@N04/8387734091/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/91607162@N04/8387734091/</a> <span face="verdana, sans-serif">The photographer is Northside365. </span><br /><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Polish ice cream is a photo from our 2015 bench-finding trip. Here on Benchsite there's a whole<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/an-alphabet-of-dutch-benches.html">alphabet of Dutch benches</a> and also a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/united-in-diversity-28-benches-for.html">bench from each of the countries of Europe</a>. This year we headed for the Baltic and Poland. A 15 year old caravan, a clapped out car, three second-hand bikes and a trio of frayed tempers - what could go wrong? In previous summers we<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><s>ate our way through</s><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>found<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html">the tasty benches of Italy</a>. We<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html">got high on benches in the Alps</a> but<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/greek-bench-mission-impossible.html">Greece was a mission impossible</a>. And then there are the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html">benches of St. Helier</a>, and the benches of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gambling-on-love-in-las-vegas.html">Las Vegas</a>, where Mungo and I gambled on love. If <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region> doesn't tickle the cockles of your heart there are plenty of benches from other countries here on Benchsite.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html">Japan</a>, for example. And a whole<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">fiesta of benches from Mexico</a>. </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The Impeachmint Ice Cream photo was sent to me by a reader in May 2017 and added to the story. Many thanks!</span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif">The news in the first week of July 2017 was that ice cream sales were down 16.7% from the previous year (2015-2016). This was apparently due to concerns about healthy eating, which is why frozen yoghurts, soya ice cream and flavours like kale and broccoli are coming to the fore. Broccoli? No, I made that one up. But the truth is, we are still screaming for ice cream - 13 billion litres of it in 2016. People falling out of love with ice cream benches? Sounds like fake news to me </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/liars-lies-and-fake-news-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/liars-lies-and-fake-news-benches.html</a><font face=""><br /></font><div style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><div><br /></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-67166502901447012372022-06-07T12:42:00.005-07:002024-02-05T14:38:12.335-08:00World Oceans Day Benches 2022<p> Shiver me timbers, World Oceans Day is on June 8th!</p><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">For my guest editor, I chose Mikey the Mariner, known on Paradise Island as The Little Sailor. He carries a baby bottle around. I suspect it's full of rum but I don't like to ask.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwT2WRS5L64Xs9rQz3ldPgsvkIGFd0vPqJ_D5XTpxwKaIM9ulDchHW98BAJTFWISx2V-TLkWOa7ls5IEYQ9nbDcMLNorP1YwKcd1HGIc_nlTzVlF2rAGkoawm26MSgmXHpdpXSnmeL3Zwn/s320/mikey.home.front.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwT2WRS5L64Xs9rQz3ldPgsvkIGFd0vPqJ_D5XTpxwKaIM9ulDchHW98BAJTFWISx2V-TLkWOa7ls5IEYQ9nbDcMLNorP1YwKcd1HGIc_nlTzVlF2rAGkoawm26MSgmXHpdpXSnmeL3Zwn//" /></a></div><span face=""><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="">Mikey's on shore leave from his ship, the HMS Peculiar.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tP3lsQDmg6SFL4wDxKMzHcKzUIyeCHS_hAUfFu7iwJS9zn-OhhhRjwawgzqrGNYhcjlx2CKIBlG-HPIEDPgxtgRNfXlLjANmoxFKHJ_p2RYKAVjNrlUumMot_FhSW9gGRPAl0hL2t0-A/s1600/PhotoFunia-1569613240.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="609" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tP3lsQDmg6SFL4wDxKMzHcKzUIyeCHS_hAUfFu7iwJS9zn-OhhhRjwawgzqrGNYhcjlx2CKIBlG-HPIEDPgxtgRNfXlLjANmoxFKHJ_p2RYKAVjNrlUumMot_FhSW9gGRPAl0hL2t0-A/s320/PhotoFunia-1569613240.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""><i>Has anybody seen our Ship, the HMS Peculiar?</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""><i>We've been on shore for a month or more</i></span></div></span><i></i></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">I first met Mikey when I was swimming off <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-swimming-bench.html">The Plunge</a>. I swim there every day, heading for my special starfish bench.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_v9zDOjdyp_8s_idbW-0ss_YISlQAoLwQZqLlmQZg9EsMcgjjVDRVwNoBG7Xg5kj-2NTZZZDtHgODLJH0v9DsxHxoG1inXHILVuZUt3l0_zhtOltLHyB6yLjuAYpJiXx4odb4vleeeQlm/s1600/swimmer+vg+(2).JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_v9zDOjdyp_8s_idbW-0ss_YISlQAoLwQZqLlmQZg9EsMcgjjVDRVwNoBG7Xg5kj-2NTZZZDtHgODLJH0v9DsxHxoG1inXHILVuZUt3l0_zhtOltLHyB6yLjuAYpJiXx4odb4vleeeQlm/w320-h216/swimmer+vg+(2).JPG" title="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/my-swimming-bench.html" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="color: blue;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/my-swimming-bench.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/my-swimming-bench.html</a></u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Sometimes I'm down at the bottom of the ocean and I'm shivering like a nervous wreck.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Today Mariner Mikey and his ocean friends were having a jolly picnic so I joined them at the underwater picnic bench on Paradise Reef. We all got on well, though I found the penguin a little cold at first.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCZvRidImB95BNESKOarEGjNeNRqAAmAG4gD4Coosq14dXnoblYZAsO0BuxuWVstrx2ZNMGEA8jrdmCr9oWTZ2y8pw_22MTzyBSoh4oT10idru2yBh3TZ9qzT0bemZP7uotspwaoxUztK/s1600/penguin+picnic.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCZvRidImB95BNESKOarEGjNeNRqAAmAG4gD4Coosq14dXnoblYZAsO0BuxuWVstrx2ZNMGEA8jrdmCr9oWTZ2y8pw_22MTzyBSoh4oT10idru2yBh3TZ9qzT0bemZP7uotspwaoxUztK/s320/penguin+picnic.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="color: blue;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/swimming-benches-tribute.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/swimming-benches-tribute.html</a></u></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">So, Mikey, Ahoy there, Matey! Which benches should we show for World Oceans Day? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The Little Sailor suggests we should start with mermaids but I think we should start with waves. </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr_xosuGeRI9uU5HMDVdwVko2yzH3D8yTiorUX0ZEDM-vAZ5uenKkqQPnDyzXqUTSX-RgbB1W2wKQRtU0fN2G-lzECC_VisxRv-uPI8EcFwp80oYrMfGvjXziFgADpVY0gxdoM7siKJkZ/s750/aivazovsky+-between-the-waves-1898.jpg%2521Large+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr_xosuGeRI9uU5HMDVdwVko2yzH3D8yTiorUX0ZEDM-vAZ5uenKkqQPnDyzXqUTSX-RgbB1W2wKQRtU0fN2G-lzECC_VisxRv-uPI8EcFwp80oYrMfGvjXziFgADpVY0gxdoM7siKJkZ/s320/aivazovsky+-between-the-waves-1898.jpg%2521Large+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><font size="1"><i>Between Waves</i> by Ivan Aivazovsky 1898</font></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br />And benches, of course.<br /><br /></span><span face="">Here is a beautiful wave bench from the seaside town of Bermondsey.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKKDxbm94PxMSA5uMpsGZvayrm_EiJTlESvPrzmcG6cJMmU56oK7dr3FSxLFG0whvvAqcFvhDI4rUBSlJ-7frSnaJCeOdxOjt_nGkUZ2Ojb2eEiHiI0ru5fI8YKt18-RLK9NaS0GpIjcq/s1600/zimpenfish.waveB.flickr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKKDxbm94PxMSA5uMpsGZvayrm_EiJTlESvPrzmcG6cJMmU56oK7dr3FSxLFG0whvvAqcFvhDI4rUBSlJ-7frSnaJCeOdxOjt_nGkUZ2Ojb2eEiHiI0ru5fI8YKt18-RLK9NaS0GpIjcq/s1600/zimpenfish.waveB.flickr.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimpenfish">http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimpenfish</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Mariner Mikey is saying that Bermondsey is not a seaside town; it's in south London. OK, sorry. Not a good start. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">These wave benches are definitely on the seafront. They're in St. Helier in Jersey. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOe969qkXJlKSa1AYDdOsaEXtrw0EK1RL0t8cfbPVLoZO5mwXYuyPreWIhBcBhiNrgL6ZmvikCkRuIIZmiIAvwqau8CKnOAntGz3esTelDKX2itcbfANjBuCxrDtYOiv9oxNgfw4zM-BY/s1600/waveB+st+helier.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOe969qkXJlKSa1AYDdOsaEXtrw0EK1RL0t8cfbPVLoZO5mwXYuyPreWIhBcBhiNrgL6ZmvikCkRuIIZmiIAvwqau8CKnOAntGz3esTelDKX2itcbfANjBuCxrDtYOiv9oxNgfw4zM-BY/s320/waveB+st+helier.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="color: blue;"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html</a></u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><span face="">You may know that Jersey is in the Channel Islands. That's in the English Channel, which is the Atlantic Ocean, sort of. It's north of the Bay of Biscay, which on car ferries and cruise ships is sometimes referred to as the Bay of Sickbay. Yes, conditions there are rather rough for those who haven't yet found their sea legs. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Speaking of sea legs, here is Princess Rosebud's mermaid bench made by The Tugboat Captain's Wife. Its legs are decorated with enchanted seashells from her Enchanted Seashells website.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uh1rmR8AobE0JZGTTe2NqQA48VGGywrjWfzCkGuJgnqD3CGKn_cLXa_NTwGBLoBGcJ5q2A7pcjwfVsDSXBVuEGpy6iCVIf5DVi710RLjiywITCX6Nj1NaKWr68gyvqFlTdoubpjc4owF/s1600/h.enchantedseashells.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uh1rmR8AobE0JZGTTe2NqQA48VGGywrjWfzCkGuJgnqD3CGKn_cLXa_NTwGBLoBGcJ5q2A7pcjwfVsDSXBVuEGpy6iCVIf5DVi710RLjiywITCX6Nj1NaKWr68gyvqFlTdoubpjc4owF/s200/h.enchantedseashells.com.jpg" width="193" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://enchantedseashells.com/">http://enchantedseashells.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Mikey reminds me that mermaids don't have legs so he'd expect that a mermaid bench wouldn't have legs either. But in that case it wouldn't be much of a bench, would it? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's a beautiful driftwood bench whose legs are quite subtle. Mikey says it's kind of like a supermodel: it's hard to tell where its legs end and other things begin. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-C1uBfOwzDkdljTfZpEbcvW7nppuZoErgvTkkdlgdAh6fAq2NjknHVzKKxQkMkfoc54fT0aqjFNGj1AMuv8jZ2tCnBuQI1L0ciD10h8LvlLvJvPh2DKLVneDSCTJ6t8GlAcvoK5WdVA8H/s1600/carensilvestri.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-C1uBfOwzDkdljTfZpEbcvW7nppuZoErgvTkkdlgdAh6fAq2NjknHVzKKxQkMkfoc54fT0aqjFNGj1AMuv8jZ2tCnBuQI1L0ciD10h8LvlLvJvPh2DKLVneDSCTJ6t8GlAcvoK5WdVA8H/s320/carensilvestri.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/carensilvestri">www.etsy.com/shop/carensilvestri</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Hmmm. I'm going to have to watch it with Mikey I think. His comments on oceans are a bit more </span><span face="">risqué </span><span face="">than I normally allow. I'm not going to say </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">blue:</i><span face=""> we don't have blue comments on Benchsite, even for oceans.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here is <i>A Step into the Blue</i>, which is as blue as we are going to get. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">And yes, I have noticed that the bench is yellow. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAR1cJ6hbhap5d_Ne_LrMGkcYGGhLH5tAk5ITYi_6MsJ0BJb2QZEYrH3HnufXwLPLNsStKnUzn1c6kvr6Z4eugTknu2KJKsRms0_Xw9o7NCeh7u_h5UT8kIUQM_UaHIMx7W32PMRBtAt21/s1600/riaan.vosloo.art&designs.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAR1cJ6hbhap5d_Ne_LrMGkcYGGhLH5tAk5ITYi_6MsJ0BJb2QZEYrH3HnufXwLPLNsStKnUzn1c6kvr6Z4eugTknu2KJKsRms0_Xw9o7NCeh7u_h5UT8kIUQM_UaHIMx7W32PMRBtAt21/s320/riaan.vosloo.art&designs.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/riaanvislooart&designs">www.etsy.com/shop/riaanvislooart&designs</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">On some oceans you can see dolphins.</span></div><div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RDl3KMyCCBxO2OccAVXgZfanDEc7pjEXCTzEgPt1rYs4CIRDF4oasORJEFVIHZkyy4w2nAsmzAvmm1g-R3gWYGp0wrRQqnyTYjqIRmWi0Z95jvVuYHNSDeLj6davSNv9gANR_VbAt3uj/s1600/dolphinB.ShariWeinsheimer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RDl3KMyCCBxO2OccAVXgZfanDEc7pjEXCTzEgPt1rYs4CIRDF4oasORJEFVIHZkyy4w2nAsmzAvmm1g-R3gWYGp0wrRQqnyTYjqIRmWi0Z95jvVuYHNSDeLj6davSNv9gANR_VbAt3uj/s320/dolphinB.ShariWeinsheimer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Shari Weinsheimer at <a href="http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/">http://www.publicdomainpictures.net</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">No, not dolphin benches. Real dolphins. In some oceans they like to play in the wake of the ferries. They come up right next to the boat.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvTV2HZB4ODCk62KKblJf1eR_ieOCofbBvr_ZRF4rBdIYGU7Ans82YOECCgi9to1B4R7xN6JJMzXQjiUHNxjIjWdJQIqhqteqr4caWvxkV7FGDXutGonk5jDWcBqb4YcpA8K35WoCm667/s1600/boatB1.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvTV2HZB4ODCk62KKblJf1eR_ieOCofbBvr_ZRF4rBdIYGU7Ans82YOECCgi9to1B4R7xN6JJMzXQjiUHNxjIjWdJQIqhqteqr4caWvxkV7FGDXutGonk5jDWcBqb4YcpA8K35WoCm667/s320/boatB1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my photo, Wells, Somerset</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Yes, Mariner Mikey, it's true. This boat is on grass. And it's a bench rather than a real boat. But don't let that worry you. It's a very seaworthy bench in Wells in Somerset. That's Wells, not whales. </span><br /><br /><span face="">This dolphin picnic bench could be seaworthy too. Although at present it's landlocked in Gwynedd in Wales, it's not far from Cardigan Bay and is no doubt looking wistfully at the sea. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIgLrXRDvvre_hrCqZcYc9qBJ-kJncRWdxyf4x4TD-sAM7IRoFm2l_40q7wl4qgYUsQEo8gTXmqOssJ_14CwBhbuuU1JXepxYn4kZigEYOmMX8qLQWqHYrGY82WBxUWS-9IxhzJzveVLKm/s1600/Bwrdd_Picnic_Plas_Glyn_y_Weddw_Picnic_Table_-_geograph_org_uk_-_668208.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIgLrXRDvvre_hrCqZcYc9qBJ-kJncRWdxyf4x4TD-sAM7IRoFm2l_40q7wl4qgYUsQEo8gTXmqOssJ_14CwBhbuuU1JXepxYn4kZigEYOmMX8qLQWqHYrGY82WBxUWS-9IxhzJzveVLKm/s320/Bwrdd_Picnic_Plas_Glyn_y_Weddw_Picnic_Table_-_geograph_org_uk_-_668208.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Alan Fryer at <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/">http://www.geograph.org.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Mikey, I'll bet you've got some tales to tell about whales? That's <i>Whales</i> with an h. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZzsXE73R7TPhfh8rdzbo0dW_DAR78BTPlMrubH4E4WhCzGbNJDVqHqMkOcPRyqlvipNObZ1LiwrVmZiHiiVF3A1mL9UqphfRZWEuETPEynnAdyCdhesTQQHcxe3Z7CyQe91dVtut-nTf/s1600/queenofcreativityBS.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZzsXE73R7TPhfh8rdzbo0dW_DAR78BTPlMrubH4E4WhCzGbNJDVqHqMkOcPRyqlvipNObZ1LiwrVmZiHiiVF3A1mL9UqphfRZWEuETPEynnAdyCdhesTQQHcxe3Z7CyQe91dVtut-nTf/s1600/queenofcreativityBS.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://thequeen%20of%20creativity.blogspot.com/">http://thequeen of creativity.blogspot.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Make that <i>tails</i>. There are plenty of Tail of the Whale benches. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="">This one is much photographed. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtdZbx5sX5H7anHLf0hy_BErU2R7Ss4R11LeRZI5z16lbPV0Oloj-wwYEH36O-Gz211e1S0lN43RzQJhi_vc3lr9x5bO_dQ7ljwAHrJUXXB_ROZzeloU1IRciyryyD0GnMng6g7cIvw8l/s1600/whaletaleB.queencashmere.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtdZbx5sX5H7anHLf0hy_BErU2R7Ss4R11LeRZI5z16lbPV0Oloj-wwYEH36O-Gz211e1S0lN43RzQJhi_vc3lr9x5bO_dQ7ljwAHrJUXXB_ROZzeloU1IRciyryyD0GnMng6g7cIvw8l/s320/whaletaleB.queencashmere.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/queencashmere">http://www.flickr.com/photos/queencashmere</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="">So is this one.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSwg_W8_SeAXxTfLU4k30AZ5wQiD5RtoftChCZFXLY3YFJjkIJbHUdHs1vkxcLmOU_x4HeCi-33rLl_aVZ9EO_603W73by7IgjMOCob3erM3RMW15wWjku-rMbE2mvKLhXCW0QyPpk1yv9/s1600/RonClark5329.WhaleBenchWhiteheaven.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSwg_W8_SeAXxTfLU4k30AZ5wQiD5RtoftChCZFXLY3YFJjkIJbHUdHs1vkxcLmOU_x4HeCi-33rLl_aVZ9EO_603W73by7IgjMOCob3erM3RMW15wWjku-rMbE2mvKLhXCW0QyPpk1yv9/s320/RonClark5329.WhaleBenchWhiteheaven.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> Ron Clark at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronclark5329">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronclark5329</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">This one shouldn't have been photographed but was.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVCre_zp67s4LUPgP6fxGOyq8rLtckAk1XK864jUZ8Qv-P9IXU6JVe_VOlBd18IoXJ6ZLb0CIK7uO67pD-gCdTkJ9Uxn9A5uYr3OmVcquDIHGnCyoHZQEkKj9fmqrA8PlH5-aaSyJjRMS_/s1600/whaletail.imgur.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVCre_zp67s4LUPgP6fxGOyq8rLtckAk1XK864jUZ8Qv-P9IXU6JVe_VOlBd18IoXJ6ZLb0CIK7uO67pD-gCdTkJ9Uxn9A5uYr3OmVcquDIHGnCyoHZQEkKj9fmqrA8PlH5-aaSyJjRMS_/s200/whaletail.imgur.com.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">imgur.com</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Mikey says he likes this pink whale tail best. That's just a fluke I think. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">And speaking of flukes, here's the whale watching bench at Hermanus in South Africa.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVo0QWzO2Slpu5Z7HMD38QCOy3Px2M3B6kiqeG7tkCYLCO6S4Ie8EtBTECrnGp67jXIlex-WWCOcKuuHA47tTan_quMNhk7W_FyzPG7NAF1CfvOJvAhvKrpaz7UtKdr6Pudifx8z0Tij-Y/s1600/willem.nabuur.panoramio.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVo0QWzO2Slpu5Z7HMD38QCOy3Px2M3B6kiqeG7tkCYLCO6S4Ie8EtBTECrnGp67jXIlex-WWCOcKuuHA47tTan_quMNhk7W_FyzPG7NAF1CfvOJvAhvKrpaz7UtKdr6Pudifx8z0Tij-Y/s1600/willem.nabuur.panoramio.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> Willem Nabuur at <a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32216155">http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32216155</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><br /><span face="">Heave ho me Hearties, that's enough whales/wales tails/tales now. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face="">Here is a very nice seahorse and dolphin bench which Claire McDonough photographed at Disneyland. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzP7kr-aiLiiyhxpP78lnZErRCBLBwCHvURm1BI3SfBXLiFmHLGLeuUOu_gYPyWHBHFpbhyphenhyphenD2GmwYHxbEV-jje5gWz4eeNPjV5KFW-dtICZS2uxoNk3fOGPerZ4xMR3boQAZ_Y8InRIXJk/s1600/clairemcdonough.seahorseB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzP7kr-aiLiiyhxpP78lnZErRCBLBwCHvURm1BI3SfBXLiFmHLGLeuUOu_gYPyWHBHFpbhyphenhyphenD2GmwYHxbEV-jje5gWz4eeNPjV5KFW-dtICZS2uxoNk3fOGPerZ4xMR3boQAZ_Y8InRIXJk/s320/clairemcdonough.seahorseB.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegren">http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegren</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span face="">What's that, Mariner Mikey? </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-s_MbkkZHiSg5p-Y0GCy1B0canEMKVeSWAoHd6eM5Vtc9JRlYjnItdNtibFzzklVeT2edVqEXdXe5vm4UKHvg07wc7_g01kmeKy41-k1PjP3ZOm5qejJ6rQaI3DWnnVmfp5zoTJ7oNnTC/s600/a-mermaid-1900.jpg%2521Large+waterhouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="417" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-s_MbkkZHiSg5p-Y0GCy1B0canEMKVeSWAoHd6eM5Vtc9JRlYjnItdNtibFzzklVeT2edVqEXdXe5vm4UKHvg07wc7_g01kmeKy41-k1PjP3ZOm5qejJ6rQaI3DWnnVmfp5zoTJ7oNnTC/w278-h400/a-mermaid-1900.jpg%2521Large+waterhouse.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-william-waterhouse/a-mermaid-1900">https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-william-waterhouse/a-mermaid-1900</a></td></tr></tbody></table><font face=""><br /></font><br /><span face="">Mermaids you say? You're always on the lookout for them?</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiX8GG9B09Ydo4xJ6F0C1n_zFjli2R3_hqJp6wTGkUv8F7Gwf5l9-r0TzPqR8fNLeJ08NXG7G7HQwsw8DeW0TO3ZAxPqFVtdm1EBsSs-j39CkKCNZiVh7z9kOc1c7ECZIgJT3ayIsZcP2CGz4coqg_vywK1Yt4hr0JCnimke6b32ugE-gGR-mmOdSmWvGJ/s1080/FB_IMG_1707171987124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1080" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiX8GG9B09Ydo4xJ6F0C1n_zFjli2R3_hqJp6wTGkUv8F7Gwf5l9-r0TzPqR8fNLeJ08NXG7G7HQwsw8DeW0TO3ZAxPqFVtdm1EBsSs-j39CkKCNZiVh7z9kOc1c7ECZIgJT3ayIsZcP2CGz4coqg_vywK1Yt4hr0JCnimke6b32ugE-gGR-mmOdSmWvGJ/w400-h306/FB_IMG_1707171987124.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Will They Make the Bend</i>? 1879 Michael Ancher</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""><br /></span></div><div>Well, yes. I'm sure we can find some very nice mermaid benches. </div><div><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's one from Kid's Cove in the play area next to Lake Michigan. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I know. You're going to remind me that Lake Michigan isn't an ocean. But let's forget that and admire the mermaid. She's splendid.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHckEfUYybttQzRAYZMmqVLl0e9QyxAQvvagfjoI1i4JynZf4W55O92KhDKOFRKKXyvhmf5XtOsxvcDT2zZ7GjdPwzzFrr_YnFeBfJZwYyExMwUgHWCoaVFVpjLmLJFqy1t7P5_uA4IAmn/s1600/tabbi.kat.flickr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHckEfUYybttQzRAYZMmqVLl0e9QyxAQvvagfjoI1i4JynZf4W55O92KhDKOFRKKXyvhmf5XtOsxvcDT2zZ7GjdPwzzFrr_YnFeBfJZwYyExMwUgHWCoaVFVpjLmLJFqy1t7P5_uA4IAmn/s320/tabbi.kat.flickr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/43067379@NOO">http://www.flickr.com/people/43067379</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Oh, you know her already. I suppose you meet a lot of mermaids in your line of work? </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="">You carry a photo of your favourite mermaid in your wallet? Very nice.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUWuroq_c3VcmHTwPl_7YTjin4TOvOwwXzCCRNgQhFh4R11Un8mg-YQyT8WFeDwqDZ7omW9gkIuE0rt02skkFE9p6Pe8V7jnESE-C_CALrxJliiRXO2jBM7CE926Tu0nVVyjogJQg4BHR/s1600/creaturesofimagination.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUWuroq_c3VcmHTwPl_7YTjin4TOvOwwXzCCRNgQhFh4R11Un8mg-YQyT8WFeDwqDZ7omW9gkIuE0rt02skkFE9p6Pe8V7jnESE-C_CALrxJliiRXO2jBM7CE926Tu0nVVyjogJQg4BHR/s320/creaturesofimagination.com.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.creaturesofimagination.com/">www.creaturesofimagination.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Miss Mermaid. Yes, she's lovely. Pretty bench too. I guess this is a bench-based mermaid. The best kind.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">No, frankly I'm not interested in what you get up to under a scallop with mermaids. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">No, I do not want to know. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Yes, I can imagine it <i>would</i> make a fish blush.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGkmGlmFiLEgAWtiNGp50iSufWOkHBlcNYNmvk8APbPrJksmzl4lWwY59Htg7F6UNFPFO3d_3izjdkctoVmFkHvxMDMRnmKPG_7nYTKljYvbjvSppzEdH911RKtXsyADM128A-JujlOM1/s1600/amygaines.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGkmGlmFiLEgAWtiNGp50iSufWOkHBlcNYNmvk8APbPrJksmzl4lWwY59Htg7F6UNFPFO3d_3izjdkctoVmFkHvxMDMRnmKPG_7nYTKljYvbjvSppzEdH911RKtXsyADM128A-JujlOM1/s1600/amygaines.etsy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/amygaines">www.etsy.com/shop/amygaines</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><br /><span face="">Yes, I'm sure Kissing Fish are very common at twenty thousand leagues.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkjlbKYMzkx_2uPQ1aAywGvFlWz-cDc0KzAzHbH160P0FH0WHNqxtszunmGkcAJGwXlHM9aCcDa4x4btqYxNMDxmA6UZSrCsPFqtyN-vjcbas4Z8gs4UWLtHQ-zopAQH96qWq7e8-7e2L/s1600/kissingfish.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkjlbKYMzkx_2uPQ1aAywGvFlWz-cDc0KzAzHbH160P0FH0WHNqxtszunmGkcAJGwXlHM9aCcDa4x4btqYxNMDxmA6UZSrCsPFqtyN-vjcbas4Z8gs4UWLtHQ-zopAQH96qWq7e8-7e2L/s1600/kissingfish.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/43067379@NOO">http://www.flickr.com/people/43067379</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">I'm going to change the subject now. We've got other fish to fry.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9NOrGnzj32UJ2kqLh5CnU3I22cEZ_ivu7m0kHk8PAxpDgLj3x5fkS4dmCM85H3QbscgFTqLBuznYsL-dxgMrjbHHGiN4KZSDOlD1pUyLGgMlm0eSLPF2RjWVVsnW88PIA7ydtR-sraoTO/s1600/Dordrecht+fish+bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9NOrGnzj32UJ2kqLh5CnU3I22cEZ_ivu7m0kHk8PAxpDgLj3x5fkS4dmCM85H3QbscgFTqLBuznYsL-dxgMrjbHHGiN4KZSDOlD1pUyLGgMlm0eSLPF2RjWVVsnW88PIA7ydtR-sraoTO/s320/Dordrecht+fish+bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo, Dordrecht, South Holland</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="">Let's look at some other lovely seaside things that are beside the ocean rather than in it. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Like this pretty beach bench from Cocoa Beach in Florida.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbK8xXPccPMeoB73p-NFjC1vbAKCNUEje_N4Kkgbl3vNwKXxrQ4Ou1QwItuMy7edvGhNOkdsbMSyrAX3iKewR4D-3H9fFsf-wxbWgfLH1cF3wVmNWgqaWlQKEdJj0B_0RkFL7mQ-L6cZph/s1600/jeanos+art.etsy+(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbK8xXPccPMeoB73p-NFjC1vbAKCNUEje_N4Kkgbl3vNwKXxrQ4Ou1QwItuMy7edvGhNOkdsbMSyrAX3iKewR4D-3H9fFsf-wxbWgfLH1cF3wVmNWgqaWlQKEdJj0B_0RkFL7mQ-L6cZph/s320/jeanos+art.etsy+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://jeanscoastalart.com/" style="font-family: "times new roman";">http://jeanscoastalart.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table></span><br /><br /><span face="">And here's a beautiful shell bench which was originally in the garden of Strawberry Hill House near London. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjce_FLGIP2Nye0ir2COfY78m7H6YZGx8chZnBjr7oP5jN_PQZLcjwm9S_n8vxFAVkL25HCTwisMEG2JtoVTcVlrWdDLm6lJLltB-7ecccQkbEVl4BdA4CQ7RtbqOC-a3CkxjruXp3mK4s6/s1600/shellB.strawberryhillhouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjce_FLGIP2Nye0ir2COfY78m7H6YZGx8chZnBjr7oP5jN_PQZLcjwm9S_n8vxFAVkL25HCTwisMEG2JtoVTcVlrWdDLm6lJLltB-7ecccQkbEVl4BdA4CQ7RtbqOC-a3CkxjruXp3mK4s6/s1600/shellB.strawberryhillhouse.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/">http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">It's true that Strawberry Hill House is not beside the sea. But isn't it a fabulous bench?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">This shell bench is more contemporary. It seems to have washed up on a patio, which is jolly useful. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0_W6BBCRRRABIjVTilGvmbM4zZ9mc8XrLcNtAiTTSjz8zNe7eojqsFvXcH5RasdBbOrGuvMzelL8YIq8PE-rb_HWpjAwsJ1kDd-zanC5nEbnayrB_LALgpG_hEKZRyBNYGIWZ_tnvlwL/s1600/shellB.urbis.design.sad.seashell.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0_W6BBCRRRABIjVTilGvmbM4zZ9mc8XrLcNtAiTTSjz8zNe7eojqsFvXcH5RasdBbOrGuvMzelL8YIq8PE-rb_HWpjAwsJ1kDd-zanC5nEbnayrB_LALgpG_hEKZRyBNYGIWZ_tnvlwL/s320/shellB.urbis.design.sad.seashell.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.urbisdesign.co.uk/">http://www.urbisdesign.co.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's a very nice caracol bench from Chula Vista in California. That's the Pacific Ocean of course. And very close to the Gulf of Mexico, which isn't really an ocean.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3-iq2sOXBPJFMM0rcsBX0mWxgtpKHdZe427lfD3gzr_iJWfWPJzEQa79kJwfyJLNHD8vTJJzEJuSTyDftKcV9EDUeOgvswefpNvNzTNZN1uUY-ogrNUiWN2oocT3-zWRthGP-ERbAohc/s1600/WholesaleWorldPotteryCaracolBench_M04B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3-iq2sOXBPJFMM0rcsBX0mWxgtpKHdZe427lfD3gzr_iJWfWPJzEQa79kJwfyJLNHD8vTJJzEJuSTyDftKcV9EDUeOgvswefpNvNzTNZN1uUY-ogrNUiWN2oocT3-zWRthGP-ERbAohc/s200/WholesaleWorldPotteryCaracolBench_M04B.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.wholesaleworldpottery.com/">www.wholesaleworldpottery.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">I'm something of an expert on shell benches myself, being named Seashell. In fact, I am lucky enough to have my own seashell throne here on Paradise Island.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1NZAxqiSWASvS9p-SEvFf2623whCoXIxl_MY3ixE6NFCRYwMRNKdoCqkIaitOYwy5LFpROGZIJXIjrtGOxg42dAtlpszFHUlR6Mq70ocxvVCIIpT0gdaV95eKtKPzncdvbByde0hhMnj/s1600/mine.seaview.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1NZAxqiSWASvS9p-SEvFf2623whCoXIxl_MY3ixE6NFCRYwMRNKdoCqkIaitOYwy5LFpROGZIJXIjrtGOxg42dAtlpszFHUlR6Mq70ocxvVCIIpT0gdaV95eKtKPzncdvbByde0hhMnj/s400/mine.seaview.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="western" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font color="#0000ff"><u><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/lord-brassicas-right-royal-thrones.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/lord-brassicas-right-royal-thrones.html</a></u></font></p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">There's a lot of sea weed on Paradise Island but sea weed is actually very good for you because if you're in trouble you can sea kelp.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">Now the Little Sailor is telling me he has a girlfriend in the Pacific. </span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="text-align: center;"><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>All the nice girls love a sailor</i></span></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="text-align: center;"><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>All the nice girls love a tar;</i></span></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="text-align: center;"><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>For there's something about a sailor,</i></span></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="text-align: center;"><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Well, you know what sailors are.</i> </span></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQR-2nSiYdWMBcyz96JbguX_p47DrXsw4_k0YPKibbEJIMYtR57bvFkUXjZrPj75AyqUxIniGfH7Unzct0QOEC3VAlWe0O5D0h5riAxNpj_RJaBnstALBxHk6DUa631lMT3G-CFomUPst/s748/Albert_Henry_Collings_-_Corsaire.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQR-2nSiYdWMBcyz96JbguX_p47DrXsw4_k0YPKibbEJIMYtR57bvFkUXjZrPj75AyqUxIniGfH7Unzct0QOEC3VAlWe0O5D0h5riAxNpj_RJaBnstALBxHk6DUa631lMT3G-CFomUPst/s320/Albert_Henry_Collings_-_Corsaire.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Buccaneer</i> by Albert Henry Collings</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><font face=""><div><br /></div></font><span face="">Yes, I'm beginning to see how sailors are. If I can just put my oar in here, Mikey . . .</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9npIiytaulwB9H46lUHhKAl8dicnW-u4tOzvdrimJVHyL0bYDBoFb8ahEsBp4Vp0-T_jsgcQ8l6rvCD063jclpC1V5RqWGgxLsW2kUr-GRfQSSLjxIt0qahWrstO76kMOyTVBmmhpDjwf/s1600/Shelly-bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9npIiytaulwB9H46lUHhKAl8dicnW-u4tOzvdrimJVHyL0bYDBoFb8ahEsBp4Vp0-T_jsgcQ8l6rvCD063jclpC1V5RqWGgxLsW2kUr-GRfQSSLjxIt0qahWrstO76kMOyTVBmmhpDjwf/s320/Shelly-bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.seanasmith.com/">www.seanasmith.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /><br /></span></div><div><span face="">Yes, this oar bench is at Shelly Beach near Cronulla, which Seana Smith says is the best playground beach in Sydney. Seana has a blog about such things as good beaches and good playgrounds.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">This picture you are showing me of your Pacific Ocean girlfriend . . .</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJ2JOUIY74lXyvI5csVcD1CXJHyhUhFqx1mpVMqU_DrOu3cluISpOvasfL-iOPw-7bKzxSDrSVjDTOrrasuG85HTDoPbzMr5oF1L6MwjJZDzefX55mUbI_yfED_1jZcMaagcvUpPHMAdn/s1600/All_Saints_Churcwikimedia.org.upper.sheringham.norfolk860.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJ2JOUIY74lXyvI5csVcD1CXJHyhUhFqx1mpVMqU_DrOu3cluISpOvasfL-iOPw-7bKzxSDrSVjDTOrrasuG85HTDoPbzMr5oF1L6MwjJZDzefX55mUbI_yfED_1jZcMaagcvUpPHMAdn/s320/All_Saints_Churcwikimedia.org.upper.sheringham.norfolk860.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> John Salmon at<a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/815860"> www.geograph.org.uk/photo/815860</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">Yes. That one. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I think you're telling me a bit of a Fish Tale here, Mikey, because I happen to know this mermaid. She's from All Saints Church in Upper Sheringham in Norfolk. That's a seagoing place, of course, but it's not the Pacific Ocean: it's the North Sea. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Yes, I've been on a ferry across the North Sea. And the English Channel too. Why do you ask?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTwDNKra1ynRcG_vNhS4WjhOzf71owhugqGLOwFxfoo1AxDkVMvq98oJ01ssI2QfOvXQDvRxo2z4JW6oIJw93QNE8j5zyi6FW315sP9e3Le81YvJ3UF9L5lPWWapId7r8zwJ4gKMe3Gcgv/s1600/Caen+ferry+bench+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTwDNKra1ynRcG_vNhS4WjhOzf71owhugqGLOwFxfoo1AxDkVMvq98oJ01ssI2QfOvXQDvRxo2z4JW6oIJw93QNE8j5zyi6FW315sP9e3Le81YvJ3UF9L5lPWWapId7r8zwJ4gKMe3Gcgv/s400/Caen+ferry+bench+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo, Brittany Ferries</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Brassieres? Whatever are you on about, Mikey? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Did I have to put one on? Well, that's none of your business. And anyway, what has that got to do with the sea?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iHS7uavVS9qjg0FBwgMeurESQzXnWEnCzlbITql64RJjdFK7YqbRWA1rfMucmF7qmEJXPllvt79cXllWvl2Ww07wWY3hRlQYQjLejagrYh5cbqyJrFJoYEIz5dFmSBaTV28qHVagfzr5/s1600/brassiere+bench.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iHS7uavVS9qjg0FBwgMeurESQzXnWEnCzlbITql64RJjdFK7YqbRWA1rfMucmF7qmEJXPllvt79cXllWvl2Ww07wWY3hRlQYQjLejagrYh5cbqyJrFJoYEIz5dFmSBaTV28qHVagfzr5/s320/brassiere+bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">OK, fair enough. <i>Brassieres de sauvetage</i>. Otherwise known as life jackets.</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">You don't wear one? </span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgREKq7B5QfdFU9e7HAWS1XNHqnQwa-ObCUx_-W67YqMTioqWPNFXpj415wNCAvRpKeffyJaEt7JatA8YHm8P2N7n2svllku3xnvO5XnimGEAF9ZauxWzwhUq_rWSpzH3H1kfUegcxryV9/s750/shipwreck-1854.jpg%2521Large.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgREKq7B5QfdFU9e7HAWS1XNHqnQwa-ObCUx_-W67YqMTioqWPNFXpj415wNCAvRpKeffyJaEt7JatA8YHm8P2N7n2svllku3xnvO5XnimGEAF9ZauxWzwhUq_rWSpzH3H1kfUegcxryV9/s320/shipwreck-1854.jpg%2521Large.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Shipwreck</i> by Ivan Aivazovsky 1854</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">You might want to think again about that.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">So what else might we find by the sea? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's Ali. Or rather, Ali's shutters from alibythesea. Now these really <i>are</i> by the sea. They've got that saltsea-battered look about them. And so has the bench. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVrxg1k8babMQkEGc4X76cgOdBvW3V3N852xO-f2SBaGyXhOA6vEY1kItV5Sh3XsgqcWnFhZHpaXKPKX61VTYwbdxY7z3-tc4B0r4BOFBr3sjVMC1YmmmLHIlbF7vs_AUA54XSJzViaXh/s1600/alibythesea.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVrxg1k8babMQkEGc4X76cgOdBvW3V3N852xO-f2SBaGyXhOA6vEY1kItV5Sh3XsgqcWnFhZHpaXKPKX61VTYwbdxY7z3-tc4B0r4BOFBr3sjVMC1YmmmLHIlbF7vs_AUA54XSJzViaXh/s320/alibythesea.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/alibythesea">www.etsy.com/shop/alibythesea</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Mariner Mikey is saying he loves the Caribbean and those tropical island benches under the palms.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUMtT8aPnGmgM65Cluqa7x9mFzUYZ_rLcP4pLTA8LCWdUFw2yBA5IUoK0XFkUx5YT96XwwPwSAyLvlS2d_zDDF0i6BMAEXjW3TQEvJnW9RfWgPoyA06UO4dBJnQKAdWy2NJCKhQSS4CPk/s1600/josephadamsdesigns.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUMtT8aPnGmgM65Cluqa7x9mFzUYZ_rLcP4pLTA8LCWdUFw2yBA5IUoK0XFkUx5YT96XwwPwSAyLvlS2d_zDDF0i6BMAEXjW3TQEvJnW9RfWgPoyA06UO4dBJnQKAdWy2NJCKhQSS4CPk/s320/josephadamsdesigns.etsy.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/josephadamsdesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/josephadamsdesign</a>s</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span face="">Speaking of the Caribbean, here's a rather elaborate lifeguard bench at Magen's Beach in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifDGznE01TIYoYI2uuDXqm_1dNQ_tjaK-GPyQI127F5Q85uak-EAjThZJLYmnKB-GxB9NkDz_B7ZYBuSxhtCLkmiQigvuECmwU87TxBrbNnJQNk3KZdoV7LgznB9ASiNuasaknfk1q3YD/s1600/lifeguardBs.artbysharianetsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifDGznE01TIYoYI2uuDXqm_1dNQ_tjaK-GPyQI127F5Q85uak-EAjThZJLYmnKB-GxB9NkDz_B7ZYBuSxhtCLkmiQigvuECmwU87TxBrbNnJQNk3KZdoV7LgznB9ASiNuasaknfk1q3YD/s200/lifeguardBs.artbysharianetsy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbysharianne">www.etsy.com/shop/artbysharianne</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /><br /></span></div><div><span face="">I'm not going to repeat the story Mikey told me about his voyage to the Virgin Islands. The less said about that the better.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">And now he's going on about the beauty of Flabellina Goddardi; is this one of his Mediterranean girlfriends off the coast of Italy somewhere? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">No, it turns out it's the name of the Seat Slug, a creation of Studio Rael-San Fratello in California.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbZfoQxnkbKeAP4rW2nIIacLFz_NJVLaky9eer3G3yggrvJSRUw3zFDoPV3gfFvWG9DOCfmZRXRzLltM_y3LAI_oVfOmDoY7Peb3Le1Thgi0qQOsC4C8KeM0WzE0VKSmP26WrFy4L_Blx/s1600/slug1_virginia.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbZfoQxnkbKeAP4rW2nIIacLFz_NJVLaky9eer3G3yggrvJSRUw3zFDoPV3gfFvWG9DOCfmZRXRzLltM_y3LAI_oVfOmDoY7Peb3Le1Thgi0qQOsC4C8KeM0WzE0VKSmP26WrFy4L_Blx/s320/slug1_virginia.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/">www.rael-sanfratello.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">A new species of sea slug was discovered in California in 2010 and given the name Flabellini Goddardi. This inspired the making of the Seat Slug bench by designer Ronald Rael San Fratello. Nothing whatsoever to do with Mariner Mikey's underwater exploits. That's a relief because there are a lot of sharks about. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Not shark benches, just sharks. I didn't find any shark benches. The closest I came to a shark bench is this:</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg8BlnZytuXjWYy5DsvmOYoNn525pVoDtHqS26wkUTJMaCjaz2ldMgrew-gpx5z0izflHBJlBcI5GW3FIivvJpDipPX4xI5G4wvApRu87kiPoQ2J-M-Baw9b4d8fU4hDykj8_7OT_bH_B/s1600/Kerri.kreativecorner.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg8BlnZytuXjWYy5DsvmOYoNn525pVoDtHqS26wkUTJMaCjaz2ldMgrew-gpx5z0izflHBJlBcI5GW3FIivvJpDipPX4xI5G4wvApRu87kiPoQ2J-M-Baw9b4d8fU4hDykj8_7OT_bH_B/s320/Kerri.kreativecorner.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/kreativecorner">www.etsy.com/shop/kreativecorner</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Golly. I'd think twice about using the loo if there are sharks in it.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">But apparently some people find sharks cuddly. Have you hugged your shark today? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAN0OeyyxwLUJbeX3QI7QfZT5LVdmfUWlT5zZrwH15w_ptdb_Eh5JpZ0FwD8nyZrdx-mIReBCYeMoYYZubxPxe0hnU09yOlai9mmLq5A3zlEjyq-nHoul-8y-FnrbV3qiSzWkcGGD9AGY/s1600/untitled.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAN0OeyyxwLUJbeX3QI7QfZT5LVdmfUWlT5zZrwH15w_ptdb_Eh5JpZ0FwD8nyZrdx-mIReBCYeMoYYZubxPxe0hnU09yOlai9mmLq5A3zlEjyq-nHoul-8y-FnrbV3qiSzWkcGGD9AGY/s200/untitled.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/91562291"> http://www.flickr.com/photos/91562291</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">OK. We've done dolphins and whales and seahorses and fish and sea slugs and sharks. We've seen more than enough mermaids. Hmmm. Is there anything else in the sea, Mikey? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Really? There are lots of girls on benches in the sea? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2oVXY6hkcUGrZ7dKSeX0_mJw9vAQk6I46IqtGj1IU5GrKVrDb2Vb-Kkojt5EdEhDj8CPJdo5T6kuC1hZYQxFcTQxPJv1b8KNXuMNATVWfPSdiY8EXKUkThlZki1ObTrNyyRuqM9-bjE2e/s1600/bobdicksetsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2oVXY6hkcUGrZ7dKSeX0_mJw9vAQk6I46IqtGj1IU5GrKVrDb2Vb-Kkojt5EdEhDj8CPJdo5T6kuC1hZYQxFcTQxPJv1b8KNXuMNATVWfPSdiY8EXKUkThlZki1ObTrNyyRuqM9-bjE2e/s320/bobdicksetsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bobdix">www.etsy.com/shop/bobdix</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Interesting. An octopus and an owl. And extra large glasses too!</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Oh, the glasses are for reading. With an octopus. On a bench. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Well, that's brilliant. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">What's this? Another octopus girl.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Looks like she's having a relaxing time with her book and her friend.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2AQoNr-mCvDpeORJb5_p1lxvlhl5IfdiWxB5zjrccAQoyJqYby6SguTd_zVwNWgJNla0d-Tk0p1vbD6sQLtYpX8rlDZqCsAmFSrAqDaNTqfkoJafv5I5EdVMJQNzDMNY5uWmMFRg6gpG0/s1600/eightfingerstudioetsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2AQoNr-mCvDpeORJb5_p1lxvlhl5IfdiWxB5zjrccAQoyJqYby6SguTd_zVwNWgJNla0d-Tk0p1vbD6sQLtYpX8rlDZqCsAmFSrAqDaNTqfkoJafv5I5EdVMJQNzDMNY5uWmMFRg6gpG0/s320/eightfingerstudioetsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/8fingerstudio">www.etsy.com/shop/8fingerstudio</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">So this is the girl who broke your heart huh? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">What happened?</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcwADXNBKiDCkR9ddoCDPh1CPelXb7ihIAWlqPbGjm3oBj46JgyfrEvWTuqY1Rjfz2dTYB_qegcYrY92j1tYszjXvbx1FfjDXdm4cvuF0XzsBt9Yw5rwyE0ApDGivjKfZl9ksbl4vCeLj/s1600/benchybenches.etsy.dorset.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcwADXNBKiDCkR9ddoCDPh1CPelXb7ihIAWlqPbGjm3oBj46JgyfrEvWTuqY1Rjfz2dTYB_qegcYrY92j1tYszjXvbx1FfjDXdm4cvuF0XzsBt9Yw5rwyE0ApDGivjKfZl9ksbl4vCeLj/s320/benchybenches.etsy.dorset.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/benchybenches">www.etsy.com/shop/benchybenches</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">You just drifted apart. Like driftwood. </span><span face="">Yeah, I get it. Must happen a lot with ocean-going relationships.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Why are you showing us this?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOD0cXQkPcKZbPb5R8qAXp64X6oOfwpc7Ctp9ifeGNdZaqfMLMFpF4rqkjd85JNH1TixXMg7Qj_SF6Q55XxLnw_fYUVmIU1BbwDEJIoAQaS2pZaoXHMMXrAPkI_54VsnTql7esPoUnGH-o/s1600/J0076232.GIF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOD0cXQkPcKZbPb5R8qAXp64X6oOfwpc7Ctp9ifeGNdZaqfMLMFpF4rqkjd85JNH1TixXMg7Qj_SF6Q55XxLnw_fYUVmIU1BbwDEJIoAQaS2pZaoXHMMXrAPkI_54VsnTql7esPoUnGH-o/s1600/J0076232.GIF" /></a></div><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><br /><span face="">Plenty more fish in the sea. Yes, of course. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1lfjjBxg4FKIiUsDfVrrDzdWJB4rkc8lnQLoJ3Fv62kChIek_hfgwZZhDZ27PO1MC4KuwyrAlFAWQO8Wr6hp4LsABqRbrEeg9laBb5btEDI5I2wf7k1HvFfikt8UhNe6X13pUC8QPYUE/s1600/terence.faircloth.fkcc5838668875_9e1bafca22_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1lfjjBxg4FKIiUsDfVrrDzdWJB4rkc8lnQLoJ3Fv62kChIek_hfgwZZhDZ27PO1MC4KuwyrAlFAWQO8Wr6hp4LsABqRbrEeg9laBb5btEDI5I2wf7k1HvFfikt8UhNe6X13pUC8QPYUE/s320/terence.faircloth.fkcc5838668875_9e1bafca22_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/atelier_tee/5838668875/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/atelier_tee/5838668875/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">There are some splendid fish benches around.</span><br /><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKe_Q9i1HyjoP47Fxlfyr5uHaRZsSZReumSW86H1cIjIfwbQqT3Wh0peXpla2TDWo20zQughylWV9m0oyTzFD5ayPqnX5gTYZLZJIPWGVAbt1LzOhFQ_xRK7q6ZGtydXNi8mtpPHfvqbs/s1600/stainedglass4u.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKe_Q9i1HyjoP47Fxlfyr5uHaRZsSZReumSW86H1cIjIfwbQqT3Wh0peXpla2TDWo20zQughylWV9m0oyTzFD5ayPqnX5gTYZLZJIPWGVAbt1LzOhFQ_xRK7q6ZGtydXNi8mtpPHfvqbs/s1600/stainedglass4u.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.stainedglass4u.com/">http://www.stainedglass4u.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">A stained glass fish bench from Boise. Lovely. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I'd welcome this with open arms.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYMqg1D0bXeRsJYoaXgv6-fMfF3kacn8KXw9Tvyf72iG1IMbkrzfpC1MGgy6OQ4wo0f3jL7_XcE1EUoZhGok-X2J-la2Pp5yQ3nS20Azq_vGWFFsaz6kEz-IgTABdsvSr6H5FvyO5jJfG/s1600/mine.brighton20170218_131624.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="963" data-original-width="1600" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYMqg1D0bXeRsJYoaXgv6-fMfF3kacn8KXw9Tvyf72iG1IMbkrzfpC1MGgy6OQ4wo0f3jL7_XcE1EUoZhGok-X2J-la2Pp5yQ3nS20Azq_vGWFFsaz6kEz-IgTABdsvSr6H5FvyO5jJfG/s320/mine.brighton20170218_131624.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo of Steve Boyle's photo</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">You're right, Little Sailor, there's no ocean in Boise. These fish must be from the Snake River. And rivers feed into oceans, so that's relevant. Golly, I feel like I'm swimming upstream here.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Uggue97k5k5roHN_7wRHAcfjIuiAmwcVvbJObfYPbMgMKuYNx-D656igJwydQdIf_D0x8RaP9GOU3eagmzi9Zkj-wP_sW8n5YyHCkJ-zkR_VAC7ptzDxf9xqRmY3dOXA2F-BDfft47FI/s1600/seaford.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Uggue97k5k5roHN_7wRHAcfjIuiAmwcVvbJObfYPbMgMKuYNx-D656igJwydQdIf_D0x8RaP9GOU3eagmzi9Zkj-wP_sW8n5YyHCkJ-zkR_VAC7ptzDxf9xqRmY3dOXA2F-BDfft47FI/s320/seaford.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">my photo Seaford, East Sussex</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">We won't get too hung up on where the fish come from. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's a tiled sea bench from California which pretty much covers everything sea-going.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhDVX7lFZM3GOoudPbS4dKZ84veni-8YNBLs75OFNrIlMpVzPWXRhxvolfS4OM5pp1L0b3-yz0bFJguhL4zHk9DgTfIoev33O1OnWujGximVJ3iQwqNJkWkPw9n0qLqbkZVePj4EwywmS/s1600/Matthew.E.Cohen.seatileB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhDVX7lFZM3GOoudPbS4dKZ84veni-8YNBLs75OFNrIlMpVzPWXRhxvolfS4OM5pp1L0b3-yz0bFJguhL4zHk9DgTfIoev33O1OnWujGximVJ3iQwqNJkWkPw9n0qLqbkZVePj4EwywmS/s1600/Matthew.E.Cohen.seatileB.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> Matthew E. Cohen at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mister_goleta" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.flickr.com/people/mister_goleta</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Tell me, Little Sailor, have you ever sailed one of the colder seas? Like the Baltic Sea, for instance. Or the South Atlantic? </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWabI6mDL4hNmlbpZJfQad3Lz4QxrOU9UJCxXiwvN48TKFA3uRRMkGJDGU0IfwVoy_7Z1jMvNYGB1zWx7zGVL-VqUu744hT0FFQoYa0L7hnm2TwUTOe-wpNVR0bcWyWKGgSVx5vDnykCfC/s1024/Wrath+of+Seas+Ivan+Aivazovsky.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWabI6mDL4hNmlbpZJfQad3Lz4QxrOU9UJCxXiwvN48TKFA3uRRMkGJDGU0IfwVoy_7Z1jMvNYGB1zWx7zGVL-VqUu744hT0FFQoYa0L7hnm2TwUTOe-wpNVR0bcWyWKGgSVx5vDnykCfC/s320/Wrath+of+Seas+Ivan+Aivazovsky.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Wrath of the Seas</i><span face="" style="font-size: x-small;"> by Ivan Aivazovsky 1886</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><font face=""><br /></font><span face="">Wow! Looks like you incurred the wrath of the seas. And no life jacket?</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">Great to see you made it to shore.</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvKzZNAmkCnQlcwA_cFHzElfTi_cOi8RDXUDSyCD-CQjQ2E19_ypPdjgPO7WVlQEH7l2pGhN0fgLHiqok1TR6vocnk22D0f-FQ11rVXUtRnGV7Owv2qzOl68IYtB08_mjdEoo0JcU6Khf5/s320/Mikey+portrait2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvKzZNAmkCnQlcwA_cFHzElfTi_cOi8RDXUDSyCD-CQjQ2E19_ypPdjgPO7WVlQEH7l2pGhN0fgLHiqok1TR6vocnk22D0f-FQ11rVXUtRnGV7Owv2qzOl68IYtB08_mjdEoo0JcU6Khf5//" /></a></div><span face=""><br /><br /></span><span face="">You went to a penguin wedding in Antarctica huh?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHNTUqSc7M8hfCt3bl481GwzKjtMQnFt1MRXf1SI2UWl3LxZPPjIewYi-U5q4mRIgZ2_on0FeaYtSd8MTCeYD3f25UetD-xPbEJd_aUIcotmD2GJetJBboYp4dlFIMYdfR4QE-9MpYQzu/s1600/2sweetformedear.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHNTUqSc7M8hfCt3bl481GwzKjtMQnFt1MRXf1SI2UWl3LxZPPjIewYi-U5q4mRIgZ2_on0FeaYtSd8MTCeYD3f25UetD-xPbEJd_aUIcotmD2GJetJBboYp4dlFIMYdfR4QE-9MpYQzu/s320/2sweetformedear.etsy.jpg" width="241" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/2sweetforyou">www.etsy.com/shop/2sweetforyou</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">A snow-cone cake? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Well, I hope there was a warm reception.</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Who is this you're showing me?</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnbeuMHeALQW9ZAn7JGjgIdfrPpmZnNn0rNw4lWXbKK20WoGgXhnEiLNULhNhe13U7jtAeMRN06CiX9hkvH6P2Qkh183wcpmEa3Vr5fHsE8BNLuKJQUT61Kqw265jGLbKLe8mLJ1NfE0x/s1600/Lucy+Beaver.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnbeuMHeALQW9ZAn7JGjgIdfrPpmZnNn0rNw4lWXbKK20WoGgXhnEiLNULhNhe13U7jtAeMRN06CiX9hkvH6P2Qkh183wcpmEa3Vr5fHsE8BNLuKJQUT61Kqw265jGLbKLe8mLJ1NfE0x/s320/Lucy+Beaver.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/coyoterimstudio">www.etsy.com/shop/coyoterimstudio</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Lucy Beaver. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">On an icefloe bench in the Bering Strait. Yes, that really is unusual.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">You loved Lucy and gave her a seaglass bench necklace? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Very pretty. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUe3hoQKWLDTTp_AOVY5k7tubtMv2xRBKmoeEmbMzLnVCmQiiEQ7ViveGwRD6-PkiCV3tA0JQhyPPkPefb8x46SHddFwQYL_UaqClJRoWMlWMjhljrBh7syRenO5kPuEwIBMrTzBhUED_T/s1600/seabeachglassetsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUe3hoQKWLDTTp_AOVY5k7tubtMv2xRBKmoeEmbMzLnVCmQiiEQ7ViveGwRD6-PkiCV3tA0JQhyPPkPefb8x46SHddFwQYL_UaqClJRoWMlWMjhljrBh7syRenO5kPuEwIBMrTzBhUED_T/s200/seabeachglassetsy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/seabeachglass">www.etsy.com/shop/seabeachglass</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face="">Seabeach Glass is in Toronto. Quite a few miles from the ocean then.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">But say, Little Sailor, you seem to have a girl in every port.</span></div><div><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPGqh4q1Ac6E9jZqB4KYPE6ev44lSLAmxh2WsTjE36wvK2IqLwEpFT58yrEid45wwdhHUa4WzYU-wZv52QsLmN2mjR61KBkQX_MjQTxBsiSf40Q3Y0-IvBQmp27MVwdPEFcKprjyRefI1/s831/Nautical%252C_but_nice%2521_USN-20_%2528NBY_428645%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="831" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPGqh4q1Ac6E9jZqB4KYPE6ev44lSLAmxh2WsTjE36wvK2IqLwEpFT58yrEid45wwdhHUa4WzYU-wZv52QsLmN2mjR61KBkQX_MjQTxBsiSf40Q3Y0-IvBQmp27MVwdPEFcKprjyRefI1/w400-h254/Nautical%252C_but_nice%2521_USN-20_%2528NBY_428645%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nautical but Nice</i> 1941 from Curt Teich archive<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span></div><div><span face="">A mermaid at Piccadilly Circus? Well, that's something.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0IMZAYkLBZOm4dkTfz6moUW_FAGz5l-R9erO5Ex72am5EjdlHY359iu3qC06ZOPDlOV-XzESGaQYU-UoI3AS_OcZjRykckhjlVdCoJYr8-4aS5P9_fKAmSc8VzF2kS6z2f2BlJ4tjH3-E/s2304/mikey%2526mermaid.picadilly.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="1728" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0IMZAYkLBZOm4dkTfz6moUW_FAGz5l-R9erO5Ex72am5EjdlHY359iu3qC06ZOPDlOV-XzESGaQYU-UoI3AS_OcZjRykckhjlVdCoJYr8-4aS5P9_fKAmSc8VzF2kS6z2f2BlJ4tjH3-E/s320/mikey%2526mermaid.picadilly.JPG" /></a></div><font face=""><br /></font><br /></div><div><span face="">Have you ever been to the Sea of Japan? The reason I ask is that they have an extraordinary eel bench there. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQgllAUZ9_D0J_P845D4Cbl9-YQPy2xSt44GLTDSKJYTWxFG4co5oZP3ZgOLIWlUCf-ewgUsotwsv0ZR-I4YAJxl82m9sevO9cxcmzgCJe-3YvwUZMp9HiBFXLkKKyCFI37poe68QyDxQ/s1600/eelB.zoomingjapan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQgllAUZ9_D0J_P845D4Cbl9-YQPy2xSt44GLTDSKJYTWxFG4co5oZP3ZgOLIWlUCf-ewgUsotwsv0ZR-I4YAJxl82m9sevO9cxcmzgCJe-3YvwUZMp9HiBFXLkKKyCFI37poe68QyDxQ/s320/eelB.zoomingjapan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://zoomingjapan.com/">http://zoomingjapan.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">At Nakatsu Station, that's right. In Oita Prefecture. So you know it!</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I've recently found out that there is quite a surfing community in Japan. Which reminds me to show you some surfboard benches.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's one from the Gold Coast in Australia. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Q7BQbIxwnMCN_1MU_AL3bh6JSJ6Xt-Mx_tnsoq_JZ1ZJvEkevBNNVvBbjwvC06nYUE7bLeg23WL3nX-B1ubA7Y6cKfSFbqtDU_sG2sptFtZ958A6khzZxO4BxX8a1n_XayVX3uWizwon/s1600/www.tigerlim.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Q7BQbIxwnMCN_1MU_AL3bh6JSJ6Xt-Mx_tnsoq_JZ1ZJvEkevBNNVvBbjwvC06nYUE7bLeg23WL3nX-B1ubA7Y6cKfSFbqtDU_sG2sptFtZ958A6khzZxO4BxX8a1n_XayVX3uWizwon/s320/www.tigerlim.com.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.tigerlim.com/">http://www.tigerlim.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">And here we have the <i>creme de la creme</i> of surfboard benches, made by Joel Sokolov for a sea-themed room in California. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwWW0VcwzPT1guM7n1bYuNOAF0-85TTZIs23yjCR2uJzGpMvF1HeI-CMIDM-zWtEy5jkmPQIerTpJqjeDixtnsh20Sr-dnmeIWYQ7cZoRWunZYdbPM15s6-9eBaNFH-HEFayVeTPe6C7Ac/s1600/joel.sokolov.california.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwWW0VcwzPT1guM7n1bYuNOAF0-85TTZIs23yjCR2uJzGpMvF1HeI-CMIDM-zWtEy5jkmPQIerTpJqjeDixtnsh20Sr-dnmeIWYQ7cZoRWunZYdbPM15s6-9eBaNFH-HEFayVeTPe6C7Ac/s400/joel.sokolov.california.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.joelsokolov.com/">www.joelsokolov.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Just look at those lifeguard stations! </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face="">What, you've had enough benches?</font></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face=""><i>You must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky</i></font></div><div><font face=""><i>And all you ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,</i></font></div><div><font face=""><i>And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,</i></font></div><div><font face=""><i>And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.</i></font></div><div><br /><span face="">Well, I hope your sea voyages go well for you, Mikey. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Really? You'd like to settle down now and fall in love with a landlubber? </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I guess a bachelor's life is no life for a single man. </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnoToYCXrKv1B6J7OIESG78JWQZnO0xz8UDDo1ED8IW6e-ZSX7S55S1OmszCQo43JI6E2ci9gzb_zavM7smz2x_ru52Dy64-PZOsnmOwWQlQwAyeIBKmWWTgfRPySvjinjArfkKR25Awo/s1884/100_8329.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="1884" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnoToYCXrKv1B6J7OIESG78JWQZnO0xz8UDDo1ED8IW6e-ZSX7S55S1OmszCQo43JI6E2ci9gzb_zavM7smz2x_ru52Dy64-PZOsnmOwWQlQwAyeIBKmWWTgfRPySvjinjArfkKR25Awo/s320/100_8329.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><font face=""><br /></font><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here then. I'll put you in touch with SeaBench Lovers.com They match up people who love the sea with people who love benches. You get the best of both worlds. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Here's a little poem for you, Mikey. It's by Christina Rosetti, written in 1893: </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="" style="color: #3d85c6;">What are heavy? sea-sand and sorrow:</span><br /><span face="" style="color: #3d85c6;">What are brief? to-day and to-morrow:</span><br /><span face="" style="color: #3d85c6;">What are frail? spring blossoms and youth:</span><br /><span face="" style="color: #3d85c6;">What are deep? the ocean and truth.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Please note the importance of <span style="color: #3d85c6;">truth</span> here, Mikey.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Good luck, Little Sailor! I hope you find true love on a bench by the sea.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKzMTIB9Tv7hR-ymj9sa8IaWkTOomOhV3cf0ajVwq-oUtkSc2REVDYRkm5UtQCwo3WQer5YDHuMKpBKyqSDoy_-RS-gh-GYMm2iO7X_Dz-LgFcQBTewaIHfmVkD9EED7_WUons1AJX4BI/s1600/kathleen.etsy.beachstonecouple.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKzMTIB9Tv7hR-ymj9sa8IaWkTOomOhV3cf0ajVwq-oUtkSc2REVDYRkm5UtQCwo3WQer5YDHuMKpBKyqSDoy_-RS-gh-GYMm2iO7X_Dz-LgFcQBTewaIHfmVkD9EED7_WUons1AJX4BI/s320/kathleen.etsy.beachstonecouple.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/naturalware">www.etsy.com/shop/naturalware</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""><b>Credits </b></span><br /><span face=""><b><br /></b></span><span face="">Mariner Mikey has proven to be a less-than-reliable narrator for this post. 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</span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><span face="">If you're keen on boat benches and/or mermaids, </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/boat-benches.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Mikey's back for International Maritime Day</a><span face=""> I made the mistake of giving him free reign on this so, as you might expect, there are whale tails and mermaids galore. </span><font face=""><br /></font><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">If you'd like to know what became of Mikey's quest for love, see what happened next at the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/three-weddings-and-some-benches.html">Three Scottish Weddings</a> in July 2013. Did it last? You can check up on Mikey again on <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hearty-heart-benches-for-valentines-day.html">Valentine's Day, 2014</a>. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I'm a keen sea swimmer and I have a very special swimming bench on The Plunge here on Paradise Island. You can read all about it at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-swimming-bench.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-swimming-bench.html</a></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="">I like some classical art on Benchsite so there are three glorious sea paintings by Russian artist Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900.)</span><span face=""> Born in the Crimea at Feodosiya, Aivazovsky is one of Russia's foremost artists and painted more than 20,000 paintings, mainly of the sea. He paints seas so fearsome that no one with any sense would be without a <strike>brassiere</strike> life jacket. <i>Between Waves</i> was painted in 1898, one of his late works. It is now in the National Gallery at Feodosiya. </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Wrath of the Seas</i><span face=""> was painted in 1886 and <i>Shipwreck</i> in 1854.</span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face=""><i>Buccaneer</i>, sometimes called <i>Corsaire</i>, is by English portrait painter Albert Henry Collings (1868-1947). Collings was born in London and lived all his life there. This painting sold at auction in the United States in 2018. </font></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><font face=""><font face="verdana">All the nice girls love a sailor is the chorus from <i>Ship Ahoy!</i>, a poem by AJ Mills. This was set to music by Bennett Scott and became a music-hall song. </font><br /></font><br /><span face="">Zimpenfish's beautiful London wave bench is near Bermondsey station in London. Zimpenfish has a huge assortment of surprising and fascinating photographs at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimpenfish">http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimpenfish</a> </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I travel to the Channel Islands regularly and I took this picture of the St Helier wave benches. They're right down on the Jardin de la Mer by the beach. St. Helier is a great bench town and with the help of Meredith, my feline editor, I documented them all. Well, most of them. See </span><span face=""><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bench-town-st-helier-with-meredith.html</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">The Enchanted Seashell bench is from a blog which is the confessions of a tugboat captain's wife. He travels the world while she does all manner of things including writing this lively blog. The tugboat captain's wife would like to make it clear that although she loves seashells and rocks, she is most definitely not a mermaid. You can see her seashell encrusted creations at </span><a href="http://pinterest.com/enchantedcshels/seashell-encrusted-and-embellished-tables/"><span face="">http://pinterest.com/enchantedcshels/seashell-encrusted-and-embellished-tables/</span></a><br /><br /><span face="">The blue dolphin bench is by Shari Weinsheimer. It is on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/=%22http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=4488&picture=dolphin-bench%22%3EDolphin%20Bench%3C/a%3E%20by%20Shari%20Weinsheimer">http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=4488&picture=dolphin-bench">Dolphin Bench</a> by Shari Weinsheimer</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Recently I attended a wedding at 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 thing to find.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The picnic table (bwrdd) suggests a dolphin to me. It's in Plas y Wedd in Gwynedd in Wales and was photographed by Alan Fryer at <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/">http://www.geograph.org.uk</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Kate Robertson from Idaho Falls is the Queen of Creativity. She photographs all kinds of stuff wherever she goes on her creative pursuits. This included the whale bench which she saw at Cannon Beach, Oregon. Kate is a Kaizen-Muse creativity coach and she has loads of ideas on how to get your creative mojo working. She has various blogs; I first saw her at <a href="http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com/">http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The first whale tail bench is at Malibu in California. It was photographed by Trudy, aka Queen Cashmere, who is from Pfalz in Germany. Trudy's profile claims that '<i>Everyone is an artist</i>' and she quotes (convincingly) from Joseph Beuys in both German and English. Her photographs are featured in Flickr's Signifying the Whale group at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21045605@NO31">http://www.flickr.com/photos/21045605</a> If you like whales, check out this project. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The second whale tail bench is at Whitehaven in Cumbria; that's the Irish Sea, for anyone keeping tabs on our theme. It's by Ron Clark, also at Flickr. There are quite a few whale benches around the harbour in Whitehaven, which harks back to its past as a whaling port. Ron has an eye for All Things English and he has an amazing collection of pub signs in his photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronclark5239">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronclark5329</a> </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The pink whale tail thong comes from <a href="http://imgur.com/">http://imgur.com</a>. There are no contact details for this site; maybe that's just as well. In my defence, I can only say this image is included as a result of a rare moment of poor judgement; the Little Sailor seems to have been a bad influence. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The white whale tail bench is at the whale watching viewpoint in Hermanus on the Western Cape of South Africa. A lot of whale watching goes on there during the southern winter and spring. And a lot of photography. This picture is by Willem Nabuurs at Panoramio. <a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32216155">http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32216155</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The yellow <i>Step into the Blue</i> bench was photographed by Riaan Vosloo from Capetown, South Africa. He took the photograph while working on the Sun Princess. <i>"I had to take this photograph because the scene almost looked staged, with the bright yellow, wooden steps set against the blue ocean and sky."</i> The image is available as a photographic limited edition print at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/riaanvoslossartdesign">www.etsy.com/shop/riaanvoslossartdesign</a> </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">John William Waterhouse RA (6 April 1849 – 10 February 1917) was an English painter whose artworks were known for their depictions of women from both ancient Greek mythology and Arthurian legend. Waterhouse's painting </span><i style="color: #202124; font-family: roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Mermaid</i><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> may have been inspired by Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem 'The Mermaid' (1830). Tennyson's poem goes on to describe the mermaid seeking and finding love among the mermen but when the work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1901 the Art Journal noted her 'wistful-sad look' and the review remarked that '</span><i style="color: #202124; font-family: roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">it tells of the human longings never to be satisfied … The chill of the sea lies ever on her heart; the endless murmur of the waters is a poor substitute for the sound of human voices; never can this beautiful creature, troubled with emotion, experience on the one hand unawakened repose, on the other the joys of womanhood</i><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">'. </span><a href="https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-william-waterhouse/a-mermaid-1900">https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-william-waterhouse/a-mermaid-1900</a><font face=""><br /></font><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The pretty blue seahorse bench was photographed by Claire McDonough. Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Claire has a lot of seaside pictures on her photostream at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegren">http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegren</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">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. Kat also photographed the kissing fish here. She has eclectic interests, shown in her wonderful photos at <a href="http://www.flick.com/people/43067379@NOO/">http://www.flick.com/people/43067379</a> </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The beautiful driftwood bench looking out to sea is on the California coast at Cambria. It was photographed by Caren Silvestri, a Southern California native, who loves landscapes and macro photos of nature subjects in the garden and at the beach. Oceans, mountains, deserts - as she says, in Southern California they have it all. Her shop is at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/carensilvestri" target="_blank">http://www.etsy.com/shop/carensilvestri</a><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Miss Mermaid now resides not in the ocean but in a gallery in Manteo, North Carolina. She is the creation of Carol Willett, who sculpts a wide variety of Creatures of Imagination from papier and cloth mâché. Carol's favorite subjects are sea creatures as well as those from legend and myth. Her menagerie can be seen at: <a href="http://www.creaturesofimagination.com/">www.creaturesofimagination.com</a> and she's back on Benchsite again in 2014 for <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/boat-benches.html">International Maritime Day</a>. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The delightful crocheted goldfish is by Amy Gaines in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Love the fish, love the bubbles. Amy became frustrated with the lack of good knit toy patterns available so she now designs her own amugurumi knit and crochet patterns. There are delightful animals of every kind, and various Little Knitted Creatures.</span><span face=""> Her shop is at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/amygaines" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/amygaines</a><br /><br /><span face="">Jeano Roberts is a surfer and an artist who loves shabby chic coastal styles. Maybe that's not surprising since she grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida. She works with wood, canvas, paint, seashells, feathers, twine - all kinds of materials for making coastal-style signs and upcycled old furniture. Her handpainted beach bench at the start of the Oceans post was created from an old wooden twin headboard and footboard. The seashells were painted from actual shells placed on the bench and recreated by hand painting them to get the best "fool the eye" effect. The seagulls were painted using a bird identification guide: </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">"I always try to make sure the shells and birds in my work look like the real thing." </i><span face="">Her blog is at </span><a href="http://jeanscoastalart.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://JeansCoastalArt.com</a><span face=""> and she also has a shop at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jeanosart" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/jeanosart</a><br /><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The Strawberry Hill shell bench is at Strawberry Hill House, a gothic revival villa in Twickenham near London. The house was built by Horace Walpole in 1749 and included extensive gardens reflecting Walpole's eccentricities. The bench faced the Thames and was carved to resemble a Rococo-style seashell. The house was restored in 2010 and a drawing of the original shell bench survived so it has been recreated as part of the garden revival. You can read all about it at</span><span face=""> <a href="http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/">http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">The white shell bench on the patio is from Urbis Design in the UK. It's made from white and grey glass-reinforced concrete, one of the many materials used by designers at Urbis to create a contemporary look to furniture, plant containers, and modular garden systems. <a href="http://www.urbisdesign.co.uk/shell_bench.html">http://www.urbisdesign.co.uk/shell_bench.html</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Perla Ponce is the owner of Wholesale World Pottery at Chula Vista in California. That's right down there on the Mexican border near San Diego. Not surprisingly, she sells colourful Mexican pots, large pot containers, metal animal sculptures, and forged iron furniture like the delightful seashell bench. <a href="http://www.wholesaleworldpottery.com/">www.wholesaleworldpottery.com</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Alibythesea is Alison Sargeant in Delray Beach, Florida. So you see, she really is bythesea. Ali collects beads, shells, rocks and lots of other stuff, such as scary people in an attic. She takes lovely photographs, such as the sea-battered bench and shutters in Savannah, Georgia. She also has a Sorrento mermaid in her shop and I'm pretty sure Mariner Mikey will know her. Ali's shop is at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/alibythesea">www.etsy.com/shop/alibythesea</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">The lovely tropical palm tree bench is from Joseph Adams II, who </span><span face="">is a graduate of University of South Carolina Beaufort and is currently studying for a Masters in Fine Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design. He specialises in metal work - iron, steel, stainless steel, aluminium, copper, etc. and makes a wide variety of furniture and other things from metal. </span><span face=""><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/josephadamsdesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/josephadamsdesigns</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">The Lifeguard station in the Virgin Islands is one of the favourite places of Shari Anne, who photographed it. Shari Anne lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. Her artwork fuses together her two equal passions - world exploration and fine art. Her photographs and paintings are from her travels and</span><span face=""> the list of places she has visited makes The Little Sailor look like a local boy.</span><span face=""> Her shop is at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbysharianne">www.etsy.com/shop/artbysharianne</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The Seat Slug bench was designed by Studio Rael San Fratello in Oakland, California. Inspired by the discovery of the flabellina goddardi sea slug in California in 2010, it is constructed of 230 unique rapid-manufactured (and very strong) building components developed by Ronald Rael Fratello through his research at the University of California Berkeley. Using digital software modelling and cement-based polymer components, the Seat Slug is a new synthesis of design and production. Here's how it looks up close. For more details of the process see <a href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/">www.rael-sanfratello.com</a></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-Dse_rgxlwbcUzJi8aiBHUg5ep1l15wkbCKkkj1EpdgRerL9ztTURnJUUH_Sw34yuE3tD-RooDY8GyO93y6Uw84JtpJSjVDT-npSx6GIKmjc503BUVQfmMd59E4gECDNQFpZPc9nF7_e/s1600/slug3_rendering.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-Dse_rgxlwbcUzJi8aiBHUg5ep1l15wkbCKkkj1EpdgRerL9ztTURnJUUH_Sw34yuE3tD-RooDY8GyO93y6Uw84JtpJSjVDT-npSx6GIKmjc503BUVQfmMd59E4gECDNQFpZPc9nF7_e/s200/slug3_rendering.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">image from <a href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/">www.rael-sanfratello.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I honestly didn't find any good shark benches, apart from the San Jose Sharks hockey team. This was not really in keeping with our Oceans theme so I chose the toilet with sharks from Kerri, who lives in Idaho, a place not known for its shark-infested waters. But these vinyl decals of sharks can bring the ocean into any bathroom where sharks are wanted. Kerri does a huge range of clever custom vinyl decals and other home decor items at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/kreativecorner">www.etsy.com/shop/kreativecorner</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">Have you hugged your shark today? is a photograph from Eye of the Jen at Flick. Jen's daughter was hugging a shark at the aquarium apparently. Not the real thing. Jen's photostream is at <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.flickr.com/photos/91562291">http:/www.flickr.com/photos/91562291</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The Girl with Big Glasses is a delightful painting by Robert Dix at </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bobdix" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.etsy.com/shop/bobdix</a><span face=""> His inspiration begins from a nightmare, a memory, or an odd 'Bobservation'. Monsters, hotrods, cartoons, , comic books, surreal killers, horror movies, old advertisments, low brow and traditional artists, sealife ...anything can inspire his ideas. </span><br /><br /><span face="">A girl on a bench with an octopus and a book: I felt so lucky to find this. It's by Joseph Hasenauer at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/8fingerstudio">www.etsy.com/shop/8fingerstudio</a> After graduating with a degree in visual communications and illustration, Joseph worked as an illustrator, a graphic designer, and a film maker. Fifteen years after packing away his paint brushes, Joseph has jumped headlong back into traditional art: paint, ink, photography, oils, pencil. There are lots of fantastic eight-fingered creatures featured in his work, some of whom are on benches.</span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The driftwood bench on the beach is by Martyn Cook from Benchy Benches in Dorset. He makes original handcrafted driftwood furniture, including benches, from the wood he finds on the beautiful Jurassic coast. The bench pictured costs £250 and is finished with Danish oil for either indoor or outdoor use. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/benchybenches">www.etsy.com/shop/benchybenches</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">The splendid fish bench was outside the Bass Pro Shop at the Gulf Coast Town Center mall in Ft Myers, Florida back in 2011.Terence Faircloth photographed it. Terence has a massive photostream with albums from all over the world, plus architectural abstracts, machinery, art, signs, family events, and lots of other surprises. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/atelier_tee/5838668875/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/atelier_tee/5838668875/</a> </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The pretty stained glass fish bench is from <a href="http://www.stainedglass4u.com/">http://www.StainedGlass4u.com</a> in Boise. It's by PJ McDonald, who has been a Stained Glass Artisan for over 30 years. She has work in</span><span face=""> Las Vegas hotels like</span><span face=""> the Mandalay Bay, the Marriott, and the Gold Coast. She also does stained glass for churches, and custom designs and commissions. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">On a sunny day in February 2017 we went to Brighton, where there was a brilliant exhibition of photographs on the beach. One of the photos which caught my eye was by Steven Boyle. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Matthew E. Cohen is Mistergoleta. Goleta is a town near Santa Barbara, California. I happen to know that because I went to a university not a million miles from there. Matthew photographs architecture, scenic and urban landscapes, neon signs, murals, sculptures, and benches that he sees on his travels. He didn't have to travel far to see the tiled sea bench as it's in Santa Barbara. His photostream is at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/mister_goleta" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/people/mister_goleta</a></div><div><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The penguins are wedding cake toppers for Michelle and Tom or, in the case of the Antarctic wedding, possibly it's the penguins who are Michelle and Tom. They come from an etsy shop selling wedding cake toppers, ornaments and jewelry with the delightful name of <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/2sweetformedear">www.etsy.com/shop/2sweetformedear</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Lucy Beaver is a fibre art sculpture by Kelly Riley in Bend, Oregon. Kelly does a wide range of wool watercolours, handfelted scarves, felted tapestries, sculptures and needle felting kits. Lucy and others are for sale at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/coyoterimstudio">www.etsy.com/shop/coyoterimstudio</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">I don't know if we can trust Mariner Mikey to tell us the truth about his relationships. Did he give a lovely necklace to Lucy Beaver? I'd like one myself. The pretty mint green seaglass necklace shown in the story is from Tati D. at Sea Beach Glass in Toronto, which is on Lake Ontario. The shop at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SeaBeachGlass" target="_blank">http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeaBeachGlass</a> has </span><span face="">Sea Beach Glass Pendants, chains, charms, and jewelry of all kinds. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">My seashell throne was a gift from Lord Brassica, who helped me find all the best <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/lord-brassicas-right-royal-thrones.html">throne benches</a> around the world. I saw the seashell throne in Seaview, Isle of Wight, which is, um, by the sea and has a sea view. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">Seana knows a thing or two about fresh air and family fun in Sydney. Her website is a comprehensive look at fun stuff to do in Sydney and beyond. Best playgrounds, best beaches, best famiy-friendly cafes - she's got it all. She has also found the best playground benches. The lovely oar bench is at the gorgeous Shelly Beach Playground near Cronulla; Seana and her kids agree that this is the bestest bench ever. <a href="http://www.seanasmith.com/sydneys-best-playground-bench/">http://www.seanasmith.com/sydneys-best-playground-bench/</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The All Saints mermaid is a bench end in the 15th century All Saints church in Upper Sheringham in Norfolk. She was photographed by John Salmon at <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/">http://www.geograph.org.uk</a> Apparently the little mermaid was swimming in the sea off Sheringham when she decided to visit the church. Without legs, it was a difficult journey from the sea to the church but she arrived, exhausted, at the North Door of the church. A service was going on and when she pushed open the door and peered in, she was told that mermaids were not allowed in the church and the door was slammed in her face. Eventually she got back into the church and sat on the outside edge of the pew nearest the door; she's there to this day. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The ferry bench was on the deck of our Brittany ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, France in October 2016. The safety brassieres, aka lifejackets, were on the same deck, nicely stored inside the benches. </span></div><div><font face=""><br /></font></div><div><i style="font-family: verdana;">Nautical but Nice</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> (1941) is an English postcard from Curt Teich & Co.'s archive. It was donated for use under a Creative Commons license and is available on wikimedia. </span><br style="font-family: verdana;" /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The eel bench is from Jasmine Blossom, who is a blogger, photographer and teacher in Japan. She speaks Japanese and blogs (very interestingly) about life in Japan at <a href="http://.zoomingjapan.com/">http://.zoomingjapan.com</a> The Nakatsu City eel bench is the longest eel bench in Japan. Then again, I'm not sure how many eel benches there are in Japan. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The surfboard bench is on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. It was photographed by Tiger Lim, who calls himself The Number 1 Broken-English Blogger. (I'm glad that hyphen is there, otherwise we'd have to assume he's English, and broken). He gets around, does Tiger Lim. Follow his travels at <a href="http://www.tigerlim.com/">www.tigerlim.com</a></span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">The <i>creme de la creme</i> surfboard bench with lifeguard station cushions is by Joel Sokolov in California. Joel designed the bench in 2012 for his friend's themed room (I'm guessing that the theme was Oceans). The bench is made from three surfboards: that's the bench, and two that are cut in half to make the back of the bench, within a wooden structure. He padded the surfboards and made covers for them.The fabrics were all designed by him and digitally printed; he digitally altered photos of California lifeguard stations to include their names. Terrific! </span><span face="">Joel's website is at </span><a href="http://www.joelsokolov.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">www.joelsokolov.com</a></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""></span><font face="verdana">The well known lines of the poem at the end of the story are from Sea-Fever, by John Masefield. </font><br /><br /><span face="">The pretty stone couple on a bench are from Kathleen in Philadelphia. Kathleen makes one-of-a-kind natural beach stone art, such as this framed couple who are</span> <span face="">wave-tumbled beach stones she gathered along the shores of Lake Erie (not the ocean then). The natural, unpolished stones are arranged and securely mounted in a frame. She's got beach stone families, buttons, hearts, jewelry, wedding couples - you'd be amazed what she can do with beach stones. Her shop is at</span> <span face=""><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/naturalware">www.etsy.com/shop/naturalware</a></span><br /><br /><span face="">For statistical purposes I did a quick tally of this post to see how many Oceans are represented here. We've got both sides of the Atlantic, the South Atlantic, both sides of the Pacific, the Caribbean, the North Sea, the Irish Sea, the Mediterranean, the Sea of Japan, the Bering Strait, the English Channel, Cardigan Bay, and the Bay of Biscay. OK, fair enough, those last three are probably counted as the Atlantic. And we've not done badly for other bodies of water either. We've got Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, the River Thames, the Snake River, and a pond in Somerset. Oh, and The Plunge, here on my very own Paradise Island. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face="">To commemorate World Oceans Day, Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, commissioned a Penguin Bench and donated it to the community. All of us from Fribble-under-Par turned out for the launch. Here's the new bench, christened by April and her Parallel Selves, May and June. Mariner Mikey was Master of Ceremonies, of course. </span><br /><span face=""><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTc6emZx2Ftmh8R3S3UIsz_ka-yN8NBNfrvpqLinaHb_T7KAEdB355xPkPsmakbyEqRz4jro9WvFBXWzYEgEWH1hTs9IFRqAqxVQsJKdvzhBWFtO2LfKPf9-KJdCWbUqKyeD9jpb2yJ__e/s1600/penguinB.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTc6emZx2Ftmh8R3S3UIsz_ka-yN8NBNfrvpqLinaHb_T7KAEdB355xPkPsmakbyEqRz4jro9WvFBXWzYEgEWH1hTs9IFRqAqxVQsJKdvzhBWFtO2LfKPf9-KJdCWbUqKyeD9jpb2yJ__e/s320/penguinB.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><br /><span face=""><br /></span><span face=""><br /></span><br /></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-19421175079760831992022-06-01T13:34:00.005-07:002022-06-14T01:32:49.439-07:00Right Royal Benches for the Queen's Jubilee<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="text-align: left;">Here in Britain we are celebrating because Queen Elizabeth II has been 70 years on the throne. </span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigooFh3gNIkLBqimbad7dSLdprZAn103fky22jAfcjEVfS37m3e1TbZ9oYRKwDIAn1LEZteOeDWvyBCT4xwmZUNWSgYzD8QRUUu33rb_tqlVOK8E-zre0QeiV9LfvCl34qtEehz1bJ_990XeqhTaxQc-24JJAeCMGdXhrIveWThTq1aiZ6_eab7XIm-w/s400/9_SQ_UJKS-(9)wk..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigooFh3gNIkLBqimbad7dSLdprZAn103fky22jAfcjEVfS37m3e1TbZ9oYRKwDIAn1LEZteOeDWvyBCT4xwmZUNWSgYzD8QRUUu33rb_tqlVOK8E-zre0QeiV9LfvCl34qtEehz1bJ_990XeqhTaxQc-24JJAeCMGdXhrIveWThTq1aiZ6_eab7XIm-w/s320/9_SQ_UJKS-(9)wk..jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1340991380023452290#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #6611cc;"><span face="roboto, arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:9_SQ_UJKS-(9).jpg?uselang=en-gb</span></span></span></span></span></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>It's her Platinum Jubilee and <span style="font-family: inherit;">Queen Elizabeth II, age 96, is now the longest-reigning British monarch. </span></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZeUGObDdDa8QLpMy6YM-hJuUuGZE-ghtmqt1o9qFdMb_ugR8af0_nqEg1NJ2rcH8EV4ej39Y8ikySh-Ew39OPNhkSswmSJdW936yUxxJtjkdX7lA4SDS2tecmSfFz-9kG6zsCfOAtMTDJ/s1600/horchow.com.PN.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZeUGObDdDa8QLpMy6YM-hJuUuGZE-ghtmqt1o9qFdMb_ugR8af0_nqEg1NJ2rcH8EV4ej39Y8ikySh-Ew39OPNhkSswmSJdW936yUxxJtjkdX7lA4SDS2tecmSfFz-9kG6zsCfOAtMTDJ/s320/horchow.com.PN.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://hautehousehome.com/p-419-thebes-banquette.aspx">http://hautehousehome.com/p-419-thebes-banquette.aspx</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">More so even than Queen Victoria, who sat on her throne for 63 years 216 days, give or take a few days going out in the Highlands of Scotland to shoot deer. </span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMwIouwBt-p9jbBYZxCJUS-QBj5BIMAnGgU_AWsvYixpV9Cb2NkVlhOr8g9aGsyI2aWFQU9IZ0gTla45FfeElzBWMbNmnspwgjENCqCsh6bcN7afyoQp3xObm5uA8RP-TRhmjQSDNCDTZO73_NoaYUocWWj2P0CJYGbVP_rPWENAm9al49sk0K6poqg/s1651/deer%201%20(2).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1397" data-original-width="1651" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMwIouwBt-p9jbBYZxCJUS-QBj5BIMAnGgU_AWsvYixpV9Cb2NkVlhOr8g9aGsyI2aWFQU9IZ0gTla45FfeElzBWMbNmnspwgjENCqCsh6bcN7afyoQp3xObm5uA8RP-TRhmjQSDNCDTZO73_NoaYUocWWj2P0CJYGbVP_rPWENAm9al49sk0K6poqg/s320/deer%201%20(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Oh no, not these deer! </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I need to make it clear that no animals will be harmed in the making of this blog. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEignZYQNWpWazOz6ak9iFLKUUFcIL16ELY1TLB8DdcpfaX0-WyQQgr4eQl-LnLvMAZLpRnuNkQ76oWyseceXAMtUpbZUbdfuoAG-7Mbb9FTIFU-tS9DAseCArunxIV_D32HaGGl5MtLpK8Kv_zN28YJbB_HxjU7qKfxAak9JIFVlMHmmqwdE6NIpampMQ/s1583/PhotoFunia-1572556885.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1055" data-original-width="1583" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEignZYQNWpWazOz6ak9iFLKUUFcIL16ELY1TLB8DdcpfaX0-WyQQgr4eQl-LnLvMAZLpRnuNkQ76oWyseceXAMtUpbZUbdfuoAG-7Mbb9FTIFU-tS9DAseCArunxIV_D32HaGGl5MtLpK8Kv_zN28YJbB_HxjU7qKfxAak9JIFVlMHmmqwdE6NIpampMQ/s320/PhotoFunia-1572556885.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", serif; font-size: 19px;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", serif; font-size: 19px;">On 12 June, the queen </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", serif; font-size: 19px;">officially becomes the world’s second-longest-reigning</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", serif; font-size: 19px;"> monarch</span>, <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", serif; font-size: 19px;">overtaking King Bhumibol Adulyade of Thailand. He</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", serif; font-size: 19px;"> reigned for 70 years and 126 days between 1946 and 2016.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>The Jubilee is very important right now because some people feel Britain is going to the dogs.</div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8ZADHh3VreeFBIDOKWApEmUfLEcC3fZeAhFxTSyo3jSw3X5BNQwFA-0fnK9Fh5Z2R-AYgZGO6H0GtJ3h4JtB7OJLShxhV29bc3vXIlnTfrxhd8t6i5OaC1p2xKqhbHD-2wGLi5PqpVWqxI5s_Jm_dZWzrBbrNf0xoZNZQFI886HujgClXUdKeOcW4A/s320/jaymelnick.fkcc%20dogs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="320" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8ZADHh3VreeFBIDOKWApEmUfLEcC3fZeAhFxTSyo3jSw3X5BNQwFA-0fnK9Fh5Z2R-AYgZGO6H0GtJ3h4JtB7OJLShxhV29bc3vXIlnTfrxhd8t6i5OaC1p2xKqhbHD-2wGLi5PqpVWqxI5s_Jm_dZWzrBbrNf0xoZNZQFI886HujgClXUdKeOcW4A/s1600/jaymelnick.fkcc%20dogs.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1340991380023452290#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>ttps://www.flickr.com/photos/jaymelnick/14493841782/</span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span><i>
</i></span></span></span>
</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Having left Europe, our benches are breaking down and a lot of things just aren't working anymore.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOjvRqaM4K-tFwGYZ6QOjmWP-1viLdUeUY78_j30e6KcgFN6G7zkSqCY6FoJPosEIrABFj2LPTJ8TZnb9FziqNSGElJfhPNijEy3u0aUzx6Ceh6h7mE1uERqGHpO-MYxMd0ZO9uBFP7KSXw5VwdYXspKmAWNBJpaMc193DGsDvL1tfbJZAWDmnUVRmQ/s320/PhotoFunia-1572953755%20news.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="320" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOjvRqaM4K-tFwGYZ6QOjmWP-1viLdUeUY78_j30e6KcgFN6G7zkSqCY6FoJPosEIrABFj2LPTJ8TZnb9FziqNSGElJfhPNijEy3u0aUzx6Ceh6h7mE1uERqGHpO-MYxMd0ZO9uBFP7KSXw5VwdYXspKmAWNBJpaMc193DGsDvL1tfbJZAWDmnUVRmQ/s1600/PhotoFunia-1572953755%20news.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1340991380023452290#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lara604/279938667</span></span></span></span></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Our society is very divided on a lot of issues.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_K-MqDKIcfWwQYOQKgmrZwtwm9386NiHgtuqI70sIYKs4zaVhLophI4TYfZMJfSNyAz-g-IQ2XFHD0xYqPVRxKS5dWjHkpfIwOyyEDZPkWwdVZhJrF55nr6KwBcaGRBcOerDe5bNCq03tnUH9M_2ELlYgZ8rQOaCLCpiz0F-OHs4L43vFiUailqk_w/s320/jennyclayden._firstimpressions.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_K-MqDKIcfWwQYOQKgmrZwtwm9386NiHgtuqI70sIYKs4zaVhLophI4TYfZMJfSNyAz-g-IQ2XFHD0xYqPVRxKS5dWjHkpfIwOyyEDZPkWwdVZhJrF55nr6KwBcaGRBcOerDe5bNCq03tnUH9M_2ELlYgZ8rQOaCLCpiz0F-OHs4L43vFiUailqk_w/s1600/jennyclayden._firstimpressions.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art by Jenny Clayden</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The British Empire is shrinking and the map of the world is no longer pink. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4KXm8VZB-M3_mMYdEKVnATx7T-HKio5133lvkjJCAdeNHg7ArMVOTn7fMYiSJXD9wGJ2a-kp26V3EQEsBrkdHb23u6qR_8WHQEL8rmlOdOPARSArIe6MQz51nbMILQ4sfQmJm5MwnMfgaZd9s2dvBxl6CBAESD3DpsTX7S-T_v7VHnqxIJT_LZRIJA/s320/British_Empire_1897.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="320" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4KXm8VZB-M3_mMYdEKVnATx7T-HKio5133lvkjJCAdeNHg7ArMVOTn7fMYiSJXD9wGJ2a-kp26V3EQEsBrkdHb23u6qR_8WHQEL8rmlOdOPARSArIe6MQz51nbMILQ4sfQmJm5MwnMfgaZd9s2dvBxl6CBAESD3DpsTX7S-T_v7VHnqxIJT_LZRIJA/s1600/British_Empire_1897.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Since Barbados declared independence last year, there are only 15 Commonwealth countries left where the queen is head of state.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div>Some of us feel like Britain has been through the shredder. </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvsWdyf1UmFxefRI3x-1oLcj1UVx5aIQ1lnnsh8EpMSDARlq-jvUIECjbUKc26NTIARQ15Rikr_wMt-lDl6yq0viARxuB-WPAirhqXrm4nJedxHMBfzS8TPZYkTafoPjmY0hvv7bj_nh56NZtnfdvAsqhReyheL8OOYB3Tj6fofZW3WGQ4sC66yx_dg/s320/PhotoFunia-1579198444%20shredder.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="247" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvsWdyf1UmFxefRI3x-1oLcj1UVx5aIQ1lnnsh8EpMSDARlq-jvUIECjbUKc26NTIARQ15Rikr_wMt-lDl6yq0viARxuB-WPAirhqXrm4nJedxHMBfzS8TPZYkTafoPjmY0hvv7bj_nh56NZtnfdvAsqhReyheL8OOYB3Tj6fofZW3WGQ4sC66yx_dg/s1600/PhotoFunia-1579198444%20shredder.gif" width="247" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What better way to cheer ourselves up than a four day festive spree of tombolas, pavlovas, dog shows and ukeleles. Though for those who are not royalists, it's going to be an <i>annus horribilis</i>.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>There will be lots of flag waving.</div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTw5Vo3DhHZGDkvP1phqXpsag-pmJBfOsaxXw8FiToHTt72Q1-2IVBmeKcsWMX-iGM3aKpIfJntALx-jS1CvL_ZwnQ4ILtgCtRB16O9McNEie6PErsfFJhwLgsilGoSyCQBtD5mtzKlozerokPVmUPUfBF2UNdslCW-HPPN__iYHZLFvBugQHEpKURw/s278/Animated-Flag-United-Kingdom.wk.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="278" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTw5Vo3DhHZGDkvP1phqXpsag-pmJBfOsaxXw8FiToHTt72Q1-2IVBmeKcsWMX-iGM3aKpIfJntALx-jS1CvL_ZwnQ4ILtgCtRB16O9McNEie6PErsfFJhwLgsilGoSyCQBtD5mtzKlozerokPVmUPUfBF2UNdslCW-HPPN__iYHZLFvBugQHEpKURw/s1600/Animated-Flag-United-Kingdom.wk.gif" width="278" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Let's just hope they wave the right flag.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj851r-9awyt9Bzmdb_1gpTF_9r4uPmRIUbU4DRTaCuZX2OHddMYe-ZAJkVozc3VlI2cQT1Ju-wtSmi1qUkgxHjgjieq4gkLkPQxChiUTVui54witdfQv7joPFkHMJrCOz2_0lkcgmdOOGqn0X5dDkfr6tj4W6s1CjT3oS3B-NI1IToATIVYDSS9D-yIQ/s1285/mexicanflag.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1285" data-original-width="1104" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj851r-9awyt9Bzmdb_1gpTF_9r4uPmRIUbU4DRTaCuZX2OHddMYe-ZAJkVozc3VlI2cQT1Ju-wtSmi1qUkgxHjgjieq4gkLkPQxChiUTVui54witdfQv7joPFkHMJrCOz2_0lkcgmdOOGqn0X5dDkfr6tj4W6s1CjT3oS3B-NI1IToATIVYDSS9D-yIQ/s320/mexicanflag.JPG" width="275" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here on Paradise Island, Lord and Lady Brassica are the nearest thing we have to royalty. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This is Lord B with his dogs at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Drizzly Manor. </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXTEWjmprgnj_Tpz0exPxfq54YZ9wo6yFRXMAJwmjGJ1gSOcLsDKep0lQsY3EbNcQmWryXL4nioRaTxCdLMKZ_kcOhMk9v0WcgnX755SEKDKOnHslaak7qGwzkfF-6AFSq9EsI9yA61LDidxIe-FAyPnxCXbubwe0LNxtUXj53SDeqMJiTkF-mD-wrA/s1844/100_8425%20(2).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1443" data-original-width="1844" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXTEWjmprgnj_Tpz0exPxfq54YZ9wo6yFRXMAJwmjGJ1gSOcLsDKep0lQsY3EbNcQmWryXL4nioRaTxCdLMKZ_kcOhMk9v0WcgnX755SEKDKOnHslaak7qGwzkfF-6AFSq9EsI9yA61LDidxIe-FAyPnxCXbubwe0LNxtUXj53SDeqMJiTkF-mD-wrA/s320/100_8425%20(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Of course he doesn't live here full time. Quite often he's at Castle Broccoli.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjp4-Fd0qFMCyJdBFqwRh9rnsY3YtgkQAp1BmuBFLoXJVKbaLWz-4AnxhsapVWVT8EYli-nXk5SwNt_k4BKNoKbA2sVm6Nx9SR12AQmVx6hfli3pqKTXoCUM_cPJnkdAOeWMi-UiDzCp9eMyJO333Kwu7lL57UPG5pL_RMQCZQBgg5SAHtxZteWdV6mw/s320/Lordb&castle.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="320" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjp4-Fd0qFMCyJdBFqwRh9rnsY3YtgkQAp1BmuBFLoXJVKbaLWz-4AnxhsapVWVT8EYli-nXk5SwNt_k4BKNoKbA2sVm6Nx9SR12AQmVx6hfli3pqKTXoCUM_cPJnkdAOeWMi-UiDzCp9eMyJO333Kwu7lL57UPG5pL_RMQCZQBgg5SAHtxZteWdV6mw/s1600/Lordb&castle.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Like the Queen, he is particularly fond of dogs. Though unlike the Queen, he hasn't bred a daschund with a corgi to produce a dorgi. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HpR98fvWYmKIHmiGLUV3lBi_FqKnPL0SW48klmoIWnr79H7B6qh2yGcqspkjYZMNe-MfY18CbOsBoqh-IY59LOp2grQHl7dkEwmpKV-ZtMMOU9FLEz29woO-emhZaB3wbLD-66I1ZmHdr4Eas892KbCU1w-L91M4sz_K4XbKuCsh5lkSr0HD2bGybA/s2238/100_8436%20Lord%20B%20in%20den.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1406" data-original-width="2238" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HpR98fvWYmKIHmiGLUV3lBi_FqKnPL0SW48klmoIWnr79H7B6qh2yGcqspkjYZMNe-MfY18CbOsBoqh-IY59LOp2grQHl7dkEwmpKV-ZtMMOU9FLEz29woO-emhZaB3wbLD-66I1ZmHdr4Eas892KbCU1w-L91M4sz_K4XbKuCsh5lkSr0HD2bGybA/s320/100_8436%20Lord%20B%20in%20den.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div>And here is his wife, the elegant Lady Jessica.</div></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFJk8rHMN36cTuxQGnC9wBDYexpjcNjAw4sngAW0HDuNKbboFmMtyOOul1TKl_N8u5G8ujYadxE9PZ61cEj-TQvLSlCFhR9BzkMTPw4U2Ry7su4rcpdDjahKMYWkhl45TTVlcZ8lvrT6d/s1600/tiarablue.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFJk8rHMN36cTuxQGnC9wBDYexpjcNjAw4sngAW0HDuNKbboFmMtyOOul1TKl_N8u5G8ujYadxE9PZ61cEj-TQvLSlCFhR9BzkMTPw4U2Ry7su4rcpdDjahKMYWkhl45TTVlcZ8lvrT6d/s320/tiarablue.JPG" width="230" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: I</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">n honour of our Queen I've re-decorated some of the rooms in Castle Broccoli.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZIsj6PDFbtxtgjUCrszGvnPrUUpcJ0Nb-O5YDEXuXBLdFpdyTTl7j4lPukeHqfl79asYRAcSElLU1kJdkuyJAqlZRxSaf8RZDz4G09g10a2Tpc7k7_wlPQ6QkxnfhvJM5qHgg7_MaRcJN4EL2h7ldvKzq9b9cwzCwru1G1HjbjcOLwkKw8GiY4kqlw/s800/Timothy_Oulton_at_Harrods_Union_Jack.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="800" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZIsj6PDFbtxtgjUCrszGvnPrUUpcJ0Nb-O5YDEXuXBLdFpdyTTl7j4lPukeHqfl79asYRAcSElLU1kJdkuyJAqlZRxSaf8RZDz4G09g10a2Tpc7k7_wlPQ6QkxnfhvJM5qHgg7_MaRcJN4EL2h7ldvKzq9b9cwzCwru1G1HjbjcOLwkKw8GiY4kqlw/s320/Timothy_Oulton_at_Harrods_Union_Jack.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timothy Oulton at Harrods</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="color: black;">I understand that Lady Brassica been shopping for thrones recently.</span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: Yes, I'm looking for something to reflect our status in the community. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, it's said around Paradise Island that you have a throne in the basement of Drizzly Manor already. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: My wife has a little chair she likes to sit on while she has her nails done.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJDeJjwdXLbqAu3ayfez3PH2a0-3RBwYuoHHQyn7w3tC3zSpHhrHDrsYV1NrMl_ReR4IbgKuLIeOAIXrSRp8VQIB8aWrKU5TobNsiIjJnBSBziDGJEIwM_ZD-wLsS82qqWOFXrkPWvXTw/s1600/Greek.Ottoman_throne.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJDeJjwdXLbqAu3ayfez3PH2a0-3RBwYuoHHQyn7w3tC3zSpHhrHDrsYV1NrMl_ReR4IbgKuLIeOAIXrSRp8VQIB8aWrKU5TobNsiIjJnBSBziDGJEIwM_ZD-wLsS82qqWOFXrkPWvXTw/s320/Greek.Ottoman_throne.WK.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ottoman_throne_seized_from_Thessaloniki_in_1912.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ottoman_throne_</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This looks like the Greek Ottoman throne. Is it a replica?</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: Good heavens no. I would never (shudder) have <i>replicas</i> in my home. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">Any throne I sit on will be carefully handcrafted specifically for me.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_Ch3T-EPbG7j3bXyOv7mjnxCFGjrSvLy-FSouMzR0b8dUmd8_XtdgNqhdxD2VvJBq_TNLCk06YSlxO0WcZobmOB-kWtbCpz2U67zNRTI83UEo8uqdqJIqC-uP0wq5JZQ6aVwZUl-4xeB/s1600/tiarablue3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_Ch3T-EPbG7j3bXyOv7mjnxCFGjrSvLy-FSouMzR0b8dUmd8_XtdgNqhdxD2VvJBq_TNLCk06YSlxO0WcZobmOB-kWtbCpz2U67zNRTI83UEo8uqdqJIqC-uP0wq5JZQ6aVwZUl-4xeB/s320/tiarablue3.JPG" width="254" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;"><br /></span></span></div></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You might be making too much of it, Lady B. Remember, a throne is only a bench covered in velvet.</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4SztR_x3b2st5rggI_m7PmGb5S6JACzLZ9roXqg-HULXH4tcZUey5x-k9_v6vNfVVMpaMdYHH2IBeEGwfnenGlzXADhICCfll9eqr5_RKz5pvesSOTwwPk_5wu-FM42sAsQKGxQlG3NyQ/s1600/Chateau_de_Versailles_2011_Trone_venitien_1.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4SztR_x3b2st5rggI_m7PmGb5S6JACzLZ9roXqg-HULXH4tcZUey5x-k9_v6vNfVVMpaMdYHH2IBeEGwfnenGlzXADhICCfll9eqr5_RKz5pvesSOTwwPk_5wu-FM42sAsQKGxQlG3NyQ/s320/Chateau_de_Versailles_2011_Trone_venitien_1.WK.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Versailles_2011_Trone_venitien_1.jpg" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Versailles</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: It was my pater who said that.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, it wasn't. It was Napoleon. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's Napoleon's throne by the way. It's in the Louvre in Paris.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFfSY3TgE5Y-2Bl4KWlmutdIH2Pha60giEfK1AN_Lqc6dfkr0CCZhADSDBv0-6pEHb1TX-MHHk4lUGTmwisKX3Zo39QxZbp2fEyVt8hfFT3Pi1mtR9nCLWzgt9iH7QEFqLrRou28iCtF4/s1600/napoleon.louvre.sonofgroucho.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFfSY3TgE5Y-2Bl4KWlmutdIH2Pha60giEfK1AN_Lqc6dfkr0CCZhADSDBv0-6pEHb1TX-MHHk4lUGTmwisKX3Zo39QxZbp2fEyVt8hfFT3Pi1mtR9nCLWzgt9iH7QEFqLrRou28iCtF4/s400/napoleon.louvre.sonofgroucho.fkcc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonofgroucho/8195964198" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonofgroucho/8195964198</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">And here's a painting of Napoleon beside the throne.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhub_0dMupMH9-KejJiwkKXBfNs-ylxtwX_k9DGMrKCZgVg5r6H6jXKHsIKSDZGY8C5xyEwfvaBsxp5A1-8TepB5xNR7Bp2fdtk9nhTsEvdtcfOnJAzFi9wozFYg08WLo2L_H-BPQGnnY0N/s1600/napoleon.mine.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhub_0dMupMH9-KejJiwkKXBfNs-ylxtwX_k9DGMrKCZgVg5r6H6jXKHsIKSDZGY8C5xyEwfvaBsxp5A1-8TepB5xNR7Bp2fdtk9nhTsEvdtcfOnJAzFi9wozFYg08WLo2L_H-BPQGnnY0N/s320/napoleon.mine.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: It looks rather small.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Napoleon was a small man.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: My husband is a small man.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Just as well he has a heart of gold.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFC_dxdSDRS0Mgfr7TlglAAycqfqzcaXqN5K6qSk_W1fpEI6kV58_Tgx3KH67BBQZqIWcab8BxFqRfQooUEGSwY8yPvLZLUWVpeTZF4xLdO-7fKkF_h-dFAxmrTbC74CHaX0sFuY8BH7k/s1600/king.tut.lasvegas..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFC_dxdSDRS0Mgfr7TlglAAycqfqzcaXqN5K6qSk_W1fpEI6kV58_Tgx3KH67BBQZqIWcab8BxFqRfQooUEGSwY8yPvLZLUWVpeTZF4xLdO-7fKkF_h-dFAxmrTbC74CHaX0sFuY8BH7k/s320/king.tut.lasvegas..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21202433@N08/6511403009" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/21202433@N08/6511403009</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: Yes, he's a small man with big pockets. We're a perfect match.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Perhaps you ought to have matching thrones?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiENJYGaig5KLaDcZLXFAUnje6eUN5D3eq8GwbH7nInCQI8BuAe4tCxRB1_NJiOF2dY1a4_L1frTjsUQxGuGOn0RwVCaEng6cPk8nI284usIO9VwJtw2v-43huh0n1EPK5J1vEMjmOXwr2x/s1600/Thrones_of_the_Yang_di-Pertuan_Agong_and_the_Raja_Permaisuri_Agong_%2528replicas%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiENJYGaig5KLaDcZLXFAUnje6eUN5D3eq8GwbH7nInCQI8BuAe4tCxRB1_NJiOF2dY1a4_L1frTjsUQxGuGOn0RwVCaEng6cPk8nI284usIO9VwJtw2v-43huh0n1EPK5J1vEMjmOXwr2x/s400/Thrones_of_the_Yang_di-Pertuan_Agong_and_the_Raja_Permaisuri_Agong_%2528replicas%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thrones_of_the_Yang_di-Pertuan_Agong_and_the_Raja_Permaisuri_Agong_(replicas).JPG?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thrones_of_the_Yang_di-Pertuan_Agong_and_the_Raja_Permaisuri_Agong</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: These would clash dreadfully with my colour scheme.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">What about these?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjd-iUUd-RQAC9je8p3qovi9unKKGUMr5tAnz5z6KCpDT6dzNcuZRZi6QNt-6OU9WPikkXXw2UqCzESi1skMDWcKFm95ww-zvB8Ma7kQ6dlci1uOOEmxty5KiPlmLldviK2ac-DnrksgP/s1600/2275626965_708898fc7a_z+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjd-iUUd-RQAC9je8p3qovi9unKKGUMr5tAnz5z6KCpDT6dzNcuZRZi6QNt-6OU9WPikkXXw2UqCzESi1skMDWcKFm95ww-zvB8Ma7kQ6dlci1uOOEmxty5KiPlmLldviK2ac-DnrksgP/s320/2275626965_708898fc7a_z+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff-godfrey/2275626965/in/album-72157603937081072">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff-godfrey/2275626965/in/album-72157603937081072</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: One finds metal thrones rather cold. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, back to red then.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebdvOPRpUDBEhAOOHIFFyJH0gtaIECWFK9wJK75JyJ9rWh-hU6nMDBEo_qgsM3EO4sJ8M4HcTRvkef8h7TUwe58E0TgdWrGJuy7eP4OiuiFy6Y06OWWBG57PKWdhysR62kbDiJinPgUfO/s1600/Royal_Thrones_Ajuda_Palace_Lisbon.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebdvOPRpUDBEhAOOHIFFyJH0gtaIECWFK9wJK75JyJ9rWh-hU6nMDBEo_qgsM3EO4sJ8M4HcTRvkef8h7TUwe58E0TgdWrGJuy7eP4OiuiFy6Y06OWWBG57PKWdhysR62kbDiJinPgUfO/s320/Royal_Thrones_Ajuda_Palace_Lisbon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Thrones_Ajuda_Palace_Lisbon.jpg" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Thrones_Ajuda_Palace_Lisbon.jpg</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: I don't care for this shade of red. And I'd prefer something more ornate.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Good heavens, Lady B. These are from the Ajuda Palace in Lisbon. How ornate do you want?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: More gold wouldn't go amiss.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">How about this? It belonged to King John VI of Portugal.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAIB_HOtJupX4nvFYfq-OIkkLAiLF4SHKBQrFMG6nFdqXgF9o3xDkFxdqP4bBMGH7uxzKkwpLbExO3Qgjjh3TMGBCwUR_EmoozeHPj9nCjUjnqNZenolq-XZxDsZdFcb8KMeRhYtZ2UFf_/s1600/KingJohnVIPortugal.WK.MHN04.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAIB_HOtJupX4nvFYfq-OIkkLAiLF4SHKBQrFMG6nFdqXgF9o3xDkFxdqP4bBMGH7uxzKkwpLbExO3Qgjjh3TMGBCwUR_EmoozeHPj9nCjUjnqNZenolq-XZxDsZdFcb8KMeRhYtZ2UFf_/s400/KingJohnVIPortugal.WK.MHN04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MHN04.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MHN04.jpg?uselang=en-gb</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: I don't care for the children on the armrests.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">OK, what about this replica throne made from paper and gold foil? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFWzlAujMfCbGAeTIy0khI3h6sYy-r4BePbj-5op2J6gM2xxI7Yg6Uo-4HxuAHpiu11gog4DSU72qJ17A3OgY17rcGP3eoLC8W6mIUPR7svRIdQiYRBsP-PWDyr_R83eHqWrNe3sxMhn4I/s1600/nostri-imago.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFWzlAujMfCbGAeTIy0khI3h6sYy-r4BePbj-5op2J6gM2xxI7Yg6Uo-4HxuAHpiu11gog4DSU72qJ17A3OgY17rcGP3eoLC8W6mIUPR7svRIdQiYRBsP-PWDyr_R83eHqWrNe3sxMhn4I/s320/nostri-imago.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/2871269291/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/2871269291/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: What part of NO REPLICAS don't you understand?</span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm remembering that fashon debacle with your daughter-in-law at new year.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The fashion forums gave Innocent a gold star for this dress. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzme1Sz8DTKUYCabGPqo7XijEUeaMjaJpbO-3vmaG9HEta5MwcYyYdPa2wq3GmCRTLzMlIjdV0p9knmzTEhZXLhATNUKTLBFKIPjRkEigrqEAmjT-QI0RdFNxfPX-ePjpXLEgIyhWOtj_/s1600/Innocent.nye.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzme1Sz8DTKUYCabGPqo7XijEUeaMjaJpbO-3vmaG9HEta5MwcYyYdPa2wq3GmCRTLzMlIjdV0p9knmzTEhZXLhATNUKTLBFKIPjRkEigrqEAmjT-QI0RdFNxfPX-ePjpXLEgIyhWOtj_/s320/Innocent.nye.JPG" width="202" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: Innocent looks ridiculous in this. And it isn't real gold.</span> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, here's a throne in Warsaw with plenty of real gold. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhPJtnokUQjdeU_fSqLMc0MHT1tfLMPQVQYJ45tT0W5zp9c3Osxce2NIV7rxYp0XpUF7P7KpvhXfQgE0Q9E-uNxT3Pz6ONzyahYlOaZpKRJHDZFncYFOcF73w6powv7lY8wpf8pNPP-mj/s1600/zoonabar.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhPJtnokUQjdeU_fSqLMc0MHT1tfLMPQVQYJ45tT0W5zp9c3Osxce2NIV7rxYp0XpUF7P7KpvhXfQgE0Q9E-uNxT3Pz6ONzyahYlOaZpKRJHDZFncYFOcF73w6powv7lY8wpf8pNPP-mj/s400/zoonabar.fkcc.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zoonabar/4945993691/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/zoonabar/4945993691/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: I say! This is top notch!</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: I disagree. One would feel like a Victorian relic sitting on this. It's too Olde Worlde. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">OK, here is one from the Newe Worlde.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuG8zoLJ77u4__2U8HJOD1wirblzutCyjeyr8LIyxQ6kI9L0XsDNQfd3BGCGo-i5z_osPDNkU0srZiZBWRBDwBSBzsiv4PpB-2SCd5CEQQN4-N8BordoGBvZ1qoUj8TltYEgoGdWOrKYqQ/s1600/lifeseize.MicheleOb.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuG8zoLJ77u4__2U8HJOD1wirblzutCyjeyr8LIyxQ6kI9L0XsDNQfd3BGCGo-i5z_osPDNkU0srZiZBWRBDwBSBzsiv4PpB-2SCd5CEQQN4-N8BordoGBvZ1qoUj8TltYEgoGdWOrKYqQ/s1600/lifeseize.MicheleOb.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk/product.php?id=544&cat_id=223">http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: This throne is nothing but a bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: The woman is very attractive. But is she royalty? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You need to get out more, Lord B. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This is Michele Obama, 44th First Lady of the United States of America. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Obamas are the nearest thing to royalty in that part of the world.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFsGX7mxWUaVIdyhQNHMV8My52P6j8oiT-RzAub9ZSFMxKdZSPXb5diEfYqrHsjTOSkDUZUPvj5ElrOXnBfGEeXwuD9Wb4pTggKjQuA-GToTRSCbsNYdfLGDtEzxq37MovglCHT8IF_xw/s1600/lifesizemodels.MR+AND+MRS+OBAMA%255B4%255D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFsGX7mxWUaVIdyhQNHMV8My52P6j8oiT-RzAub9ZSFMxKdZSPXb5diEfYqrHsjTOSkDUZUPvj5ElrOXnBfGEeXwuD9Wb4pTggKjQuA-GToTRSCbsNYdfLGDtEzxq37MovglCHT8IF_xw/s1600/lifesizemodels.MR+AND+MRS+OBAMA%255B4%255D.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk/product.php?id=545&cat_id=223">http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Unless you count the King.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJ_MJQZo0gfDliWDaElOrJvrtVtLlDzGnrpaVuN_XXI1_qWUSf8uYgBwYYo9Kdj-P-cWJFwxjUNTYkMqXG8w1wkvu1qQE_QVQGklAmcu-UNWPWc8D5oJuEwU9M2hAPFnLopDNXFtkrrtn/s1600/jackhuertaphoto.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJ_MJQZo0gfDliWDaElOrJvrtVtLlDzGnrpaVuN_XXI1_qWUSf8uYgBwYYo9Kdj-P-cWJFwxjUNTYkMqXG8w1wkvu1qQE_QVQGklAmcu-UNWPWc8D5oJuEwU9M2hAPFnLopDNXFtkrrtn/s400/jackhuertaphoto.etsy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jackhuertaphoto" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/jackhuertaphoto</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: The name rings a bell. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sorry. I meant this King. The Burger King.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn0d-_5QqxO_Ci2FosHXLaK0uzU7wFbjXnnE2CjRrfDS60RHXzvI31kiwKTSehyCWl15Xc2t7NVTEodX33mxu_EOjtL4wsMuEP6jIGnPOsbCC7XxP1aQs1CoV4gRkp99b5d8Cnrs2nL-I_/s1600/burgerking.zurich.vauvau.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn0d-_5QqxO_Ci2FosHXLaK0uzU7wFbjXnnE2CjRrfDS60RHXzvI31kiwKTSehyCWl15Xc2t7NVTEodX33mxu_EOjtL4wsMuEP6jIGnPOsbCC7XxP1aQs1CoV4gRkp99b5d8Cnrs2nL-I_/s400/burgerking.zurich.vauvau.fkcc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/vauvau/">https://www.flickr.com/people/vauvau/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: I have no idea what you're on about, Seashell. Do get on with it. I have an appointment with my Young Male Reader.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdgzlkDD8YJrZ3VHml3ITcv8EV8rHTC6Xj4lvVngb8eT2edvStzAyfQaiUZH_2MUmOwS5T206QviRxHNBPVpzz75C4dd1oeU-ctzF82s-8zExeZ1QhB0miq3dassprFQZ3kQ6u-HsMnPY/s1600/what+women+want+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdgzlkDD8YJrZ3VHml3ITcv8EV8rHTC6Xj4lvVngb8eT2edvStzAyfQaiUZH_2MUmOwS5T206QviRxHNBPVpzz75C4dd1oeU-ctzF82s-8zExeZ1QhB0miq3dassprFQZ3kQ6u-HsMnPY/s320/what+women+want+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The reader last night was Count Novello. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Apparently he's</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> a favourite with some of the European princesses, such as</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Baroness Gateau of Snowvenia.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJkeNQSHmUmKfUq8l-mVcLZzYpNAptWyYv5VD95LtUL70nM8u8d7xnxkI4GEgElJjjtjj6Zxj-RthQ5-8P0qPQnzHtgxbs6oaw-RywFz_I2ZJNtywbsp2NFE3-K6KEQOLeoBBsvAr0mLkr/s1600/princess+cake.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJkeNQSHmUmKfUq8l-mVcLZzYpNAptWyYv5VD95LtUL70nM8u8d7xnxkI4GEgElJjjtjj6Zxj-RthQ5-8P0qPQnzHtgxbs6oaw-RywFz_I2ZJNtywbsp2NFE3-K6KEQOLeoBBsvAr0mLkr/s320/princess+cake.jpg" width="302" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: I expect she</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"> is in the habit of having her cake and eating it.</span></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: My Young Male Reader tonight is a Dutch fellow. William somebody.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><i>Love</i> the trousers, darling. Sooooo masterful. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdJ9AF2kOJEhu7xqcE96HFYbLN45ld9-hPQadVrbYz9DJFMhxNAVID-nrMpZv8uWxLQAzx19MQgMycswpHfSSfVozYAcMYJLtqYJEIJFXzyiMOda0ICFZ6XlEddKq3Noek_GLJNc4uAjS/s1600/William_I_of_the_Netherlands.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdJ9AF2kOJEhu7xqcE96HFYbLN45ld9-hPQadVrbYz9DJFMhxNAVID-nrMpZv8uWxLQAzx19MQgMycswpHfSSfVozYAcMYJLtqYJEIJFXzyiMOda0ICFZ6XlEddKq3Noek_GLJNc4uAjS/s320/William_I_of_the_Netherlands.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">www.rijksmuseum.nl</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">This is William I, King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: Is it the United Kingdom or is it the ruddy Netherlands? Make up your mind! </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: Here is the throne, which suits me very well whilst being read to.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTu5VBYNwNeWvOMNXNIG63NNOaVyFYQkZZ2bLpHyquvmMGY7YcS9GeOyr5wwgL7XKW4Ot0Bx0awiVn78TaUOCOcu07L-5pDiY4ZxQswKmx_4V0veMeumP6PJSD7OSTx7MuWMKvBhxmX-B/s1600/450px-Muzium_Negara_KL49.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTu5VBYNwNeWvOMNXNIG63NNOaVyFYQkZZ2bLpHyquvmMGY7YcS9GeOyr5wwgL7XKW4Ot0Bx0awiVn78TaUOCOcu07L-5pDiY4ZxQswKmx_4V0veMeumP6PJSD7OSTx7MuWMKvBhxmX-B/s320/450px-Muzium_Negara_KL49.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Muzium_Negara_KL49.JPG?uselang=en-gb"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Muzium_Negara</span></a></div><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: If I didn't know better I'd think this was a bed.</span><span style="color: #a64d79;"> </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: Comfort is very important, darling. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">For reading though, wouldn't this French banquette do?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdX8um0roCn-ZGwUJIYWkNX9FMMMjrT531_A328TWkIGPJk5lL6jbnctRZ7Gau62xVzYq0eoMib8VUS2sZHQ5ZKwnIPCeKKHB5ekRtPIVHilgSqx3lc6UCaS1_rAKpNwn1mabBdPLHYR8A/s1600/banquette+sully.LouiseXIV.allot.rene.WK.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdX8um0roCn-ZGwUJIYWkNX9FMMMjrT531_A328TWkIGPJk5lL6jbnctRZ7Gau62xVzYq0eoMib8VUS2sZHQ5ZKwnIPCeKKHB5ekRtPIVHilgSqx3lc6UCaS1_rAKpNwn1mabBdPLHYR8A/s1600/banquette+sully.LouiseXIV.allot.rene.WK.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N%C2%B0746-12_banquette_%22Sully%22_de_style_Louis_XIV_r%C3%A9plique_d%27un_mod%C3%A8le_d%27%C3%A9poque_r%C3%A9alis%C3%A9_par_les_Ateliers_Allot_Fr%C3%A8res_..jpg" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:</span></a><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N%C2%B0746-12_banquette_%22Sully%22_de_style_Louis_XIV_r%C3%A9plique_d%27un_mod%C3%A8le_d%27%C3%A9poque_r%C3%A9alis%C3%A9_par_les_Ateliers_Allot_Fr%C3%A8res_..jpg" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">-</a><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N%C2%B0746-12_banquette_%22Sully%22_de_style_Louis_XIV_r%C3%A9plique_d%27un_mod%C3%A8le_d%27%C3%A9poque_r%C3%A9alis%C3%A9_par_les_Ateliers_Allot_Fr%C3%A8res_..jpg" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">banquette Sullyde_style_Louis_XIV Les_Ateliers_Allot_France_..jpg</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: This blog is a frightful bore. I'd like to see less furniture and more beautiful ladies.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Alright, here is Blogda, a minor royal from Krappistan. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh83jIuu0cyj8PBvxQfgPZe_p1PWXAbvF3NJB9V2Zhb9Q0fRbubM1CupYd4WbQBEEga6xf_NUzrT6wwCCN-7gmFTLdhzqHnj8x4KdLe6E6ipvVUIxu4tl-Nb5Ubtv2WMXjJYUFeczwvdx6u/s1600/blog.indoor.best.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh83jIuu0cyj8PBvxQfgPZe_p1PWXAbvF3NJB9V2Zhb9Q0fRbubM1CupYd4WbQBEEga6xf_NUzrT6wwCCN-7gmFTLdhzqHnj8x4KdLe6E6ipvVUIxu4tl-Nb5Ubtv2WMXjJYUFeczwvdx6u/s320/blog.indoor.best.JPG" width="204" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And just so you know, here is the Krappi throne.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHXuDnZ36H2jrkNdpMByq2CNpyVnQaO9NDPeb2iecMOO_2R5H2R1vOn-tfKmPF8AqXZ_yOTDj4Fmc2ll7vCkTpe3EWzwpZdHonTaOUGYNipgTR8ujiLWfL1S2-laZOmRmxUFGKsvCEyS6/s1600/brokenchairbeachSB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHXuDnZ36H2jrkNdpMByq2CNpyVnQaO9NDPeb2iecMOO_2R5H2R1vOn-tfKmPF8AqXZ_yOTDj4Fmc2ll7vCkTpe3EWzwpZdHonTaOUGYNipgTR8ujiLWfL1S2-laZOmRmxUFGKsvCEyS6/s320/brokenchairbeachSB.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">photo by Sheila B</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #741b47;">Lady B: Plastic! </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: I want a good solid British throne. Not all that foreign muck that you get abroad.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Muck? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You mean like the Gaddi-Nizam throne in Hyderabad?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjemMBBf8bMTiJZ0TUbhikxtR6MMk36vHL5o8CTVPevqi4CtRncXTekh5xx_8TpzoUG6b2DbzTL6W6p187jtdZaIT4J8l0pAfvqVgKVQoMKdaYphPCD6Q0m2raXWQvqxsx2N8ORacjwg4YO/s1600/kinshuk.suni..fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjemMBBf8bMTiJZ0TUbhikxtR6MMk36vHL5o8CTVPevqi4CtRncXTekh5xx_8TpzoUG6b2DbzTL6W6p187jtdZaIT4J8l0pAfvqVgKVQoMKdaYphPCD6Q0m2raXWQvqxsx2N8ORacjwg4YO/s320/kinshuk.suni..fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kinshuksunil/3582226486" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kinshuksunil/3582226486</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or the Qin dynasty throne?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OE_zUy0jZCEa_wAmxNTcNYOjr8UieUsfkZKU2i1RL6470NkjftV8ldp3rsBons-orIyCrKwnF3wBHhsL8KXJJIaDq4WzcwLgPCAsYH7M37Z7HWYeUG_QeYyv5HiBd4R3_agaMF8GRNT_/s1600/qin.dynasty.mharrsch.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OE_zUy0jZCEa_wAmxNTcNYOjr8UieUsfkZKU2i1RL6470NkjftV8ldp3rsBons-orIyCrKwnF3wBHhsL8KXJJIaDq4WzcwLgPCAsYH7M37Z7HWYeUG_QeYyv5HiBd4R3_agaMF8GRNT_/s320/qin.dynasty.mharrsch.fkcc.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/173460102" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/173460102</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or did you mean Emperor Qin's peacock throne?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7j2RrFzQbEPGyYCNCnwuKfOvYPUORtL715_mZ6t54_uOYPICwWxGtaWShlj53eeKih71kiXL329ca-LxzHyBOJmFpSn0bFE2YOXY6ZSziJM0QFpZ83cyfXG8pozELH0OBRGUP0Kt19Kf/s1600/emperor.qin.mike.fisher.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7j2RrFzQbEPGyYCNCnwuKfOvYPUORtL715_mZ6t54_uOYPICwWxGtaWShlj53eeKih71kiXL329ca-LxzHyBOJmFpSn0bFE2YOXY6ZSziJM0QFpZ83cyfXG8pozELH0OBRGUP0Kt19Kf/s320/emperor.qin.mike.fisher.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bfs_man/5421718907" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bfs_man/5421718907</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: Tally ho, these are thrones fit for a king!</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Which king would that be, Lord B?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: That wretched King Charles.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Do you mean King Charles III of Spain?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALOTNpiqMhOiMBJGnH1dcdZ_-c5qvtN_UEynQXWrGAqwf-Baccktgc2cBlzc0RY8wNfetCubrh2tBowmc9uAm3ZGFQnOgBN2DjtLsuKtE_cKc1teeNSJwKjhtY5KtvVmA2cINzPFCyiFr/s1600/Throne_Charles_III_of_Spain.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALOTNpiqMhOiMBJGnH1dcdZ_-c5qvtN_UEynQXWrGAqwf-Baccktgc2cBlzc0RY8wNfetCubrh2tBowmc9uAm3ZGFQnOgBN2DjtLsuKtE_cKc1teeNSJwKjhtY5KtvVmA2cINzPFCyiFr/s320/Throne_Charles_III_of_Spain.WK.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Throne_Charles_III_of_Spain.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Throne_Charles_III_of_Spain</span></a><br /><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord Brassica: No, not that one.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Maybe you mean this King Charles?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbzuoroZPX575Lcdv-FcpvawF3ut6B_LJC6501ODKhgxIGIJbWGPAJ3uLBuKcbY-OgEt162xc1nKShS8fV_gbu56mNAwMRux1XIJBzoDF0uwg5DBnBAo8I7G7YlJ688b_BTCDuu1_I13x/s1600/spaniel.anyuser.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbzuoroZPX575Lcdv-FcpvawF3ut6B_LJC6501ODKhgxIGIJbWGPAJ3uLBuKcbY-OgEt162xc1nKShS8fV_gbu56mNAwMRux1XIJBzoDF0uwg5DBnBAo8I7G7YlJ688b_BTCDuu1_I13x/s320/spaniel.anyuser.fkcc.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/anyuser/959413361" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/anyuser/959413361</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: Heavens no. This is a thoroughly decent hound. </span><br /><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I mean the one </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">on the throne at the moment.</span></span><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's Queen Elizabeth on the throne at the moment. Has been for 70 years.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: I mean that chap who talks to trees. Whathisname.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Prince Charles.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBoyZIpuZARXQNAdGASZea1gmNIy4kVdPlIFh-gRYP-danGZfUy8eUvqrGg8yWCL7dEYB9F9EDuId5ZuX_f9h6nO6hK7seGtI_GGcdRDg3Q5BwkCu658l4GPuUuxtnJiE0bIkwEIMjdTP/s1600/100_7728.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBoyZIpuZARXQNAdGASZea1gmNIy4kVdPlIFh-gRYP-danGZfUy8eUvqrGg8yWCL7dEYB9F9EDuId5ZuX_f9h6nO6hK7seGtI_GGcdRDg3Q5BwkCu658l4GPuUuxtnJiE0bIkwEIMjdTP/s320/100_7728.JPG" width="304" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: That's the one. Here's a throne that would suit him.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0EWsRJYIKyILHCtgE2NTX-AZbmnffzWxgo2wdM-VhyphenhyphensGHhrb4-d8VCkYgx_2VbF0I0_aXBmDg-Ebm3_5JEm13c99j9wDtGUg3OQIiCkMeyDfkBV6tvchb7kKQwhXTPBrNm0C71vFnkGc/s1600/autumnthrone.lilian.fkcc.fairies.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0EWsRJYIKyILHCtgE2NTX-AZbmnffzWxgo2wdM-VhyphenhyphensGHhrb4-d8VCkYgx_2VbF0I0_aXBmDg-Ebm3_5JEm13c99j9wDtGUg3OQIiCkMeyDfkBV6tvchb7kKQwhXTPBrNm0C71vFnkGc/s400/autumnthrone.lilian.fkcc.fairies.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/photographingfairies/10189946103" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/photographingfairies/10189946103</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: Pass the sickbag.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihuuTeA2-9jnhMHhTiJecA8KnR5HZiwlWSOxy3vlj7C3QUTxACcq8N7CzmzyeYUTApF8PdhPworUXcMgFn5WWpIuOdbqrVcBdK5K2xwOjkLokWUKlliksa5-KoL1JdbEnXukImrp3afZuS/s1600/sickbag.marc.murk.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihuuTeA2-9jnhMHhTiJecA8KnR5HZiwlWSOxy3vlj7C3QUTxACcq8N7CzmzyeYUTApF8PdhPworUXcMgFn5WWpIuOdbqrVcBdK5K2xwOjkLokWUKlliksa5-KoL1JdbEnXukImrp3afZuS/s320/sickbag.marc.murk.fkcc.jpg" width="174" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/murk/5499694936" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/murk/5499694936</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I thought you'd enjoy a royal wedding, Lady B. All those posh frocks and silly hats. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Lady Jess: Well, if it's tasteful, yes. But in recent years it's all become rather brash.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Like you on New Year's Eve?</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14MUc6imGz36GO5xJ-OHuNxOj9nnKBuI7O8C9BEZdUL442CV8hyxrsvF1mt_oupbS_yyFlRbodlBS3Sc-zRvw8Nagy9mbAkf-a03KHMyr5u97S9fd0a10zXyJI0OlwfeF6DgGgoSif2w5/s1600/Lady+B+in+silver.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14MUc6imGz36GO5xJ-OHuNxOj9nnKBuI7O8C9BEZdUL442CV8hyxrsvF1mt_oupbS_yyFlRbodlBS3Sc-zRvw8Nagy9mbAkf-a03KHMyr5u97S9fd0a10zXyJI0OlwfeF6DgGgoSif2w5/s320/Lady+B+in+silver.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady Jess: I wore silver, avoiding the terrible bling you see nowadays.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So, no bling. You're looking for quite a plain throne then. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Something like this?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQH2Ge_Z-247sHhrA9HOqGZh8rb0MF5ALEUC7s_J0DEk6QNoWHKujwy7nsXFuR11RSCFMuno6A9Ij-ler6AFoBLvz6EpXGrDeMPU7ml3kCqY6kL6EQV024qtfHk1JGXf_P99jW4mEI39c/s1600/removeandreplace.com.throne.pallet-furniture.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQH2Ge_Z-247sHhrA9HOqGZh8rb0MF5ALEUC7s_J0DEk6QNoWHKujwy7nsXFuR11RSCFMuno6A9Ij-ler6AFoBLvz6EpXGrDeMPU7ml3kCqY6kL6EQV024qtfHk1JGXf_P99jW4mEI39c/s320/removeandreplace.com.throne.pallet-furniture.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://removeandreplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/pallet-furniture-ideas-_14.jpg" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://removeandreplace.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: Absolutely not. This is far too <i>nouveau</i>.</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's a rather nice one in the traditional style.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBjQjE9PEJ9O_4dINfOLDJUwkD2iyXFL-nVPgmA9vBwEN42LPjmKFS4_p1ThY53g0rkFdKaBRUQ2CEk6wQxUjxcZ1MEvqMlIFxqsn4SYGoT52eUTpQhHnrjGG_Eu-Y_uA6TWnmcZyTdNC/s1600/dagobert-throne-toilet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBjQjE9PEJ9O_4dINfOLDJUwkD2iyXFL-nVPgmA9vBwEN42LPjmKFS4_p1ThY53g0rkFdKaBRUQ2CEk6wQxUjxcZ1MEvqMlIFxqsn4SYGoT52eUTpQhHnrjGG_Eu-Y_uA6TWnmcZyTdNC/s320/dagobert-throne-toilet.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.herbeau.com/index.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.herbeau.com/index.html</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: If I didn't know better I'd think this was a lavatory.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, Lord B, it <i>is</i> a lavatory.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: This is definitely unsuitable for my throne room.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Maybe you'd prefer ivory?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9qINJmjRhccsA5JcPwh0FYQZ1uU41_0zvoXbw-KwcyJ3KeVMRpNariADSkpnWWTF2Ws0lxoG2tfK-W8HvnbDFouwh8sIv2XLSRGIAeofuE96YBcDopDfYYqrR6XPqjtqbmqOaHKQ2N7bL/s1600/Ivans_ivory_throne.russia.wk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9qINJmjRhccsA5JcPwh0FYQZ1uU41_0zvoXbw-KwcyJ3KeVMRpNariADSkpnWWTF2Ws0lxoG2tfK-W8HvnbDFouwh8sIv2XLSRGIAeofuE96YBcDopDfYYqrR6XPqjtqbmqOaHKQ2N7bL/s320/Ivans_ivory_throne.russia.wk.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ivans_ivory_throne.jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ivans_ivory_throne</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: This looks jolly uncomfortable.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: It's rather . . . plebian.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hardly. It belonged to Ivan the Terrible of Russia.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCKwiTVzJ0vwGBoMrFb5LOJNf2Zke6m5vOAhlbZOMKzAK7SqEgLCZYh2GY3BmiMnMEqHQEDRsGUEB6bAd6mJfE2IixwBOnouRn4EQAuStFfikhyphenhyphenyBFqz2i_2SHvX61RsWfywNuMXDZSN6/s1600/il_570xN_555103357_5kr2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCKwiTVzJ0vwGBoMrFb5LOJNf2Zke6m5vOAhlbZOMKzAK7SqEgLCZYh2GY3BmiMnMEqHQEDRsGUEB6bAd6mJfE2IixwBOnouRn4EQAuStFfikhyphenhyphenyBFqz2i_2SHvX61RsWfywNuMXDZSN6/s320/il_570xN_555103357_5kr2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: What's so terrible about him?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You obviously don't know your Kings and Queens. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #6aa84f; text-align: center;">Lord B: I most certainly do. My pater was the </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f; text-align: center;">Right Honourable Lord Brassica Fourth Earl of Drizzly of That Ilk.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidW47E2_R3VjPTtY9Z4jOtICzOa_oMhnZJB3XDShxqciv6_BO01NqiJcjm0UCEYQ5cqPwR-9DOLuHf3-7KyrN5yUYxgwqU_4ffjLgTNX293dURr2_KYSiEqBAlWZNjQqUM75uIX4ltdt1/s1600/edgebrook.marko.forsten.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidW47E2_R3VjPTtY9Z4jOtICzOa_oMhnZJB3XDShxqciv6_BO01NqiJcjm0UCEYQ5cqPwR-9DOLuHf3-7KyrN5yUYxgwqU_4ffjLgTNX293dURr2_KYSiEqBAlWZNjQqUM75uIX4ltdt1/s320/edgebrook.marko.forsten.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgebrook/5199684735/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgebrook/5199684735/</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;">This is Abraham Lincoln.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: Is it? By jove, perhaps it is.</span> </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;">You do have a good pedigree though. I wonder if you're related to Henry the Eighth?</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0L4erxOfa7Rm2Fho6tEIfpQd5aE5jC3pF4wTFHqkctoaMcUVMIkG0u7vRHAPU4_qmz1476sUFMJPJXuL1Rpu3W97gy90u0Fiw_lWGaPZBSjpDC0sXcSFTnESn8ZjASA3Fb1-lwX30HZ_s/s1600/royalty+London.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0L4erxOfa7Rm2Fho6tEIfpQd5aE5jC3pF4wTFHqkctoaMcUVMIkG0u7vRHAPU4_qmz1476sUFMJPJXuL1Rpu3W97gy90u0Fiw_lWGaPZBSjpDC0sXcSFTnESn8ZjASA3Fb1-lwX30HZ_s/s320/royalty+London.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: This woman looks like my mater.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">doubt it. Most of King Henry's wives lost their heads in the tower.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: What tower is that then?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Tower of London of course. Fastidiously guarded by the dutiful Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JQmhpAgEbdSs3rvIQaafhNJQVCWrxDqqboQVQSnJPcu1o-8JZthdJMrZDMBuEtJKyC4uOaqq4xZxziTn9mO7PDM6Fhy1y5Bn-jN7F4dNDy7Xi0eLBb2rxWiILNHFT0XpA5wCZq3bJKKl/s1600/beefeater+London.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JQmhpAgEbdSs3rvIQaafhNJQVCWrxDqqboQVQSnJPcu1o-8JZthdJMrZDMBuEtJKyC4uOaqq4xZxziTn9mO7PDM6Fhy1y5Bn-jN7F4dNDy7Xi0eLBb2rxWiILNHFT0XpA5wCZq3bJKKl/s320/beefeater+London.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Lord B: I say, this looks like the chap on my gin bottle. He </span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d; text-align: center;">doesn't appear to have a throne.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;">He doesn't need a throne. He's there to guard the Tower. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #6aa84f; text-align: center;">Lord B:<i> This</i> is my father's throne.</span><span style="color: #6aa84f; text-align: center;"> </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJTrlbji-OCVc0ui5IDVlwvEDcj4t_izkZlfTDqc8ZrHdMyHuQZVbA_j1PC6ABLGxTtNLZOwVVJZppgEPzH2aHGaF7wHenTQtCHytThhBwLT78TgSY31HJ2bmBYRWkGDdWfV2qbHMJnyh/s1600/tsarnicholas.summer1978.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJTrlbji-OCVc0ui5IDVlwvEDcj4t_izkZlfTDqc8ZrHdMyHuQZVbA_j1PC6ABLGxTtNLZOwVVJZppgEPzH2aHGaF7wHenTQtCHytThhBwLT78TgSY31HJ2bmBYRWkGDdWfV2qbHMJnyh/s320/tsarnicholas.summer1978.fkcc.jpg" width="161" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/summer1978/17958566015/%C2%A0" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/summer1978/17958566015/ </span></a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;">No, it isn't. This is the throne of </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the Grace of God, Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. The last emperor, as things turned out.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;">And here is his wife Tsarina Alexandra, the Empress consort.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVusYumWodx5d0XD8NWdnqN4Dwdju_P_HafhC3FurrpC5K1e1LslvBits7sbjEAanrJwHBoJeaaM_xV2j2waQVBE8YtHOf4_bzaY3awD4iKaES7NxFjnb7iZ79Sb7H8ToS0I84MDM09DX/s1600/uccellopoultryfkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVusYumWodx5d0XD8NWdnqN4Dwdju_P_HafhC3FurrpC5K1e1LslvBits7sbjEAanrJwHBoJeaaM_xV2j2waQVBE8YtHOf4_bzaY3awD4iKaES7NxFjnb7iZ79Sb7H8ToS0I84MDM09DX/s400/uccellopoultryfkcc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uccellopoultry/303146803/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/uccellopoultry/303146803/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: I'd happily consort with her any time. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I notice she's not wearing a crown. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Unlike your wife, who seems to have coronated herself.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJScTIr1UBG-fn0loYhKB1IRmysnyBgATgWcvjhrmvBd1-NwYa5l-p6tBi6Gl45yiYEFMuVYpClmbIciKYTOZcx7npoHnMSSkrXsxStabnuSFlL6vPAUnfxIXKbSzvXaNeY4VvpuWywoaL/s1600/crown.throne.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJScTIr1UBG-fn0loYhKB1IRmysnyBgATgWcvjhrmvBd1-NwYa5l-p6tBi6Gl45yiYEFMuVYpClmbIciKYTOZcx7npoHnMSSkrXsxStabnuSFlL6vPAUnfxIXKbSzvXaNeY4VvpuWywoaL/s320/crown.throne.JPG" width="237" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79; text-align: center;">Lady B: This is a very simple crown and I am entitled to wear it through the privilege of my title. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79; text-align: center;">Here is my husband's father, Lord Brassica, at Castle Broccoli.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3q0K7KXsFl2eHylAls5XRPp2RbOhzkcuoiF9Jk7DTtB5vKXXzH_h0gjvczY9vJ4nF-NW6vA8JHpLS3sprBbaIoLwcC1rtr-9nfaLYQckWEalDdtFvwJSvlI1gFk4Ltxmq0U4wThOfuBV/s1600/royals%2526castle.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN3q0K7KXsFl2eHylAls5XRPp2RbOhzkcuoiF9Jk7DTtB5vKXXzH_h0gjvczY9vJ4nF-NW6vA8JHpLS3sprBbaIoLwcC1rtr-9nfaLYQckWEalDdtFvwJSvlI1gFk4Ltxmq0U4wThOfuBV/s320/royals%2526castle.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #6aa84f; text-align: center;">Lord B: And here is my horse Tonks in the family carriage.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0w6vSe7Zt6D3wl-eFn7PaZkPNn8yjK-C3Db65lT2AFbqKomP1mB4brTTkzOewIge7bcZV42h0-320kTVCQtRHZ0ZwmLYgAO5oBVRAX1IlhxVWtVVnbqsTar1BVVR0piuznTCi44uq1o73/s1600/tonks+in+carriage.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0w6vSe7Zt6D3wl-eFn7PaZkPNn8yjK-C3Db65lT2AFbqKomP1mB4brTTkzOewIge7bcZV42h0-320kTVCQtRHZ0ZwmLYgAO5oBVRAX1IlhxVWtVVnbqsTar1BVVR0piuznTCi44uq1o73/s320/tonks+in+carriage.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #a64d79; text-align: center;">Lady B: A carriage bench is essential for royalty, like having a bench for one's tiara.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzYDYeefIJ_odDFisF3PLlpNrInEGvOxNP2qHXOD7kSB7fP7kawJRBz4_q1BGY9V3TbVkWwbmGov_tv7TDmzDLA8enc-famXHS7Al6nFH0y95YqZVQl-tgSnvg7L7yDKZPtBnxgiqkrfJE/s1600/kbaxter225.etsy3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzYDYeefIJ_odDFisF3PLlpNrInEGvOxNP2qHXOD7kSB7fP7kawJRBz4_q1BGY9V3TbVkWwbmGov_tv7TDmzDLA8enc-famXHS7Al6nFH0y95YqZVQl-tgSnvg7L7yDKZPtBnxgiqkrfJE/s320/kbaxter225.etsy3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/kbaxter225" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/kbaxter225</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;">I've already thought of that, Lady B. Here's a splendid bench for storing your crown jewels. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZrzvs6of2iOBU_d66k3P-aAAOlzr1g-74IMLv7ZGGOIH6RbC88IGkCqOw4qjikYTekTz1YvoCZoSn_pbuV64lCgNWyu_ObvfbAOdxp8u83dU_OxtJQIPHa0Cq_8eyBoaqd8-jsnh_XXC/s1600/crown+jewels.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZrzvs6of2iOBU_d66k3P-aAAOlzr1g-74IMLv7ZGGOIH6RbC88IGkCqOw4qjikYTekTz1YvoCZoSn_pbuV64lCgNWyu_ObvfbAOdxp8u83dU_OxtJQIPHa0Cq_8eyBoaqd8-jsnh_XXC/s1600/crown+jewels.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.levelsofdiscovery.com/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.levelsofdiscovery.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center;">And now I thought we'd do a bit of a game.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: Not that blasted Game of Thrones I hope. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7COVDn7rwa4EdxYhE3DtwN1s1ReXOXGFCqMRc-xgf9jtcC61hA79BCzZDIprm0dBoxHHaMMcoSe0-XLsp4d2nIri_VpmWHSL_o-UAbKwpp1WnPkb7EBwgxiZNUL-Ni609BgAkDLEavfZ0/s1600/1280px-Game_of_Thrones_pedicab.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7COVDn7rwa4EdxYhE3DtwN1s1ReXOXGFCqMRc-xgf9jtcC61hA79BCzZDIprm0dBoxHHaMMcoSe0-XLsp4d2nIri_VpmWHSL_o-UAbKwpp1WnPkb7EBwgxiZNUL-Ni609BgAkDLEavfZ0/s320/1280px-Game_of_Thrones_pedicab.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/popculturegeek/5976785707/"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/popculturegeek/5976785707/</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"> </span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, I was thinking more like the Tudors and the Stuarts.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qhteoGbdVkVtEYdWt2duvz97-ED64kVHqE-0nWSYhP0EW8PCehmr3rdrcqcdwKW1JrbbpZ8Q3Qie5QvHHKg4N2lBgCheyucMDu1TY-A2mLIkME8Wup1QuEO56zeeVS4f59ooRDiOMWAW/s1600/stirling+royals.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qhteoGbdVkVtEYdWt2duvz97-ED64kVHqE-0nWSYhP0EW8PCehmr3rdrcqcdwKW1JrbbpZ8Q3Qie5QvHHKg4N2lBgCheyucMDu1TY-A2mLIkME8Wup1QuEO56zeeVS4f59ooRDiOMWAW/s320/stirling+royals.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: I say, you've found a splendid picture of my mater here.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I doubt it. This is Stirling Castle in Scotland. You're not Scottish are you?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: Certainly not. I'm English right through to my tartan underpants.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In that case you must know this woman. Black Agnes of Dunbar.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Jj5A05JkgyDZq0fsCcdvCEo7A0ruLCBOMiNtIcsJuBKDZab1QPo4XYwYLRJLtBWxFx4trW2_064aps3bjTu53k5eEploik9f2dkIbzmHOi2-x3GRv_rMIeYrZVyKMo5_adEiFgNqLDdF/s1600/il_570xN_598150359_j7qu.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Jj5A05JkgyDZq0fsCcdvCEo7A0ruLCBOMiNtIcsJuBKDZab1QPo4XYwYLRJLtBWxFx4trW2_064aps3bjTu53k5eEploik9f2dkIbzmHOi2-x3GRv_rMIeYrZVyKMo5_adEiFgNqLDdF/s320/il_570xN_598150359_j7qu.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: This is a jolly attractive lass. I wouldn't mind sharing a wee dram with her. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Are you familiar with the thrones of ancient Egypt? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWKVJBPmHtFRWI8DtRFxaLYF4gnwwxsFWJxu8SNumjlIaWg6gzdJvDrvN3SC2QCbBjZXeRPXXw-T9B5CqtIJ0hHMJL78xjiX_RJ5DeA9UxWDc12tAc8paXzz5olPRlsoUOdE9c5fk9-r9A/s1600/il_170x135_365096568_iatx.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWKVJBPmHtFRWI8DtRFxaLYF4gnwwxsFWJxu8SNumjlIaWg6gzdJvDrvN3SC2QCbBjZXeRPXXw-T9B5CqtIJ0hHMJL78xjiX_RJ5DeA9UxWDc12tAc8paXzz5olPRlsoUOdE9c5fk9-r9A/s320/il_170x135_365096568_iatx.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: She looks familiar. Works in the jewelry shop down the road I believe.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No, this is Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Here she is on her banquette.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8debPnB2TpiSQWeUGDjlOpa-UpEGmatjsqA19_uoXodb1be12FTTT3FZVHSKUw9JD6aAMUgG_7BsUoM789A96pGHxEvkGZfJcETUGOpW1XE2xaht2KEqMSoKUSg2eFck7c48_DBpdg1Dt/s1600/Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Sarah_Bernhardt_TCS_2_%2528Cleopatra%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8debPnB2TpiSQWeUGDjlOpa-UpEGmatjsqA19_uoXodb1be12FTTT3FZVHSKUw9JD6aAMUgG_7BsUoM789A96pGHxEvkGZfJcETUGOpW1XE2xaht2KEqMSoKUSg2eFck7c48_DBpdg1Dt/s320/Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Sarah_Bernhardt_TCS_2_%2528Cleopatra%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Sarah_Bernhardt_TCS_2_(Cleopatra).jpg#/media/File:Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Sarah_Bernhardt_TCS_2_(Cleopatra).jpg" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harvard_Theatre_Collection</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: Oh, I say! Looks like she could use some company.</span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Things didn't go well for her. Something to do with a serpent . . .</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvfS-SOWO9xYxdcC6zXNjCMzum1UeSNnEA4LgmvTpoLbNUTsEKh5xvaKq7VlRwnWQnuEqMhs7alt7pw3brOWEY8DkP3U_lLuIjFzogIyWoh_qZZtql624e_TKZAw_-8Z5XbvcEKq05otRa/s1600/Roman_throne.1stc._LosAngeles_County_Museum.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvfS-SOWO9xYxdcC6zXNjCMzum1UeSNnEA4LgmvTpoLbNUTsEKh5xvaKq7VlRwnWQnuEqMhs7alt7pw3brOWEY8DkP3U_lLuIjFzogIyWoh_qZZtql624e_TKZAw_-8Z5XbvcEKq05otRa/s320/Roman_throne.1stc._LosAngeles_County_Museum.WK.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Throne#/media/File:Roman_throne_LosAngeles_County_Museum_California.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Throne#/media/File:Roman_throne</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And h</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ere are Nebsen and Nebet from the reign of Amunhotep III.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgru49ztZQllWm4c9lstpFKyuSjdc_Tc3dy4ZcijUI86-J2SUrFH0RO8aS9GCVu6fFiM0adv2IQa2fm0QwPUs560x-sO3rCoorTfN3sXn7pZHs6TShaEE3NjyG94_Z6a5P8n1djqoRFlW9I/s1600/nebsen&nebet-ta.wally.gobetz.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgru49ztZQllWm4c9lstpFKyuSjdc_Tc3dy4ZcijUI86-J2SUrFH0RO8aS9GCVu6fFiM0adv2IQa2fm0QwPUs560x-sO3rCoorTfN3sXn7pZHs6TShaEE3NjyG94_Z6a5P8n1djqoRFlW9I/s320/nebsen&nebet-ta.wally.gobetz.fkcc.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/2434571867" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/2434571867</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: I say, these aren't the kind of girls I expect to see on the throne of a European country. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Tut tut. Egypt isn't a European country. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And this is a married couple with their arms around each other. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: I like to see nice looking girls though. They'd need a throne fit for a princess.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Maybe this would do?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90shofljA6qxy0g4z2mWhXaTZBY1crpnfTUe9guSCW9Bt2800jb9YajiQjF_9uPoL_TRtyVYhZhZOCKCelju5z5aOVcyNiDwQHdm21l01pjODk1Y6rEUMimdSN9sX59hc_1Z9t74ZG7iK/s1600/LorenJavier.Disneyland.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90shofljA6qxy0g4z2mWhXaTZBY1crpnfTUe9guSCW9Bt2800jb9YajiQjF_9uPoL_TRtyVYhZhZOCKCelju5z5aOVcyNiDwQHdm21l01pjODk1Y6rEUMimdSN9sX59hc_1Z9t74ZG7iK/s320/LorenJavier.Disneyland.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/4006915695/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/4006915695/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: It's the kind of thing a girl could sit on while she waits for a frog to turn into a prince.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuftopIQNJrJJzTrI4or3OnxPoZI1yQT-z7bQWY7Q9rotEsqmKujWuJah6N1tSKoSABgKISWbKP_A9PBsfWmEeTD-yEO7bQ4Nbo37zFmm5SxPIxoHR1HuZUG9eGok2rU_ZfUvwfzQ1jP3N/s1600/lego%252Cprince.pasukaru..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuftopIQNJrJJzTrI4or3OnxPoZI1yQT-z7bQWY7Q9rotEsqmKujWuJah6N1tSKoSABgKISWbKP_A9PBsfWmEeTD-yEO7bQ4Nbo37zFmm5SxPIxoHR1HuZUG9eGok2rU_ZfUvwfzQ1jP3N/s320/lego%252Cprince.pasukaru..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5027174867" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5027174867</span></a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A frog upcycled into a prince - interesting idea. You could take this further and make a throne out of old keyboards. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxtCkU1Ne1CciD_YaST289h0yxxRF-QETHldFkHWJq5isOT6vycwTXCFOwfFvWmMOg6_F686O3Q7rRVhpnWop0Hd50Zh-cg4LCUXVB4sNoypn5nXXur84UUI52ngvTsz7hX3A7x0u7qajZ/s1600/nerds7throne.shawn.dewolfe.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxtCkU1Ne1CciD_YaST289h0yxxRF-QETHldFkHWJq5isOT6vycwTXCFOwfFvWmMOg6_F686O3Q7rRVhpnWop0Hd50Zh-cg4LCUXVB4sNoypn5nXXur84UUI52ngvTsz7hX3A7x0u7qajZ/s320/nerds7throne.shawn.dewolfe.fkcc.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dewolfe001/8479161409/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dewolfe001/8479161409/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: I say, Seashell, you have some very peculiar ideas.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">I wonder what you need a throne for, anyway. If it's just to sit and survey your kingdom, wouldn't this do?</span></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2r9RXg68S6xOZei4Jk-rLLakZx_feTJ8JAYjhDvNM-XPWJb2SWokNf-jzJXnt9f5LK7HhZVtiu8bMHFcmCkPfTFEa6Xa6ZRw8OdQ6MNjcxrAsx0MNtaM6hFtxH1wbW0RWPcT00-lfMp4c/s1600/grenada.victor.pena.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2r9RXg68S6xOZei4Jk-rLLakZx_feTJ8JAYjhDvNM-XPWJb2SWokNf-jzJXnt9f5LK7HhZVtiu8bMHFcmCkPfTFEa6Xa6ZRw8OdQ6MNjcxrAsx0MNtaM6hFtxH1wbW0RWPcT00-lfMp4c/s320/grenada.victor.pena.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vicotrew/8222224866" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/vicotrew/8222224866</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="color: #a64d79;">Lady B: It's rather bohemian for my taste. And I don't care for the colour of the landscape.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="color: #a64d79;">Besides, a </span><span style="color: #a64d79;">royal couple like ourselves needs to be rather more <i>opulent</i>.</span></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwAo6cuoQJeeAUnbEvin_HxEPXDNVgvZVxLZnsZSTGbMil3bgzOo8KvabFXxJEmiEUfUEprlONYBQ4cdVDDAckcgOCGmBJtK8-2kvPb5hGNDhxqrnqAjjDiuyBZlVISU8njBYj13BM-xa/s1600/mardigras.scottrsmith.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwAo6cuoQJeeAUnbEvin_HxEPXDNVgvZVxLZnsZSTGbMil3bgzOo8KvabFXxJEmiEUfUEprlONYBQ4cdVDDAckcgOCGmBJtK8-2kvPb5hGNDhxqrnqAjjDiuyBZlVISU8njBYj13BM-xa/s320/mardigras.scottrsmith.fkcc.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottrsmith/5595150095/" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottrsmith/5595150095/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Queen Victoria wasn't opulent. Here's John Brown's bench at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Plain cement with a bit of inscription.</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyzU1hcgHxElVOIVQNfBfoAwzur79onFXPGBsaCfODjvlCWKPOkB8yETuO9wKav3MDa5D-Dy4hmFEw-g5TUjXLP7ZqEP6fIDH9qPebVwLsclfH9V4pk5tx3VjmrB3wSm3ki-bruNVrpzD/s1600/JohnBrown.Osborne.AntonyMcCallum.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyzU1hcgHxElVOIVQNfBfoAwzur79onFXPGBsaCfODjvlCWKPOkB8yETuO9wKav3MDa5D-Dy4hmFEw-g5TUjXLP7ZqEP6fIDH9qPebVwLsclfH9V4pk5tx3VjmrB3wSm3ki-bruNVrpzD/s320/JohnBrown.Osborne.AntonyMcCallum.WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osborne-iow-3Ja10-10935.jpg">jpg</a></span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osborne-iow-3Ja10-10935.jpg" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">©wyrdlight.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And here is one of her many jubilee benches. </span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's hardly a thing of beauty.</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMoYxErAf98HHAQ5UUkFQqHPMgzvGpphWP3tVpezIAEiwJ49xOwHfWuqgFfe-iXRJP65n60k1G7w9lTcuHkps-IIyKMzCkP1VY0uFmT8UItj5e5O32r13knqoLe-8ozDYkvkYhAFsuy1c/s1600/Queen_Victoria%2527sJubileeB.1935.SparkeswoodEstate%252CHastings.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMoYxErAf98HHAQ5UUkFQqHPMgzvGpphWP3tVpezIAEiwJ49xOwHfWuqgFfe-iXRJP65n60k1G7w9lTcuHkps-IIyKMzCkP1VY0uFmT8UItj5e5O32r13knqoLe-8ozDYkvkYhAFsuy1c/s320/Queen_Victoria%2527sJubileeB.1935.SparkeswoodEstate%252CHastings.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">photo by David Anstiss @ <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1711073">http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1711073 </a></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: This is downright vulgar.</span> <span style="color: #6aa84f;">There is a litter bin next to it.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps you prefer this one?</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Aopn0KzxOBZDeZ9FO881wIwaH8YP8t8L2Dukuct1lJkfZ0MRWvb5egtZWSyM79jwRhXXcB8yFSsk5Y0k86zLemRWKy4Cel_YUmDwbkmf1fG-iVI3ZY1HDNzgekeGR688cjoYJJ284e1k/s1600/RegaleiraB.Sinta.Portugal._WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Aopn0KzxOBZDeZ9FO881wIwaH8YP8t8L2Dukuct1lJkfZ0MRWvb5egtZWSyM79jwRhXXcB8yFSsk5Y0k86zLemRWKy4Cel_YUmDwbkmf1fG-iVI3ZY1HDNzgekeGR688cjoYJJ284e1k/s320/RegaleiraB.Sinta.Portugal._WK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Regaleira_bench_2.JPG?uselang=en-gb"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Regaleira_benchb</span></a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lord B: Now this one is just my cup of tea. The dogs look like they want feeding though.</span> </span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And what about you, Lady B? Have you found a suitable throne?</span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lady B: At the moment I'm leaning towards this one. Though unfortunately there is a rather stern-looking person occupying it.</span></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDUiHXO2WQizrqsdJCQ0L2PFM_lxQBjxSAnvKkhrsSRVj5W9fPnE8R5NAmcJ1orCeCjZHYc62B111kTXFprDFDEQdpx0NAuGp4TEVJa9-gXcZT10Uu21gBWkW52wpBKHqA0ETkuZ-Oy2t/s1600/Diego_Vel%25C3%25A1zquez_-_Portrait_of_Innocent_X_-_WGA24443.WK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDUiHXO2WQizrqsdJCQ0L2PFM_lxQBjxSAnvKkhrsSRVj5W9fPnE8R5NAmcJ1orCeCjZHYc62B111kTXFprDFDEQdpx0NAuGp4TEVJa9-gXcZT10Uu21gBWkW52wpBKHqA0ETkuZ-Oy2t/s320/Diego_Vel%25C3%25A1zquez_-_Portrait_of_Innocent_X_-_WGA24443.WK.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/The%20intriguing%20portrait%20of%20Pope%20Innocent%20X%20on%20his%20throne%20was%20painted%20by%20the%20Spanish%20painter%20Diego%20Velazquez%20(1599-16600%20around%201650.%20It%20is%20in%20the%20public%20domain%20and%20available%20at%20https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez_-_Portrait_of_Innocent_X_-_WGA24443.jpg" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez </span></a></td></tr></tbody></table></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lord B: No problem. I will offer him some cash to vacate. </span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I doubt if he will. He's been sitting there since he was painted in 1650. This is the tenth Pope Innocent. </span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lord B: Innocent you say? Same name as my daughter-in-law. </span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Looks nothing like her though.</span></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsl0yNwR0w5oxXOUnndejNPvN91_CXa07IYVJA0zgY9Qb6GwdChD48KP0DbDGEiUmHZmYujEHrYD85_TNlKw9aqSEEJzCEYY1mDPn_hDH_dH5CqWpysWfPR93Ad-K9I-iYN9tkIrmJwJf/s1600/Elsa.best2+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsl0yNwR0w5oxXOUnndejNPvN91_CXa07IYVJA0zgY9Qb6GwdChD48KP0DbDGEiUmHZmYujEHrYD85_TNlKw9aqSEEJzCEYY1mDPn_hDH_dH5CqWpysWfPR93Ad-K9I-iYN9tkIrmJwJf/s320/Elsa.best2+%25282%2529.JPG" width="245" /></a></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lady B: He doesn't look the least bit innocent. Nor does she.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wonder how many people who sit on thrones are entirely innocent?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: inherit;">Lord B: Well, you're about to find out, Seashell. I've commissioned you your very own throne.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXPsrXHsCWbsiDCvxB9xLQdu0bxf6jc0PWoScMZq1PnPhMPX95tw4na2FkP3tKkAqz0WpfnmTyyOamB1yuBgHTN7XVnoAkRdH-OwJWY323TEWbxlaw4Eah-Bh3TNqmvoxU0UVX1fnaNch/s1600/seaview.mine.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXPsrXHsCWbsiDCvxB9xLQdu0bxf6jc0PWoScMZq1PnPhMPX95tw4na2FkP3tKkAqz0WpfnmTyyOamB1yuBgHTN7XVnoAkRdH-OwJWY323TEWbxlaw4Eah-Bh3TNqmvoxU0UVX1fnaNch/s400/seaview.mine.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Golly. Thanks, Lord B. I like the theme.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: inherit;">Lord B: You've made a right royal hash of this story.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, but at least now I can sit on my throne and command people to read it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And by the way, I have found just the thing for you and Lady B. Matching thrones! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not replicas. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Olde World red velvet. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And definitely not <i>nouveau</i>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74yVjJ5yNqlqkM6eOuk0lYlp_PwnT59mLP3_tZBopkfdls6t74dyQarLOQdd0XnwwcDVFThMZfsSU6GRV0_DzAQlU-CZHHurImtlfe2PCSXOdCYvY7ZhbpQlt8h8RMtSp_zqluIdsDOio/s1600/myoldpostcards.randy.von.liski.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74yVjJ5yNqlqkM6eOuk0lYlp_PwnT59mLP3_tZBopkfdls6t74dyQarLOQdd0XnwwcDVFThMZfsSU6GRV0_DzAQlU-CZHHurImtlfe2PCSXOdCYvY7ZhbpQlt8h8RMtSp_zqluIdsDOio/s320/myoldpostcards.randy.von.liski.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/myoldpostcards/5013059760/" style="text-align: start;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/myoldpostcards/5013059760/</a><span style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These thrones are just the thing to get out there and watch the jubilee festivities.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt61JwHbt2sQemaYnpfy4_keKs9JZLrA5eZao-JyiJ6wPRKfdKPyYBmJy9Tnq7HvlGpVt_klxsPEk10XXZxeRxas-4fKFYIy7WXnnJzrIBBGsOZ8-mbxLPThZ7nZWS1sIaQp53BILdKYLaNn5dFxKHlu_F_tLOQ9gP0r2BfNLpIPHFE8ELRqXYiIrIFg/s320/exploratorium.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="320" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt61JwHbt2sQemaYnpfy4_keKs9JZLrA5eZao-JyiJ6wPRKfdKPyYBmJy9Tnq7HvlGpVt_klxsPEk10XXZxeRxas-4fKFYIy7WXnnJzrIBBGsOZ8-mbxLPThZ7nZWS1sIaQp53BILdKYLaNn5dFxKHlu_F_tLOQ9gP0r2BfNLpIPHFE8ELRqXYiIrIFg/s1600/exploratorium.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1340991380023452290#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span>https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploratorium/2700332734/</span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span><i>
</i></span></span></span>
</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">But right now<b> </b>I need to get down to our local chippie and queue for fish and chips. It's going to be ever so busy. I might stop at the art gallery, where people here on Paradise Island were given a paper plate and asked to write or draw on it what they would do if they were queen. Some wrote things like abdicate, dissolve the monarchy, or pay tax. Children drew lots of crowns and corgis. But my favourite plate shows that when the chips are down, you could do worse than eat a plate of chips.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI1Zt7DBlPydNvd23oVQOcvGcEGnvgTCDo-QO3veeZ00scaSXDfpw8WWGnaT8czcpVVjOE-gpoIpIq2jv8dBB8wlGaCHr_j65DRuJQginWf_LrC439CdJ7eNVx85VxprPw5l6dtgrXGnObm4__Ty4jvZPVDBeoa8lrlftwwOfifKkx_QbcWn9o8IOmHQ/s640/FB_IMG_1654943796559.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI1Zt7DBlPydNvd23oVQOcvGcEGnvgTCDo-QO3veeZ00scaSXDfpw8WWGnaT8czcpVVjOE-gpoIpIq2jv8dBB8wlGaCHr_j65DRuJQginWf_LrC439CdJ7eNVx85VxprPw5l6dtgrXGnObm4__Ty4jvZPVDBeoa8lrlftwwOfifKkx_QbcWn9o8IOmHQ/s320/FB_IMG_1654943796559.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Credits</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p align="left" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The
Union Jack heart chair is by Jan Constantine, a British designer,
businesswoman and author who is widely recognised for her
hand-embroidered cushions, accessories and patriotic interiors. In
2005, she introduced coloured felt wool to her designs (which had
previously been created predominantly in cream and white linen), and
released the Union Jack and heart design for which she has since
become renowned. Constantine is widely credited as the starting point
of a Union Jack renaissance in the UK, and is instantly recognisable
in interior design for her patriotic themes. The photo at Wikimedia
is by Camralphs, taken in 2011.
</span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1340991380023452290#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #6611cc;"><span face="roboto, arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:9_SQ_UJKS-(9).jpg?uselang=en-gb</span></span></span></span></span></a><br />
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">For
a complete understanding of what's going on in Britain see our Brexit
benches
at </span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1340991380023452290#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/the-ins-and-outs-of-british-brexit.html</span></span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To
summarise, on June 23, 2016 a referendum took place in Great Britain
in which the voters of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and
Gibraltar voted on whether or not to remain in the European Union.
This became known as the Brexit vote (British Exit). Voters were
divided into Leavers (those who wanted to leave the EU) and
Remainers, those who wanted to stay. After 43 years, the Leavers got their way and in 2021 the UK left the European Union. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And
speaking of liars' benches, the BBC did not report on the decline of
British benches. I made up this news myself using the excellent
Fotofunia lab. The pile of wood shown is a photograph by Lara in
2006. Lara is a casual games artist from Vancouver, who now lives in
Seattle. Her albums are full of photos from Canada, the US, Hong
Kong, and elsewhere. </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1340991380023452290#" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lara604/279938667</a></p>
<p align="left" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span face="verdana, sans-serif">I</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">t'll
soon be the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1340991380023452290#">Dog
Bench Days of August</a> again. Jay Melnick lives in Colorado
and he photographs a lot of dogs as ArgosPaw's. This includes the
brilliant Bulldog Reunion, taken in 2014. It's not easy to get dogs
lined up on a bench so it's great to see this.
</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1340991380023452290#"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jaymelnick/14493841782/</span></span></span></a><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>
</i></span></span>
</span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt;">The
multicultural people on a bench are from the papier mâché works of
Jenny Clayden, an artist who lived and worked on the Isle of Wight.
From life-size down to thumb-size, she designed and made figures of
all sizes in papier mâché. She previously worked as a theatre
designer in London where she made props, puppets, masks and a
pantomime horse, all in papier mâché. Her approach was dramatic and
colourful but she also developed the more serious aspects of her
themes. </span></span></span></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>
</i></span></span></span>
</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Haute House in Hollywood has a wide range of luxury banquettes, ottomans and benches. The hot pink Thebes banquette is a nod to Homer, who praised the wealth of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes in The Iliad when he mentioned <i>the heaps of precious ingots</i> that gleamed brightly. Like those precious heaps, this Thebes Banquette is anything but demure.The sophisticated silhouette is serious without being pretentious, saucy without being sassy. Versions of this banquette also come in white and peacock blue and you can customize any Haute House Home piece to your liking.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://hautehousehome.com/p-419-thebes-banquette.aspx"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://hautehousehome.com/p-419-thebes-banquette.aspx</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer here on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Paradise</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>. He is a descendent, apparently, of a court judge who <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/laying-down-law-on-legal-benches.html">laid down the law on legal benches</a>. He loves his horse Tonks, his dog Pru,and his 1947 Landrover, in that order. He indulges his wife, Lady Jessica Brassica with a replica mall in the basement of Drizzly Manor, a beach hut on the Esplanade, and unlimited amounts of cash for shopping. However, it has emerged that he doesn't know as much as you'd think about farm animal benches, especially<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">cow benches</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html">sheep benches</a>. He knows a bit more about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/2014-year-of-horse-bench.html">horse benches</a>, learned from Tonks, and possibly something about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">dog benches</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>from Pru. What he really knows though, is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html">picnic benches</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Lady Jessica Brassica is a fashionista and former model with Studio Joop from Overbearing in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Holland</st1:place></st1:city>. Now she has her own fashion house at Ballyfrumpy in <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Offhand</st1:placename> in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. She particularly likes <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html">yellow benches</a>; she is no fan of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/50-shades-of-grey-and-pink-valentine.html">pink</a> though. She loves shopping at her replica mall and having poetry read to her by Young Male Readers dot com. She is happily married to Lord Brassica but<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/summer-bench-days-are-here-again.html">last summer</a> Lady Jess spent rather a lot of time at her beach hut with <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Troy</st1:city></st1:place></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Greek Ottoman throne was seized from Thessaloniki during its handing over to the Greeks in 1912, possibly of Abdul Hamid II or w:en:Mehmed V. It was photographed in the National Historical Museum, Athens, Greece in 2007 by Badseed, who is a user and sysop in the Greek language. The photo was made available on Wikimedia</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ottoman_throne_seized_from_Thessaloniki_in_1912.jpg%20%C2%A0ottoman">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ottoman_throne_seized_from_Thessaloniki_in_1912.jpg ottoman</a> For more Greek benches, not necessarily thrones, see <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/greek-bench-mission-impossible.html" target="_blank">benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/greek-bench-mission-impossible.html</a><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span><o:p></o:p></span></b><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first red throne is a Venetian throne from the middle of the 18th century, presented from the Venetians to the the Palace of Versailles in France. It was photographed by Lionel Allorge in 2011 for Wikimedia at <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Versailles_2011_Trone_venitien_1.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Versailles_2011_Trone_venitien_1.jpg</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Napoleon’s throne is in the Louvre, Paris and it was photographed by the Son of Groucho in 2012. </span>The Son of Groucho is a People Mechanic in Scotland. In other words, he's a doctor. And he has a loyal and affectionate following on Flickr. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonofgroucho/8195964198" style="font-size: 11pt;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonofgroucho/8195964198</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I photographed the painting of Napoleon with his throne at Southampton Art Gallery in February 2015.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">King Tut’s golden throne was located in the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, photographed in 2011 by Dean, who lives in South Jordan in Utah. Dean's albums are full of the staggering beauty of Utah, including views from some of the benches there. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21202433@N08/6511403009" style="font-size: 11pt;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/21202433@N08/6511403009</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The two brown matching thrones are replicas of the early thrones of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and his consort, the Raja Permaisuri Agong. (Lady B would not approve). They are now housed at the National History Museum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They were photographed by Adam Carr in 2005 and placed in the public domain at <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thrones_of_the_Yang_di-Pertuan_Agong_and_the_Raja_Permaisuri_Agong_(replicas).JPG?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thrones_of_the_Yang_di-Pertuan_Agong_and_the_Raja_Permaisuri_Agong_(replicas).JPG?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jeff Martin lives in Arizona with his wife and two kids and he's a web developer.However, he is also known as Godfrey von Reinfels, the Kingdom Web Minister for the Kingdom of Atenveldt. As Web Minister he photographs events in the Kingdom, such as Estrella War XXIV. There are thrones galore in Atenveldt but I particularly liked this pair, the Gleann Abhann Thrones. They seem to be made from metal and a bit of black tape. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/Jeff%20Marti%20lives%20in%20Arizona%20with%20his%20wife%20and%20two%20kids%20and%20he's%20a%20web%20developer.However,%20he%20is%20also%20known%20as%20Godfrey%20von%20Reinfels,%20the%20Kingdom%20Web%20Minister%20for%20the%20Kingdom%20of%20Atenveldt.%20As%20Web%20Minister%20he%20photographs%20events%20in%20the%20Kingdom,%20such%20as%20Estrella%20War%20XXIV.%20There%20are%20thrones%20galore%20in%20Atenveldt%20but%20I%20particularly%20liked%20this%20pair,%20the%20Gleann%20Abhann%20Thrones.%20They%20seem%20to%20be%20made%20from%20metal%20and%20a%20bit%20of%20black%20tape.%20https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff-godfrey/2275626965/in/album-72157603937081072/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff-godfrey/2275626965/in/album-72157603937081072/ </a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The pair of matching red thrones are the Royal Thrones of the Ajuda National Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, created in the second half of the 18th century and photographed by Wirdung in 2000. Wirdung is from Lisbon and is doing a great job of providing Wikipedia with reliable information about Portugal's music and history. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Thrones_Ajuda_Palace_Lisbon.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Thrones_Ajuda_Palace_Lisbon.jpg</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The gold throne with cupids and lions was the throne of King John VI of Portugal. It was photographed by Limongi in 2006 in the National Historical Museum of Brazil. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MHN04.jpg?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MHN04.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly is by James Hampton, made from gold and silver aluminum foil, craft paper, and plastic over wood furniture, paperboard, and glass. The elaborate throne dates from 1950-1964, located in Washington DC. It was photographed by Cliff in 2008. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/2871269291/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/2871269291/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Innocent <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">is Lord and Lady Brassica's daughter-in-law. She has emerged from her convent nursing dress into something of a <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/woolly-warm-autumn-benches.html">fashion icon</a>.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> She has become a world class fashion model for Studio Joop, from Overbearing in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Holland</st1:city></st1:place>. And last year she posed on a snowy bench as the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">Frozen Elsa</a>. But just how innocent is Innocent?</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The red and gold throne with red wallpaper behind is in the Throne Room at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. It dates from Poland's last king, Stanisław Augustus Poniatowski, who redesigned the rooms of the palace in 1777 and joined them to the castle, after which he gave the whole lot to his nephew. The throne was</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">photographed in 2010 by Chris Brown, who lives in Melbourne. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zoonabar/4945993691/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/zoonabar/4945993691/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Obamas, Michele and Barrack, are seated on life-sized benches and are themselves life size. They are made by Life Size models from Jolly Roger Ltd., otherwise known as Lifesize Models in the UK. <a href="http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk/">http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk</a> They have thousands of quality resin and fibre-glass 3D life-size models, figures, signs, statues, props, furnishings, etc. Their showroom has over 2000 themed models, which include animals, people, and everything from counter-top coffee beans to fullsize elephants. Their Facebook page shows some of the models in amazing situations <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheJollyRogerLtd">https://www.facebook.com/TheJollyRogerLtd </a> You will also find them talked about on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/lifesizemodels">https://twitter.com/lifesizemodels</a> Michele without the bench costs £390+ VAT and the Obamas together cost £799. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <i>Elvis is Here</i> bench is from Jack Huerta at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/jackhuertaphoto">www.etsy.com/shop/jackhuertaphoto </a> Jack, from Portland, Oregon, does a lot of great photos of beaches, carnivals, festivals, and other colourful things. For more Elvis and other festive musical benches see <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/festive-festival-benches-liveblogged.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/festive-festival-benches-liveblogged.html</a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clemens V. Volgelsang is a communications designer and creative director from Liechtenstein. He photographed the bright red Burger King benches in Zurich. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vauvau/5746151093/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/vauvau/5746151093/</a> If you're a fan of red benches you might want to have a look at the ever-popular <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/seeing-red-benches-for-february.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/seeing-red-benches-for-february.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Baroness Gateau of Snowvenia is actually a cake, designed by Jane Asher for one of her cake books whose title I no longer have. Still, it's a nice cake. And my imaginary friend Miggy has all manner of Jane Asher's cake making stuff. For more about the icy kingdom of Snowvenia, see <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The oil portrait is William I (1772–1743) as King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was painted in 1819 by Joseph Paelinck (1781-1839). King William is wearing the gala uniform of a general, the sash of the Military William Order and a red robe lined with ermine.To the right is the royal throne, and to the left a table with on it the map of parts of Java (Bantam, Jacatra and Cheribon) in modern-day Indonesia. The photo comes from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam online catalogue at <a href="http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/">www.rijksmuseum.nl</a> I saw it in the public domain at <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_I_of_the_Netherlands.jpg?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_I_of_the_Netherlands.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The yellow throne that looks like a bed is a replica of the Royal Throne of Perak. First used during the installation of His Royal Highness Sultan Iskandar Shah (the 30th Sultan of Perak) in 1918, it has since been used for further coronations including His Royal Highness Sultan Abdul Aziz Al-Mustasim Bilah Shah in 1938, His Royal Highness Sultan Yussuff Izzudin Shah in 1948 and His Royal Highness Sultan Idris Iskandar Al-Mutawakkil Shah II in 1963. The throne is in Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar, Perak and the author is Gryffindor on Wikimedia at <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Muzium_Negara_KL49.JPG?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Muzium_Negara_KL49.JPG?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The red banquette is the Sully Louis XIV-style replica by Ateliers Allot Frères in France. Rather splendid, n'est-ce pas? I saw it on at <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N%C2%B0746-12_banquette_%22Sully%22_de_style_Louis_XIV_r%C3%A9plique_d%27un_mod%C3%A8le_d%27%C3%A9poque_r%C3%A9alis%C3%A9_par_les_Ateliers_Allot_Fr%C3%A8res_..jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N%C2%B0746-12_banquette_%22Sully%22_de_style_Louis_XIV_r%C3%A9plique_d%27un_mod%C3%A8le_d%27%C3%A9poque_r%C3%A9alis%C3%A9_par_les_Ateliers_Allot_Fr%C3%A8res_..jpg</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The broken plastic chair on the beach, aka the royal throne of Krappistan, is actually in Cyprus and was photographed by Sheila B, who lives there (Cyprus, not Krappistan). For more about Krappistan and indeed the other <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/united-in-diversity-28-benches-for.html">28 countries of the European Union</a>, let Blogda be your guide. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p>The white throne with yellow cushions is </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Gaddi-Nizam’s throne in the Chowmahalla Palace at Quil Wath, Hyderabad. It was photographed in 2009 by</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Kinshuk Sunil, who is from Ghazabad, India and is the founder of Hashstash Studios. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kinshuksunil/3582226486" style="font-size: 11pt;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/kinshuksunil/3582226486</a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">The beautiful sorrell coloured marble throne is the 19th century Assembled Throne Room Qing Dynasty Throne and Footrest,</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> photographed by Mary Harrsch in 2006 at the </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/173460102">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/173460102</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Mary also photographed</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> t</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">he first century Roman throne, complete with serpent back, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Throne#/media/File:Roman_throne_LosAngeles_County_Museum_California.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Throne#/media/File:Roman_throne_LosAngeles_County_Museum_California.jpg</a> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Mary, who lives in Oregon, is </span><span style="background-color: #fefefe;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a politically liberal, independent woman who is passionately interested in technology, history, and education. </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Of all the thrones shown, this Qing Dynasty throne would be my throne of choice. It would look beautiful in my throne room and has the added benefit of matching my tiara. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mike Fisher retired after 35 years of maintaining NASA software. He now does things like photographing thrones, such as the replica of Emperor Qin's peacock throne in the Forbidden Gardens of Katy, Texas. </span>Apparently a man of Chinese ancestry in Seattle built Forbidden Gardens in an effort to give Americans a taste of Chinese culture. Unfortunately, the site he selected was in the path of a freeway and has been paved over since Mike took the photo.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bfs_man/5421718907" style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bfs_man/5421718907</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A red throne was made for King Charles III of Spain, gilded sometime before 1772 in Madrid and including his profile in the medallion atop the backrest. Since the late 19th century each Spanish sovereign has had a copy of this original throne, incorporating his own portrait. In the Royal Palace in Madrid now are matching thrones for King Don Juan Carlos I and Queen Dona Sofia. However, this photo was taken by Jebulon, during an exhibition of various thrones, in Château de Versailles France. Jebulon is French and proud to live in the centre of Paris. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Throne_Charles_III_of_Spain.jpg?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Throne_Charles_III_of_Spain.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tinka is the King Charles spaniel sitting on a blue bench. She was photographed by any.user in Westerstede in Germany. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/anyuser/959413361">https://www.flickr.com/photos/anyuser/959413361</a> We have plenty of dogs here on Benchsite, and plenty of <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">dog benches</a>, most of them well-behaved.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The beautiful log throne is called Autumn’s Throne. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It was photographed by Lilian in October 2013 at </span><st1:placename style="font-size: 11pt;" w:st="on">Kadrioru</st1:placename><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><st1:placetype style="font-size: 11pt;" w:st="on">Park</st1:placetype><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> in </span><st1:place style="font-size: 11pt;" w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Tallinn</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Estonia</st1:country-region></st1:place><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. Lilian currently lives in </span><st1:city style="font-size: 11pt;" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Edinburgh</st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: 11pt;">. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/photographingfairies/10189946103" style="font-size: 11pt;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/photographingfairies/10189946103</a> For more log benches (and cake) see <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/log-benches-just-logs-and-cake.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/log-benches-just-logs-and-cake.html</a> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marc, a technical writer from Brighton, is neither anti-royal nor anti-wedding. But in 2011 the Royal Wedding Sickbag made him laugh, so he photographed it. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/murk/5499694936" style="font-size: 11pt;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/murk/5499694936</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Remove and Replace pallett throne is</span> one of a wide range of furniture and other useful things made from pallets. Sheds, gardens, panelling - they can make anything from pallets. <a href="http://removeandreplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/pallet-furniture-ideas-_14.jpg">http://removeandreplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/pallet-furniture-ideas-_14.jpg</a> I often turn to this site for inspiration, most recently celebrating the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/recycled-upcycled-repurposed-benches.html">green-ness of recycled, upcycled and repurposed benches</a>. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We have <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/a-short-history-of-toilet-benches.html">a short history of toilet benches </a>here on Benchsite, among them the Dagobert Wooden Toilet Throne from Herbeau's Powder Room Couture collection. It pays homage to King Dagobert’s reign (629 to 638 AD) as last ruler of the French Merovingian dynasty. The classic French children’s song, Le Bon Roi Dagobert tells the story of King Dagobert arriving late for an important council meeting with his trousers on inside out. As a fitting introduction to this whimsical toilet, a music box begins playing Le Bon Roi Dagobert as the lid is raised. The flush mechanism is connected to a pull chain and bell, thus letting everyone know that all is well in the kingdom. <a href="http://www.herbeau.com/index.html">http://www.herbeau.com/index.html</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The ivory throne of Tsar Ivan IV (Ivan The Terrible) of Russia was photographed in 2003 by Stan Shebs and made available on wikimedia at <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ivans_ivory_throne.jpg?uselang=en-gb">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ivans_ivory_throne.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a> Stan Shebs is a software engineer who likes stamp collecting, sailing ships, ship models, history, rock climbing, mountaineering, languages, literature and botany. Ivan IV is better known as Ivan the Terrible, Russian Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533. or good reason. 1) He buried his sixth wife alive 2) he murdered his son. What more do you need to know? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The terrific Ivan the Terrible doll is from Uneek Doll Designs, a wonderful etsy shop<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> in Alabama where Debbie Ritter makes dolls of all kinds of historic and literary figures </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span>Debbie takes a more broadminded view of Ivan, whose long reign saw the transforming of Russia into a new and more powerful nation. He was described as intelligent and devout, yet given to rages and prone to frequent outbreaks of mental illness. . Some, at his time, called him <i>Ivan Groznyi</i> the name, which, although usually translated as <i>Terrible</i>, actually means something closer to <i>Inspiring Awe</i> and carries meanings of might, power and strictness rather than cruelty.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2006 Abraham Lincoln was back in town. Marko Forsten, a special library assistant, photographed Abe on his bench in Niles, Chicago Illinois. Marko lives in Helsinki and his photostream has some brilliant Northern Lights photos, taken this year. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgebrook/5199684735/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgebrook/5199684735/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The red throne with a white cross is the imperial throne of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, photographed in 2015 by RV1864, who is fascinated by abandoned buildings, vintage adverts, 3D renders. RV1864 is an ex paramedic, urban explorer and professional drunkard from London. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/summer1978/17958566015/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/summer1978/17958566015/ </a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Uccellopoultry is a real person and also an avatar from the virtual world of Second Life. In 2006 she built a series of thrones and wrote a mythology for each. The Akegata Throne, or the Throne of Dawn is in the Akegata Court in The Lydia Rose Memorial Park in Nangrim, Second Life. The woman in red on an orange throne features three Torii gates in its design and Uccellopoultry was rather pleased to learn that the gate is associated with birds at rest ... Uccello Poultry sitting. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/uccellopoultry/303146803/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/uccellopoultry/303146803/</a> For some truly eggciting chicken benches see <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/no-spring-chicken-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/no-spring-chicken-benches.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Castle Broccoli is the country seat of the Brassica family, which now includes Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, his wife Lady Jessica Brassica (nee Kholrabi) and their numpty son Root. Oh, and Root's wife Innocent. The story of their <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/three-weddings-and-some-benches.html">Scottish wedding benches</a> is worth it just for the outfits. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Tonks is Lord Brassica's faithful horse and many different horse benches featured on Benchsite at new year 2015. After all, 2015 was the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/2014-year-of-horse-bench.html">Year of the Horse</a></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The tiara and carriage bench is from Kim Baxter, who lives in Manchester, New Hampshire. Her shop is at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/kbaxter225">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/kbaxter225</a> KBW & Co. make an assortment of hand crafted items, including wooden stools which are sturdy and strong. Kim loves painting on wood so most of the signs and stools have been made by her husband and herself by recycling old pallet wood. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Game of Thrones pedicart is from Popculturegeek, photographed at the San Diego Comic Convention in 2011. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Doug Kline at San Diego Comic-Con connects <span style="background-color: #fefefe;"> the creators, icons, and fans of geek culture online and at events around the world. His albums feature images from those events. </span> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/popculturegeek/5976785707/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/popculturegeek/5976785707/</a> For lots of benches on the move check out <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/dude-wheres-my-bench.html">Dude, where's my bench?</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Miggy, Mungo and Miggy's mum happened upon Sterling Castle in Scotland one summer's day and there, behold, they saw a whole procession of royal folk.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The two dark-haired ladies, Black Agnes and Cleopatra, are unique dolls by Debbie at Uneek Designs. Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, is well known as Elizabeth Taylor. Agnes Randolph, Countess of Dunbar and March, lived from 1312–1369, and was known as Black Agnes for her dark hair. She was the wife of Patrick, 9th Earl of Dunbar and March. Agnes became renowned for her heroic defence of Dunbar Castle against an English attack by the William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury, which began on 13 January 1338. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cleopatra on a banquette is an 1891 cabinet card image of French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923) by Napoleon Sarony. Bernhardt is dressed as Cleopatra. The photo is from the Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Sarah_Bernhardt_TCS_2_(Cleopatra).jpg#/media/File:Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Sarah_Bernhardt_TCS_2_(Cleopatra).jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Sarah_Bernhardt_TCS_2_(Cleopatra).jpg#/media/File:Harvard_Theatre_Collection_-_Sarah_Bernhardt_TCS_2_(Cleopatra).jpg</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wally Gobetz is a thoroughly reliable historian and photographer who reports full details of his photographs for us. The Egyptian New Kingdom pair of limestone statues is from the reign of Amunhotep III, circa 1390-1353 BC. Wally writes that it represents a married couple: <i>the man is Nebsen, a scribe in the royal treasury, and his wife Nebet-ta, is a singer in the temple of the goddess Isis. They each pass one arm behind the other, a symbol of closeness. In order to convey this sentiment and to create a harmonious design, the sculptor extended the arms to unnatural lengths.</i> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/2434571867">https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/2434571867</a> The statue is now at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Brooklyn</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Museum</st1:placetype></st1:place> in New York City.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The pretty pink and blue Princess bench is Thy Royal Wardrobe at Disney Princess Fantasy Faire at Disneyland. It was photographed by Loren Javier in 2009 and appears on his photostream at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/4006915695/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/4006915695/</a> Loren lives in LA and has an annual pass at Disneyland. But he has loads of photos from Universal Studios too, including a whole collection of Norman Bates and the Bates Motel. See what happened to Miggy there on a <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/terrifying-benches-for-halloween.html">spine-tingling Halloween bench</a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Pascal, aka Pasukaru, has kept me amused with his Bench Monday Lego photos and there are so many that I can often find one for Benchsite. This time it's the princess and the frog, photo 27/365 back in 2010. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: #f3f5f6; color: #212124; line-height: 18px;"><i>The princess has brought her fiancé along for Bench Monday.</i></span> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/4963571052/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/4963571052/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back in 2013, as warriors beat their swords into plowshares, Shawn DeWolfe beat his collection of keyboards into a chair-- a Throne of Nerds. This throne is Nerds 7. Who is Shawn DeWolfe? A re-imagined person/evil genius from Victoria British Columbia.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dewolfe001/8479161409/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/dewolfe001/8479161409/</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Victor Pena has a story to tell about Dethroned by Love, the armchair on the hill that overlooks the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. As Victor tells it, Boabdil el Chico was the last Moorish king of Granada. Fleeing the city when it was invaded by Christians, he stopped atop this hill, turned his head to see his beloved city for the last time and cried, </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Cry like a woman what you could not defend like a man</i>. Apparently this legend comes from the imagination of a Christian priest whose intention was to denigrate the figure of Boabdil, but over time seems to have achieved the opposite effect. What a brilliant story and what a great photograph! No wonder Victor won all kinds of awards for it. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vicotrew/8222224866">https://www.flickr.com/photos/vicotrew/8222224866</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perfect for storing tiaras, the crown jewels bench is from Levels of Discovery, who make children's storage benches in all sorts of colours and themes. There are benches for fire engines, jungles, alphabets, and even a Princess storage bench for Her Royal Highness. <a href="http://www.levelsofdiscovery.com/">http://www.levelsofdiscovery.com</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Scott Smith is a laser technician currently living in Orlando. He writes about wizards and witches and he blogs about Disney's human element. He also helps found cameras and orphaned pictures find their way home. In 2011 the photographed the Mardi Gras king and his blue-haired queen. The photograph in his Flickr photostream is accompanied by a dialogue called The Conspiracy of the Crown, Act IV, Scene VII. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottrsmith/5595150095/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottrsmith/5595150095/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Brown's bench is at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. If you saw the film <i>Mrs. Brown</i> with Judi Dench and Billy Connolly you'll know who John Brown is. If not, all you need to know is that Queen Victoria's husband Albert died and she was inconsolable, though her servant John Brown (1826-1883) did his best to cheer her up. What kind of guy was he? According to the memorial bench, <i>a truer, nobler, trustier heart, more loving and more loyal, never beat in a human breast</i>. The photo is by Anthony McCallum, a former nurse turned-photographer, at <span face=""segoe ui emoji" , sans-serif" style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11pt;">©</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11pt;">wyrdlight.com</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I saw the photograph at</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osborne-iow-3Ja10-10935.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osborne-iow-3Ja10-10935.jpg</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In January 2010 David Anstiss photographed Queen <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Victoria</st1:place></st1:state>'s inauspicious bench at Rolvenden in Kent. The bench was presented to the Parish of Rolvenden by Mrs. W. Judge in memory of her husband, Mr Will Judge, and his grandfather Mr. James Judge, in June 1950. The stone plaque reads <i>GVRI Silver Jubilee 6 May 1935, The site presented by the Sparkeswood Estate</i>. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_Victoria%27s_Bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1711073.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_Victoria%27s_Bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1711073.jpg</a> </span></div><pre><span lang="EN" style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></pre><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p>The regal bench with its skinny royal dogs is the Quinta de Regaleira bench at </o:p>Sintra, in Portugal. It was photographed by Husond and made available on wikimedia at <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Regaleira_bench_2.JPG?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Regaleira_bench_2.JPG?uselang=en-gb</a> A husond is apparently an Icelandic duck but the photographer is Portuguese, so neither a duck nor Icelandic. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The intriguing portrait of Pope Innocent X on his throne was painted by the Spanish painter Diego Velazquez (1599-1660) around 1650. It is in the public domain and available at</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/The%20intriguing%20portrait%20of%20Pope%20Innocent%20X%20on%20his%20throne%20was%20painted%20by%20the%20Spanish%20painter%20Diego%20Velazquez%20(1599-16600%20around%201650.%20It%20is%20in%20the%20public%20domain%20and%20available%20at%20https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez_-_Portrait_of_Innocent_X_-_WGA24443.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez_-_Portrait_of_Innocent_X_-_WGA24443.jpg </a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The seashell throne given to me by Lord Brassica is one I saw very recently in Seaview, Isle of Wight. It has a brilliant seashell theme and a great, um sea view. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">For more glorious island benches from </span><strike style="font-family: inherit;">the Isle of Wight</strike><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Paradise Island see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html" style="font-family: inherit;">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-paradise-island.html</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Randy von Liski does old postcards. Architecture, automobiles, Americana, landscapes, nature, and street photography are his primary photographic interests. In 2010 he was photographing Waggoner, Illinois, a village about 30 miles south of Springfield where the population was only 245 at the 2000 census. While some business district thoroughfares are known for their wooden benches, Waggoner does them one better by providing bucket seats.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/myoldpostcards/5013059760/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/myoldpostcards/5013059760/</a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Exploratorium
has a whole album of the total solar eclipse seen in Side, Turkey
back in 2006. Best of all are the photos of people watching the
eclipse. The Exploratorium is a museum of science, art, and
human perception located at Pier 15 in San Francisco, California.
They believe that following your curiosity and asking questions can
lead to amazing moments of discovery, learning, and awareness and can
increase your confidence in your ability to understand how the world
works. They also believe that being playful and having fun is an
important part of the process for people of all ages.
</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2608647331546453527/1340991380023452290#"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploratorium/2700332734/</span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></i></span></span></span></span>
</p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div></span></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-27427517405768028152022-04-27T09:38:00.016-07:002023-08-31T12:12:48.024-07:00Wondrous Work Benches for May Day<p><br /></p><p>It's almost May Day, which is an extra long week-end we don't really need, but traditionally it was a time to think about labour and all the Workers of the World. It seems like a good time to have a look at workbenches.</p><p>Here is The English Woodworker hard at work in his shop. </p><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Bp-6LL4jsx12qbPo8yrz4GAnrKrmpr-rXP02UKJZ3s37Gsbv4RQb7bTA6u8LiDUEw1gDGaJkxW4_f_FuTyAuWbJJmJMNMP6nvmUHgn_oY8qUfyNISqFdzzDQh5bke9va8xzO3SOOTtMj/s1600/maguire+guy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Bp-6LL4jsx12qbPo8yrz4GAnrKrmpr-rXP02UKJZ3s37Gsbv4RQb7bTA6u8LiDUEw1gDGaJkxW4_f_FuTyAuWbJJmJMNMP6nvmUHgn_oY8qUfyNISqFdzzDQh5bke9va8xzO3SOOTtMj/s1600/maguire+guy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Unfortunately, my husband, His Excellency, is not a very practical person. Here's what happened when he tried to change a lightbulb in our kitchen.</p><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVO4fA0HpfGZnCdCklHPewYNklXqzOpJXKYoaRfnB_zU7RXcWTO6qHcx-YSLTcZdA0L0RNJedmFaixXu_O0EgcOhwTbSbNCK52-ihiiMXELP0bu4OvGQ85jsIyzQNPf8g9spbNWNVs0QVQ/s1600/100_5436+(2).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVO4fA0HpfGZnCdCklHPewYNklXqzOpJXKYoaRfnB_zU7RXcWTO6qHcx-YSLTcZdA0L0RNJedmFaixXu_O0EgcOhwTbSbNCK52-ihiiMXELP0bu4OvGQ85jsIyzQNPf8g9spbNWNVs0QVQ/s320/100_5436+(2).JPG" width="308" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">His Excellency thinks this blog is going to be boring. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And I don't think he means 'boring' in the craftsmen sense that The English Woodworker means it. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUndQWBxEw7n02Ci9CsD6JXJSzPQYChdu21MiLuaTqxJAVUKnzX3GX4h7De7hSfWtyrKwn1IMY90_Eeqv4nkndEMfoeexKxvOcC5Z2UUPnOJZAO-Zn5rrw7oEZ8JEyERqpHtQrHuxctEnG/s1600/draw-bore2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUndQWBxEw7n02Ci9CsD6JXJSzPQYChdu21MiLuaTqxJAVUKnzX3GX4h7De7hSfWtyrKwn1IMY90_Eeqv4nkndEMfoeexKxvOcC5Z2UUPnOJZAO-Zn5rrw7oEZ8JEyERqpHtQrHuxctEnG/s320/draw-bore2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/?p=1805">http://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/?p=180</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But His Excellency hasn't seen all the wonderful workbenches I have been collecting. I've been Googling </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">workbenches</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">work benches</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">benches work</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: I'm bored already.</span><br /><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Keep your shirt on!</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTw1xCL2roj7YSuL9EmPbb39a7QPIV9VSGkQHuXD8jEc0iIoKLQkFpRWsNbV-NMbhpxLvTBKvQ3Vg1kWAqndqnQ6NgwXWMpRvqg97znVNA8gMmohKK3bhNvfzTY_iLr6x8fUThL5zS3VTqJoA73O3mpg80TdHjtvmOk8hNy4dyS4L9a8X2ov9Ubxz-Fw/s605/shirtless-man-painting.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTw1xCL2roj7YSuL9EmPbb39a7QPIV9VSGkQHuXD8jEc0iIoKLQkFpRWsNbV-NMbhpxLvTBKvQ3Vg1kWAqndqnQ6NgwXWMpRvqg97znVNA8gMmohKK3bhNvfzTY_iLr6x8fUThL5zS3VTqJoA73O3mpg80TdHjtvmOk8hNy4dyS4L9a8X2ov9Ubxz-Fw/s320/shirtless-man-painting.jpg" width="264" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Man Putting on Shirt c.1959, John Koch</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>I thought we'd start on the floor and work our way up.</div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZksybvio5BPrPj7YvcVjKn3djDrXp-WkKErbX3Sh6METU9LUIuJBuRscK_fm0aPBpfupGOKEjD5fEoZCM1DKQdq9vEIZX4PLXtjE3ed99E_t3o5oCoTf9qaAFXd4SR3rNVtfRDnHaJ44O7QJ3HjLhGj4zVwlTE4xkM8Gubobpl-8L4VFnLxBSd8q0w/s750/the-parquet-planers-1875.jpg!Large.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="750" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZksybvio5BPrPj7YvcVjKn3djDrXp-WkKErbX3Sh6METU9LUIuJBuRscK_fm0aPBpfupGOKEjD5fEoZCM1DKQdq9vEIZX4PLXtjE3ed99E_t3o5oCoTf9qaAFXd4SR3rNVtfRDnHaJ44O7QJ3HjLhGj4zVwlTE4xkM8Gubobpl-8L4VFnLxBSd8q0w/w320-h213/the-parquet-planers-1875.jpg!Large.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Floor Scrapers</i> 1875, Gustave Callibotte </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span style="color: #38761d;">His Excellency: There's no bench. I think you're going to need some help.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You're right. I've contacted Emily Hardhat, who is an old school friend of both my husbands. And <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/emilys-well-engineered-bridge-benches.html">she's a qualified engineer</a>. You can tell because she has a <strike>bench</strike> wrench in her hand.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here she is in her workshop, making benches for the Fribble-under-Par community project.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDdDV7YaDM2vr4p20TzxuV7AZMee9JzYGs3I8zXDMHDAN67L-s1ZYtvOKMTUJYEpvzPQM1Fu5n29KU57mUascLhv1g8J_wvXH1nRm05zWNBldEQp-r8_3FPxMKOU41O354O8VRWVojZ69/s1600/100_5869.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDdDV7YaDM2vr4p20TzxuV7AZMee9JzYGs3I8zXDMHDAN67L-s1ZYtvOKMTUJYEpvzPQM1Fu5n29KU57mUascLhv1g8J_wvXH1nRm05zWNBldEQp-r8_3FPxMKOU41O354O8VRWVojZ69/s320/100_5869.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Emily is the perfect person to help me pick out brilliant workbenches. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">For example, here is a very cheerful Little Carpenters workbench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uYUCg4tXtcTSwk1UNL-t0sAswd3oLh2UII0wmBEWFi93nkkvmliuSZ-pQ-b28zKi6Hne1eEOuoToyftQPTKozp4UW79vonRv3S2EoX21aS2YK0QEbrtWT6bEs2G0Iyhm9_JI55Pp5uh3/s1600/jammtoys.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uYUCg4tXtcTSwk1UNL-t0sAswd3oLh2UII0wmBEWFi93nkkvmliuSZ-pQ-b28zKi6Hne1eEOuoToyftQPTKozp4UW79vonRv3S2EoX21aS2YK0QEbrtWT6bEs2G0Iyhm9_JI55Pp5uh3/s320/jammtoys.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.jammtoys.com/">www.jammtoys.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: Just how small is this carpenter? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Emily says size is not the main issue with workbenches. You can have a modest little workbench . . . </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4Ph0WqVtRPmy7dwAO3b-Jjrgm5w7G7ZgtfwIFEHASN5MuAA8WHi11Mc7d1bWfxQgCKO6pVGT0a2jMWyNLwSy_W3iozpmmppMPngnCL2tr1qXTRANYnlAzr9FT-cQlm9MTJv2vN3AG-YL/s1600/silverline.WB.shopping.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4Ph0WqVtRPmy7dwAO3b-Jjrgm5w7G7ZgtfwIFEHASN5MuAA8WHi11Mc7d1bWfxQgCKO6pVGT0a2jMWyNLwSy_W3iozpmmppMPngnCL2tr1qXTRANYnlAzr9FT-cQlm9MTJv2vN3AG-YL/s1600/silverline.WB.shopping.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/832699205509599795?q=workbench&hl=en&rlz=1I7RNTN_en&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.51495398,d.ZGU,pv.xjs.s.en_US.M4-36_38X9A.O&biw=1070&bih=511&tch=1&ech=1&psi=h-QlUrbnMqiu7AaS7oGIBQ.1378215063798.7&sa=X&ei=tOQlUuqNJ6PX7AbR6YGgAw&ved=0CHsQ8wIwAw">https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">or you can have a gorgeous, humungous state-of-the-art kiln dried ash workbench .</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It depends what you need it for.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: I don't need it for anything. I'm a philosopher.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This is true. His Excellency is not one for getting his hands dirty. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1G3tZHBT8rLOiQf8TENUhpIwqdgcEWBiQT_lQ4GULx56fOWfafa-YkflI7JpjRD_6o7OjmLstp_AJZP9QVMKK9edGk-C20p7nRg-R1XQzV6vpCXZhjlTeU9osDVlt8b8AWdSPHzumy57/s1600/formalist.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1G3tZHBT8rLOiQf8TENUhpIwqdgcEWBiQT_lQ4GULx56fOWfafa-YkflI7JpjRD_6o7OjmLstp_AJZP9QVMKK9edGk-C20p7nRg-R1XQzV6vpCXZhjlTeU9osDVlt8b8AWdSPHzumy57/s320/formalist.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">The Pilgrim's Progress, 1683</td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He has, as he puts it, a philosopher's mind and an artist's soul. Neither are condusive to putting up shelves. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Last time His Excellency tried replacing the toilet roll the results were disastrous.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_pcYBjvcPM2rus4VNOZ5jWbaOALEz1UlpM29WkXTxMYar-iyTvQBPHKVv3a-FfESLZ5_1bKWaz2DhJrKgz4xbdT_mVn9MzgPQp_1eObkOr1ht_PD2OHAxgCCSADn0PgS04F3O4ot8mwT/s1600/perth.hd.640.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_pcYBjvcPM2rus4VNOZ5jWbaOALEz1UlpM29WkXTxMYar-iyTvQBPHKVv3a-FfESLZ5_1bKWaz2DhJrKgz4xbdT_mVn9MzgPQp_1eObkOr1ht_PD2OHAxgCCSADn0PgS04F3O4ot8mwT/s320/perth.hd.640.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/mail/write/?to=78675950@N03">http://www.flickr.com/mail/write/?to=78675950@N03</a></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Emily reminds us that artists need a good workbench. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Van Gogh, for example, was very fond of sketching carpenters and their work. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here is The Carpenter's Yard in The Hague, where Van Gogh lived in 1882.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyu-BVWz8ejg8eIkUoACZImDn9OicT3XwAezqhhFf-HF9PWxW8CtsRus4thIEJ1m2H7I-D2DG-pDdvnaiB-JgTCw1OQ6BZPXLFWy3FgwS9hDZcZnZosSpgqz5LFCvqstZZ8ijmOE613DaT/s1600/carpenter-s-yard-and-laundry-1882(1)_jpg!Blog.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyu-BVWz8ejg8eIkUoACZImDn9OicT3XwAezqhhFf-HF9PWxW8CtsRus4thIEJ1m2H7I-D2DG-pDdvnaiB-JgTCw1OQ6BZPXLFWy3FgwS9hDZcZnZosSpgqz5LFCvqstZZ8ijmOE613DaT/s320/carpenter-s-yard-and-laundry-1882(1)_jpg!Blog.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Gogh_1882-05_The_Hague_-_Carpenter%27s_Yard_and_Laundry_F_939_JH_150.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Gogh.jpg</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: The people in the laundry next door must get sick of listening to hammering and sawing all day.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No jokes about cutting off ears, please. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">OK. I'd like to see a Van Gogh sketch of a proper carpenter though.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZk14OdjZKxy8mXfvwM1UZFp8bwc1DWosuvf3RC13ZopWNqylLjNPHZuFPXu17Z7g1_xUxkqvlE8o1bN0S44ysTCHrGXDLEsKpVa8uM1erLhCS6TXovIbNWrUf-jgjlvF-TLNHcbcPyyA/s1600/vangogh.sawer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZk14OdjZKxy8mXfvwM1UZFp8bwc1DWosuvf3RC13ZopWNqylLjNPHZuFPXu17Z7g1_xUxkqvlE8o1bN0S44ysTCHrGXDLEsKpVa8uM1erLhCS6TXovIbNWrUf-jgjlvF-TLNHcbcPyyA/s1600/vangogh.sawer.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/vincent-van-gogh#supersized-sketch-and-study-206292">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/vincent-van-gogh</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here you are then, HE. I hope you like what you saw.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: I'll ignore the pun and pose a philosophical question: is one- handed sawing a good idea? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You mean like the sound of one hand clapping?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">No, I mean if his hand slips he'll have a nasty gash in those wooden clogs.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I see what you mean. Maybe these crocheted carpenter tools would be safer?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSM_Dn37PPi8Yhn1ddOaPB3EOhw9DoPCSkMwaLm3NsnuNubxQ2JvitqoGcqYOPXEy14d4dPh0oi2uM2E2M4g-vFNheAleNHljBv_xycFE2NJkQ7tFBrv8wVzKAQ_yWSd0AOAvUoVx8UCrk/s1600/KTBdesigns.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSM_Dn37PPi8Yhn1ddOaPB3EOhw9DoPCSkMwaLm3NsnuNubxQ2JvitqoGcqYOPXEy14d4dPh0oi2uM2E2M4g-vFNheAleNHljBv_xycFE2NJkQ7tFBrv8wVzKAQ_yWSd0AOAvUoVx8UCrk/s320/KTBdesigns.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/KTBDesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/KTBDesigns</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: That's a soft option. But I would like to pose another philosophical question: what is a workbench for? </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And what actually is a workbench? Is a desk a workbench? </span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXV_l63pkHZovrJLzenY-fIsNVhheg_8J7XuC5U86yM5G1lwTWaq5SRXUowH2qckN0spLVIuY-hF7Dl_KeX2ZkpaRT1sR0vJhHx4SoD4QNWLkrZd9TqYLTrrmz0KnQp6B--c6uUWH5Ya9xPM1717E4d7h65A9iZjW3v-QHQIax4qnq7gDufzJf2pJWJg/s500/FB_IMG_1651072119978.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="500" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXV_l63pkHZovrJLzenY-fIsNVhheg_8J7XuC5U86yM5G1lwTWaq5SRXUowH2qckN0spLVIuY-hF7Dl_KeX2ZkpaRT1sR0vJhHx4SoD4QNWLkrZd9TqYLTrrmz0KnQp6B--c6uUWH5Ya9xPM1717E4d7h65A9iZjW3v-QHQIax4qnq7gDufzJf2pJWJg/w320-h295/FB_IMG_1651072119978.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Miss Friday</i>, Nomura Toys, Japan 1950s</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: No. </span></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><div>This isn't a workbench, but is it even a bench?</div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhug3VJeN8RtMyhEBiuNXjlt0JvhC_MwWmDLZbdjynb7a6pcZa2CCTMGjNe1C2QInIRQS09tlYo94_qQKuTGF1lwm3nIkqQCIaWfrKi9PkbkfaFmJddeDaVUfwz-HHqGmF0jCG4dl6ucznKtSFfh-oQWnikvGZuqiZ1FBZi_3yo2Lg_xeQqrvIv-_TcIA/s534/FB_IMG_1651072345024.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhug3VJeN8RtMyhEBiuNXjlt0JvhC_MwWmDLZbdjynb7a6pcZa2CCTMGjNe1C2QInIRQS09tlYo94_qQKuTGF1lwm3nIkqQCIaWfrKi9PkbkfaFmJddeDaVUfwz-HHqGmF0jCG4dl6ucznKtSFfh-oQWnikvGZuqiZ1FBZi_3yo2Lg_xeQqrvIv-_TcIA/s320/FB_IMG_1651072345024.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Labor Day Mural </i>1931, Winold Reiss</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: Definitely not. <br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here is a sign warning about the dangers of unsafe practices in the workplace.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYUd0vr4ZzlcLV8pF21oVZI6IfAk5xEtQX05kjTMrpEmsG7TRaaSGeaUWGtbgNwwqjO9Ok-pLd43bZoUPl9tI3VIMRqgJqpGc_HLRVC-wed3M6IgNwVJUaHPDXv_lrzkSKvN5tDZtvITU/s1600/456px-_Unsafe_flashes___Ask_him_what_the_workbench_is_for_-_NARA_-_535268.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYUd0vr4ZzlcLV8pF21oVZI6IfAk5xEtQX05kjTMrpEmsG7TRaaSGeaUWGtbgNwwqjO9Ok-pLd43bZoUPl9tI3VIMRqgJqpGc_HLRVC-wed3M6IgNwVJUaHPDXv_lrzkSKvN5tDZtvITU/s320/456px-_Unsafe_flashes___Ask_him_what_the_workbench_is_for_-_NARA_-_535268.jpg" width="243" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><strong><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Unsafe_flashes.%22_Ask_him_what_the_workbench_is_for_-_NARA_-_535268.jpg?uselang=en-gb"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Unsafe_flashes.</span></a><o:p></o:p></strong></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gosh, it makes you realise how important a workbench really is.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This fellow seems to be doing it properly.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwhrujwy3jpW246Lf_OpLS9i02kWneT5zZlzlfUC_d3-D_WYcVANXgfT2fQYrDvGZFiUKUWrgKE8EXnhRVu-8bdWr_GZr6d351TEzjCg5oO9IL1-gFuwDqynkzy679Gho7TVlJ-k_068D/s1600/bella.bordello.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwhrujwy3jpW246Lf_OpLS9i02kWneT5zZlzlfUC_d3-D_WYcVANXgfT2fQYrDvGZFiUKUWrgKE8EXnhRVu-8bdWr_GZr6d351TEzjCg5oO9IL1-gFuwDqynkzy679Gho7TVlJ-k_068D/s1600/bella.bordello.etsy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bellabordello">www.etsy.com/shop/bellabordello</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In carpenters' terms, he has hit the nail on the head. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In complete contrast to His Excellency, my imaginary husband Mungo is more practical. He did O Level woodwork in school and scraped a pass with his project, which was a birthing stool. <br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPs8J_2w8BSuXW0mDOgNxWVQvaxLqw8jZxeB8GAwo_Sk6NadH6YaFfnWPPqQGUETQ71oXk1Ra8c4RvszYEwHFIJ-Hox5vL6XVjOfoPlByQJP8S1LjNtjzdxrIVo9FvA-0YE1IcMKxqiij/s1600/AG00452_.GIF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPs8J_2w8BSuXW0mDOgNxWVQvaxLqw8jZxeB8GAwo_Sk6NadH6YaFfnWPPqQGUETQ71oXk1Ra8c4RvszYEwHFIJ-Hox5vL6XVjOfoPlByQJP8S1LjNtjzdxrIVo9FvA-0YE1IcMKxqiij/s1600/AG00452_.GIF" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">See what I mean by practical? The 14 year old schoolboy had the foresight to realise that a birthing stool could come in handy at a later stage in his life.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: A coffin will come in handy at a later stage. Why didn't he make a coffin?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In fact, Mungo comes from a long line of skilled craftmen. Here are some of his ancestors fashioning stair spindles for Grinling Gibbons.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIKI50nGDxsub6VNkCPkbKmxyu6INgb1-HpHGA8ll1k27N4Pt6tHtEBL6yrmcrxeqB_scCxsa7s95qnEyWdiNN3rCz7j3ih4K6zl4516oXIImafMxrlaaL9P1I6Ozy0Hed7jMCEir-A73/s1600/kentwell.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIKI50nGDxsub6VNkCPkbKmxyu6INgb1-HpHGA8ll1k27N4Pt6tHtEBL6yrmcrxeqB_scCxsa7s95qnEyWdiNN3rCz7j3ih4K6zl4516oXIImafMxrlaaL9P1I6Ozy0Hed7jMCEir-A73/s320/kentwell.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You'll notice that the tools here aren't powered for fast work. This photo was taken in 1672 and the stairs aren't finished yet. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Going back even further, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jesus's father Joseph was a carpenter. Here is Joseph at his workbench. He's making a door, apparently, or maybe one of the gates of heaven. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjct2LlCLHWGcFi4ZXQNQWq2ncNhyphenhyphendGS6BlcA3g9tTxnTBHQ9RAkXsNRhNuOHcz0b5-18hUJ46YX8Q1oinGOhQ0GUrDHRJPHD207VUR9WXQhRHYJJzzM1Pg87Kj8GwlI5j3u3bGzqCo0Ti5/s1600/300px-John_Everett_Millais_-_Christ_in_the_House_of_His_Parents_(%60The_Carpenter's_Shop')_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjct2LlCLHWGcFi4ZXQNQWq2ncNhyphenhyphendGS6BlcA3g9tTxnTBHQ9RAkXsNRhNuOHcz0b5-18hUJ46YX8Q1oinGOhQ0GUrDHRJPHD207VUR9WXQhRHYJJzzM1Pg87Kj8GwlI5j3u3bGzqCo0Ti5/s1600/300px-John_Everett_Millais_-_Christ_in_the_House_of_His_Parents_(%60The_Carpenter's_Shop')_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span lang="EN"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_in_the_House_of_His_Parents">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_in_the_House_of_His_Parents</a><o:p></o:p></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Little red-haired Jesus has hurt his hand, so Mary is trying to kiss-it-better. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In reading his school reports, Mary and Joseph became concerned about their son's future.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVgE8QXtVGDUTCL4KmK0Vmv9DTWsm00SBF532dC9_OV0PWSsrrvviYWKfT7wpZr79ZmaQl0M2KcKo2WQZHgOVFvUQQAXxw5TaLY7LblNADCk20PWCMktCW2ySySc0nCfL-LIVv3rD3VKi/s1600/gutenberg.sylvia.296.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVgE8QXtVGDUTCL4KmK0Vmv9DTWsm00SBF532dC9_OV0PWSsrrvviYWKfT7wpZr79ZmaQl0M2KcKo2WQZHgOVFvUQQAXxw5TaLY7LblNADCk20PWCMktCW2ySySc0nCfL-LIVv3rD3VKi/s320/gutenberg.sylvia.296.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15138/15138-h/15138-h.htm#I296">http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15138/15138-h/15138-h.htm#I296</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div>Joseph was gutted that Jesus chose not to follow in his footsteps. </div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKOw1-5ZfNWfkl2HKkp7HDOCHo-AwE24V4Q5xqRq7dkjb43vyAZQQxmoZ2IQUzAEG22gXK09Ym5GW5_3UO9olcLndEb5KO1YdobC__Kckc3PG0KGT-6yySNYcjUtMctOT_LaEyIERbZSDG/s1600/At.+Eternity's.+Gate.vangogh1882..png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKOw1-5ZfNWfkl2HKkp7HDOCHo-AwE24V4Q5xqRq7dkjb43vyAZQQxmoZ2IQUzAEG22gXK09Ym5GW5_3UO9olcLndEb5KO1YdobC__Kckc3PG0KGT-6yySNYcjUtMctOT_LaEyIERbZSDG/s320/At.+Eternity's.+Gate.vangogh1882..png" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1890-05_van_Gogh_At_Eternitys_Gate_anagoria.jpg" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1890-05_van_Gogh</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">With Christmas on the way and Santa's elves in charge, it wasn't long before Joseph's workbench became nothing more than a table for the wassail punchbowl.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1PgjE76Ivwz5EU95WBTmSZ5zvX8G_ISwhXNWrBwdpm5ac0sb00VppGwtccc5iUkGTWA3g7-X-HBqwWe5_IxGuptNcGlxd2dIY9A7LnQBQyUxE_ugMBxhsqmt6Pznm1aKhNE40IQsgVcP/s1600/curiousartlab.WB.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1PgjE76Ivwz5EU95WBTmSZ5zvX8G_ISwhXNWrBwdpm5ac0sb00VppGwtccc5iUkGTWA3g7-X-HBqwWe5_IxGuptNcGlxd2dIY9A7LnQBQyUxE_ugMBxhsqmt6Pznm1aKhNE40IQsgVcP/s320/curiousartlab.WB.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/CuriousArtLab">www.etsy.com/shop/CuriousArtLab</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But I digress.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mungo's skills aren't limited to woodwork. Here he is at the sturdy workbench in the Tin Workshop where he earned an O Level in Metalwork (grade C). </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewXnMwfbuSG9Kju4dBrhhQ1fLtXt5eg3J3m5HTKlGX_Vhe8NQ_ngLiDJWx0z5S4qFaQSlQ5znBWHf8UcfjV1yMFuSeZlDqqFQtyqv0_m-BxvODY3LiEtbTaNrNLnEFFF_Z4u0gcC7wiKn/s1600/carlisle.school.tinshop.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewXnMwfbuSG9Kju4dBrhhQ1fLtXt5eg3J3m5HTKlGX_Vhe8NQ_ngLiDJWx0z5S4qFaQSlQ5znBWHf8UcfjV1yMFuSeZlDqqFQtyqv0_m-BxvODY3LiEtbTaNrNLnEFFF_Z4u0gcC7wiKn/s320/carlisle.school.tinshop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.11205">hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.11205</a><o:p></o:p></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: And how much use is an O Level in Metalwork I ask you? I didn't get where I am today by having an O Level in Metalwork.</span><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's true I guess. His Excellency was a rather diligent boy who always got his homework done.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcEskH9wIKIf25Z26s4g0PO3cCcJsSRsFyDWEofU16waYDjXbwmTbpTf8-SvT0R9YIB_OLBJSdbFwqwwUiJ_qkyP1xKmwocOBKUN-MTPWRKdJopPAXn15CHZWbxp5y-xXK8uFc-2GveLW/s226/esbjorn-doing-his-homework%25281%2529.jpg%2521PinterestSmall.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="210" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcEskH9wIKIf25Z26s4g0PO3cCcJsSRsFyDWEofU16waYDjXbwmTbpTf8-SvT0R9YIB_OLBJSdbFwqwwUiJ_qkyP1xKmwocOBKUN-MTPWRKdJopPAXn15CHZWbxp5y-xXK8uFc-2GveLW/w372-h400/esbjorn-doing-his-homework%25281%2529.jpg%2521PinterestSmall.jpg" width="372" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esbjorn doing His Homework, Carl Larsson</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Car mechanics was popular with boys at school. A lot of boys enjoyed standing at their workbenches greasing their pistons.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_Qk9XLBO7THE2lTWPLkR0QP7hwEEkPc86pge62whLsPWD7BvylOMcoYr5twgh-UT53hpHLuIkWvkbVS5_dwjJqRsK2NuZf5jDqbJPR96Shw0gP8_Lb0ToP2u1xZn6ieVMQ4pv9t5wVqU/s1600/lorry.repair.workbench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_Qk9XLBO7THE2lTWPLkR0QP7hwEEkPc86pge62whLsPWD7BvylOMcoYr5twgh-UT53hpHLuIkWvkbVS5_dwjJqRsK2NuZf5jDqbJPR96Shw0gP8_Lb0ToP2u1xZn6ieVMQ4pv9t5wVqU/s320/lorry.repair.workbench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/4700021991/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/4700021991/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: During the lunch break, a few of us found interesting uses for our workbenches. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVlQHSnZlqey4kVYZUqBQP8ZToaQzIUCI-KenNnbIGjFyO3W9rrqpEA33lUq-2Pz56Xp6-dDqFOO1-1bS5yS-ly52cKlnmLbQvQlqEUTnmmqoaDR1bk3b3p9SvsB3lwMSQ1FjJ201Lz9oN/s1600/Ben.nowpics.fkcc15068269019_13acaee263_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVlQHSnZlqey4kVYZUqBQP8ZToaQzIUCI-KenNnbIGjFyO3W9rrqpEA33lUq-2Pz56Xp6-dDqFOO1-1bS5yS-ly52cKlnmLbQvQlqEUTnmmqoaDR1bk3b3p9SvsB3lwMSQ1FjJ201Lz9oN/s320/Ben.nowpics.fkcc15068269019_13acaee263_z.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nowpics/15068269019/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nowpics/15068269019/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Like most boys, His Excellency was interested in cars but he had no talent for mechanics. The teacher took him away from the workbench and got him washing cars.</span></div><div>Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at this either.</div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJRUXe0wz0nXhY_yNpUsxSMBU-w_QjB_SpK9o2zXEkxZDPXlf8dfICtS0zCZBpcaMBlDWpegrhZriNcvB8z3rCOoo_sVgAnnF4G4PmUj__Vy7pqAu0wrb7_CKbGUZ1LQGu1MVWUny04Zm/s1600/alaskavintage.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJRUXe0wz0nXhY_yNpUsxSMBU-w_QjB_SpK9o2zXEkxZDPXlf8dfICtS0zCZBpcaMBlDWpegrhZriNcvB8z3rCOoo_sVgAnnF4G4PmUj__Vy7pqAu0wrb7_CKbGUZ1LQGu1MVWUny04Zm/s320/alaskavintage.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/alaskavintage">www.etsy.com/shop/alaskavintage</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After another crash, the teachers had a meeting about what to do. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7iaoNqtbklH3g3JPFcXbYKXaLrXl-ck1K00me9JBO2e-yfrV5VEwRdMYJe6JXIe61N-iKdiMzlJoqMCQmy46HA0qt96_pZ7yrgapsEGkOyZ9MeMIiFzWvJozirud5Zno7oh2-hImEC31/s1600/alaskavintage2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7iaoNqtbklH3g3JPFcXbYKXaLrXl-ck1K00me9JBO2e-yfrV5VEwRdMYJe6JXIe61N-iKdiMzlJoqMCQmy46HA0qt96_pZ7yrgapsEGkOyZ9MeMIiFzWvJozirud5Zno7oh2-hImEC31/s320/alaskavintage2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/alaskavintage">www.etsy.com/shop/alaskavintage</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They decided on a science career. In fact, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">His Excellency and Emily were in the same chemistry class. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Emily ensured that they kept a well-organised lab bench.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_bW5Y_pSatlRg3pjmrMj9uah92CONGIe9hTT0v_sxHfN4c5AE42c4LTERD9a6sHR3ySXFkAm4sbYYj9ztE3sk3wNSlvRRChOUm09g-zY5t8UJ8mwLWJ_VDehnSxx6GwBFM43d7nOVVML/s1600/chemistry.Laboratory_bench.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_bW5Y_pSatlRg3pjmrMj9uah92CONGIe9hTT0v_sxHfN4c5AE42c4LTERD9a6sHR3ySXFkAm4sbYYj9ztE3sk3wNSlvRRChOUm09g-zY5t8UJ8mwLWJ_VDehnSxx6GwBFM43d7nOVVML/s320/chemistry.Laboratory_bench.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=lab+workbench&title=Special%3ASearch">http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=lab+workbench</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Then Emily had flu one day and didn't come to school. Whilst testing out the chemical formula for butane, His Excellency had a mishap with the lab bench. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6EcWS1HzDH8cvk5HhYMlmzUBSBnPC4gDVdhg-AOdECxftb0aFMYh_OmeHRhFQ9sF44J6EqHm1JAiksCWy_yArajYH1DntHOSBaNGMihImb3PMseoovUm0ZTPZiW1sFHlqR7PG4Ch2Yko/s1600/Death_of_a_garden_centre_3_-_geograph_org_uk_-_1770718.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6EcWS1HzDH8cvk5HhYMlmzUBSBnPC4gDVdhg-AOdECxftb0aFMYh_OmeHRhFQ9sF44J6EqHm1JAiksCWy_yArajYH1DntHOSBaNGMihImb3PMseoovUm0ZTPZiW1sFHlqR7PG4Ch2Yko/s320/Death_of_a_garden_centre_3_-_geograph_org_uk_-_1770718.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Death_of_a_garden_centre_3_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1770718.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Death_of_a_garden_centre_3_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1770718.jpg</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The school didn't fare well either.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzdj-c9pn0k5KZTf97aB-aAJ9i5Thns4awmU9zApxdD4heSasumknFgFHIKg5XIqNrGd-avI7yKjUcnuAbZhbzezLP-N-fjST7SwXbWslOXul1qiwcuXPA-hcTqVI31C5Zl-PIjjq516c/s1600/alaskavintage3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzdj-c9pn0k5KZTf97aB-aAJ9i5Thns4awmU9zApxdD4heSasumknFgFHIKg5XIqNrGd-avI7yKjUcnuAbZhbzezLP-N-fjST7SwXbWslOXul1qiwcuXPA-hcTqVI31C5Zl-PIjjq516c/s320/alaskavintage3.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/alaskavintage">www.etsy.com/shop/alaskavintage</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After that, His Excellency turned his attention to philosophical debate and he's never looked back. Nowadays he spends his working hours on the bench reading Horace's Odes</span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKePZlRH0e-77CHbNSU6_1hqy8ynsiede3_97FUeebYQbCzlAYHX7lIm4-BzZXK_t9u2ZWfWb_sMfUyCWBhRW02-Y4JtkgcitJ5rHimm6YyEUfQlLbGMKQnzVWqewdQG_Hoguo-JI5xQLgZ9NmvPG6Wvm_M1M1t2wR9TvLStBoqX9KxDdHxNBXlHlDyg/s1000/FB_IMG_1651073120480.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1000" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKePZlRH0e-77CHbNSU6_1hqy8ynsiede3_97FUeebYQbCzlAYHX7lIm4-BzZXK_t9u2ZWfWb_sMfUyCWBhRW02-Y4JtkgcitJ5rHimm6YyEUfQlLbGMKQnzVWqewdQG_Hoguo-JI5xQLgZ9NmvPG6Wvm_M1M1t2wR9TvLStBoqX9KxDdHxNBXlHlDyg/s320/FB_IMG_1651073120480.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Portrait of John Farr Reading Horace's Odes</i>, Francois-Xavier Vispre</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Girls who carried on with Science did well though. Here is Sister Minnie Goldstein at her workbench during the war.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSakw-03JH0pkdCoEr_iNHPp15TaX3J8wkbg4n72fq2GwJ9lQ0Md59-ICR_QPEy2W9uUAxItn63oskNWwZ3sAj_PuIF2-_zRdndkxpwUaSk_S1xU_w-GnAmrYw3EJ9Y19zjS_VuuBx4NLV7GI6Z6JE0GIMjSy126dqRN4wGh61II2xZeVTwqaiaCP-0w/s600/FB_IMG_1651072204317.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="600" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSakw-03JH0pkdCoEr_iNHPp15TaX3J8wkbg4n72fq2GwJ9lQ0Md59-ICR_QPEy2W9uUAxItn63oskNWwZ3sAj_PuIF2-_zRdndkxpwUaSk_S1xU_w-GnAmrYw3EJ9Y19zjS_VuuBx4NLV7GI6Z6JE0GIMjSy126dqRN4wGh61II2xZeVTwqaiaCP-0w/s320/FB_IMG_1651072204317.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sister Minnie Goldstein Working at Blood Bank</i>, 1944, Nora Heysen</td></tr></tbody></table><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The girls at Mungo's school did practical skills too. Their workbench was more likely to be a kitchen though.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_FWaGZgU5G7pMJ7FXEmNGsegnrUcU71SCEd4oC8d32dJN55wxuYrAJk3_r_4qYAMRzwBUkn_OjmKo-YYeXmOaW1sQgcWm2_5hPJQbFQdD881v42keH5JGhtRo5XrUrTLxRlRVo2BA789/s1600/jamm.toys.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_FWaGZgU5G7pMJ7FXEmNGsegnrUcU71SCEd4oC8d32dJN55wxuYrAJk3_r_4qYAMRzwBUkn_OjmKo-YYeXmOaW1sQgcWm2_5hPJQbFQdD881v42keH5JGhtRo5XrUrTLxRlRVo2BA789/s320/jamm.toys.com.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.jammtoys.com/">www.jammtoys.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">As girls tend to like shoes, some of the girls opted for shoe repair instead. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They liked to stand around the workbench talking a lot of old cobblers. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquwelNxMxjqYs4yDPIX4iudq5nTK9eho2NL86g-ioITbCaAkqB4VTVnVDPQLglQvyulstHsJlFKl32_BMYiv-akNSZkkx-R6BAohxTBL2lYlQaNEAjSVzOeOSsh5WaXno_vNJDjDcz-M8/s1600/frenchgirlsatwork.FKC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquwelNxMxjqYs4yDPIX4iudq5nTK9eho2NL86g-ioITbCaAkqB4VTVnVDPQLglQvyulstHsJlFKl32_BMYiv-akNSZkkx-R6BAohxTBL2lYlQaNEAjSVzOeOSsh5WaXno_vNJDjDcz-M8/s320/frenchgirlsatwork.FKC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><strong><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/4699886598/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/4699886598/</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></strong><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Like Emily, a few exceptional girls went for the high-end engineering projects. Celestine is rightfully proud of her skyscraper. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_A8yeq3T8xm4xOS8dJmZiFliHUfrZigpi8wTIeXxlfU79wkj4WkSq-PzggaufcVkPth-guTmQ-6ixw5M5H3xM5cPis7movwaw8OQSal9LeExI1Pi4s8FCaCIqAOdEl5eIBvVJQvKNlbP/s1600/celestine.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_A8yeq3T8xm4xOS8dJmZiFliHUfrZigpi8wTIeXxlfU79wkj4WkSq-PzggaufcVkPth-guTmQ-6ixw5M5H3xM5cPis7movwaw8OQSal9LeExI1Pi4s8FCaCIqAOdEl5eIBvVJQvKNlbP/s320/celestine.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The habits learned at school workbenches are drilled into you. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqeLMmnVWOqp4ABbFQVl1hkkYa8KkF4MREYSeEn36Zp8kP0evuyX0VVqSINuMQOmxUW-h4E1PY4TVMklujrJnkCx5U21ONUX-JzR2V1zirwboFP-y_GNAWUPRNB7p_ncb0ZYN76hQaJebf/s1600/J0177975+-+Copy.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqeLMmnVWOqp4ABbFQVl1hkkYa8KkF4MREYSeEn36Zp8kP0evuyX0VVqSINuMQOmxUW-h4E1PY4TVMklujrJnkCx5U21ONUX-JzR2V1zirwboFP-y_GNAWUPRNB7p_ncb0ZYN76hQaJebf/s200/J0177975+-+Copy.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Emily shows us her tidy little workbench where she keeps the tools of her trade.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_aaaXfXDAYu1fwhxLM4xTaI69UTJFAbhIrhQLx7cvlj858iRNOPN8-cYtzwHxhfvkJYu2_HLfycv-skCnoWL-C1N2MdH5RyLR85WNPJtAfK262TdvV-YLkh3MmMzD0ZDxieHp5IvNg0l/s1600/dorisdotz.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_aaaXfXDAYu1fwhxLM4xTaI69UTJFAbhIrhQLx7cvlj858iRNOPN8-cYtzwHxhfvkJYu2_HLfycv-skCnoWL-C1N2MdH5RyLR85WNPJtAfK262TdvV-YLkh3MmMzD0ZDxieHp5IvNg0l/s200/dorisdotz.etsy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dorisdotz">www.etsy.com/shop/dorisdotz</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Everything is beautifully organised for easy access and aesthetic appeal.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM7lhG3j5pkwWR3QtfhTxvfBw9Gz8uxjVBYSG0zM2JWPL0O5WQA-hcvHKt33rjsBCKL9-7XjDEJ5Eh1YQ8iH2tiRsYtALRQD5E0r7myladZL0VeOtvXqXiaMSk_XwDYzbPqAWMEtkPgHfb/s1600/laboratory424.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM7lhG3j5pkwWR3QtfhTxvfBw9Gz8uxjVBYSG0zM2JWPL0O5WQA-hcvHKt33rjsBCKL9-7XjDEJ5Eh1YQ8iH2tiRsYtALRQD5E0r7myladZL0VeOtvXqXiaMSk_XwDYzbPqAWMEtkPgHfb/s320/laboratory424.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/laboratory424">www.etsy.com/shop/laboratory424</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">His Excellency: This is a real work of art. I saw something like this at Tate Modern once. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mungo is not very orderly but he's fiercely protective of his tools. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKNzVqpw7ERfIM59lbYB_xr_KK-NzamyaWcSr-cVAUtQ02UPWN5P_dzqEiF2PKvSxTdePOEIdNsuvlILNE9pOoDJR-bPlv8cxQEx6H-9EvUEZp_0UjVb5IzH7wvyKz5XQSbSlYL1ylsCS5/s1600/trimblecrafts.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKNzVqpw7ERfIM59lbYB_xr_KK-NzamyaWcSr-cVAUtQ02UPWN5P_dzqEiF2PKvSxTdePOEIdNsuvlILNE9pOoDJR-bPlv8cxQEx6H-9EvUEZp_0UjVb5IzH7wvyKz5XQSbSlYL1ylsCS5/s320/trimblecrafts.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/trimblecrafts">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/trimblecrafts</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Our house, La <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/welcome-to-casa-perfecta.html">Casa Perfecta</a>, gets in a bit of a state at times. Like all other houses, it needs a wee bit of maintenance.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKnUWHw9NmzNYeuOhlBFfjRgghMaJN5kwbzs0jswZnc73VmJIacrSP5aEDjSRXVFtt2TgQ-yoJdxVRnuYR8vzjC1NnlsInxIilK_9k-qUmIWFJY2bDzQsuCLCLoJov-9vy6eNA4s7GzqbU/s1600/Harperbury_Hospital_Interior.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKnUWHw9NmzNYeuOhlBFfjRgghMaJN5kwbzs0jswZnc73VmJIacrSP5aEDjSRXVFtt2TgQ-yoJdxVRnuYR8vzjC1NnlsInxIilK_9k-qUmIWFJY2bDzQsuCLCLoJov-9vy6eNA4s7GzqbU/s320/Harperbury_Hospital_Interior.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Harperbury_Hospital_Interior.jpg/220px-Harperbury_Hospital_Interior.jpg">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/HarperburyHospital</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So, very occasionally, my two husbands have to work together on some domestic task. Being the practical one,</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Mungo does the repairs while His Excellency holds the light, smokes his pipe, and listens to Radio 4.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIgoW8b7spDVsI84-Or3Ykiy1ac_MOQF37igyOmLVhpo8Gs3MQC8kxQiRyaOzMxke9Ia4yoSk-7_jc5fjYuEPd7Z6UbLM77Qq1TER9HS-tVc5oL7T8pAdaxhV2vbZ8mR35SP0ccz9MZRn/s1600/220px-Maler_der_Grabkammer_der_Bildhauer_Nebamun_und_Ipuki_004.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIgoW8b7spDVsI84-Or3Ykiy1ac_MOQF37igyOmLVhpo8Gs3MQC8kxQiRyaOzMxke9Ia4yoSk-7_jc5fjYuEPd7Z6UbLM77Qq1TER9HS-tVc5oL7T8pAdaxhV2vbZ8mR35SP0ccz9MZRn/s1600/220px-Maler_der_Grabkammer_der_Bildhauer_Nebamun_und_Ipuki_004.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.7273px;"><strong><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodworking">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodworking</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></strong><br /><div><strong><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></strong></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">No wonder Mungo feels disillusioned sometimes.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzC5eh0QgqqR7ASljudhsPya13xyEKOhVoTxFKUxcBi4OW21DqbrGifUS_p47Uy972_0WzSwdVmwuNP3GTw92KzClKMMIMHPOX7_-nx4xpjxn-eaH6o6fwQfwtorKYVHUn0CoAyqdmO15yTWa39AHWJRZL87fCHQXNvauZZv1u9SXOCQTDSWi3km_9w/s400/FB_IMG_1639432508635.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="323" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzC5eh0QgqqR7ASljudhsPya13xyEKOhVoTxFKUxcBi4OW21DqbrGifUS_p47Uy972_0WzSwdVmwuNP3GTw92KzClKMMIMHPOX7_-nx4xpjxn-eaH6o6fwQfwtorKYVHUn0CoAyqdmO15yTWa39AHWJRZL87fCHQXNvauZZv1u9SXOCQTDSWi3km_9w/s320/FB_IMG_1639432508635.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Disillusioned One</i> 1892, Ferdinand Hodler</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">His Excellency has another philosophical question at this point. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">How do you make a workbench if you haven't got a workbench to use while you make the workbench? In other words, what is the origin of the very first workbench?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I dare say philosophers have pondered this chicken-and-egg type of question since Joseph's time. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Chelsea is a mother crafter who loves to make useful things for her babybump, who is now a fully fledged child. In February 2011 Chelsea took one bedside table and one afternoon and a lot of creativity and made this lovely little toy workbench for just $20 plus a little more for tools.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwH1zq3trClMcghMaf60RTqQCOpgtgLLp4TSe2GJIZzsct3zV7oD9WTJxSZJtUBegQI427ojg_nuA6I-F-4hltLVKgB0sD0pvTkXtYnsTav4qhKHWbw0zlNeHYXS5yiF6hEm_dDgqgHLnb/s1600/Chelsea's+WB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwH1zq3trClMcghMaf60RTqQCOpgtgLLp4TSe2GJIZzsct3zV7oD9WTJxSZJtUBegQI427ojg_nuA6I-F-4hltLVKgB0sD0pvTkXtYnsTav4qhKHWbw0zlNeHYXS5yiF6hEm_dDgqgHLnb/s320/Chelsea's+WB.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://mcbabybump3.com/?s=workbench&submit=Search">http://mcbabybump3.com/?s=workbench&submit=Search</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">People who do practical work and hobbies often dream of having a shed for their workbench. A shed is a retreat for people who work with wood or tin or plants or radios or photography or model rockets. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here is Emily's shed.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9tQNieDMfRJ75xvafsE46IRKRBGkh9XMoLFP0xkCVQK_zvMWqV4G90E1ea_4s1LG4w9PftAJBVpyDUjF4RFS0Dbge0X1mVFKex686jMdGXJjKvTGCyByxIRzBPNsVqpO-c_YhIawcdRzo/s1600/Weltzheimer_Johnson_House_2010.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9tQNieDMfRJ75xvafsE46IRKRBGkh9XMoLFP0xkCVQK_zvMWqV4G90E1ea_4s1LG4w9PftAJBVpyDUjF4RFS0Dbge0X1mVFKex686jMdGXJjKvTGCyByxIRzBPNsVqpO-c_YhIawcdRzo/s320/Weltzheimer_Johnson_House_2010.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a class="external free" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/allenartmuseum/4793794785/in/set-72157618326550599/#/" rel="nofollow" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/allenartmuseum/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mungo's shed is quite unlike Emily's shed. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Inside Mungo's shed, an oily chainsaw has pride of place. Useful stuff like rope, paint, blow torch, gas cannisters, and squirrel feeders are randomly clustered around. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The proximity of gas cannisters and blow torch is probably something to worry about.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-hfkkz6g36LLhslLlF4mCIDWQOsHfCYnSIyPeIRE1gbFthh3T5hH1c5qlr11227dJahZtw6OBRakJ6BxaspWcTNW1V-t4I9rxY6h4vf5ZZ4Wy6_aO1ZXwNBqEN8QkQjrT480iW9Idu2b/s1600/chainsaw.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-hfkkz6g36LLhslLlF4mCIDWQOsHfCYnSIyPeIRE1gbFthh3T5hH1c5qlr11227dJahZtw6OBRakJ6BxaspWcTNW1V-t4I9rxY6h4vf5ZZ4Wy6_aO1ZXwNBqEN8QkQjrT480iW9Idu2b/s320/chainsaw.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mungo's workbench is not a thing of beauty or function. Nothing on or around it has any use whatsoever. That roll of lino is from our London kitchen. We left London in 1982. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxC-RTaQdRpH5V7KTW_J52j39qzaMxwiR6OWdQSuyypzInhQu6KJRLjmYmLmGGsceEQguljS_zo3XfdK9Wpi1ksptm27mrcFlzcJSz-prNgtmbK6NeDUzi5KmmXZHwTlCR11gNp0W8vfG2/s1600/workB+1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxC-RTaQdRpH5V7KTW_J52j39qzaMxwiR6OWdQSuyypzInhQu6KJRLjmYmLmGGsceEQguljS_zo3XfdK9Wpi1ksptm27mrcFlzcJSz-prNgtmbK6NeDUzi5KmmXZHwTlCR11gNp0W8vfG2/s320/workB+1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That bottle of methylated spirits is so old you could probably drink it with no ill effects. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mungo tells me that messy workbenches are a sign of character and productivity. Gardeners' benches, for example, are notoriously haphazard.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOgJ-_zOZ-LHOlX6xZr1kKR3OfpFcYZC2xhM5Gv82ZiIt52WLwtsZ4i3oY7475EaoJIyWCditZzhNwjxl3UM2v_FwcV8xUZ_vs8Z4qPc3F497gxnP2LxyHjVn3TVSzY-FVQ2Th3Um7R0Wm/s1600/yellowjumpy.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOgJ-_zOZ-LHOlX6xZr1kKR3OfpFcYZC2xhM5Gv82ZiIt52WLwtsZ4i3oY7475EaoJIyWCditZzhNwjxl3UM2v_FwcV8xUZ_vs8Z4qPc3F497gxnP2LxyHjVn3TVSzY-FVQ2Th3Um7R0Wm/s320/yellowjumpy.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/yellowjumpy">www.etsy.com/shop/yellowjumpy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Captain F.S. Barnes's workbench was not a model of tidiness when he collected plant specimens on his Oregon expedition. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJ-JcgFnDwX4KlOItzNxxuj-tTX2n5iGuaNWS2OwIxNZw0fTJ3vGg-Cwidd-TqNDfgQrASRt4Bluqq5vCBwekkzWWT7t4e3BxvwrhENnW9qLLbvOsEoTH4QsyvDAFmmhiAaHIKkI3Y60b/s1600/Captain's.WB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJ-JcgFnDwX4KlOItzNxxuj-tTX2n5iGuaNWS2OwIxNZw0fTJ3vGg-Cwidd-TqNDfgQrASRt4Bluqq5vCBwekkzWWT7t4e3BxvwrhENnW9qLLbvOsEoTH4QsyvDAFmmhiAaHIKkI3Y60b/s320/Captain's.WB.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/field_museum_library/4587521110/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/field_museum_library/4587521110/</a></span><o:p></o:p></strong><br /><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Even Joseph was messy. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4uPToK6C2DATf_H1oJhkM0y46DvFIyDeAfNSrc01QJ17mDXNZB97wnkfI22eRQXAfoNXOZtyYVRBc30JJOoD2zNIP858ruKKX7sj4n13h-u3WFcKpvjzxSP4dCpkUYpwowSnoinzp_zkU/s1600/campin.merode.altarpiece.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4uPToK6C2DATf_H1oJhkM0y46DvFIyDeAfNSrc01QJ17mDXNZB97wnkfI22eRQXAfoNXOZtyYVRBc30JJOoD2zNIP858ruKKX7sj4n13h-u3WFcKpvjzxSP4dCpkUYpwowSnoinzp_zkU/s1600/campin.merode.altarpiece.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/robert-campin/the-m%C3%A9rode-altarpiece-joseph-as-a-medieval-carpenter-1428">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/robert-campin/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Acid Workshop where artist Carl Larsson did his etchings was also a bit of a tip.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDz41UrXZpIpL2d8YV0OhUoXGJJInk3qaki4CRC4eiV-hDIOHJ_gO6W_XIaNpiDw4Sah_vpPiUZBu5JpuWOiZ3fMzAEukGhsSgMhu06nJFPaI8UjThXqy4ctfEw4-xrskkQ2cLeQfRFc1G/s1600/my-acid-workshop-where-i-do-my-etching-1910%25281%2529_jpg%2521Blog.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDz41UrXZpIpL2d8YV0OhUoXGJJInk3qaki4CRC4eiV-hDIOHJ_gO6W_XIaNpiDw4Sah_vpPiUZBu5JpuWOiZ3fMzAEukGhsSgMhu06nJFPaI8UjThXqy4ctfEw4-xrskkQ2cLeQfRFc1G/s320/my-acid-workshop-where-i-do-my-etching-1910%25281%2529_jpg%2521Blog.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">My Acid Workshop 1910, Carl Larsson </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There are saw shavings all over the floor: this carpenter is getting things done!</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXgQuAmUYICsV5PoPgWMeEBAwpSdXI9w49uLYIhlaXflpBRpj4_9zmso-cjNa_uUEObs_bjSZdSLGXHHzXKEFb7TDZC8g2iehYnFvgdtNRyyPNdg7sramSzVV5tlgXjdBfukVZsWATS8Z/s1600/in-the-carpenter-shop-1905.carollarsson.1905.(1)_jpg!xlMedium.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXgQuAmUYICsV5PoPgWMeEBAwpSdXI9w49uLYIhlaXflpBRpj4_9zmso-cjNa_uUEObs_bjSZdSLGXHHzXKEFb7TDZC8g2iehYnFvgdtNRyyPNdg7sramSzVV5tlgXjdBfukVZsWATS8Z/s320/in-the-carpenter-shop-1905.carollarsson.1905.(1)_jpg!xlMedium.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/carl-larsson/in-the-carpenter-shop-1905">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/carl-larsson/in-the-carpenter-shop-1905</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's important to keep motivation for practical jobs; it's easy to sit on your workbench and feel tired of life.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0niDkOGpjtt9lUe3Quq8agfnZh9NdlB03FaI531NR2_jdJiPxlRrqYDjfB2ksvZ0CwmqWCy2Z90V-NUx8WGVcIj033l-8hhnsxdg5aaOd92EFFW8IRF0txAt6DrRKTpAFC6LBOVwasIWVVFS5s8IE_k_NelPU4CzmF_e_CwLBL-oa7RU4QrQTVal5w/s1200/1200px-Ferdinand_Hodler_Die_Lebensm%C3%BCden.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="1200" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0niDkOGpjtt9lUe3Quq8agfnZh9NdlB03FaI531NR2_jdJiPxlRrqYDjfB2ksvZ0CwmqWCy2Z90V-NUx8WGVcIj033l-8hhnsxdg5aaOd92EFFW8IRF0txAt6DrRKTpAFC6LBOVwasIWVVFS5s8IE_k_NelPU4CzmF_e_CwLBL-oa7RU4QrQTVal5w/s320/1200px-Ferdinand_Hodler_Die_Lebensm%C3%BCden.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Tired of Life</i> 1892, Ferdinand Hodler</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>Having a nice shed and a strong workbench helps people to roll up their sleeves and get busy on their projects.</div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6714_ZCrdrnUfEVu65ydPl0hPv_KYst8k08UBHU6xSH2Tj0m9aslXqSIjKZi8bpHQFGx4mHjdd0TInlRfnOEQ8uw-AR4Oq_wbALYhTMN9F-9KH8nalZey_PGEowEqCDlIN37ZHJcIeUHR/s1600/domesticpapers.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6714_ZCrdrnUfEVu65ydPl0hPv_KYst8k08UBHU6xSH2Tj0m9aslXqSIjKZi8bpHQFGx4mHjdd0TInlRfnOEQ8uw-AR4Oq_wbALYhTMN9F-9KH8nalZey_PGEowEqCDlIN37ZHJcIeUHR/s320/domesticpapers.etsy.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/domesticpapers">www.etsy.com/shop/domesticpapers</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Of course Mungo would like a bigger shed. He would like a new vice and lots of screws and a good quality boring tool. But times are tough, as everyone knows. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">As a rather sad end to this story, here is His Excellency breaking the harsh news to Mungo that we can't afford a new shed and worse still, we can't afford a new workbench either.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jZp8N6YacoU7gS2Y00FrXiRmLbi3OKrsyJZN0D23prSoMAhxv922a_EWGRjC9S2x-RbXwVGsL785rSPAkK_waikbeK8C4E1uTI-e2gDt75bfDMQTtIcW1kvg_7LuZGe-vctVL_DjAhMO/s1600/gutenberg.asf193007104.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jZp8N6YacoU7gS2Y00FrXiRmLbi3OKrsyJZN0D23prSoMAhxv922a_EWGRjC9S2x-RbXwVGsL785rSPAkK_waikbeK8C4E1uTI-e2gDt75bfDMQTtIcW1kvg_7LuZGe-vctVL_DjAhMO/s320/gutenberg.asf193007104.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29198/29198-h/29198-h.htm#pupil">http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29198/29198-h/29198-h.htm#pupil</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><br />There are a number of paintings and artworks in this story:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Miss Friday the Typist</i> is a toy from the 1950s, made by Nomura Toys in Japan. Batteries not included. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Floor Scrapers</i> 1875 is one of my favourite paintings. Not just because I like to see men at work - look at that polished floor! The artist is Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1994).</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Labor Day</i> is a mural made in 1931 by German artist Winold Reiss (1886-1953). It is part of a very large work which shows the Cincinati Union Terminal being built. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this looks like a very dangerous workplace.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Sister Minnie Goldstein Working at Blood Bank</i> was painted during the war in 1944 by Australian artist Nora Heysen (1911-2003). Heysen was one of few female commissioned war artists. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Portrait of Man Reading</i> is not my husband. It's John Farr, who is reading Horace's Odes. The artist is Francois-Xavier Vispre and the painting is at Oxford University's Ashmoleon Museum. </div><div><br /></div><div>The great looking <i>Man Putting on a Shirt</i> is by artist John Koch (1909-1978), whose work is sometimes admired for all the wrong reasons. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Disillusioned One</i> 1892 is by Swiss artist Ferdinand Hodler, who also painted <i>The Tired of Life</i> 1892. My goodness, is Switzerland really this depressing? <br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Emily Hardhat is a civil engineer. She won the Spanner of the Year award in 2013. And she knows a thing or two about bridges. And benches. Bridges and benches go together really well and Emily is keen to show off some of the best bridges and benches around the world. To see Emily's gorgeous and well-engineered bridge benches have a look at</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/emilys-well-engineered-bridge-benches.html"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/emilys-well-engineered-bridge-benches.html</span></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The sketch of His Excellency is The Formalist from John Bunyan's <i>The Pilgrim's Progress</i> 1683. It's the best image I have of His Excellency as he refuses to have his photo taken.</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">His Excellency and Mungo, my two husbands, feature in many of the postings on Bench Site (not always with their full agreement). For more about both of them see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whos-who-in-fribble-under-par.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who's Who in Fribble</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">-under-Par. And if you'd like the romantic details of my marriages, see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gambling-on-love-in-las-vegas.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">how I met Mungo</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> and how I celebrated </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/an-excellent-valentine.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Valentine's Day with His Excellency</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The ruined kitchen was not ours. Mungo photographed it in an abandoned manor house in Kefalonia this summer. You can follow our ill-fated bench-finding mission in Greece at </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/greek-bench-mission-impossible.html" style="font-family: Arial;" target="_blank">benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/greek-bench-mission-impossible.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p></o:p></b></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The cheerful Little Carpenters workbench and the bright red kitchenette are both from Jamm Toys, who make traditional quality toys, designed by Indigo Jamm in the UK. Noah's Ark, a London bus, tea parties with fluffy cakes - these toys are a real treat. <a href="http://www.jammtoys.com/">www.jammtoys.com</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In contrast to the glamorous and robust wood workbenches, I chose the modest metal frame workbench at random off Google shopping. It's a Silverline TB01 portable workbench which is light and portable and so ideal for DIY jobs at home. It was selling for £16 on the day I found it. </span><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/832699205509599795?q=workbench" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/832699205509599795?q=workbench</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The artist's workbench is a miniature to one inch scale, complete with brushes and artists' tools. It comes from Jill Marquis in New Hampshire. Jill makes all kinds of exquisite miniatures, like little tables and chairs and Welsh dressers -- rustic realism in miniature. <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/marquisminiatures">www.etsy.com/shop/marquisminiatures</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Vincent Van Gogh paintings and sketches are in the public domain because the artist has been dead more than 70 years. It's just brilliant looking at Wiki Paintings and they're so well organised and informative. Van Gogh did many sketches and paintings of people at work, especially carpenters. I have used the following from Van Gogh's work: </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Carpenter's Yard and Laundry, seen from Van Gogh's room in The Hague in 1882. <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Gogh_1882-05_The_Hague_-_Carpenter%27s_Yard_and_Laundry_F_939_JH_150.jpg" style="text-align: center;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Gogh.jpg</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At Eternity's Gate, 1890 </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1890-05_van_Gogh_At_Eternitys_Gate_anagoria.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1890-05_van_Gogh_At_Eternitys_Gate_anagoria.jpg</a></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Man with Saw, 1881 <a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/vincent-van-gogh#supersized-sketch-and-study-206292">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/vincent-van-gogh#supersized-sketch-and-study-206292</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I can make a granny square but mixing bowls, hats, people, monkeys, cupcakes, kitchen appliances and yes, crocheted power tools, Sally at KTB Designs in Ontario can crochet anything. What Sally can't crochet isn't worth having. You'll see a fine array of crocheted everything in her shop at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/KTBDesigns">www.etsy.com/shop/KTBDesigns</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The warning about working on your knee rather than using a workbench comes from the Office for Emergency Management, War Production Board (01/1942 - 11/03/1945). This workplace poster is thought to be around 1942-43. It's from the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland, available on Wiki Commons at </span><br /><strong><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Unsafe_flashes.%22_Ask_him_what_the_workbench_is_for_-_NARA_-_535268.jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Unsafe_flashes.%22_Ask_him_what_the_workbench_is_for_-_NARA_-_535268.jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span></span></strong><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Emily at BellaBordello sells vintage 1950s greeting cards which are oddly familiar. When I saw the little teddy sawing I thought I recognised him. Indeed, he's a Valentine card and was probably put into my school Valentine stocking in the days when every child had to give every other child a Valentine. If you're from this era you can have a nostalgic trip by looking at The Bella Bordello shop at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/bellabordello">www.etsy.com/shop/bellabordello</a>.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sometimes called <i>The Michaelangelo of Wood</i>, Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) was a Dutch-born master woodcarver who worked throughout Britain on beautiful wood carvings which still endure. His work appears on staircases, doors, friezes, panelled walls, and throughout Britain's palaces, castles, libraries, churches and cathedrals. The photo showing people doing woodworking is from the Kentwell re-creation in 1991.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span lang="EN">John Everette Millais's painting<i> Christ in the House of His Parents</i></span><span lang="EN"> (1849–50) depicts the Holy Family in Saint Joseph's carpentry workshop. Jesus is the red-headed boy, who has cut his hand on a nail and yes, Mary his kissing his hand. <i>The painting was extremely controversial when first exhibited, prompting many negative reviews, most notably one written by Charles Dickens. It catapulted the previously obscure Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood to notoriety and was a major contributor to the debate about Realism in the arts. </i></span><i>It is currently housed in the Tate Britain in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>.</i> The painting and the comment above are from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_in_the_House_of_His_Parents">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_in_the_House_of_His_Parents</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The eBooks referred to from Project Gutenberg are the following:</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The picture of Joseph and Mary considering the school report is actually from <i>A Hoosier Chronicle</i> by Meredith Nicholson, illustrated by F.C. Yohn and published in 1912. <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15138/15138-h/15138-h.htm#I296" style="text-align: center;">http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15138/15138-h/15138-h.htm#I296</a><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The final picture of Mungo and His Excellency is from Project Gutenberg's Astrounding Stories of Super-Science, published in July 1930. The stories were written by various authors; this one is The Power and the Glory by Charles W Diffin. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The subtitle of the story might </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">apply to His </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Excellency, Mungo, or indeed, Jesus: </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sadly, sternly, the old </i><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">professor reveals to </i><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">his brilliant pupil the greater path to glory</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span><pre><span lang="EN"><pre><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29198/29198-h/29198-h.htm#pupil" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29198/29198-h/29198-h.htm#pupil</a></pre><pre><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center; white-space: normal;">Though I am frequently surprised by my internet searches, I didn't expect to find a Wassail workbench. CuriousArtLab is described by its creator, Leah Palmer Preiss, as <i>a wunderkammer of art, oddments and curiosities</i>. There I found what Leah describes as <i>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 </i></span><i>Mérode </i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><i>Altarpiece), along with a generous bowl of wassail</i>. Odd, curious, arty - what a shop!</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: center; white-space: normal;"> </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/curiousartlab" style="text-align: center; white-space: normal;">www.etsy.com/shop/curiousartlab</a></span></pre>
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<pre></pre><b style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #202122; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;">Carl Olof Larsson</b><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px; white-space: normal;"> (</span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px; white-space: normal;"> 1853 –1919) was a </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #6b4ba1; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;" title="Sweden">Swedish</a><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px; white-space: normal;"> </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painting" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #6b4ba1; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;" title="Painting">painter</a><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px; white-space: normal;"> representative of the </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_movement" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #6b4ba1; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;" title="Arts and Crafts movement">Arts and Crafts movement</a><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px; white-space: normal;">. His many paintings include oils, </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watercolors" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #6b4ba1; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;" title="Watercolors">watercolors</a><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px; white-space: normal;">, and </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresco" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #6b4ba1; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;" title="Fresco">frescoes</a><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 16px; white-space: normal;">. He is principally known for his watercolors of idyllic family life but there are also some serious and beautiful landscapes of his homeland.</span>
</span></pre><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The car mechanics workshop at Mungo's school was actually a lorry repair workshop in France during WW1. This is an official war photograph taken on the British western front in France in about 1918. It is made available by the National Library of Scotland, who have provided some fabulous historical images at </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/4700021991/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/4700021991/</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The circus performers were photographed by Ben at the South Bank, Brisbane, in 2014. Ben says he had no idea they did Kama Sutra type things in circuses these days; he now sees a new use for his joinery work bench. Ben is a musician who originates from Glasgow in Scotland but now lives in Brisbane. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nowpics/15068269019/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/nowpics/15068269019/ </a><br /><div><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two car crash vintage photographs and the building on fire are from Becki Harvey Myers in Anchorage, Alaska. Becki has kept me supplied with brilliant vintage photographs on several Benchsite posts. Each one tells a story and what I don't know, I make up. She has a huge collection of varied vintage photos at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/AlaskaVintage">www.etsy.com/shop/AlaskaVintage</a> </span><br /><br /><span lang="FR">The chemistry lab workbench is from French photographer Cjp24 on French wikipedia, photographed in 2009 as <i>Paillasse d'un laboratoire de chimie </i>and available at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=lab+workbench&title=Special%3ASearch">http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=lab+workbench&title=Special%3ASearch</a></span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The demolition following His Excellency's chemistry mishap is not actually a workbench. </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Death of a garden centre 3</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> is a photograph taken in March 2010 by Jonathan Billinger for geograph.org.uk </span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Death_of_a_garden_centre_3_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1770718.jpg" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Death_of_a_garden_centre_3_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1770718.jpg</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><strong><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The women repairing boots were also not at Mungo's school. They are </span></span></strong>French women mending boots on the British Western Front in France (<i>"Where Tommy's footwear is repaired"</i>). The conditions in the trenches and the constant movement meant that most boots were given rough treatment. They were a vital part of any soldier's equipment and so had to be well looked after. The French women repaired about 30,000 pairs of boots each week. This official photograph is thought to be by John Warwick Brooke.</span><br /><strong><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/4699886598/"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/4699886598/</span></a></span></strong><strong><span lang="EN-US"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/4699886598/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/4699886598/</a></span></span></strong><br /><strong><br /></strong><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Celestine is from Walla Walla, Washington. She enjoyed building this skyscraper a few years ago so who knows, maybe in a few years she'll build something grand. Many thanks to her parents, Graham and Jessica, for permission to use this photo. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" lang="EN-US">The little green and orange workbench is two and a half inches by one and a half inches. It's by Doris Dotz, who makes truly unique things for crafts projects and dollshouses. Glitter? She's got the glitteriest glitter I've ever seen and it comes in every colour imaginable. Her shop is a feast for the eyes <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dorisdotz">www.etsy.com/shop/dorisdotz</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The dilapidated room shown as La Casa Perfecta is not, of course, our perfect house. It's a room from the abandoned Harperbury Hospital in </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hertfordshire, now known as Kingsley Green</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Following the closure of long-stay institutions under the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 there are loads of these abandoned hospital buildings photographed on the internet and they are always intriguing. This one comes from Burtonash, who made it available on WikiCommons in January 2013. </span><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Harperbury_Hospital_Interior.jpg/220px-Harperbury_Hospital_Interior.jpg" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Harperbury_Hospital_Interior.jpg/220px-Harperbury_Hospital_Interior.jpg</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" lang="EN">Obviously Mungo and His Excellency are not ancient Egyptians. This image is from 1350-1300 BC, showing grave-chamber painter and sculptor Nebamun Ipuki.</span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.1875px;"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Woodworking is shown in many ancient Egyptian drawings and ancient Egyptian furniture is preserved in tombs. Ancient Egyptians invented the art of veneering and used varnishes and woodworking copper tools such as axes, chisels, saws and bowl drills. Dowels, pegs, and leather or cord lashings were used for joints. The photo and text here come from The Yorck Project in Germany via </span><strong><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodworking"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodworking</span></a></span></strong><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Chelsea M. is a military wife and mother who loves to make clever, crafty things for her family. She has a loyal following of people wanting to make things too so she has kindly provided full details and measurements for the little bedside table-turned-into-workbench. You can see how she does it at </span><a href="http://mcbabybump3.com/?s=workbench&submit=Search" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://mcbabybump3.com/?s=workbench&submit=Search</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You may have guessed that the beautiful building shown is not Emily's shed. It's a view from the northeast of the Weltzheimer/Johnson house built by Frank Lloyd Wright in Oberlin,Ohio. It was commissioned by Charles and Margaret Weltzheimer in 1948-49 and is now owned</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">by the Allen Memorial Art Museum, who make it open to the public. It was photographed by Dirk Bakker (CC-BY-SA) in 2010 and is available on Wikimedia Commons at </span><a class="external free" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/allenartmuseum/4793794785/in/set-72157618326550599/#/" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/allenartmuseum/4793794785/in/set-72157618326550599/#</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">/</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table cellpadding="4" class="toccolours vevent mw-content-ltr" style="direction: ltr; width: 624.8px;"><tbody><tr style="vertical-align: top;"><td class="description"><div class="description mw-content-ltr en" dir="ltr" lang="en"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two beautiful twin ginger cats are not </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mungo's cats</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">, though our cats have been featured before. These cats belong to Daniel Rutter, who takes fabulous photographs of his cats and other creatures. </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dansdata/3045186145/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16.3636px;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/dansdata/3045186145/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> In addition to being an animal lover, Daniel blogs at </span><a href="http://www.howtospotapsychopath.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.howtospotapsychopath.com/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> and writes hardware reviews and more at </span><a href="http://www.dansdata.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.dansdata.com/</a></div></td></tr><tr style="vertical-align: top;"><td class="fileinfo-paramfield" id="fileinfotpl_perm"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Captain F.S. Barnes's workbench was photographed in 1910. Barnes was part of the Huron H. Smith Expedition to Oregon from 1910-1911, collecting botany speciments and taking portraits of trees. This was his workbench in Forest Grove,Oregon.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><strong><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/field_museum_library/4587521110/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/field_museum_library/4587521110/</a></span></span></strong></span></td><td><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Joan Walker makes exquisite miniatures, including the lovely little gardener's bench. Look at the detail - pots, tools, baskets! It's suitably messy and looks like it really does belong in a garden. I'd love to have a bench like this in my greenhouse. Joan's shop is at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/yellowjumpy">www.etsy.com/shop/yellowjumpy</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The painting of Joseph at his workbench is the third (right-hand panel) of Robert Campin's <i>Mérode </i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Altarpiece</i> triptych. Joseph's workbench and tools are clearly displayed. Campin was a Netherlandish painter in the Northern Renaissance; the painting was made between 1425 and 1428. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. </span><a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/robert-campin/the-m%C3%A9rode-altarpiece-joseph-as-a-medieval-carpenter-1428" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/robert-campin/the-m%C3%A9rode-altarpiece-joseph-as-a-medieval-carpenter-1428</a><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The story features two of Carl Larsson's beautiful watercolour paintings. <i>In The Carpenter's Shop</i> </span><a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/carl-larsson/in-the-carpenter-shop-1905" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/carl-larsson/in-the-carpenter-shop-1905</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">was created in Sweden in 1905. The other painting is </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Acid Workshop</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> (where I do my etchings) from 1910. </span><a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/carl-larsson/my-acid-workshop-where-i-do-my-etching-1910">http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/carl-larsson/my-acid-workshop-where-i-do-my-etching-1910</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The two paintings are in the public domain because the artist died more than 70 years ago; Larsson lived from 1853 to 1919. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The <i>Get Busy</i> guy is from a vintage (1909) motivational postcard which Lee Steiner's grandma saved for many years. Lee is a bookbinder and lover of all things paper. She has turned the postcard into the cover of a Project Notepad and she suggests that it would make a great gift for a DIYer. Lee says she keeps a pad like this on her own garage workbench and she makes notes in the pad when she gets ideas of something cool to build. By all accounts her garage workbench is buried in junk, just like everyone else's workbench. The Get Busy vintage notepad is available from Lee's shop at <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/domesticpapers">www.etsy.com/shop/domesticpapers</a></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdDfYGTVCpU7OX7Ba5L85QwY96j6pSofc0QT4j6MrVXf7PGsPBIekMcVefmh6WLPINMbrTG6RCRhyphenhyphenqU-JScJHLmDm3b-HZsZDT2DR1dvmmkCkOU23SEzKmgntXVZOjT4XiZwGfUmqlC8EL/s1600/100_5864.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdDfYGTVCpU7OX7Ba5L85QwY96j6pSofc0QT4j6MrVXf7PGsPBIekMcVefmh6WLPINMbrTG6RCRhyphenhyphenqU-JScJHLmDm3b-HZsZDT2DR1dvmmkCkOU23SEzKmgntXVZOjT4XiZwGfUmqlC8EL/s320/100_5864.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><strong><br /></strong></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2608647331546453527.post-9868941666500606902022-04-04T08:06:00.002-07:002022-04-04T08:26:23.829-07:00Eggcentric Benches for Easter<p> I'm eggstatic about egg benches</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7Z6t6DHktGgigaXdoTeAx_B5Yo2LnEktst0bvBXSSNs-3rxggbnOnkBSIBuVbKOzm2vbloCKtOCTu7e2WFedlDhqaxo80-La-ROxKhTyys_vXYrp1WOm3WR1wHEgeZNxlthZM9JIF_79/s916/FB_IMG_1616681220046.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="687" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7Z6t6DHktGgigaXdoTeAx_B5Yo2LnEktst0bvBXSSNs-3rxggbnOnkBSIBuVbKOzm2vbloCKtOCTu7e2WFedlDhqaxo80-La-ROxKhTyys_vXYrp1WOm3WR1wHEgeZNxlthZM9JIF_79/w300-h400/FB_IMG_1616681220046.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dorothy Gulliver, The Collegians, 1926</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>No, really, I am . . .</p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAv-_rYQzziakim4BU6aFkDqksiy5nwkPhbaxYfdWS0gry2guXsHgOfwyJdGhasrXeQ9fBVAwcahZ7rGAopLWD52320ag7e2UG9uRXIOtxrvUmD203Mm9Kf0RrZMWKXPrztkUlsE-KhOmd/s1600/Egg-Bench-By-Grace-Chen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAv-_rYQzziakim4BU6aFkDqksiy5nwkPhbaxYfdWS0gry2guXsHgOfwyJdGhasrXeQ9fBVAwcahZ7rGAopLWD52320ag7e2UG9uRXIOtxrvUmD203Mm9Kf0RrZMWKXPrztkUlsE-KhOmd/s400/Egg-Bench-By-Grace-Chen.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/10/30/egg-bench-by-grace-chen/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/10/30/egg-bench-by-grace-chen/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And now it's time to come out of my shell . . . </span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuOC0FurxUqq6NDyTfU0vosE87wiFXjbc-nnfZ-XGcbZ8DYA2NqypvgwiJ6wVDfPZlExD8-bHfcJh3p3uwqMB2UWv1vaHHvO665Qm_gPC-ggQv6rRMg232dMa2LmQd-7aJKOgYe_Rf4gKR/s1600/AG00397_.GIF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuOC0FurxUqq6NDyTfU0vosE87wiFXjbc-nnfZ-XGcbZ8DYA2NqypvgwiJ6wVDfPZlExD8-bHfcJh3p3uwqMB2UWv1vaHHvO665Qm_gPC-ggQv6rRMg232dMa2LmQd-7aJKOgYe_Rf4gKR/s1600/AG00397_.GIF" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. . . to show you some great benches for Easter.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbHPYjfP8vlQFbmxxGw7OqIwu2fcksWURtgfY2F0oUiHXfS6ctODO9J9C31nrln3qLsyohd7XmttQYPBCF6eR24xeBZMR72nKT0855uFLhy4-6X_86_znegCrtFmkj3mcO-0_-cA44qkb/s1600/halfanacre.anna.hull.fkcc3388382910_4ac8923776_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbHPYjfP8vlQFbmxxGw7OqIwu2fcksWURtgfY2F0oUiHXfS6ctODO9J9C31nrln3qLsyohd7XmttQYPBCF6eR24xeBZMR72nKT0855uFLhy4-6X_86_znegCrtFmkj3mcO-0_-cA44qkb/s400/halfanacre.anna.hull.fkcc3388382910_4ac8923776_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/halfanacre/3388382910/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/halfanacre/3388382910/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But what comes first, the chicken or the Easter egg?</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm debating this because it will soon be Easter here on Paradise Island and Easter is one of the nicest things about spring.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXipbp__qMUa5G6ktIorHIJNLSBbl42KzWnadoiSi3gqwrW2mWRCe0WMQDHm5VzRAXdKeKXrhi9rNIUmOmIPaCClPMk55BsMRJhogZ77PFa_qqdr3cfVb6exCP9cRrydtaWC-3qgKdr5m/s1600/chickens.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXipbp__qMUa5G6ktIorHIJNLSBbl42KzWnadoiSi3gqwrW2mWRCe0WMQDHm5VzRAXdKeKXrhi9rNIUmOmIPaCClPMk55BsMRJhogZ77PFa_qqdr3cfVb6exCP9cRrydtaWC-3qgKdr5m/s320/chickens.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We welcome spring, of course.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPiOn9dPv3I-0_jY7Apl4hTlq4dF0APevuE9fTiUGLcs7Qg8jvPVkRQI9o0acJuzVneO2r-g55266b9DrDSGsezN2yYAdgSmKeIhBb5eco2cMyCIDcfLI7us8vu-BIvrfsHqcC2ScKl0E/s1600/pinkdoorfabrics.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPiOn9dPv3I-0_jY7Apl4hTlq4dF0APevuE9fTiUGLcs7Qg8jvPVkRQI9o0acJuzVneO2r-g55266b9DrDSGsezN2yYAdgSmKeIhBb5eco2cMyCIDcfLI7us8vu-BIvrfsHqcC2ScKl0E/s320/pinkdoorfabrics.etsy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><br /><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: 1;"></div><br /><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: 1;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PinkDoorFabrics">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PinkDoorFabrics</a></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Spring puts a, um, spring, in everybody's step.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOXpppnikGX-0n65AuXola9umL-n-Uu3YNWGiIWwpwmp5NpV41-ctK6S_da8ko1vAkqS9ibgdoyDU3TqikImwCnj4LqnmKNPCaGIazdCG4OR4nm_QK9Iisum3KZV4U8SI3H7SC56xTDWN0/s1600/aroundthewherever.BS.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOXpppnikGX-0n65AuXola9umL-n-Uu3YNWGiIWwpwmp5NpV41-ctK6S_da8ko1vAkqS9ibgdoyDU3TqikImwCnj4LqnmKNPCaGIazdCG4OR4nm_QK9Iisum3KZV4U8SI3H7SC56xTDWN0/s1600/aroundthewherever.BS.com.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: start;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://aroundthewherever.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/a-bit-of-neustadt-der-weinstrasses.html">http://aroundthewherever.blogspot.co.uk/</a></span></div><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But first there's this chicken and egg issue. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2kaTKH07VALPXQS2VAabhMDVEdOithTObquitLl1v9oEuHkCXYi0thjTRXEN6WL2e8o4KFKF3oHgw_UYhTUn9H7R73Ub2tI0hN0Z7Jr49eSjpQ2SB4KS_Y48G-W5Twlv8cqLxd8N9dnp/s1600/mealmakeovermoms.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2kaTKH07VALPXQS2VAabhMDVEdOithTObquitLl1v9oEuHkCXYi0thjTRXEN6WL2e8o4KFKF3oHgw_UYhTUn9H7R73Ub2tI0hN0Z7Jr49eSjpQ2SB4KS_Y48G-W5Twlv8cqLxd8N9dnp/s320/mealmakeovermoms.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mealmakeovermoms/6905448780" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mealmakeovermoms/6905448780</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">My husband, His Excellency, is a philosopher: The chicken/egg thing is a tired old question. There's nothing to be gained from investigating it.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There's still life in this question though. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7MizNmc3lTG_MUqOnv6JQA_xwP5vNiq7fQpq3NsDFpBZ6Mh4c_9jrEZDtKGFovcG9dADcCxact4yrqO8xXqKVPol23DCLQI3m81Q4SAUqlZ0zlJMku5YP7nLQFd9caWu9JWOEdF8XVT9n/s510/Bowl-with-Eggs-Floris-Verster-Oil-Painting-510x356.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7MizNmc3lTG_MUqOnv6JQA_xwP5vNiq7fQpq3NsDFpBZ6Mh4c_9jrEZDtKGFovcG9dADcCxact4yrqO8xXqKVPol23DCLQI3m81Q4SAUqlZ0zlJMku5YP7nLQFd9caWu9JWOEdF8XVT9n/s320/Bowl-with-Eggs-Floris-Verster-Oil-Painting-510x356.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Still-life with Eggs</i> 1915, Floris Verster (1861-1927)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Nice still-life. Terrible pun. </span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Well, the choice is to look at some fluffy bunnies.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbY3P8QzRHkWHgiVXYLXuDO_uCJ9N1DhbWR8sBxjd1N0-_jzlenP9VNGz-507yvZgavIZQD-LD_ep3vNAkdwMzaQXSCpW_Ri9qT9vIUS1p-8g8NsP-PlObqcdujkIEBTC3LMrY5lmX7k7s/s1600/easter+honey+bch.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbY3P8QzRHkWHgiVXYLXuDO_uCJ9N1DhbWR8sBxjd1N0-_jzlenP9VNGz-507yvZgavIZQD-LD_ep3vNAkdwMzaQXSCpW_Ri9qT9vIUS1p-8g8NsP-PlObqcdujkIEBTC3LMrY5lmX7k7s/s320/easter+honey+bch.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/5644086363/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/5644086363/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Or chicks in pretty little nests. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjCxIRm8LGq3-VBma8Bek-SBJYSZG8Ea4wE41sMRKn0Cbg6GWNQ7RIDWnRToxjSyaxYfiW06Ycncel20iXaa_5qTXT4REqRL_WyUIksDt51YEhtr_MZjhcSbAC2vQh33HkC6NanlndxjX/s1600/alanna.george.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjCxIRm8LGq3-VBma8Bek-SBJYSZG8Ea4wE41sMRKn0Cbg6GWNQ7RIDWnRToxjSyaxYfiW06Ycncel20iXaa_5qTXT4REqRL_WyUIksDt51YEhtr_MZjhcSbAC2vQh33HkC6NanlndxjX/s320/alanna.george.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alannageorge/4587225768/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/alannageorge/4587225768/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Or possibly, if you can stretch to it, something intelligent.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eggcentric architecture maybe?</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_xg0MtLhz2NnCBgDyymjbEMpLQsfdRmCyobV76cZtLAZycHIE03kWYci3udxYDo52m3JgZU98hWlzxOEFc7s0t9hLByeABPo9BDXgbow-703743xXQFcGzuXi8_dflsmG1BGuooOlYP8peb0zCJ6vTzkVSZVsQj5SzI6NSyQJGNNxzvZlGO82sKdZA/s1400/6280.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="1400" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_xg0MtLhz2NnCBgDyymjbEMpLQsfdRmCyobV76cZtLAZycHIE03kWYci3udxYDo52m3JgZU98hWlzxOEFc7s0t9hLByeABPo9BDXgbow-703743xXQFcGzuXi8_dflsmG1BGuooOlYP8peb0zCJ6vTzkVSZVsQj5SzI6NSyQJGNNxzvZlGO82sKdZA/s320/6280.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Easter Egg Museum, Kolomiya, Ukraine</td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"> </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin, a very sweet local girl: The little chicks are adorable?!!!! </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;">You're the Queen of Cute, Tamsin; I knew you'd like them.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: They're almost as cute as I am lol!</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_9FbpDqJW2pYVDCUEyjSF2puuEIqYlHNcPOhxn2Y19FtTcC7znDbCbz7rzwARaolIK6HH5I2DDCeG6ALAhanJzRwHbA0m8QCGYCkQ8_B5FxWxFUnmze2hMLde-TIOJ0aZF8dGdiXUpK7/s1600/Tamsin%2526girls.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_9FbpDqJW2pYVDCUEyjSF2puuEIqYlHNcPOhxn2Y19FtTcC7znDbCbz7rzwARaolIK6HH5I2DDCeG6ALAhanJzRwHbA0m8QCGYCkQ8_B5FxWxFUnmze2hMLde-TIOJ0aZF8dGdiXUpK7/s320/Tamsin%2526girls.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/spring-comes-to-fribble-via-japan.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">I like your purple Easter dress. And you all look pretty in your Easter bonnets.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: That was last year. I look even prettier this year with my new purple hat!</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFtPQs64u81kz9joCPbjAvrk_18eSX3j76qDqt0AxnDttYmHvcY__35T3PzE7QpQaHpayK_Xwm-Kao1l8Dysqo_X4xQm-sy4irsptQ7QFif32X_lPCOhS-uAQErxHTpMndeWAjl_CR9fG/s1600/Tamsinpurple.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFtPQs64u81kz9joCPbjAvrk_18eSX3j76qDqt0AxnDttYmHvcY__35T3PzE7QpQaHpayK_Xwm-Kao1l8Dysqo_X4xQm-sy4irsptQ7QFif32X_lPCOhS-uAQErxHTpMndeWAjl_CR9fG/s320/Tamsinpurple.JPG" width="223" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/im-dreaming-of-purple-christmas.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/im-dreaming-of-purple-christmas.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #351c75;">Lady Brassica, wife of the Fifth Earl of Drizzly: That hat is dreadful, Tamsin. I've just been to Paris and feathered hats are what fashionistas like me are wearing this spring.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNMqR15UOJ9hKSJkCl4LCGHgxzmBA38QQRorJaIjHqqOdyJkQUy7jbfPUDW0wRlTSalecemTX2tZZRmSvQKzlD0CDZwGfrREHFFacc4zon-Yt4tL0-Jddw7JFek-aoNhSxKA0i5djJrhhB/s1600/ladyb.paris.hat.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNMqR15UOJ9hKSJkCl4LCGHgxzmBA38QQRorJaIjHqqOdyJkQUy7jbfPUDW0wRlTSalecemTX2tZZRmSvQKzlD0CDZwGfrREHFFacc4zon-Yt4tL0-Jddw7JFek-aoNhSxKA0i5djJrhhB/s400/ladyb.paris.hat.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/i-heart-benches-for-valentines-day.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/i-heart-benches-for-valentines-day.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Mungo, my imaginary husband: I hate all this stuff about fashion. I thought this was supposed to be about benches.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You're right, Mungo. We need to keep a focus on benches. Specifically, benches with an Easter theme.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAZQ2zRUlO69eOC0OUZ7xXt8x51fla8A6sh5USuv5_4vs86SV85N2K-LbWk0dxbehDdUG9Nnb9do6_7_LUkYkG3PkAfsMX6AnmrQwOSVIuLmV5lb6vZC0jJ53a9X3tByx1Y8AuGoT_5RT/s1600/Karinabunches%2526bits.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAZQ2zRUlO69eOC0OUZ7xXt8x51fla8A6sh5USuv5_4vs86SV85N2K-LbWk0dxbehDdUG9Nnb9do6_7_LUkYkG3PkAfsMX6AnmrQwOSVIuLmV5lb6vZC0jJ53a9X3tByx1Y8AuGoT_5RT/s320/Karinabunches%2526bits.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/5342959385" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/5342959385</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I am struggling to find an Easter theme here or indeed any theme at all.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sorry. I'm finding it hard to get started because of the chicken and egg question. I haven't managed to hatch a plan.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I_SIzM9pJH-HsMjg4U-2cGESXRriHoCezGP64euViMqI5ajxQKOdmwtkLgmrRt1s9SQLRS4O4TJeN-oeA6jm5q-aZPpFgCOF7wOURN2PXHxvGo0U9RI44VM6bKF4Wtxwmg0x3KROad8z/s2048/FB_IMG_1616681788066.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1691" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I_SIzM9pJH-HsMjg4U-2cGESXRriHoCezGP64euViMqI5ajxQKOdmwtkLgmrRt1s9SQLRS4O4TJeN-oeA6jm5q-aZPpFgCOF7wOURN2PXHxvGo0U9RI44VM6bKF4Wtxwmg0x3KROad8z/w330-h400/FB_IMG_1616681788066.jpg" width="330" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Oh, is <i>that</i> where babies come from? </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;">Mungo: This is seriously creepy.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Is this better?</span></div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKEweAqi3YLmLrXjfnn01EqakVFOfLZepe1SFRHHsQBFT9DXhDvj8lOvzLorh3BaL0iTl09_6rD9nClrej96lusunMwEhKUi2pu1w1p-p7Fzb26PXYRVqk5Bo9xlvLCd25iFF2ajoPKkYw/s1600/thekmancom.ohkylel%2540twitter.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKEweAqi3YLmLrXjfnn01EqakVFOfLZepe1SFRHHsQBFT9DXhDvj8lOvzLorh3BaL0iTl09_6rD9nClrej96lusunMwEhKUi2pu1w1p-p7Fzb26PXYRVqk5Bo9xlvLCd25iFF2ajoPKkYw/s320/thekmancom.ohkylel%2540twitter.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thekmancom/9539704167" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thekmancom/9539704167</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: is there any chance of seeing some top class designer benches? </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Yes, no problem.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;">Mungo: I thought egg benches would be a dime a dozen.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #444444;">Eggs, yes. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #444444;">Egg <i>benches</i> not so much.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpgmu55b0qsQKoEIpPTEOd3YPigX-YqBgKE4mjj5knp_XImbcAvY62dHywFnhnrCAhgRVz1Lda9ulHUNJX0wgpYnO-6NusbWuSN7-wf00PUpDkHLcjfF-rxUjdjzGuamoV-mKdM6tFLjM/s1600/Jessie.Pearl.2007.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpgmu55b0qsQKoEIpPTEOd3YPigX-YqBgKE4mjj5knp_XImbcAvY62dHywFnhnrCAhgRVz1Lda9ulHUNJX0wgpYnO-6NusbWuSN7-wf00PUpDkHLcjfF-rxUjdjzGuamoV-mKdM6tFLjM/s320/Jessie.Pearl.2007.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: start;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/terwilliger911/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/terwilliger911/</a></span></div><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">His Excellency: Oval-shaped </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">benches: how hard can it be? </span></span><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #444444;">Well, here's a great design though it isn't really an egg bench: it's called <i>Harmony</i>. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgh56WS8ter-H8pjYaL5uiAtaPHNDMKQUTFP_c6poCyvA05ZbUAUISq1XHIywVbU6IXtRIHgmOmexPUl5VcqnnTaXLY8NqFPexVFk6nk5JBEXxqjgqpfhzpjc4Rlsv-dCcTIms2Jtn9Iw/s1600/harmony.wuhaoonline.com.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgh56WS8ter-H8pjYaL5uiAtaPHNDMKQUTFP_c6poCyvA05ZbUAUISq1XHIywVbU6IXtRIHgmOmexPUl5VcqnnTaXLY8NqFPexVFk6nk5JBEXxqjgqpfhzpjc4Rlsv-dCcTIms2Jtn9Iw/s320/harmony.wuhaoonline.com.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.wuhaoonline.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Xiao Tianyu @ www.wuhaoonline.com</span></a><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: And here is a mid-century Arne Jacobsen-inspired Danish Egg Chair.</span></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHoFCORoUlzx8MJoqwRSJoLzIsqS5m4v1honcPorgWUJBb7HrwsGedL7zzTnqswiRYAE0-36wpapSdWC5ZkLwDV7oeWp1Vx6AM2nqVyqHEJLvBU6Sc2ivDfkZdcibbZAa0YSUcTVc9O5a/s1600/shopgirlinprint2.etsy.il_570xN_609023128_l30n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHoFCORoUlzx8MJoqwRSJoLzIsqS5m4v1honcPorgWUJBb7HrwsGedL7zzTnqswiRYAE0-36wpapSdWC5ZkLwDV7oeWp1Vx6AM2nqVyqHEJLvBU6Sc2ivDfkZdcibbZAa0YSUcTVc9O5a/s320/shopgirlinprint2.etsy.il_570xN_609023128_l30n.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/191067425/mini-art-set-of-2-pocket-sized-art-for?ref=related-6" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/shop/shopgirlinprint</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Mungo: Looks good enough to eat. Is there a Bacon Chair to go with it?</span></span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;">As it happens, there is.</span></span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aGSfFpLDyvPEQ40i06pYcoIGdJjfb_j9xa1EvtQKmCdCnLhEi3PyP06zzPFwESoUaHoCBxyFD0Sdo81-zwfWd1KF4Prrao7918bkH8Urxs_Uj0jblfQBYcEzXJFKCl4Ye6BqlRZITua6/s1600/bacon+bench.etsy.il_fullxfull_383591848_asp1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aGSfFpLDyvPEQ40i06pYcoIGdJjfb_j9xa1EvtQKmCdCnLhEi3PyP06zzPFwESoUaHoCBxyFD0Sdo81-zwfWd1KF4Prrao7918bkH8Urxs_Uj0jblfQBYcEzXJFKCl4Ye6BqlRZITua6/s320/bacon+bench.etsy.il_fullxfull_383591848_asp1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MastersOfFate" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MastersOfFate</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I saw a lovely hen going out for her shopping this morning.</span> </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmijonw0c3RSYChedmIRbKd1Ue5PXRyQ-e1TvrpOKRFPtz5xcRZ99uwIbjldpg6ty0wctJH0FaGpo9Rm03T90cPzqBgK5VyGOIx4s7EVDn8M-DYFamxOeDTTsEwhkte7HhLYJiz7zAqQ8/s1600/peregrineblue.fkccconstnza.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmijonw0c3RSYChedmIRbKd1Ue5PXRyQ-e1TvrpOKRFPtz5xcRZ99uwIbjldpg6ty0wctJH0FaGpo9Rm03T90cPzqBgK5VyGOIx4s7EVDn8M-DYFamxOeDTTsEwhkte7HhLYJiz7zAqQ8/s320/peregrineblue.fkccconstnza.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/peregrineblue/3344868539" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/peregrineblue/3344868539</span></a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Very nice, Tamsin. But there's no bench. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Golly, does there have to be a bench?</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Perhaps the title <i>Bench</i> and <i>Site</i> gives you a clue.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Mungo: Yes, it's a blog about benches so don't try to duck out of it.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChefT6XxGIECWHt8dxjw65SsPS2GmhH5v8kbeiVdL9ot7gDxi6ntYkKnPi8yT2EGXDcgoNhLJCf91H3FmzR9piGqKNTrPbfzCDRueL3zfRzahes2iRIWl9_MxJlTvH9qDaygGG1KQ3DOZ/s1600/loren.javier.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChefT6XxGIECWHt8dxjw65SsPS2GmhH5v8kbeiVdL9ot7gDxi6ntYkKnPi8yT2EGXDcgoNhLJCf91H3FmzR9piGqKNTrPbfzCDRueL3zfRzahes2iRIWl9_MxJlTvH9qDaygGG1KQ3DOZ/s320/loren.javier.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: I think you'll find this is a platypus.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Mungo: It's all water off a duck's back to me.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoTHHydIEgO-qqsgqW70DMhe4q-qx4FrYj4mMCYBT2X43x6yZYpUXFLlEHNJKxkKIg8mGIh_u3DJi8fM31aPrhRxCkQ9odfG4OvqbmYwu-ty8eBvOyb6XQ-pIv74yzWVep4xeWQaNZXfG/s1600/maureen_barlin.duckB.FKCC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoTHHydIEgO-qqsgqW70DMhe4q-qx4FrYj4mMCYBT2X43x6yZYpUXFLlEHNJKxkKIg8mGIh_u3DJi8fM31aPrhRxCkQ9odfG4OvqbmYwu-ty8eBvOyb6XQ-pIv74yzWVep4xeWQaNZXfG/s320/maureen_barlin.duckB.FKCC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/maureen_barlin/10706275283/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/maureen_barlin/10706275283/</span></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I don't understand this. Why can't we just look at Easter bunnies like we did last year?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5Ft938pL3JgHWweOoBYuMaXfi96exdbx2OzoAKvMVmDEWcVHrfYp9hn41hcxYHVcT0Bj_QUG0C3rLSJ1RWj-RHW3nkt2VMX3GW4eJJ058mhZIhq0-OHW8qMTgYC4wacNCY6qGTaZe3M4/s1600/easter.bunny.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5Ft938pL3JgHWweOoBYuMaXfi96exdbx2OzoAKvMVmDEWcVHrfYp9hn41hcxYHVcT0Bj_QUG0C3rLSJ1RWj-RHW3nkt2VMX3GW4eJJ058mhZIhq0-OHW8qMTgYC4wacNCY6qGTaZe3M4/s320/easter.bunny.JPG" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="color: #38761d;">Mungo: Yeah, it's not like you never repeat stories on Benchsite.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Oh dear, we are getting scrambled up here: Easter, benches, chickens, eggs - it's too many eggs in one basket. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqr4jESToGJXJIzpdGiZknMAAaq8Sdn8i9MYL1nasgukKS09OIv9pMfI-WQooZcKhJ5RCLp9BuXHP_dM3zD4u1P3ZbsiuTZgiGhEC8NdcowN058JrNv4mMCzb0MvqP4IVg0AL7iQG-3DxW/s1600/KarinaB%2526B.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqr4jESToGJXJIzpdGiZknMAAaq8Sdn8i9MYL1nasgukKS09OIv9pMfI-WQooZcKhJ5RCLp9BuXHP_dM3zD4u1P3ZbsiuTZgiGhEC8NdcowN058JrNv4mMCzb0MvqP4IVg0AL7iQG-3DxW/s320/KarinaB%2526B.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/4128780564" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/4128780564</span></a></div><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Mungo: The same thing happened last year. And the same old <strike>puns</strike> yolks. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY57cjLJKqZZLoQNXboj7BvOteYQUd58iv0CFfyU5xftBqpGw_HHNEcPFd3JYU859e2iqZhucSSc8lcx-N1GEDxFVohQkVS6uRWd5G-bnU85bclTm6KEQAdKbdGxu_ZnHqO1RewMFq3QzU/s1600/jeff.turmelle.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY57cjLJKqZZLoQNXboj7BvOteYQUd58iv0CFfyU5xftBqpGw_HHNEcPFd3JYU859e2iqZhucSSc8lcx-N1GEDxFVohQkVS6uRWd5G-bnU85bclTm6KEQAdKbdGxu_ZnHqO1RewMFq3QzU/s320/jeff.turmelle.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/26615859@N05/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/26615859@N05/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">An egg bench! Thanks, Mungo! It's great that you're egging me on. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: As you're recycling photos, I seem to recall an excellent shot of Innocent in her Easter dress. Now <i>that</i> would be worth seeing again. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Is it this one?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqXxK-jtoa4HppVsqeKqyUJzztcQft4e-MUA1uD_7tCIdb5aM4v76xOulMM7ajQAvpIkUWfE85tguJ5sxlcKy2lg2Aw6ZQPOw_8xhuV3hgex868HCClJTNxykk7GNoIL6vYLZhIrSTfyI/s1600/Innocent.bunny.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqXxK-jtoa4HppVsqeKqyUJzztcQft4e-MUA1uD_7tCIdb5aM4v76xOulMM7ajQAvpIkUWfE85tguJ5sxlcKy2lg2Aw6ZQPOw_8xhuV3hgex868HCClJTNxykk7GNoIL6vYLZhIrSTfyI/s320/Innocent.bunny.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: Now this makes me fancy an Easter egg hunt. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Mungo: I'd rather have a fry-up.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7j-Pc698HyMvC1zHgp2psHEYBX5xGq8oyntt7x-pK8lKlJ5t-GkffF3c3eRTS1kHqBu9fU7v9tAc0FicwedSp2cDe_w036aFK5nYRTWFOpVkKLplrVl-hJjS6Axo6uGab1DyV2QTAmmFt/s1600/tcej.cinjo.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7j-Pc698HyMvC1zHgp2psHEYBX5xGq8oyntt7x-pK8lKlJ5t-GkffF3c3eRTS1kHqBu9fU7v9tAc0FicwedSp2cDe_w036aFK5nYRTWFOpVkKLplrVl-hJjS6Axo6uGab1DyV2QTAmmFt/s400/tcej.cinjo.fkcc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tcej/2960250633" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/tcej/2960250633</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eggs sunny-side up! This bench is smashing.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I don't like eggs. I want to see some Easter bunnies. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgphWZUuY_XGn8gTspPJIGVUcFXreqIir25Ae0YcO3TFtkVLMx0RCceHvtyO3JvmYlLKAUt0c9Vh24VrGJL95o7eN-ikmHo5nO-bhXCCaPFP3pECbEwsPBeAMLaeqFbHrEBTsp6B67xVtVR/s1600/Easter_riley.wk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgphWZUuY_XGn8gTspPJIGVUcFXreqIir25Ae0YcO3TFtkVLMx0RCceHvtyO3JvmYlLKAUt0c9Vh24VrGJL95o7eN-ikmHo5nO-bhXCCaPFP3pECbEwsPBeAMLaeqFbHrEBTsp6B67xVtVR/s320/Easter_riley.wk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_riley_006_(Medium).jpg?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_riley_</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: This is soooooo cute!</span> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: However, there is no bench here.</span> <span style="color: #b45f06;">And </span>r</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">abbits are beside the point; they have nothing to do with egg benches.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Who wants to see egg benches? I want to see bunnies!</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">OK, who wants to see benches? We'll take a quick straw poll. </span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFi1Ar25SPyQM3dvyGn9FiQrMU1bWIuxc9wd7lPowj2lq37Nh6oJdgm_NcTuWx-jM06mSG-NNeMGc5l0xwfuS03eBYt47kp899WZgnZa_qSlMQIdX9-T5LF8Yxxt8XtELjPxcICa9EtEU-/s1600/Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.wk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFi1Ar25SPyQM3dvyGn9FiQrMU1bWIuxc9wd7lPowj2lq37Nh6oJdgm_NcTuWx-jM06mSG-NNeMGc5l0xwfuS03eBYt47kp899WZgnZa_qSlMQIdX9-T5LF8Yxxt8XtELjPxcICa9EtEU-/s320/Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.wk.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.JPG?uselang=en-gb" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: Ohhhh I love this scarecrow bunny! </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here are the results of the poll.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig6YnAN7X7ptfeWdyaPzIJ8J0lDjItG9vmRYwr-OTbQQrTpH3NUU5patksKbB4bS739V0PqTmOTDHSf2OdbJAKqjs3hEZO6JYWJ8xyXeVIpUy76Ov8kTOe_UynlXiPECfN4sbx_V-BfYKY/s1600/bar+chart.GIF" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig6YnAN7X7ptfeWdyaPzIJ8J0lDjItG9vmRYwr-OTbQQrTpH3NUU5patksKbB4bS739V0PqTmOTDHSf2OdbJAKqjs3hEZO6JYWJ8xyXeVIpUy76Ov8kTOe_UynlXiPECfN4sbx_V-BfYKY/s1600/bar+chart.GIF" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Want to see bunny benches - <span style="color: #274e13;">green</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Want to see chicken benches - <span style="color: #674ea7;">purple</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Want to see egg benches - <span style="color: #cc0000;">red</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Want to see no benches at all - <span style="color: blue;">blue</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"> </span></span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Mungo: Hard luck, Seashell. Looks like not that many people want to see benches.</span></span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I think this story is beginning to go off the <strike>boiled egg</strike> boil a bit.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82BNCy7U6pATaz-C7ncfpZd94SEi4KUotraHpnzgEUTN57h9mbLeaUuGcIG3tuaN7mwCp1ZUZeiJ3OLfGCiJwP0kEV0gxMoSMTRvZiSKVpzAZc5RlgoxHXvo0OadxsF5UuqJYTCx38LOV/s1600/Cool-Booth-egg-chair-egg-chair-fiberglass-egg-shape-chair-Vanity-Benches-his-shoes-stool-Business.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82BNCy7U6pATaz-C7ncfpZd94SEi4KUotraHpnzgEUTN57h9mbLeaUuGcIG3tuaN7mwCp1ZUZeiJ3OLfGCiJwP0kEV0gxMoSMTRvZiSKVpzAZc5RlgoxHXvo0OadxsF5UuqJYTCx38LOV/s320/Cool-Booth-egg-chair-egg-chair-fiberglass-egg-shape-chair-Vanity-Benches-his-shoes-stool-Business.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> </span><a href="http://yrkubus.tmall.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://yrkubus.tmall.com</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The truth is, it's rather hard to find egg benches.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Mungo: Maybe they're hiding in their cartons?</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">You're right. We'll have to sit down very carefully.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR05IcXiEwwhqGcFyk35VlW8i_68Ky5cHj9dFomzASq7PpZRqE34PKSoGDxyM3IFEev8-W5riqq9BbYluFvYZYGxPuBDA4qznOHwavDSUJZSsQHfkUN0zZsWr4CCeywMcoiiw7LooZmVVa/s1600/f7d6581794daf40c3e61f5166735e8a7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR05IcXiEwwhqGcFyk35VlW8i_68Ky5cHj9dFomzASq7PpZRqE34PKSoGDxyM3IFEev8-W5riqq9BbYluFvYZYGxPuBDA4qznOHwavDSUJZSsQHfkUN0zZsWr4CCeywMcoiiw7LooZmVVa/s400/f7d6581794daf40c3e61f5166735e8a7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axn_sonys_satellite_tv_channel_eggs_sofa">http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axn_sonys_satellite_tv_channel_eggs_sofa</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: According to Egg Bench designer Grace Chen, an egg it not as fragile as you might think. Each egg on her egg bench can hold 120 pounds of weight.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCVJ2bvJIOvxpmXDs1tZIbjGNTIp-GbDfjsOQ-V7Dz2WirBYFILiodhIYuAY3Md45spgdBiat_pzM7fR1AYrK86a8OydL56AuK2ynz3jinB9TaHYcmo99L4-oLHl9Rdx7soKF8HiLMlOl/s1600/sitting-on-an-egg-bench-sitting.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCVJ2bvJIOvxpmXDs1tZIbjGNTIp-GbDfjsOQ-V7Dz2WirBYFILiodhIYuAY3Md45spgdBiat_pzM7fR1AYrK86a8OydL56AuK2ynz3jinB9TaHYcmo99L4-oLHl9Rdx7soKF8HiLMlOl/s320/sitting-on-an-egg-bench-sitting.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/10/30/egg-bench-by-grace-chen/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/10/30/egg-bench-by-grace-chen/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">As for Easter egg benches, I'll just have to chick it out.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYw_9rvXryEoYEGrL7Pg5xogk-VI6yG2Sat6MV5AuFd9yuFF6dkwZ0W_5tLjbZLlrA6bQpE45EKcQ2V2o0jlFebxGGJDFEeeUZb1SRrnXJsOUvBu49bm5G4cVnxCypaoqN-dQ0KpC9ddQ/s1600/ged.carroll.renaissancechambara.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYw_9rvXryEoYEGrL7Pg5xogk-VI6yG2Sat6MV5AuFd9yuFF6dkwZ0W_5tLjbZLlrA6bQpE45EKcQ2V2o0jlFebxGGJDFEeeUZb1SRrnXJsOUvBu49bm5G4cVnxCypaoqN-dQ0KpC9ddQ/s320/ged.carroll.renaissancechambara.fkcc.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/renaissancechambara/2347726277/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/renaissancechambara/2347726277/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;">Mungo: This is the wrong date for Easter this year. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Golly, there are quite a few errors in this story. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I've got egg on my face.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbfzSqh7nlwO9EbZu5TnLIu9JOc524FGsGVL1EaM0zkKOjLpjIRLqu_LXC6RMw8RvlK2w2fc3IqqLcxlAoOODj2xE9tW06ZOLEkYvsDdYkK15YjceCBkIjYEwamHQmXZ9TS9njzaDWLy2K/s1600/contusion.courtney.mault.3403068028_2b8a5a8833_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbfzSqh7nlwO9EbZu5TnLIu9JOc524FGsGVL1EaM0zkKOjLpjIRLqu_LXC6RMw8RvlK2w2fc3IqqLcxlAoOODj2xE9tW06ZOLEkYvsDdYkK15YjceCBkIjYEwamHQmXZ9TS9njzaDWLy2K/s320/contusion.courtney.mault.3403068028_2b8a5a8833_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/contusion/3403068028/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/contusion/3403068028/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: And it's a bit boring.</span> <span style="color: magenta;">I'd like to see more fluffy bunnies and little chicks and cute stuff. </span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMqSI1HhKX0Qckr3eoAfK1lyK9uwyhhFzdU59ihfJQAD6pBz_jSxEQgbJg3BsQupOBkjByqdNKqOFpCZvB_-B1dtfIg3-Kjp2Vb7RaJZPOZ3zfeLdPFgoFVUrtUQproQtfLnhyBCNA0jt/s1600/victorian1920.etsy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMqSI1HhKX0Qckr3eoAfK1lyK9uwyhhFzdU59ihfJQAD6pBz_jSxEQgbJg3BsQupOBkjByqdNKqOFpCZvB_-B1dtfIg3-Kjp2Vb7RaJZPOZ3zfeLdPFgoFVUrtUQproQtfLnhyBCNA0jt/s320/victorian1920.etsy.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br />This Easter egg story is exhausting.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaII-YYSj6HE2i_6PjoTs6_0IJpIRYKX9LGXcMZISaMusbvxyEs5rNJZKRv9aZV9GrRGkN-qbABW8U7-i9jrI6vQnmnTLEnDylS7yfe8ZFXyC6z6p5yO1jw1Jmz5xtoscBlRch5aMX6Y7c/s1600/Pad+at+Easter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaII-YYSj6HE2i_6PjoTs6_0IJpIRYKX9LGXcMZISaMusbvxyEs5rNJZKRv9aZV9GrRGkN-qbABW8U7-i9jrI6vQnmnTLEnDylS7yfe8ZFXyC6z6p5yO1jw1Jmz5xtoscBlRch5aMX6Y7c/s320/Pad+at+Easter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Egg benches seem to have stirred up a lot of emotions.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXv_pGbK_TdznCYSiAKNY07ZeueQZ4WExV6IQjMQQbVnZa2PV1pv0PrfVatkZgLOplHJbAVwZmc8YhxFxE71L7BN1qixUScX60V65fx8BVne75oE3LXC14U7dLl-zBnHR77tATLr6TqR78/s1600/lynsey_wells83.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXv_pGbK_TdznCYSiAKNY07ZeueQZ4WExV6IQjMQQbVnZa2PV1pv0PrfVatkZgLOplHJbAVwZmc8YhxFxE71L7BN1qixUScX60V65fx8BVne75oE3LXC14U7dLl-zBnHR77tATLr6TqR78/s320/lynsey_wells83.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynsey_wells83/11054897226/%C2%A0" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynsey_wells83/11054897226/ </span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: This blog is certainly nothing to crow about.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhub4Wdoett3UYnCxut7Q6kO48THbO6jib0Gl4eyxVnNv6TzbATMm71UZiUytLO1kM_CEOy4hXqebj4ugmlwk7SabMJjEyl3iFdTKtP-HiA1l0-MGq13b1CxQ97ocxaQ-JjYOOzIXE2eIaA/s1600/slurve.tim.rose.fkcc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhub4Wdoett3UYnCxut7Q6kO48THbO6jib0Gl4eyxVnNv6TzbATMm71UZiUytLO1kM_CEOy4hXqebj4ugmlwk7SabMJjEyl3iFdTKtP-HiA1l0-MGq13b1CxQ97ocxaQ-JjYOOzIXE2eIaA/s320/slurve.tim.rose.fkcc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: start;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/slurve/1410379588">https://www.flickr.com/photos/slurve/1410379588</a></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Mungo: Larry the Lamb could have done better.</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoe8xfg_CXz9jItFmx5AnIyEfCYu09qKjoYYQU6CzA6HNHY9LZQLTLhhQBcKiCw_wU-pxuln-2jfVXVmVjUWrxx1KXEhlgi6MbtMJxyGRB_HUFn2O8dYbrDIN5FmvVNeL134RpAy6g91-9/s5312/20200511_164146.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5312" data-original-width="2988" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoe8xfg_CXz9jItFmx5AnIyEfCYu09qKjoYYQU6CzA6HNHY9LZQLTLhhQBcKiCw_wU-pxuln-2jfVXVmVjUWrxx1KXEhlgi6MbtMJxyGRB_HUFn2O8dYbrDIN5FmvVNeL134RpAy6g91-9/w225-h400/20200511_164146.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #ff00fe;"><span style="color: black;">Well, what can I say? I'm no spring chicken. </span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #ff00fe;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #ff00fe;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUSe1ZbmQfWIK6A-DlWGAvsTpmf256nq1fMMjokPMRRgSbgfXNR2zTH4VoEmanjgVVvcc6h5UagoAU0uf9I2jzPsRb1s-KMFbF2ENu0zRJtQeLIPTM9iyjz_-AVvobxFSRIQdztQHCmD5r2SLXNH_hQb7A85eADPvYMB5rsABsuzsDcKyiqTxsvjycw/s654/FB_IMG_1641492508302.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="460" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUSe1ZbmQfWIK6A-DlWGAvsTpmf256nq1fMMjokPMRRgSbgfXNR2zTH4VoEmanjgVVvcc6h5UagoAU0uf9I2jzPsRb1s-KMFbF2ENu0zRJtQeLIPTM9iyjz_-AVvobxFSRIQdztQHCmD5r2SLXNH_hQb7A85eADPvYMB5rsABsuzsDcKyiqTxsvjycw/w281-h400/FB_IMG_1641492508302.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://Costume-works.com">Costume-works.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Tamsin: Ohhhhhh, this little chick is soooooo cute!</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm a bad egg.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6x7U0Cd7iRJy2-sn5WW9CL8isgUY2WmcyWv1jsorN4mWVdVjjsBHUKeXWxheu4ScVedsk1MaygCDGaUMM5DOXDhCfXZA1J2gRAM5cqDPrdTevBlyzHW7N4WglBVARip-QQc3hmzkpp-mn/s1600/BadEgg.RonMcNeilFK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6x7U0Cd7iRJy2-sn5WW9CL8isgUY2WmcyWv1jsorN4mWVdVjjsBHUKeXWxheu4ScVedsk1MaygCDGaUMM5DOXDhCfXZA1J2gRAM5cqDPrdTevBlyzHW7N4WglBVARip-QQc3hmzkpp-mn/s320/BadEgg.RonMcNeilFK.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/63488526@N07/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/63488526@N07/ </span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I'm headed for a Great Fall.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRl_qeM2UyUEkaWPU9ms1GD9vWIaUK3tlfjqf7euiYLc70aMYxADBo1JvzQqIdHlSkvfENUdABl2z36hk1Q8GXoYS1n9YEPisNjRmPhaIj89Ox5cBtcwLH2YW9c0xpx4rnWx8do0Nrg2tJ/s1600/4468802828_43cc8fd905_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRl_qeM2UyUEkaWPU9ms1GD9vWIaUK3tlfjqf7euiYLc70aMYxADBo1JvzQqIdHlSkvfENUdABl2z36hk1Q8GXoYS1n9YEPisNjRmPhaIj89Ox5cBtcwLH2YW9c0xpx4rnWx8do0Nrg2tJ/s320/4468802828_43cc8fd905_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bengillin/4468802828/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bengillin/4468802828/</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #b45f06;">His Excellency: There is something alien about this egg.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: I love Humpty Dumpty!</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">It doesn't end well for him.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;">Tamsin: This is sooooo sad! </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: magenta;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444;">It would be nice to end with an egg bench but I can't find one. </span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444;">Never mind. As they say in France, <i>un oeuf is </i>un <i>oeuf</i>.</span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Happy Easter anyway!</span></span></span></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7jAROHB155ggboQrJPAoPbr_KFKlqolkikWQdf-UNka8m_QdjR1wKF9UZTnWNAri0UNUsFMaeSIHWC8yh8jdoC0ozBWDrPeiHITenLgIIM_xYNLWqxBgd0TA8rEgoouQ4chmMa-S6reOQ/s1600/Pomeroy+Easter+bench.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7jAROHB155ggboQrJPAoPbr_KFKlqolkikWQdf-UNka8m_QdjR1wKF9UZTnWNAri0UNUsFMaeSIHWC8yh8jdoC0ozBWDrPeiHITenLgIIM_xYNLWqxBgd0TA8rEgoouQ4chmMa-S6reOQ/s400/Pomeroy+Easter+bench.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>Credits</b></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The hatching woman is Dorothy Gulliver, an actress who began her career in silent movies in the mid 1920's. In the 1930's she was often found as a supporting player in westerns, but one of her very early roles was as a cast regular in "The Collegians", a series of short films in 1926 that depicted the life and antics of college students (or what Hollywood thought college students were like). This photo of Dorothy from 1926 is a publicity still for The Collegians.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The egg bench at the start of the story is by designer Grace e Chen, first seen on Inhabitat in 2010. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Inhabitat is a female designer working in cyberspace from Novato, California. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/inhabitat/4612445087/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/inhabitat/4612445087/</a> However, t</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">he photo of Grace's debut bench that <span style="font-family: verdana;">I have used here was seen at chairblog.eu, together with the later picture of someone (Grace?) sitting on the bench. Here is Grace's explanation of her work: </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Composed of six dozen eggs delicately seated on a solid walnut base, Egg Bench was created to challenge common misconception that eggs are fragile. By researching this complex </i></span><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">physical structure, I discovered that each egg can support and distribute a load of 120 lbs maximum. To insure success, my unique design isolates each egg into an optimum position and ensures that it remains motionless. The result is a piece that invites the sitter to suspend their disbelief and to embrace a new appreciation for this powerful, natural creation.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span></i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/10/30/egg-bench-by-grace-chen/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/10/30/egg-bench-by-grace-chen/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><br />The wax doll hatching out of a golden egg is either sweet or creepy, depending on how you feel about babies and where they come from. This a Victorian artwork dating from 1870 to 1889. It's at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. <br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Anna Hull from West Sussex is The Bunny Maker, Maker of Rabbits. It all started because her eldest son loves soft bunnies and what was one sock bunny became two, then five, then ....... they took over. She now has a whole album of sock bunnies, like the </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">blue and pink sock bunnies are hatching out of their egg-like boxes on on a garden bench in 2009. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/halfanacre/3388382910/" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/halfanacre/3388382910/</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Widget Widget was, and still is, The Most Important Bunny. You can see Widget and his friends at <a href="http://www.widgetandfriends.co.uk/">http://www.widgetandfriends.co.uk/</a> Do we have rabbit benches here on Benchsite? We certainly do! </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div><br /></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Welcome Spring is a welcoming bench pillow cover from Chelsea and Charlie at Pink Door Fabrics in Colorado. They sell scrumptious modern quilting and craft fabrics, including new arrivals like Fox Field by Tula Pink, Maisie and Clementine by Blend Fabrics, Wee Wander by Sarah Jane, Littlest by Art Gallery, Sweet as Honey, April Showers Precuts, Mirabelle precuts, Helen's Garden by Tamara Kate. I could go on and on but I won't. You can see their shop at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PinkDoorFabrics">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PinkDoorFabrics</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Poultry is popular here on Benchsite. There are plenty of rooster benches in 2017, <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/china-in-year-of-rooster-bench.html">The Year of the Rooster</a>. For Easter 2015 we were eggstatic when we celebrated with some sprightly Spring Chicken benches at <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/no-spring-chicken-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/no-spring-chicken-benches.html</a> And in 2014 we had <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html">Sunny Bunny Easter benches</a>, presented by </span>April, age six, who lives here in Fribble-under-Par with her parallel selves, May and June. The girls always turn up together to community events and are among the very few children here on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Paradise</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>. They love Tamsin's baby, Isambard, and they have a pet lemon called Squeezy, who looks a little sinister but maybe he's just a sourpuss. Here they are last Easter on their yellow benches:</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4BKEbKWPuZwb9kJF9V4tiLWLUPo0TL1TjOFW-YPVVGp01fFSqFX8LZbHGPtILUjdono-xWxVgdwopLXG93W4V2GPlGWiRKmU3zTvrQs47X-8yJn_WAAaAsyg-VQS4LoD77R1t4J4kpaV/s1600/pet+lemon+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4BKEbKWPuZwb9kJF9V4tiLWLUPo0TL1TjOFW-YPVVGp01fFSqFX8LZbHGPtILUjdono-xWxVgdwopLXG93W4V2GPlGWiRKmU3zTvrQs47X-8yJn_WAAaAsyg-VQS4LoD77R1t4J4kpaV/s320/pet+lemon+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/springy-yellow-benches.html">Springy benches</a> featured on Benchsite back in April 2014. The red one is in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse and comes from an ex-pat American who has travelled from the Midwest to Southwest Germany, and everywhere inbetween. She recounts her adventures, observations, and tips for living, visiting, and enjoying Kaiserslautern, Germany. <a href="http://aroundthewherever.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/a-bit-of-neustadt-der-weinstrasses.html">http://aroundthewherever.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/a-bit-of-neustadt-der-weinstrasses.html</a></span><br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">I am lucky enough to have two husbands. One is Mungo, my imaginary husband, who </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">keeps a good workbench. </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The other is </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">His Excellency, who has a reputation for destruction, even when he means well. He's a philosopher and, to say the least, not a very practical person. You can appreciate his difficulties if you know his <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/schools-out-for-summer-benches.html">school bench history</a>. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Egg still-lifes are very popular subjects in painting. Eggs are excellent models; they sit very still and their patience never cracks. And if it does, you can make them into egg tempera and get on with your painting. The egg still-life is a 1915 painting by Dutch artist Floris Verster (1861-1927). He was a painter, etcher and lithographer who spent his whole life in The Netherlands. The painting is at the art museum in Utrecht.</span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The devilled egg chicks are a clever creation by Janice Newell Bissex and Liz Weiss, the Meal Makeover Moms. You can visit their website at www.mealmakeovermoms.com or see their 2012 Easter treats at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mealmakeovermoms/6905448780">https://www.flickr.com/photos/mealmakeovermoms/6905448780</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We have platefuls of food benches here on Benchsite. There are some very <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html">tasty Italian benches</a> and strangely <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edible-benches-with-jench-de-bench.html">edible benches</a> which look quite appetising, despite the exploits of the odious chef Jench de Bench. We have <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-cream-of-bovine-benches.html">creamy bovine benches</a> and <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/we-all-scream-for-ice-cream-benches.html">delicious ice cream benches</a>. And then we have logs that look like cake and cake that looks like logs and <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/log-benches-just-logs-and-cake.html">logs and/or cake that looks like benches</a>. </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Liz Kearley from Charlotte, North Carolina, loves photography and dachshunds. She used to run the Comment on Cuteness Flickr group, (now disbanded). </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Liz's dog Honey Bunny makes a very attractive rabbit. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/5644086363/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/5644086363/</a> For some very appealing dog benches see </span><b> </b><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dog-bench-days-of-august.html</a></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Alanna George is a freelance graphic designer and stay-at-home mom for her two small children. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Her love of design and flair for crafting keeps her busy creating handmade gifts, jewelry and </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">cards for all occasions.Her craft repertoire includes not only scrapbooking and papercrafting </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">but also sewing, needle felting, jewelry making and more. One of her creations is the lovely </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">spring chicks from Easter 2010. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alannageorge/4587225768/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/alannageorge/4587225768/</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Tamsin is a sweet local girl who works here in Fribble-under-Par in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy. Ever a follower of fashion, Tamsin likes to try anything new, even lurid purple Easter frocks. She has a French fiance, Garcon Orange, and a baby named Isambard Kevin, whose paternal origins are unknown. And she has a rather odd perspective on life, as shown in the post she helped me with about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/big-bench-small-bench-cute-and-tiny.html">big and small benches</a>. If you think size doesn't matter, you ought to see it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Red Shoes is a 2011 Bench Monday photograph taken by the ever-clever Karina at Bunches and Bits. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/5342959385" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/5342959385</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> In fact, I like Karina's photos so much that I've used another one in this story. It's the one with the eggs in a basket on the floor. Karina calls it <i>Watching My Eggs</i> and it's from a Bench Monday in 2009, when she photographed every day; this is Day 113/365. The bench was newly recovered and Katrina just had to include the rooster. </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/4128780564" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/4128780564</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">We're cock-a-hoop about roosters in 2017 <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/china-in-year-of-rooster-bench.html">The Year of the Rooster Bench</a>.</span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ohkylel@twitter is a boring fat guy with an attractive wife, a 16 year old son, and four year old daughter. His life in Blue Ash, USA is the typical stuff a good sitcom contains, including Lego chicks coming out of their shells. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thekmancom/9539704167">https://www.flickr.com/photos/thekmancom/9539704167</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jessie Pearl from Yucapia, California is a Boss level photographer. Her website is at <a href="http://terwilligerphoto.com/">http://terwilligerphoto.com/</a> She has a photostream full of colourful Easter eggs, one of which is the basket of eggs shown in this story. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/terwilliger911/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/terwilliger911/</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The elegant oval bench is called <i>Harmony</i> and it's a limited edition by Chinese designer Xiao Tianyu at Wuhao </span><a href="http://www.wuhaoonline.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.wuhaoonline.com</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Working now as a freelance designer, Xiao Tianyu graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Harmony combines the traditional woodwork of China with the comfort of western materials. <i>Harmony</i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> was exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2011. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I first saw his work at </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/inhabitat/5642696442/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.flickr.com/photos/inhabitat/5642696442/</a><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The mid-century Egg Chair is a classic design by Danish designer Arne Jacobsen. A great example is the yellow Egg Chair print by shopgirlinprint Caroline Moseley in Perth, Australia. At her etsy shop Caroline designs wit and wonder for your walls, such as the classic mid-century Egg Chair in yellow and white. Shopgirl in Print Mini-Art comes in a set of two, which includes 'You and Me, Baby', with a bright yellow background, and the mid-century inspired 'Egg Chair' in yellow and white. Mini-Art is perfect for a pin board, mood board or to frame. Each print measures 13cmx18cm and is printed on 210gsm silk-finish paper. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/191067425/mini-art-set-of-2-pocket-sized-art-for?ref=related-6">https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/191067425/mini-art-set-of-2-pocket-sized-art-for?ref=related-6</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If you doubt that it's possible to find anything online, try Googling </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Bacon</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> and </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Bench</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. Yep. Here's the bacon-coffee-table-handmade bench, which sold on Etsy in 2011 for round about £475.77. </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/111794707/bacon-coffee-table-handmade-bench" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/111794707/bacon-coffee-table-handmade-bench</a> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The creator is Ryan Fitzpatrick, from Texas, whose shop is Masters of Fate at <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MastersOfFate">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MastersOfFate</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The lovely embroidered and beaded Easter chick is a lovingly hand-crafted work by Constanza, aka peregrine blue, in 2009. Constanza comes from Santiago in Chile and currently lives in Camarillo, California. I spent a long time looking at her brilliant arts and crafts. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/peregrineblue/3344868539">https://www.flickr.com/photos/peregrineblue/3344868539</a> </span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Loren Javier lives in LA and photographed the colourful Perry the platypus bench at the Phineas and Ferb exhibition in San Diego in 2011 <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/5963375484/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/5963375484/ </a> Loren has an annual pass at Disneyland and he has loads of photos from Universal Studios too, including a whole collection of Norman Bates and the Bates Motel. That's why he's been on Benchsite before; if you want to have the wits scared out of you, see the <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/terrifying-benches-for-halloween.html">spine-tingling Halloween post</a>.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Duck Bench is in Pages Wood in London, sculpted by Andy Frost. It's on the London Loop Section 22 Harold Wood to Upminster Bridge. It was photographed by Maureen Barlin, who lives in Richmond near London and gets out and about throughout the UK with her camera. She has interesting albums of all kinds of art, culture and fun events. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/maureen_barlin/10706275283/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/maureen_barlin/10706275283/ </a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jeff Turmelle has only 23 photos on his photostream, which include landscapes, a penguin, a puff adder, and the egg yolk bench which he saw on Tallman Mountain in 2009. Well, if you're going to have a very small photostream, one of the pictures ought to be a bench. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/26615859@N05/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/26615859@N05/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Innocent married Root, the son of Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly. Since their <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/three-weddings-and-some-benches.html">Scottish wedding</a>, Innocent has emerged from her convent nursing dress into something of a <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-silver-and-gold-new-year-debacle.html">fashion icon</a>. But just how innocent is Innocent? Last year in the Springy Yellow Bench post she turned up to a party in rabbit ears and ended up dressed as a Mexican flag. Is this a bit of fun or a careful strategy to unnerve the Easter Bunny? For a whole fiesta of Mexican benches, see </span><a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html">http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html</a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The fried egg bench was seen at the open Air Museum in Hakone, Japan in 2008. The photographer is Cinjo, from San Rafael, California <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tcej/2960250633">https://www.flickr.com/photos/tcej/2960250633</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The little white bunny baby is Riley Cole Hinkle at Easter 2009. It was bright and he needed to wear his sunglasses, along with his bunny ears. The photograph was taken by Hinkle Riley and available at <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_riley_006_(Medium).jpg?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_riley_006_(Medium).jpg?uselang=en-gb</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Easter bunny made of straw is sitting on the market well in Neckargemund in Germany in 2009. As it happens, Mungo and I have stayed in Neckargemund and have cycled along the lovely Neckar in the area around Heidelberg. The bunny was photographed by Nemracc and can be seen on Wikicommons at <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.JPG?uselang=en-gb">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.JPG?uselang=en-gb</a> There are lots more <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/getting-high-on-alpine-benches.html">alpine benches</a> and other <a href="http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/desperately-seeking-benches-our-summer.html">benches from Germany</a> here on Benchsite. </span><br /><div><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The very cool boiled egg chairs are from Cool Jacobs Flagship Store in China. They are made from fiberglass and sold at <a href="http://yrkubus.tmall.com/">http://yrkubus.tmall.com</a>, who have sooooo many varieties of Egg Chairs that you won't believe it. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The egg sofa is called <i>Relax. If you can</i>. It was for AXN, Sony's Satellite TV channel back in 2006. The AXN Channel is/was? focussed on energy programs, impressive tv series, high tension films, so the <i>Relax</i> concept is totally relevant. The clever advertising agency was The Voluntarily United Group of Creative Agencies, 1861 United, Milan, Italy. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> <a href="http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axn_sonys_satellite_tv_channel_eggs_sofa">http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axn_sonys_satellite_tv_channel_eggs_sofa</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ged Carroll is Renaissance Chambara. He lives mostly in Hong Kong and his occupation is digital, strategy, social media, web X.0 type thingy. He photographed Chick it Out in a year when Easter was on March 23rd. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/renaissancechambara/2347726277/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/renaissancechambara/2347726277/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There is a lot of fun with eggs going on in Flickr photos. The egg face is by Courtney 'Coco' Mault, dating back to 2009. Those eggs will be cold by now. Coco lives in Omaha and has a number of blogs, including one called <i>Your Dress Would Look Better on Me</i>. Coco's sense of fashion and general zaniness kept me amused for ages. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/contusion/3403068028/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/contusion/3403068028/</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Victorian1920 is an etsy shop featuring creative designs by Colette in Connecticut. <i>Bunnies I Love</i> is a digital collage greeting card featuring a beautiful little boy and his favourite rabbits. The shop is full of delights and the loveliness just goes on and on. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920">https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Did Paddington colour all these Easter eggs and then fall asleep in his chair? No, he didn't. They were coloured by Miggy's family for Easter 2016.</span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Egg Moticons are by Veronica Aguilar, who is from Granada in Spain but currently lives in London. They were Egg-actly the right thing for Easter 2013.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynsey_wells83/11054897226/%C2%A0">https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynsey_wells83/11054897226/ </a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The huge rooster on a wall is called Morning; that's when roosters are at their best. It was photographed in 2007 by Tom Rose, who is a web developer from Philadelphia. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/slurve/1410379588">https://www.flickr.com/photos/slurve/1410379588</a></span><br /><div><br /></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ron McNeil is an artist based in the Scottish highlands, working in both Pop Surrealist and abstract genres of painting and drawing. He has degrees in fine art printmaking, fine art painting, and photomedia. Bad Egg is one of his wonderful graphite illustrations</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/63488526@N07/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/63488526@N07/ </a> His other work can be seen at <a href="http://www.spanglefish.com/ronmcneilart">http://www.spanglefish.com/ronmcneilart</a></span><br /><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Happy Humpty Dumpty Alien was photographed on his wall/bench in 2010 by Ben Gillin, who is a graphic designer. Humpty was apparently at the Bayou City Art Festival in Houston, as was Ben. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bengillin/4468802828/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/bengillin/4468802828/</a></span><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miggy saw the bench at the end of the story in a shop on Main Street in Pomeroy, Washington. What a great little town! What a great window display!</span></div></div></div>Seashellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13359624513025724673noreply@blogger.com0