Here in the UK it's National Sandwich Week May 15-22 so it's time to get your sandwiches out for a picnic on a bench in some lovely spot.
This sign will help you find the way.
 |
| http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterdenton/ |
Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly: I'll be jiggered if I can see a sandwich here.
You don't see a sandwich? Well, it's all in the name. This bench is in Sandwich in Kent.
 |
| http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarah_presh |
Lord Brassica: I've got a jolly hamper here to see me through the afternoon. Punnet of strawberries and whatnot. My dog Pru fancies a spot of caviar.
It looks like you're getting into the swing of it, Lord B.
Lord B: Steady on. Who said anything about swinging?
So what's your favourite sandwich bench?
Turkey perhaps?
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/8113246@N02/8203258965 |
Eddie: I've got news for you: this isn't a turkey.
You're quite right, Eddie. It's more of a hot dog I guess.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/leff/8208546895 |
Eddie: It's neither a dog nor a sandwich. I hope you're going to stick to the story this time.
My best imaginary friend Miggy: I'm going to need a
Eddie: Sandwiches. Picnic. Benches. That's all.
Lord B: And lashings of ginger beer of course. Some ginger beer would be spiffing.
You know how it goes when my friends and neighbours get involved. The picnic benches comments stack up . . .
. . . and before you know it, things have taken a turn.
Lord Brassica: that's a jolly nice looking gel but I'm not about to lower myself onto terra firma for a picnic.
Lord Brassica: Cripes and double cripes! This is a load of old codswallop. Give me a traditional picnic bench any time.
This sort of thing?
Lord Brassica: By jove, this grassy bench would be jolly useful for grazing my cows.
Eddie: I have a beef with this.
You always have a complaint about something, Eddie. What's your problem this time?
Eddie: You did the picnic table story before with Lord Brassica. The two of you made a right royal hash of it.
So corn beef hash is your sandwich bench of choice is it, Eddie?
Eddie: Of course not. I'm a primate.
My sandwich bench of choice is a banana.
Miggy: I'm with you there, Eddie. Banana benches are very appealing.
Eddie: Same old joke . . .
Miggy: But have you ever tried a banana sandwich with M&Ms?
Bananas and M&Ms - yummy!
Eddie's right. We did picnic tables before and Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, was an excellent guide. But this story is more about sandwiches.
Lord Brassica: Sandwiches, bah!
I thought you'd be keen on sandwiches, Lord B. After all, your cousin was the original Earl of Sandwich.
Lord B: Yes, nice enough chap. Put some roast beef between two slices of bread and started a trend I believe.
Miggy: That was in 1762. Some trend.
Eddie: History repeats itself. As do these Benchsite jokes.
I pay your salary, Eddie.
Just remember where yourkeyring sandwich bread is buttered.
Lord B: My wife did a terribly good fashion shot with the butter bench in the village.
Lady B: I would like to make it clear that I would never at any time eat butter or anything with butter in it. Just saying the word butter sends fat to my thighs.
Sandwich. Bench. PLEASE.
Tamsin: I like butter in my sandwich bench.
Tamsin: And mayonnaise.
Butter and mayonnaise?
His Excellency: Maybe you'd like a slab of lard too? There's nothing like getting a lot of fat between two slices of bread.
Miggy: Too right! My favourite sandwich is Victoria Sponge.
Miggy: Of course jam sandwich benches are lovely too.
Eddie: Especially if you've got a peanut bench to go with it.
Which, of course, we have.
Tamsin: I like Red Bench Jam.
That sounds more like a breakfast picnic.
Eddie: So who has brought the picnic basket bench?
Ursula: And who has brought the sandwiches?
Tamsin: Did anyone pick up the biscuit bench?
Mungo: I've looked everywhere but I don't see any sandwich benches.
Miggy: There's no one here but us chickens.
His Excellency: It looks like we're quite a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
Now what do we do?
Lord Brassica: Don't get your knickers in a twist Old Thing. I'll send for a Harrod's Hamper and the butler and the jam.
Root: Unwin's off today. He's down in the village reading his newspaper.
Lord Brassica: Reading? What a ruddy waste of time.
His Excellency: He did iron the paper before he read it though.
Looks like it could be a long wait for the hamper. I guess in the meantime we can watch the peacocks.
Root: I've never fancied it, but right now I'm thinking a peacock sandwich would go down a treat.
Mungo: I don't approve. Birds are not for eating.
Maybe some poetry while we wait then. A book of verse beneath the bough?
His Excellency: Yes. And a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou.
HAPPY PICNIC DAY!
Credits
In the UK it's National Sandwich Week from 15-22 May and then it's International Picnic Week in June. In the US Picnic Month is in July. And yes, we have had picnic benches before on Benchsite. Lots of them. Let Lord Brassica be your guide http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html
Peter Denton is a retired writer and editor. He says his Flickr site is a bit like an old barn - you'll find all kinds of trivia and ephemera, some of it quite old, some taken yesterday. I love the Ham and Sandwich road sign which Peter photographed in Kent. His photostream has photographs from around the world, including benches, and can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterdenton/
Sarah Presh takes wonderful photographs, including the photo of the bench under the willow tree in Sandwich, Kent. Her photostream is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarah_presh
John, the current (11th) Earl of Sandwich opened a chain of sandwich shops called, yes, you guessed it - The Earl of Sandwich. There was one in Orlando and another one in London. If you don't believe me check 1,411 QI Facts at www.qi.com/1411 page 74.
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. https://www.flickr.com/photos/leff/8208546895 For an entirely different kind of turkey bench see http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/troys-thanksgiving-turkey-benches.html
Pinké is a native Texan who 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.https://www.flickr.com/photos/8113246@N02/8203258965
If you like dogs, there are plenty of great dog benches here on Benchsite.
Martijn Engelbreght and Miguel Brugman's 'Rest' Air Restaurant was in Wageningen, Netherlands in 2008. Unfortunately, they are no longer taking reservations. But isn't this the most wonderful thing? Martijn gave me permission to use the picture. He has a very cool website address: www.egbg.nl
There are lots more clever Dutch benches, in fact a whole alphabet of them at
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 experience as a furniture designer. Sofas in knots, upside down tables - it's great to see his quirky, twisty, mind-bending stuff. The green tangled picnic table from 2013 is called Picnic. He also made the table that spills over the top of the rails at the end of the story.
http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html
The beautiful painting Sunday in the Garden is by Norwegian artist Jacob Bratland (1859-1906). It is in the Lillehammer Kunstmuseum in Norway.
The first picnic table under deep snow is in the Wiehen Hills near Nonnenstein Mountain in Rödinghausen, District of Herford, North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. It was photographed in January 2010 and put onto Wikimedia by TUBS. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:R%C3%B6dinghausen_2009-01-10_044.jpg?uselang=en-gb For more frozen picnic tables and a whole lot of very cold benches let my Snowvenian friends Stanko and Darko show you a good time. http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html
The Daily Bread bench was photographed by Jeremy Mikkola in Boone, North Carolina in 2009. Jeremy is also known as silenceofnight and can be found in San Francisco, where he lives, and, apparently, all over the internet. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremy512/3187903412/
Ursula Makepeace is our Unicorn in Residence here onParadise Island
The ice cream sandwich bench is from Jellio and if you're a regular reader of this blog you'll have seen it before in the Edible Benches post. (Yes, maybe too much of a food focus here - Miggy's influence). It's the kind of bench everyone loves. I want one. It's one of many Fantastic Food furniture pieces from www.jellio.com It costs $950.
In 2010 Corn, Bread, Dough, Dosh was a shiny new bench at the bottom of The Moor in Sheffield, UK. It was photographed by Tim Dennell, a photography enthusiast with an art and design training (Leeds College of Art); also a teacher of computing & technology. He combines a love of art & design, technology, an interest in people and the world around him in photography. Other Sheffield benches photographed by Tim include Let There Be Roast Parsnips and Mardy Bums. https://www.flickr.com/photos/shefftim/4898622708/
The pig bench was outside the Healdsburg Charcuterie in Healdsburg, California in 2010. It was photographed by Niall Kennedy, a software engineer who likes hiking, dogs, food, travel and scenes around his home and work in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley. https://www.flickr.com/photos/niallkennedy/4886919707/
Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer here onParadise Island
Lady Jessica Brassica is a fashionista and former model with Studio Joop from Overbearing inHolland County Offhand in Ireland
If you doubt that it's possible to find anything online, try Googling Bacon and Bench. Yep. Here's the bacon-coffee-table-handmade bench, which sold on Etsy in 2011 for round about £475.77. https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/111794707/bacon-coffee-table-handmade-bench The creator is Ryan Fitzpatrick, from Texas, whose shop is Masters of Fate at https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MastersOfFate
Retro Grandma collects all kind of interesting retro stuff at Retro Classics in Saskatchewan. She informed me recently that the vintage condiment set has been sold. But of course she has lots of other brilliant retro stuff at www.etsy.com/shop/retroclassics Her blogspot is at http://www.retrograndma.blogspot.com
The Carrot Girl with the shapely figure is from my 2014 collection of Rude Vegetables.
I am particularly fond of Edible Benches. 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 bench was created by Chris Pallace and Kevin Serwacki for Benches on Parade in Rochester in 2010. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudebigdog/
Brian Yap has a whole album of photos from Gyeongju, Korea Gyeongju dating back to 2006. The photo of the grape bench is one of them. https://www.flickr.com/photos/yewenyi/326964781/ Brian is an electrical engineer who loves travelling all over the world. He has over 33,000 photos, including a variety of benches.
Why goats aren't allowed in libraries (2009) was written by Murray McCain with drawings by John Alcorn. It was photographed by Nick Sherman, who is a graphic designer, skateboarder and musician living in Brooklyn. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicksherman/3931121478/
Goats love benches and they love picnic tables. The white goat sitting calmly on a picnic table was photographed by Jim h in 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/13010352@N04/2231157710 The photo is one of a Flickr group called goats, antelopes, cows, wild sheep and deer. And that's not the only Flickr goat group: there's another one run by someone called goateatingshirt. If you're interested in goat benches, we had a whole year of them back in 2015.
Unwin, The Cool Butler with Tray, is three feet tall and, as Lord Brassica says, looks like a thoroughly decent chap, even after having raspberry jam on his head. He was auctioned by New York Live Auctioneers in 2008 at a starting bid of $100. Wherever he's ended up, I hope there are no wasps. Speaking of insect benches, we're all abuzz with them at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/national-insect-week-buzz-about-benches.html
The striking purple and lime green picnic bench is in the cafe at the FRAC contemporary art museum in Dunkirk, France. I have to say, on the last occasion I visited, the picnic bench outdid the exhibitions.
The picNYC grass table is by architect Haiko Cornelissen in New York. It was a 2012 New York Design Week favourite. Not surprising. You can have a picnic anytime you want. http://hairkocornelissen.com
The brown cow bench is one of several bench sculptures called Eastwick Park Farm, made by Rosalie Sherman in 1983 as part of the ongoing Philadelphia Public Art project. http://www.philart.net/ It includes a vast array of public art: 846 sculptures, fountains, mosaics, memorials and, of course, benches, scattered all around Philadelphia. There are driving site tours and maps for locating the art. The scale of the Philart project is really quite something and it's being added to all the time. Here on Benchsite, Rosalie's sheep made it onto Noah's Ark of animal benches.
The pig bench was outside the Healdsburg Charcuterie in Healdsburg, California in 2010. It was photographed by Niall Kennedy, a software engineer who likes hiking, dogs, food, travel and scenes around his home and work in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley. https://www.flickr.com/photos/niallkennedy/4886919707/
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. http://www.flickr.com/photos/imjustwalkin/6849110336/
The Zjedzony banana chair looks good enough to eat and indeed Zjedzony means eaten in Polish. I won't tell Eddie this though as he'll make a fuss about learning Polish. The Zjedzony chair comes from Wamhouse in Poland www.wamhouse.pl 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.
Milo, from Seattle, is a writer, photographer, traveller. One of his projects was to photograph his lunch every day. So on April 22, 2015 it was a nice sunny day and he brought a sandwich to eat on a bench. It's 287 of 365 in the Lunch Album. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdenison/17233875645/
I just love the peanutbutter and jelly sandwich keyrings by Danielle at www.etsy.com/shop/junkfoodjewelry But it's true: you can't eat them. And as Lord Brassica says, peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches just haven't caught on in Britain. That may be because British jelly is the wobbly stuff Americans call Jello. You can see how the confusion arises. You really wouldn't want to eat Jello in a sandwich now, would you?
The bench I call the Butter Bench is actually called the Alight Bench. But doesn't it look like butter to you? It's by Turnstone Furniture (2011) and comes in many different colours and patterns, some of which don't look so much like butter
https://www.flickr.com/photos/turnstonefurniture/5616469477 Turnstone is inspired by getting people to use space so that they engage with each other, think more deeply, and do great things. They make all kinds of seating and office furniture.
The Butter Bench is one of many benches given to our community here on Paradise Island. Lord Brassica regularly gifts benches to commemorate important events in his life, such as the Thank You bench, which recalls the time his son Root was taken to hospital. I must confess I don't know the origin of the Butter Bench in Fribble-under-Par but Lady B. was there to inaugurate it.
The Victoria Sandwich cake was made by Amanda Slater from Exhall in England in 2014. Amanda says she does not often make cake but this was a good 'un. https://www.flickr.com/photos/pikerslanefarm/15421787740/ Cake is a big deal here on Benchsite. You may not realise but log and cake benches go together like . . . well, logs and cake.
I've collected many bench inscriptions in my time but one of the most moving is the one in memory of jam sandwiches: In memory of jam sandwiches with all my love 20th March 2004. It was photographed by Jonny in Saltwell Park in Gateshead in England. Jonny found it very sweet and made him want a jam sandwich. https://www.flickr.com/photos/j0nny_t/184884686/in/photolist-
The pleasantly shaped peanut whicker bench was on Gumtree but it is no longer available It sold in Scotland for £35
Red Bench Jam, in Rupert, Vermont, makes and sells jam. 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. http://www.vermontspecialtyfoods.org/member.php/lid/255
 |
| www.egbg.nl |
. . . and before you know it, things have taken a turn.
 |
| http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html |
Let's hope this time we can sit calmly on the picnic bench and have a sandwich and a nice cup of tea.
Eddie: Sandwich Day isn't until August. Why are you doing it now?
You're thinking of Cuban Sandwich Day, Eddie.
Miggy: Sandwich Day in the States is November 3rd.
Too cold for a picnic though.
Lord Brassica: UK Sandwich Week is a jolly occasion when I send my butler out for a jeroboam and a hamper of caviar. And some raspberry jam, of course.
Root, Lord Brassica's hapless son: I love my pater's picnics.
Yes, but it's always raining in Britain in May. Maybe we should wait until International Picnic Day in June?
Eddie: No, it's time we get started. And a sandwich begins with bread.
But what to put in it? I'm going to find out what fillings people like.
Because she's very sensible, I'll start with Ursula, our Unicorn in Residence here in Fribble-under-Par.
So Ursula, what's your favourite sandwich bench?
Ursula: No doubt about it: an ice cream sandwich bench.
Wow, this sandwich bench would melt in your mouth!
Miggy: So would grilled cheese.
My husband His Excellency, who is partial to a slice of Stinking Bishop: Yes, cheese. And bread.
Cornbread? Dough? Or what?
His Excellency: I like a good quality French campagne, not that supermarket rubbish they call a baguette. And then a decent cheese.
What a friend we have in cheeses.
His Excellency: Precisely.
What about some pulled pork?
Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly: I say, pulling pigs apart like this is beastly.
Mungo, my husband who is a vegetarian: All meat is an abomination.
Root: I agree. It's a bacon sarnie bench for me.
Root: With a ketchup and mustard bench.
Tamsin, a cute local girl: I love a BLT bench. Only without the lettuce and tomato.
His Excellency: Sounds like a real vegetarian feast.
Mungo: A vegetable filling is more humane. How about a carrot and hummus sandwich bench?
I couldn't find one. Maybe this carrot bench will do?
Miggy: This is the Carrot Girl. You can't eat the Carrot Girl!
Lord Brassica: By George, this carrot gel has spiffing legs! I'm going to find an artist to make a bust of them.
His Excellency: Looks like she's starkers.
Lord Brassica: My wife is very shapely as well. I've spent a fortune on her.
His Excellency: Goes to show you can never be too thin or too rich.
So, Lady Brassica, what would be your favourite sandwich bench?
Lady Brassica: Well, I don't eat bread - too many carbs - so my usual sandwich bench would be brie and grape.
Lady B: But without the brie, of course - too many calories. And not a bunch of grapes, just one or two.
Sounds delicious. I'll get back to you when it's Anorexia Awareness Week.
His Excellency: I prefer a good Stinking Bishop. Mature to the point of oozing, with a slight whiff of cheesy feet.
Yum. And what would you have with your cheesy feet?
His Excellency: A home grown tomato bench would go down well.
Lord Brassica: As long as it's not one of those hothouse tomato benches that tastes like a goat in a library.
A goat in a library?
Ursula: Goats milk ice cream is very tasty.
Miggy: A goat is always welcome at a picnic.
Lord Brassica: This is barmy. I don't want any bleating goats at my picnics.
Mungo: I'd rather have a goat at a picnic than have the goat be the picnic.
Root: I love a good goat curry. Our butler knows where to find one in the middle of the night after I've had a few beers.
Miggy: Would this be Unwin, the butler who stands with jam on his head in order to lure wasps away from your picnic?
Lord Brassica: Works a treat. I've found that wasps are partial to a good quality Scottish raspberry jam. As I am myself.
Sandwich benches, please folks. Bread, filling, bench.
His Excellency: And a glass of wine. I'll need something fruity and mellow, with a suggestion of blackcurrants perhaps, and a hint of pepper. It's important to get the right chemistry.
Miggy: I'd prefer aglass pitcher of Pimms.
Ursula: I don't think we even need a picnic bench, do we? We could just spread out a cloth on the grass.
You're thinking of Cuban Sandwich Day, Eddie.
Miggy: Sandwich Day in the States is November 3rd.
Too cold for a picnic though.
 |
| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:R%C3%B6dinghausen |
Lord Brassica: UK Sandwich Week is a jolly occasion when I send my butler out for a jeroboam and a hamper of caviar. And some raspberry jam, of course.
Root, Lord Brassica's hapless son: I love my pater's picnics.
Yes, but it's always raining in Britain in May. Maybe we should wait until International Picnic Day in June?
Eddie: No, it's time we get started. And a sandwich begins with bread.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremy512/3187903412/ |
But what to put in it? I'm going to find out what fillings people like.
Because she's very sensible, I'll start with Ursula, our Unicorn in Residence here in Fribble-under-Par.
 |
So Ursula, what's your favourite sandwich bench?
Ursula: No doubt about it: an ice cream sandwich bench.
 |
| www.jellio.com |
Wow, this sandwich bench would melt in your mouth!
Miggy: So would grilled cheese.
My husband His Excellency, who is partial to a slice of Stinking Bishop: Yes, cheese. And bread.
Cornbread? Dough? Or what?
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/shefftim/4898622708/ |
His Excellency: I like a good quality French campagne, not that supermarket rubbish they call a baguette. And then a decent cheese.
What a friend we have in cheeses.
His Excellency: Precisely.
What about some pulled pork?
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/niallkennedy/4886919707/ |
Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly: I say, pulling pigs apart like this is beastly.
Mungo, my husband who is a vegetarian: All meat is an abomination.
Root: I agree. It's a bacon sarnie bench for me.
 |
| https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MastersOfFate |
Root: With a ketchup and mustard bench.
 |
| www.etsy.com/shop/retroclassics |
Tamsin, a cute local girl: I love a BLT bench. Only without the lettuce and tomato.
His Excellency: Sounds like a real vegetarian feast.
Mungo: A vegetable filling is more humane. How about a carrot and hummus sandwich bench?
I couldn't find one. Maybe this carrot bench will do?
 |
Miggy: This is the Carrot Girl. You can't eat the Carrot Girl!
Lord Brassica: By George, this carrot gel has spiffing legs! I'm going to find an artist to make a bust of them.
His Excellency: Looks like she's starkers.
Lord Brassica: My wife is very shapely as well. I've spent a fortune on her.
His Excellency: Goes to show you can never be too thin or too rich.
So, Lady Brassica, what would be your favourite sandwich bench?
Lady Brassica: Well, I don't eat bread - too many carbs - so my usual sandwich bench would be brie and grape.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/yewenyi/326964781/in/photolist |
Lady B: But without the brie, of course - too many calories. And not a bunch of grapes, just one or two.
Sounds delicious. I'll get back to you when it's Anorexia Awareness Week.
Yum. And what would you have with your cheesy feet?
His Excellency: A home grown tomato bench would go down well.
 |
| http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudebigdog/ |
Lord Brassica: As long as it's not one of those hothouse tomato benches that tastes like a goat in a library.
A goat in a library?
 |
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicksherman/3931121478/ |
Ursula: Goats milk ice cream is very tasty.
Miggy: A goat is always welcome at a picnic.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/13010352@N04/2231157710 |
Lord Brassica: This is barmy. I don't want any bleating goats at my picnics.
Mungo: I'd rather have a goat at a picnic than have the goat be the picnic.
Root: I love a good goat curry. Our butler knows where to find one in the middle of the night after I've had a few beers.
 |
| www.liveauctioneers.com |
Miggy: Would this be Unwin, the butler who stands with jam on his head in order to lure wasps away from your picnic?
Lord Brassica: Works a treat. I've found that wasps are partial to a good quality Scottish raspberry jam. As I am myself.
Sandwich benches, please folks. Bread, filling, bench.
His Excellency: And a glass of wine. I'll need something fruity and mellow, with a suggestion of blackcurrants perhaps, and a hint of pepper. It's important to get the right chemistry.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrywfu/2027115602 |
Miggy: I'd prefer a
Ursula: I don't think we even need a picnic bench, do we? We could just spread out a cloth on the grass.
 |
| Picnic 1938, Harold Sandys Williamson |
Lord Brassica: that's a jolly nice looking gel but I'm not about to lower myself onto terra firma for a picnic.
I think this bench will suit us nicely.
 |
| my photo |
Lord Brassica: Cripes and double cripes! This is a load of old codswallop. Give me a traditional picnic bench any time.
This sort of thing?
 |
| http://.haiko.Cornelissen.com |
Lord Brassica: By jove, this grassy bench would be jolly useful for grazing my cows.
Eddie: I have a beef with this.
 |
| http://www.philart.net/ |
You always have a complaint about something, Eddie. What's your problem this time?
Eddie: You did the picnic table story before with Lord Brassica. The two of you made a right royal hash of it.
So corn beef hash is your sandwich bench of choice is it, Eddie?
Eddie: Of course not. I'm a primate.
My sandwich bench of choice is a banana.
 |
| http://www.flickr.com/photos/imjustwalkin/6849110336/ |
Miggy: I'm with you there, Eddie. Banana benches are very appealing.
 |
| www.wamhouse.pl |
Eddie: Same old joke . . .
Miggy: But have you ever tried a banana sandwich with M&Ms?
Bananas and M&Ms - yummy!
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdenison/17233875645/ |
Eddie's right. We did picnic tables before and Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, was an excellent guide. But this story is more about sandwiches.
Lord Brassica: Sandwiches, bah!
I thought you'd be keen on sandwiches, Lord B. After all, your cousin was the original Earl of Sandwich.
Lord B: Yes, nice enough chap. Put some roast beef between two slices of bread and started a trend I believe.
Miggy: That was in 1762. Some trend.
Eddie: History repeats itself. As do these Benchsite jokes.
I pay your salary, Eddie.
Just remember where your
 |
| www.etsy.com/shop/junkfoodjewelry |
Lord B: My wife did a terribly good fashion shot with the butter bench in the village.
 |
|
|
Lady B: I would like to make it clear that I would never at any time eat butter or anything with butter in it. Just saying the word butter sends fat to my thighs.
Sandwich. Bench. PLEASE.
Tamsin: I like butter in my sandwich bench.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/turnstonefurniture/5616469477 |
Tamsin: And mayonnaise.
Butter and mayonnaise?
His Excellency: Maybe you'd like a slab of lard too? There's nothing like getting a lot of fat between two slices of bread.
Miggy: Too right! My favourite sandwich is Victoria Sponge.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/pikerslanefarm/15421787740/ |
Miggy: Of course jam sandwich benches are lovely too.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/j0nny_t/184884686/in/photolist- |
Eddie: Especially if you've got a peanut bench to go with it.
Which, of course, we have.
 |
| https://www.google.co.uk/ |
Tamsin: I like Red Bench Jam.
That sounds more like a breakfast picnic.
 |
| Breakfast Under the Big Birch 1895, Carl Larsson |
Ursula: We'll need marmalade!
Paddington is a fan of marmalade sandwich benches.
His Excellency: The way Paddington is slumped in this chair he looks like he'd have been better off with an egg sandwich.
Egg bench sandwiches are nice if you've got dozens of eggs.
Eddie: This is more of a sofa than a bench. And there's not a sandwich in sight.
Tamsin: Speaking of sandwiches, I'm so hungry I could eat a bench sandwiched in between two giant heads.
Root: Me too. I could murder a hamburger bench.
Lord Brassica: All this blether about food is making me rather peckish.
Miggy: Not me. I'm feeling a bit sick after a banana and M&M sandwich, a whole Victoria sponge, and two pitchers of Pimms.
Eddie: I found a ham sandwich on a picnic table. Not a bite out of it as far as I can tell.
Lord B: I'm partial to a Harrod's Hamper. They do a jolly nice pheasant paté. And they'll send along a bottle of bubbly and a chap to open it for you. It's all jolly civilised.
OK. We've got our sandwiches, you've got your hamper. Now all we need is to curl up on a lovely picnic bench.
His Excellency: Gorgeous. And this one's nice too. It looks like it's gone off the rails a bit.
Tamsin: I'd like one with lots of colour.
Where to eat? This looks like a scenic spot.
Eddie: The trees seem to be growing up through the picnic benches though.
Oh, I see what you mean.
Lord Brassica: You can't see the ruddy benches for the trees.
Miggy: There are plenty of picnic benches but I don't see any food.
Paddington is a fan of marmalade sandwich benches.
His Excellency: The way Paddington is slumped in this chair he looks like he'd have been better off with an egg sandwich.
Egg bench sandwiches are nice if you've got dozens of eggs.
 |
| http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axn_sony |
Eddie: This is more of a sofa than a bench. And there's not a sandwich in sight.
Tamsin: Speaking of sandwiches, I'm so hungry I could eat a bench sandwiched in between two giant heads.
 |
| http://korcan50years.com/2013/07/14/art-in-public-place-2/ |
Root: Me too. I could murder a hamburger bench.
 |
| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hamburger_bench.JPG |
Lord Brassica: All this blether about food is making me rather peckish.
Miggy: Not me. I'm feeling a bit sick after a banana and M&M sandwich, a whole Victoria sponge, and two pitchers of Pimms.
Eddie: I found a ham sandwich on a picnic table. Not a bite out of it as far as I can tell.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/hawkes77/3585851245/ |
Lord B: I'm partial to a Harrod's Hamper. They do a jolly nice pheasant paté. And they'll send along a bottle of bubbly and a chap to open it for you. It's all jolly civilised.
OK. We've got our sandwiches, you've got your hamper. Now all we need is to curl up on a lovely picnic bench.
 |
| https://www.behance.net/gallery/1134513/Picnic-Bench |
His Excellency: Gorgeous. And this one's nice too. It looks like it's gone off the rails a bit.
 |
| http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html |
Tamsin: I'd like one with lots of colour.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/128758398@N07/16029273771/ |
Where to eat? This looks like a scenic spot.
Eddie: The trees seem to be growing up through the picnic benches though.
 |
| Picnic Grove by David Brooks, my photo |
Oh, I see what you mean.
 |
| Picnic Grove by David Brooks, my photo |
Lord Brassica: You can't see the ruddy benches for the trees.
Miggy: There are plenty of picnic benches but I don't see any food.
 |
| Two Women Sitting in the Garden 1932, Eric Ravillious |
Eddie: So who has brought the picnic basket bench?
 |
| www.omcdesign.com |
Ursula: And who has brought the sandwiches?
 |
| source unknown |
Tamsin: Did anyone pick up the biscuit bench?
 |
Mungo: I've looked everywhere but I don't see any sandwich benches.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattimattila/8697571441 |
Miggy: There's no one here but us chickens.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/tubagooba/1432317020 |
His Excellency: It looks like we're quite a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
Now what do we do?
Lord Brassica: Don't get your knickers in a twist Old Thing. I'll send for a Harrod's Hamper and the butler and the jam.
Root: Unwin's off today. He's down in the village reading his newspaper.
Lord Brassica: Reading? What a ruddy waste of time.
His Excellency: He did iron the paper before he read it though.
Looks like it could be a long wait for the hamper. I guess in the meantime we can watch the peacocks.
 |
| https://www.flickr.com/photos/spodzone/871678737/ |
Root: I've never fancied it, but right now I'm thinking a peacock sandwich would go down a treat.
Mungo: I don't approve. Birds are not for eating.
Maybe some poetry while we wait then. A book of verse beneath the bough?
His Excellency: Yes. And a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou.
HAPPY PICNIC DAY!
Credits
In the UK it's National Sandwich Week from 15-22 May and then it's International Picnic Week in June. In the US Picnic Month is in July. And yes, we have had picnic benches before on Benchsite. Lots of them. Let Lord Brassica be your guide http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html
Peter Denton is a retired writer and editor. He says his Flickr site is a bit like an old barn - you'll find all kinds of trivia and ephemera, some of it quite old, some taken yesterday. I love the Ham and Sandwich road sign which Peter photographed in Kent. His photostream has photographs from around the world, including benches, and can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterdenton/
Sarah Presh takes wonderful photographs, including the photo of the bench under the willow tree in Sandwich, Kent. Her photostream is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarah_presh
John, the current (11th) Earl of Sandwich opened a chain of sandwich shops called, yes, you guessed it - The Earl of Sandwich. There was one in Orlando and another one in London. If you don't believe me check 1,411 QI Facts at www.qi.com/1411 page 74.
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. https://www.flickr.com/photos/leff/8208546895 For an entirely different kind of turkey bench see http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/troys-thanksgiving-turkey-benches.html
Pinké is a native Texan who 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.https://www.flickr.com/photos/8113246@N02/8203258965
If you like dogs, there are plenty of great dog benches here on Benchsite.
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 ruined helped me edit the post about my swimming
bench and the Blue Monday benches. He interfered with stepped
in to help with the Orange bench mystery. However, he has a habit of setting his
own agenda with the benches. Look what a mess he made great
job he did on St. George's Day .
And as for my Red benches in February? No wonder I was very
grateful seeing red.
Martijn Engelbreght and Miguel Brugman's 'Rest' Air Restaurant was in Wageningen, Netherlands in 2008. Unfortunately, they are no longer taking reservations. But isn't this the most wonderful thing? Martijn gave me permission to use the picture. He has a very cool website address: www.egbg.nl
There are lots more clever Dutch benches, in fact a whole alphabet of them at
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 experience as a furniture designer. Sofas in knots, upside down tables - it's great to see his quirky, twisty, mind-bending stuff. The green tangled picnic table from 2013 is called Picnic. He also made the table that spills over the top of the rails at the end of the story.
http://www.michaelbeitz.com/about.html
The beautiful painting Sunday in the Garden is by Norwegian artist Jacob Bratland (1859-1906). It is in the Lillehammer Kunstmuseum in Norway.
The first picnic table under deep snow is in the Wiehen Hills near Nonnenstein Mountain in Rödinghausen, District of Herford, North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. It was photographed in January 2010 and put onto Wikimedia by TUBS. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:R%C3%B6dinghausen_2009-01-10_044.jpg?uselang=en-gb For more frozen picnic tables and a whole lot of very cold benches let my Snowvenian friends Stanko and Darko show you a good time. http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/frozen-ice-cold-benches-from-snowvenia.html
The Daily Bread bench was photographed by Jeremy Mikkola in Boone, North Carolina in 2009. Jeremy is also known as silenceofnight and can be found in San Francisco, where he lives, and, apparently, all over the internet. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremy512/3187903412/
Ursula Makepeace is our Unicorn in Residence here on
The ice cream sandwich bench is from Jellio and if you're a regular reader of this blog you'll have seen it before in the Edible Benches post. (Yes, maybe too much of a food focus here - Miggy's influence). It's the kind of bench everyone loves. I want one. It's one of many Fantastic Food furniture pieces from www.jellio.com It costs $950.
In 2010 Corn, Bread, Dough, Dosh was a shiny new bench at the bottom of The Moor in Sheffield, UK. It was photographed by Tim Dennell, a photography enthusiast with an art and design training (Leeds College of Art); also a teacher of computing & technology. He combines a love of art & design, technology, an interest in people and the world around him in photography. Other Sheffield benches photographed by Tim include Let There Be Roast Parsnips and Mardy Bums. https://www.flickr.com/photos/shefftim/4898622708/
Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer here on
Lady Jessica Brassica is a fashionista and former model with Studio Joop from Overbearing in
If you doubt that it's possible to find anything online, try Googling Bacon and Bench. Yep. Here's the bacon-coffee-table-handmade bench, which sold on Etsy in 2011 for round about £475.77. https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/111794707/bacon-coffee-table-handmade-bench The creator is Ryan Fitzpatrick, from Texas, whose shop is Masters of Fate at https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MastersOfFate
Retro Grandma collects all kind of interesting retro stuff at Retro Classics in Saskatchewan. She informed me recently that the vintage condiment set has been sold. But of course she has lots of other brilliant retro stuff at www.etsy.com/shop/retroclassics Her blogspot is at http://www.retrograndma.blogspot.com
The Carrot Girl with the shapely figure is from my 2014 collection of Rude Vegetables.
I am particularly fond of Edible Benches. 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 bench was created by Chris Pallace and Kevin Serwacki for Benches on Parade in Rochester in 2010. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudebigdog/
Brian Yap has a whole album of photos from Gyeongju, Korea Gyeongju dating back to 2006. The photo of the grape bench is one of them. https://www.flickr.com/photos/yewenyi/326964781/ Brian is an electrical engineer who loves travelling all over the world. He has over 33,000 photos, including a variety of benches.
Why goats aren't allowed in libraries (2009) was written by Murray McCain with drawings by John Alcorn. It was photographed by Nick Sherman, who is a graphic designer, skateboarder and musician living in Brooklyn. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicksherman/3931121478/
Goats love benches and they love picnic tables. The white goat sitting calmly on a picnic table was photographed by Jim h in 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/13010352@N04/2231157710 The photo is one of a Flickr group called goats, antelopes, cows, wild sheep and deer. And that's not the only Flickr goat group: there's another one run by someone called goateatingshirt. If you're interested in goat benches, we had a whole year of them back in 2015.
Unwin, The Cool Butler with Tray, is three feet tall and, as Lord Brassica says, looks like a thoroughly decent chap, even after having raspberry jam on his head. He was auctioned by New York Live Auctioneers in 2008 at a starting bid of $100. Wherever he's ended up, I hope there are no wasps. Speaking of insect benches, we're all abuzz with them at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/national-insect-week-buzz-about-benches.html
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. https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrywfu/2027115602 Since 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.
The striking purple and lime green picnic bench is in the cafe at the FRAC contemporary art museum in Dunkirk, France. I have to say, on the last occasion I visited, the picnic bench outdid the exhibitions.
The picNYC grass table is by architect Haiko Cornelissen in New York. It was a 2012 New York Design Week favourite. Not surprising. You can have a picnic anytime you want. http://hairkocornelissen.com
The brown cow bench is one of several bench sculptures called Eastwick Park Farm, made by Rosalie Sherman in 1983 as part of the ongoing Philadelphia Public Art project. http://www.philart.net/ It includes a vast array of public art: 846 sculptures, fountains, mosaics, memorials and, of course, benches, scattered all around Philadelphia. There are driving site tours and maps for locating the art. The scale of the Philart project is really quite something and it's being added to all the time. Here on Benchsite, Rosalie's sheep made it onto Noah's Ark of animal benches.
The pig bench was outside the Healdsburg Charcuterie in Healdsburg, California in 2010. It was photographed by Niall Kennedy, a software engineer who likes hiking, dogs, food, travel and scenes around his home and work in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley. https://www.flickr.com/photos/niallkennedy/4886919707/
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. http://www.flickr.com/photos/imjustwalkin/6849110336/
The Zjedzony banana chair looks good enough to eat and indeed Zjedzony means eaten in Polish. I won't tell Eddie this though as he'll make a fuss about learning Polish. The Zjedzony chair comes from Wamhouse in Poland www.wamhouse.pl 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.
Milo, from Seattle, is a writer, photographer, traveller. One of his projects was to photograph his lunch every day. So on April 22, 2015 it was a nice sunny day and he brought a sandwich to eat on a bench. It's 287 of 365 in the Lunch Album. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdenison/17233875645/
I just love the peanutbutter and jelly sandwich keyrings by Danielle at www.etsy.com/shop/junkfoodjewelry But it's true: you can't eat them. And as Lord Brassica says, peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches just haven't caught on in Britain. That may be because British jelly is the wobbly stuff Americans call Jello. You can see how the confusion arises. You really wouldn't want to eat Jello in a sandwich now, would you?
The bench I call the Butter Bench is actually called the Alight Bench. But doesn't it look like butter to you? It's by Turnstone Furniture (2011) and comes in many different colours and patterns, some of which don't look so much like butter
https://www.flickr.com/photos/turnstonefurniture/5616469477 Turnstone is inspired by getting people to use space so that they engage with each other, think more deeply, and do great things. They make all kinds of seating and office furniture.
The Butter Bench is one of many benches given to our community here on Paradise Island. Lord Brassica regularly gifts benches to commemorate important events in his life, such as the Thank You bench, which recalls the time his son Root was taken to hospital. I must confess I don't know the origin of the Butter Bench in Fribble-under-Par but Lady B. was there to inaugurate it.
Tamsin is a sweet local girl who works here in Fribble-under-Par
in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy. 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 big
and small benches. If you think size doesn't matter, you ought to see
it.
The Victoria Sandwich cake was made by Amanda Slater from Exhall in England in 2014. Amanda says she does not often make cake but this was a good 'un. https://www.flickr.com/photos/pikerslanefarm/15421787740/ Cake is a big deal here on Benchsite. You may not realise but log and cake benches go together like . . . well, logs and cake.
I've collected many bench inscriptions in my time but one of the most moving is the one in memory of jam sandwiches: In memory of jam sandwiches with all my love 20th March 2004. It was photographed by Jonny in Saltwell Park in Gateshead in England. Jonny found it very sweet and made him want a jam sandwich. https://www.flickr.com/photos/j0nny_t/184884686/in/photolist-
The pleasantly shaped peanut whicker bench was on Gumtree but it is no longer available It sold in Scotland for £35
Red Bench Jam, in Rupert, Vermont, makes and sells jam. 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. http://www.vermontspecialtyfoods.org/member.php/lid/255
Carl Olof Larsson ( 1853 –1919) was a Swedish painter representative of the Arts and Crafts movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolors, and frescoes. He is principally known for his watercolors of idyllic family life but there are also some serious and beautiful landscapes of his homeland.
Paddington Bear comes from Darkest Peru and is known for his love of marmalade sandwiches. On this occasion he was out searching for Easter Egg benches for me and became so exhausted that he collapsed in the chair. He was eggstatic about our egg benches though.
The egg sofa is called Relax. If you can. 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 Relax concept is totally relevant. The clever advertising agency was The Voluntarily United Group of Creative Agencies, 1861 United, Milan, Italy.
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axn_sonys_satellite_tv_channel_eggs_sofa For more totally eggcentric benches see http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/eggstatic-egg-benches-for-easter.html
The Eating A Biscuit Together bench is by Korean designer Ku Bom Ju. It was photographed by sonya2013, who found it while roaming the streets outside the Bukchon Art Museum in Seoul. I saw it on the korcan (Korea Canada) website, which was started in 2013 to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Canada. The Korea-Canada 50th Anniversary Blog features bloggers from across Canada with a deep interest in Korea-Canada relations, who present stories about all things Korean within the context of Canada. http://korcan50years.com/2013/07/14/art-in-public-place-2/
The hamburger bench is in front of the Moses restaurant in Herzliya in Israel. The photographer is דוד שי, who put the picture on Wiki commons in May 2013. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hamburger_bench.JPG
The cheese 'n ham sandwich is by Jez in 2009. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hawkes77/3585851245/
In 2011 Polish designer Tomasz Chmielewski cleverly crafted a picnic bench from bent timber. Depending on how it is displayed, the warped wood can be two benches facing away from each other or, when flipped upside down, it converts into a picnic table with built in seating. Amazing design and a beautiful piece of furniture! https://www.behance.net/gallery/1134513/Picnic-Bench
The bright coloured stacked picnic tables are from the 2014 album of drivethrucafe, who is a serious Bench Person. Bench Whores, Bench everything, drivethrucafe is there, along with albums of cars, doors, and postboxes. Great stuff. https://www.flickr.com/photos/128758398@N07/16029273771/
Cass Sculpture Park in West Sussex is one of my favourite places. When Mungo and I visited recently we were delighted to find, down by the Deer Hut, a whole grove of picnic tables set amongst the silver birch trees. The interesting thing is that the trees actually grow up through the benches. Terrific! Picnic Grove is a 2012 work by David Brooks.
Inspired by a picnic basket, the Basket bench comes from designer Onar Cobanli in Como, Italy. Born in Istanbul in 1984, Onar studied design in Italy and got a PhD for his research into design competitions. He has featured in many magazines, including Milano Mod in April 2012 (that's him on the cover). Onar Cobanli's company is www.omcdesign.com, which has the most amazing range of products I've seen, including more than 100 benches. And chaise lounges. And sofas. And chairs. Don't get me started on chairs. For some very tasty Italian benches see
http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html
The Sandwich Suitcase is one of those internet photographs which is so ubiquitous that its original source is impossible to find. Google sandwich suitcase and you'll see what I mean. I copied it, unashamedly, from www.whatthecool.com
The Café Noir bench is one of my own artistic creations. It is one of many that I showed to my vegetable editor, Jench de Bench, who comes from Potirons in France. If you think my animal editors are a problem, you should see how Jench ruined my story about Edible Benches.
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 First of May Nap but it could also be a man looking for a bench - couldn't it?
Way back in 2007 baby Oren was photographed looking at chickens under a picnic table. The photographer was Dan Gordon, a professional musician and teacher from Melbourne, Australia. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tubagooba/1432317020
In 2007 two white peacocks sat at a picnic bench/table in the grounds of Scone Palace in Perthshire, Scotland. Tim Haynes photographed them. Tim is a photographer in Scotland and a geek of linux and databases. Landscape and its photography are amongst his major passions. https://www.flickr.com/photos/spodzone/871678737/
The lines of verse at the end are from Omar Khayyam:
A book of verse beneath the bough,
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness –
Ah, wilderness were paradise enow!
Paddington Bear comes from Darkest Peru and is known for his love of marmalade sandwiches. On this occasion he was out searching for Easter Egg benches for me and became so exhausted that he collapsed in the chair. He was eggstatic about our egg benches though.
The egg sofa is called Relax. If you can. 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 Relax concept is totally relevant. The clever advertising agency was The Voluntarily United Group of Creative Agencies, 1861 United, Milan, Italy.
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axn_sonys_satellite_tv_channel_eggs_sofa For more totally eggcentric benches see http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/eggstatic-egg-benches-for-easter.html
The Eating A Biscuit Together bench is by Korean designer Ku Bom Ju. It was photographed by sonya2013, who found it while roaming the streets outside the Bukchon Art Museum in Seoul. I saw it on the korcan (Korea Canada) website, which was started in 2013 to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Canada. The Korea-Canada 50th Anniversary Blog features bloggers from across Canada with a deep interest in Korea-Canada relations, who present stories about all things Korean within the context of Canada. http://korcan50years.com/2013/07/14/art-in-public-place-2/
The hamburger bench is in front of the Moses restaurant in Herzliya in Israel. The photographer is דוד שי, who put the picture on Wiki commons in May 2013. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hamburger_bench.JPG
The cheese 'n ham sandwich is by Jez in 2009. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hawkes77/3585851245/
In 2011 Polish designer Tomasz Chmielewski cleverly crafted a picnic bench from bent timber. Depending on how it is displayed, the warped wood can be two benches facing away from each other or, when flipped upside down, it converts into a picnic table with built in seating. Amazing design and a beautiful piece of furniture! https://www.behance.net/gallery/1134513/Picnic-Bench
The bright coloured stacked picnic tables are from the 2014 album of drivethrucafe, who is a serious Bench Person. Bench Whores, Bench everything, drivethrucafe is there, along with albums of cars, doors, and postboxes. Great stuff. https://www.flickr.com/photos/128758398@N07/16029273771/
Cass Sculpture Park in West Sussex is one of my favourite places. When Mungo and I visited recently we were delighted to find, down by the Deer Hut, a whole grove of picnic tables set amongst the silver birch trees. The interesting thing is that the trees actually grow up through the benches. Terrific! Picnic Grove is a 2012 work by David Brooks.
Inspired by a picnic basket, the Basket bench comes from designer Onar Cobanli in Como, Italy. Born in Istanbul in 1984, Onar studied design in Italy and got a PhD for his research into design competitions. He has featured in many magazines, including Milano Mod in April 2012 (that's him on the cover). Onar Cobanli's company is www.omcdesign.com, which has the most amazing range of products I've seen, including more than 100 benches. And chaise lounges. And sofas. And chairs. Don't get me started on chairs. For some very tasty Italian benches see
http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/tasty-italian-benches.html
The Sandwich Suitcase is one of those internet photographs which is so ubiquitous that its original source is impossible to find. Google sandwich suitcase and you'll see what I mean. I copied it, unashamedly, from www.whatthecool.com
The Café Noir bench is one of my own artistic creations. It is one of many that I showed to my vegetable editor, Jench de Bench, who comes from Potirons in France. If you think my animal editors are a problem, you should see how Jench ruined my story about Edible Benches.
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 First of May Nap but it could also be a man looking for a bench - couldn't it?
Way back in 2007 baby Oren was photographed looking at chickens under a picnic table. The photographer was Dan Gordon, a professional musician and teacher from Melbourne, Australia. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tubagooba/1432317020
In 2007 two white peacocks sat at a picnic bench/table in the grounds of Scone Palace in Perthshire, Scotland. Tim Haynes photographed them. Tim is a photographer in Scotland and a geek of linux and databases. Landscape and its photography are amongst his major passions. https://www.flickr.com/photos/spodzone/871678737/
The lines of verse at the end are from Omar Khayyam:
A book of verse beneath the bough,
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness –
Ah, wilderness were paradise enow!
