SORRY this is such a rushed post, and that I’m sooo behind in my reading. There just isn’t enough time in the day at the moment. I have a very poorly friend which is a big worry (please send prayers, happy thoughts and reiki – Holl – her way), some family stuff which means they really need my time, and all the usual things, and I’m following a special pre ‘op diet that is leaving me exhausted.
I will be over to catch up this weekend, and I’m really missing you all.
Sighhh.
Anyway,
This afternoon, Miss M and I volunteered to accompany Miss E and her classmates on an excursion into Mansfield Town Centre to draw the statues and scupltures that are dotted about.
Oh what fun we had, me pushing M in a pushchair, while five of Miss E’s friends crowded around us and attempted to hold her hands. I ran a couple of them over and then they backed off a bit (unintentionally of course), but it did the trick as Miss M was getting a bit fed up.
They frolicked and laughed and were all so well behaved I was certain at one point that I had slipped into a dream, and started looking out for David Tennant or talking guinea-pigs, but no, it was real.
There were no fights, no whinging, and nobody got lost.
Result.
Nobody tried to climb the miner, or was impailed on the large metal feather that was recently installed (??), and they kept well away from the bronze bloke in a tie who looks like he’s holding up a large metal horseshoe.
When we got to Mansfield Market Place we crowded around the Bentinck Memorial which was built with public funds, in 1849 to house a statue of Lord George Bentinck, the younger son of the fourth Duke of Portland.
Apparently the money ran out before they were able to build the actual statue of the man himself so they left it as it is. Hee hee.
Mr B was most excited when I told him of our ventures today, and gave me a little history of his own about the 5th Duke of Portland, William Bentinck, who was Lord George Bentinck’s loony eccentric big brother.
According to Mr B…
1. He had the largest underground ballroom in Europe, large enough for 1500 people, yet was a total recluse.
2. If he went to London he had his carriage driven from an underground passage to Worksop train station, then lifted onto a carriage by a crane to ride to London, and lifted off at the other end, so no one could see him.
3. If his servants ever saw him they had to treat him like a piece of furniture, i.e. sit on him ignore him.
4. His food was sent to him on a miniature train through a hatch in the wall.
5. He lived in one room in one of the largest mansions in Europe, with no floor boards.
Some or all of these may be true, but I can’t check them today as I’m off to Rosie’s to play.
But he sounds like an amazing character so I may need to read more.
Happy Friday to all of you, and see you soon.
xx
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February 22nd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Wow, sweetie, you’ve got a lot on your plate. Sending all best thoughts to your friend, and also to you in your pre-op period.
Hang in there and don’t worry about making the rounds. It will happen when it happens. And we all understand. We’ve all been there.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Glad the trip was lovely and therefore didn’t add to the overwhelmedness. Rest and let the guilt go…love you! Mwah!
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:49 pm
you haven’t missed anything round my place. we have the plague.
February 22nd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
this is uncanny because i TOO receive food through a hatch in the wall on a miniature train. god i thought i was the only one.
and reiki is on its way.
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:42 pm
I would like to be moderately wealthy and be well connected through my ancestry, but I would not want to be so eccentric that I was actually crazy and would have been better of in an institution under strict medical care. Oh, the burdens of the gentry and the lower nobility, that at least is not my worry, although I do have the genetics for mental disease running through my veins. We must never forget the added strength of centuries of hardworking farmers, though , that proceeded me and that worked the land in spite of whatever oddness they may have possessed.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I love learning about new hysterical- well, historical people. Even the crazy ones.
And your plate is very full!
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Jo, there is an award for you over at my place, come and get it, please.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:02 am
Sorry to hear about your friend – Reiki on the way, also for you too – don’t get too stressed will you. x
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
RC thanks hon, and I’ve done a bit of catching up today so I feel a little better.
Kim, love you too. Mwah mwah.
Cami, you should maybe get some creams for that.
Holl, hee hee. When I was little, I loved the bit in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang where they have breakfast in the windmill and the food comes down on a train. I would love one of those.
Irene, you are so right. I would rather be me and have my unhinged moments, than rich but completely bonkers with nothing to work for and no one to share it all with.
And thanks so much for the award. You’re a gem.
Mielikki, me too, and thanks. Life has just been mad so far this year. We have never had a year like it. I just need it all to slow down a little you know?
Akela, thanks sweetie. You are lovely. And I must learn more about reiki, it sounds fab.