9 Ways to Make Chicken Pot Pie in 20 Minutes

63 Of The Shortest Celebrity Marriages

these were found all over London for while prostitution was legal, the ladies of the evening were not allowed to pick up customers on the street—so stacks of these were left in telephone booths (obviously a few years ago) and my late husband pick up many of these cards (that are exactly like post cards) and brought them home as souvenirs to share with his friends.

Elizabeth Brownrigg: Child Abuse and Murder in the 18th Century

Grosmont is a  town set in the North Yorkshire Moors and is the northern terminus of the 18 mile long North Yorkshire Moors Railroad, one of the world’s oldest lines–built in the 1830’s.

It takes it’s name from a small priory founded about 1200, which stood near by on the north bank of the River Esk.  It has since been lost to all.

The Station Tavern, which is family run was built in 1836 next to the railway station.   It has a bar, and separate dining room as well as a patio area outside.

Grosmont also has a Gallery and Jazz Cafe which offers fine art, hot coffee and cool jazz on Front Street.  The building at one time has been an undertakers Joiner’s workshop from Victorian time and then in the 1950’s a petrol station.

As well as a Co-op Shop with extensive arts and crafts as well as railway souvenirs available for purchase.

Enzian and Ace Cafe team up for a downtown Orlando screening of ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’

Get A Corner Of Canary Wharf To Call Your Own With Shared Ownership

Explore art and archaeological sites in Lebanon through virtual tours

Lebanon

It’s fate has always been dictated by it’s geographical situation.  A place of passage, meeting and exchange, in touch, like Syria,  with the interior of the continent.  Lebanon is even more than this, from the earliest antiquity its inhabitants, dwelling in cities clustered on the shore, were sailors and merchants traveling to Egypt and the West, and they were later to scatter far afield, founding trading posts and colonies throughout the entire Mediterranean.

Larousse  Encyclopedia of Archaeology

General Editor:  Gilbert Charles-Picard

Translated from French by Anne Ward

VIRTUAL TOURS OF LEBANON’S SITES

Gifts for Cooks

5-Minute Really True Stories for Bedtime

Things to Do in the Texas Hill Country

Historic Dance Halls of Texas

Texas Hill Country

Did you know that there was a German Settlement in the Hill Country of Texas  and that they built community centers to carry on Old World music and dance that would bcome Cowboy dancehalls?  And many of these halls still exist with still featuring the traditional German music while others keep up Texas two-steppin.

These include

Gruene Hall

Near New Braunfels

Luckenbach Dance Hall

near Fredericksburg

The Spirit of a Bandera Dance Hall Lives On

Betty’s Best Nutella® Thanksgiving Recipes

HOW TO FRAME YOUR SHOTS TO AVOID EXCESSIVE CROPPING

Hay-on-Wye Guide: The Adorably Cute Book Town of Wales

Hay-on-Wye

Brfore Hay-on-Wye was known for books it was just a bustling market town, and had been for over 700 yrars.  On Thursdays, its Memorial Square, Cheddar Market, Butter Market and the area around the Clock Tower were teeming with locals and tourists alike, jostling for a bargain at more than 40 stalls.

Until the 20th century, Hay-on-Wye was known for little more than this, and the fact that Francis Kilvert, the Victorian diarist, lived nearby.  Then there was also a local solicitor who purportedly got rid of his wife in the early 20th century by putting weed killer in her breakfast.  Yet Hay-on-Wye gained rral popularity when a local man called Richard Booth set out for America on a mission to boost the prospects of his hometown.  Noticing libraries there were closing, he skipped back containers of second-hand books and opened a bookshop in 1961.  Others followed suit and an emboldened Booth even declared the town an independent state and himself king, as part of an April Food Day publicity stunt in 1977.  Eleven years later, Hay Literary Festival was launched, bringing thousands of visitors to a town that had such humble beginnings.

Expanding Your Horizons

By Jenny Rowe

Discover Britain

December 2019

A Visit To Hay On Wye, Hereford, Wales

From Daytona International Speedway

November 7th: Home for the Holidays – Holiday Open House

Artist spotlight – Ruby C. Williams

 

Otadin:  a fierce British tribe used by the Romans to guard the (Harian’s) Wall

Home For the Holidays

Historic Key West cemetery: A scenic stop that is full of stories

More of the Key  West cemetery

The grave of Earl Johnson (above) but I understand that while the grave stone still stands, this strikings statue no longer stands on the grave–it was destroyed by a storm.  Johnson resided in Key West’s Oldest House from about 1940 until his death in 1972. The home had long been the family home and was occupied by the same family for over 140 years.a

Also located here is the Watling Crypt, the final resting place of Captain Francis Watlington,  

a mariner who lived from 1804-1886 and he owned “The Oldest House”, which Johnson was its last family heir.

Walk a bit further and you will see an overgrown lot and decaying, but ornate fence which contains four generations of the Porter Clan

.  Joseph Yates Porter actually founded Public Health Bureau in Florida

Captain Francis Watlington House,

Planning a weekend getaway?

The Natural History Museum in London

collection include an actual vial of stardust.  The microscopic diamonds are “the oldest things you will ever see” –they were formed billions of years ago before our solar system existed.

The World’s Most Spectacular Holiday Light Displays

Miami Beach

Jewish Museum of Florida (NR listed 1980)

301 Washington Ave

305-672-5044

The Jewish Museum of Florida is located in a former synagogue that housed Miami Beach’s first Jewish congregation. In addition to the permanent exhibit, “Florida Jews in the Military,” the museum houses the MOSAIC, Photo collection of Florida Jewish History.  The museum’s collections and research center reflects Florida Jewish history since 1763 and is available for use by the public. The adjacent building at 311 Washington served during World War II as a USO facility for the many personnel then stationed in th Miami Beach community.

Florida World War II Heritage Trail

A Florida Heritage Public Publication

Virtual Event:  Birdwatching 101: How to Study Birds

Foods that may prevent sleep

Foods and drinks with caffeine (coffee, tea, cola, chocolate

Alcohol (especially excess)

Sugar and food high in sugar or refined carbohydrates

Foods likely to cause gas, heartburn, or indigestion, such as fatty or spicy food, garlic, beans, cucumbers and peanuts.

High protein foods like meat that inhibit sleep by blocking the synthesis of serotonin and make us more alert.

BEACH BREAKS FOR 2021

Cornwall—-if you haven’t read it yet you can go back to June 2016 to join me on my solo trip to corn wall — where I stayed at a small inn in Tintagel and wandered about by bus for a month.

TINTAGEL CASTLE: HISTORY AND LEGEND

People Make Glasgow | Official Guide to the City of Glasgow

Glasgow is an elegant city—and while my heart belongs to the ancient streets and alleys of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile I also enjoy my visit to Glasgow

Four New Mexican Hotels to Beat the Cold-Weather Blues

The Longwood Hotel

This historical hotel is now an office building:  It’s wooden-frame vernacular with Italianate details faces the Henck-Tinker Building across 427/Ronald Reagan.

In 1883, E.W. Hench had Josiah Clouser build the hotel which was completed in 1888 and was calld the Waltham hotel, until 1893 when it became the Longwood  Hotel.  Unfortunately 1893 was the winter (into 1894) of a historically severe freeze—there are reports that the temperature dropped so rapidly that it froze the sap in the citrus trees causing them to explore with bark flying everywhere.  90% of the trees were destroyed taking the economy with it.  The hotel closed soon after.  It was eventually purchased by George E. Clark who renaed it the St. George Hotel.

A year later, Clark died and the hotel changed again this time into the Orange and Black Hotel, a gambling house.  It had two subsequent owners until 1932 when it was used for the George Barr Umpire School.  And five years later it had another owner.  In 1966 “Johnny Tiger” was filmed here.  It starred Chad Everett as a half-breed Seminole influenced by a school teacher played by Robert Taylor.  In 1979 Cornell Univeristy used it for a hotel operation school.  In the 1980s it was renovated for offices.

There have been reports that the hotel is haunted with lights that go off and on in different areas, foot steps have been heard when no one was  in the building and elevators that open and run by itself.  Cold spots and shuffling sounds have been reported on the 3rd floor.  Report of “people” in the building resulted in room-by-room search by the local police but no one was found.   I knew one lady who told me she never believed in ghosts until she experienced the building and offered to introduce me to the ghost if I ever dropped by—sadly I was not able to do so.

Longwood Walking Tours

York Minster:  Sunday Prayers and Digital Worship Schedules

Although not as high as in protein as legumes, many other foods such as nuts, seeds, nut better, gains and even vegetables like spinach and broccoli add protein to the diet.

The Palace of Gold (New Vrindaban), Hare Krishna Temple, Moundsville, WV  

 near Atlit on the northern coast of Israel, about 8.1 miles south of Haifa.

The fight over Château Pèlerin—the ancient Crusader fortress

Templar Castles

Generalized statements about Templar castles are apt to be even more confusing than other generalizations about them:  for instance the greatest of Templar Castles.  At’lit or Castle Pilgrim, built to be impregnable and never in fact taken by the Templars’ enemies, was not built until 1218.  Thus to list the castles or speak generally of their characteristics would be to present a false picture of the situation in the twelfth century.  The Templars never held more than ten or so castles at any given moment in their history, far less than the Hospitallers, who already held as many as seven or eight castles by 1160, and at one time or another possessed a total of 56 castles in Latin Syria

The Templar Knights of God

Edward Burman

10 Crusader Castles

Lakeside Inn Mt Dora, Florida one of my favorite towns in central Fl.

Edinburgh’s Real Mary King’s Close to broadcast first ever paranormal investigation

Loring Chase first saw the area that is now Winter Park (Florida) in Feb. 1881 and bought 600 acres for $13,000 in partnership with his Mass. boyhood friend.  Oliver Chapman, who was visiting relatives in Sorrento.

How This 600-Year-Old Castle Weathered Wars And Fires To Become A Symbol Of Okinawa

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So Hello——The world (i.e. USA) is a bit crazy now…so thought I”d Start your week with one of those driving tours about Central Florida with some fun information and points of interest to give you some opportunities to exit the car for some fun.

Take I – 4  East from Tampa, Lakeland, Kissimmee and Orlando—you get the idea…..from Daytona, New Smyrna, Deland and the like it would be west I-4.

Exit on route 46 west.  This will take you away from Sanford

You might however like to spend some time in Sanford.

Sanford was once the last stop on a Riverboat that took passengers from ocean voyages that ended in Jacksonville, Florida—from there future settlers and tourists could board a Riverboat that came down the St. John’s River you to Sanford.

It was from Sanford that the Southern Railroad began its journey to Tampa.  The railroad was completed to Orlando in 1889, Kissimmee 1882 and Tampa in 1884.

Sanford was also known for its produce and was named after an honorary General who once owned most of the farms in the area and whose name was actually spelled Sanford.

If you decide you will come to The Central Florida Zoological Society 

Which is a lovely place to visit and has all manner of animals to see and there are zip lines, merri-go- round and much more.

Have a lunch or dinner  cruise on the St. John’s RIver

maybe a picnic in Ft. Mellon Parks

in fact you might just want to spend the full day in Sanford (this site includes a virtual tour of the downtown)

If you decide to do that you can just pick up the path again at the next section

Limo Cycle Tours

Brews & Bites Tour

Continue West on 46

Mount Plymouth:  A 1925 brochure called it  “a grand and exalted winter playground:  The Golf Capital of the world.

Last time I was there in the area the golf course was still there south of the town, but had been closed for awhile now.  Needless to say the playground is long gone.

In the 1880’s the area thrived and the railroad out of Sanford passed thru here, but in 1894-95 brought a freeze and many of the settlers left the era and those that stayed and new homesteaders farmed the land and the new crops became cattle and turpentine.

In 1920 the land boomers arrived followed shortly by the city’s golf course as well as a large hotel  (see picture below) which once the tourists left became a school for awhile and is now long gone.  The golf course may be gone as well now, but there were 4 “gingerbread” houses adorned with flamingos and heron that survived it all.

Sorrento’s  Oak Haven Farms & Winery and You Pick Strawberries

Exploring “Little Switerzland”

QUIET VILLAGE IN THE HILLS HARBORS A GLAMOROUS PAST

Continue on 46 and you will come to

Sorrento:  In 1800 this town was a hub of the area with saw mills, lumber yards, a citrus packing house, a drugstore, two general stores and a hotel–it’s hotel, the Averil House burned in 1910.

ROCK SPRINGS RUN STATE RESERVE

You will come to 441—-you can either turn north (right) here or you can continue on to Mount Dora, and enjoy some of the great activities and things to do here.

This charming town on Lake Dora is home to many retirees.  It also contains quaint Victorian Houses complete with lawn bowling in the downtown which also contains antiques and curios shop.  It was once painted pink for a movie (Honky Tonk Freeway).  The 1883 Lake Side Inn is harming and a perfect place to spend a romantic weekend—oh and don’t miss the Ice House Playhouse and be sure to take a Lake Dora Cruise.

Activities & “Things to do” in Mount Dora, FL

Welcome to Mount Dora!

a beautiful lakefront town 

You can always return to 441 after a visit or on a later weekend

Continue on 441 thru Tavares

Tavares:  founded in 1870’s by Major St. Clair-Abrams.  In 1880 the major had a channel dug across the neck of land which separated lake Dora and Lake Eustis, so the Major’s three steamers could use the channel with ease.  IT was the main mean of commerce until the railroad came in 1885.

A popular recreation site for  years, a picnic area was developed in 1902 where Riverest Park is location today.  Even a small zoo was run for several years on the west bank of Summerall Park.

Points of Interest include

Hickory Point

and Sparks Village Boat Ramp on Lake Harris

and Summerall Park on Lk. Dora.

as well as two golf courses

Tavares

Activities

Tavares, Florida Activities

Continue on 441 until you reach Leesburg

Leesburg is where you’ll find beautiful turn-of-the century homes and buildings.  antique stores, a golf course as well as hotels, trailer parks and fish camps for the overnight visitor.

Leesburg is Lake County’s oldest city and at one time was the county seat while a part of Sumter County. The city claimed 1857 as its birthday when Leesburg celebrated its centennial in 1957, recognizing the year that the city’s namesake, Evander Lee, and his family came to the area.

Leesburg is Lake County’s oldest city and at one time was the county seat while a part of Sumter County. The city claimed 1857 as its birthday when Leesburg celebrated its centennial in 1957, recognizing the year that the city’s namesake, Evander Lee, and his family came to the area.

A Great Place to Play

Driving Downtown Leesburg FL

Continue on 441 until you come to 44 and turn left–West to Wildwood

Wildwood

  According to tradition, this is how Wildwood obtained its name before it was a community.  In 1877, a crew of workmen and a surveyor were putting in a telegraph line south of Ocala.  The surveyor was required to report in from time to time.  So when the surveyor called in and the office asked “Where are you?”  He paused, and the answer he gave was, “I don’t know, except in the wild woods.”

Community spirit is still alive and well in Wildwood. Residents are working together to revitalize many of the historic buildings, including the Baker Home on County Road 44-A on the east side of The Villages. Built by Senator David Hume Baker in the late 1800s, the Victorian-style house and five acres of property were donated to the City of Wildwood. The house is currently being renovated to become the home of the Wildwood Area Historical Society. Several fundraising events have recently taken place and tours will be available later in the year.

Wildwood has long been the home of the Three Flags Resort RV Park with full amenities

Continue on 44  to I-75 and go North

Restaurants in Wildwood

Baker House

exit on route 484 going west

Things to do in Dunellon

Happy Acres Ranch

Since we’re all returning to different destinations:  Please consult a map service on line—or your car or phone’s  GPS system to get you home safely and I hope you enjoyed the adventure into old time Florida

Rainbow Springs State Park Tour & Review | Florida Vacation | Florida Springs

quote is from:  From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) by Seth Gecko (George Clooney)

Halloween Parties—check out this virtual event—pay for item—I can’t recommend or not—just saw it and thought some of you might be looking for something like this

A person may become a vampire in a variety of ways, the most common of which is to be bitten by a vampire. Other methods include sorcery, committing suicide, contagion, or having a cat jump over a person’s corpse. Some people believed that babies born with teeth or on Christmas or between Christmas and Epiphany were predisposed to becoming vampires. While vampires usually do not die of disease or other normal human afflictions, and they are indeed often said to have faster-than-normal healing capabilities, there are various methods for their destruction. The most popular of those include a wooden stake through the heart, fire, decapitation, and exposure to sunlight. Vampires are often depicted as being repelled by garlic, running water, or Christian implements such as crucifixes and holy water. In some stories vampires may enter a home only if they have been invited, and in others they may be distracted by the scattering of objects such as seeds or grains that they are compelled to count, thereby enabling potential victims to escape.

Vampire

PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWING FOG WITH A LONG EXPOSURE

ENGLAND’S SCARIEST SCREAMING SKULLS

I thought since you will first be getting this blog the day before Halloween we could visit some scary places out and about the planet,

If you are regular readers you know my love for ancient spooks and legends as well as my looking into things that go bump in the night—-places more modern that have things that are there and you—like me may have experienced  some of these things, despite what the rest of our friends and or the world believes.

And then there are the rest of you who still have the ancestor fear buried deep below the modern disbelief in anything that sometimes crumbles when we are walking down an ancient street say in London (speaking from experience here) and you feel like at any moment you might find yourself back in the centuries and facing something in like of Jack the Ripper—or maybe a bit more other worldly—-OK there’s something to think about next time you walk those old streets!!!!!

Once a Boom Town, Now a Ghost Town, Always a Hometown

Mother Ludlam’s Cave

The Church of St Mary The VIrgin, Frensham

Surrey

Stolen from the Fairy Folks

Inside the 14th-century church is an immense cauldron, which in former times may well have been used to hold the vast quantities of ale required to slake the thirsts of parishioners at village feasts.  John Aubrey (1626 – 1697)  Natural History and Antiquities of the County of Surrey

records a far more colourful tradition behind the cauldron’s origins.  According to Aubrey, there was once a stone on Borough-Hill in the parish of Frensham upon which anyone could knock, declare aloud an item they wished to borrow then leave.  When they returned a disembodied voice would inform them when to collect the desired article.  However, the Frensham Cauldron, so he records ‘was borrowed’d here after the manner aforesaid, but not return’d according to the promise: and though the cauldron was afterward carried to the stone it could not be return’d and ever since that time no borrowing there.’

Mystical Britain and Ireland

Richard Jones

The Strange Cauldron of Frensham Church, a White Witch & the Devil

‘A Huge Pack of Witches’: A Witch scare in 17th Century Lancashire

 21 of the most haunted places in Somerset – from Dead Woman’s Ditch to Sally in the Wood

Glastonbury Tor

This strange, but originally natural hill looms above the town of Glastonbury.  This hill has had a few changes, the grooves that you seen in the above picture are said to be prehistoric and I have heard that they are for all manner of things—including that it was originally a maze with entrance into the Hill itself.

The Tor early on was believed to be the entrance to the Otherworld-–now this Celtic  world was not what the Christians describe as Hell—the Celts has a reincarnation belief that might account for the fact that the people there were not thought to be dead but just in another plain—-it gets to be a bit confusing and I’m not at all sure that even the experts to this day fully understand all the details.

It would appear that early Christian priests and monks that came to this place equated the Celtic Otherworld with the Christian Hell (as the good went up to Heaven and since this was obviously a path into the earth and thus down and thus hell.

There are also legends (and these legends I am related are not just from reading but things I was told in the town when we spent a few nights there while I was doing that driving—which was much scarier to m than ghosts.) that these early Christians believed that this was the entrance to Hell (for if you had to go into the earth and down into its deep hiding place then you surely mus be going to Hell).  And would account for the effort it must have taken to drag the building material to the top of the tor for the first church built in the 10th or 11th century.  And it must have been very scary when an earthquake destroyed this church in 1275.  They eventually built a new on in 1323 which remained until Henry VIII’s issues with the Monks and their churches.  It was abandoned and much of it was used on other building projects.

And it is interesting that this tower still stands above the vale making me believe that not everybody was as modern thinking as Henry—and maybe leaving this tour to St. Michael’s Church—-who was said at one time to have guarded the gates of Hell so that the demons an evil persons and other bad things couldn’t escape make this a very spooky place for those who lived here even in the 16th century and beyond.

Halloween: The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows

Halloween Late

Halloween Horror Story

The Ghosts of Marie Laveau’s Sacred House – Ghost City Tours

New Orleans land of Voodoo and much more—where the Cemeteries are even scarier and yes even more than London and even in the daylight looking over ones shoulder to see what is there is a common practice—-it is a city I very much recommend visiting.

“The first thing you notice about New Orleans are the burying grounds – the cemeteries – and they’re a cold proposition, one of the best things there are here. Going by, you try to be as quiet as possible, better to let them sleep. Greek, Roman, sepulchres- palatial mausoleums made to order, phantomesque, signs and symbols of hidden decay – ghosts of women and men who have sinned and who’ve died and are now living in tombs. The past doesn’t pass away so quickly here. You could be dead for a long time.

“The ghosts race towards the light, you can almost hear the heavy breathing spirits, all determined to get somewhere. New Orleans, unlike a lot of those places you go back to and that don’t have the magic anymore, still has got it. Night can swallow you up, yet none of it touches you. Around any corner, there’s a promise of something daring and ideal and things are just getting going. There’s something obscenely joyful behind every door, either that or somebody crying with their head in their hands. A lazy rhythm looms in the dreamy air and the atmosphere pulsates with bygone duels, past-life romance, comrades requesting comrades to aid them in some way. You can’t see it, but you know it’s here. Somebody is always sinking. Everyone seems to be from some very old Southern families. Either that or a foreigner. I like the way it is.”

 Bob Dylan, Chronicles: Volume One

St. Louis Cemetery #1 Walking Tour | New Orleans | Free Tours by Foot

COULD YOU DRINK DEAD PEOPLE?

 Spirits tend to be more concentrated in places that have experienced a lot of death or birth 

A witch post is a local superstition where the cross of Saint Andrew (a saltire) is used as a hex sign on the fireplaces in Northern England, Yorkshire, and Lancashire, in order to prevent witches from flying down the chimney and entering the house to do mischief.  Wikipdia

The Witching Post Inn, Egton, North Yorkshire

Tricks and Treats: Virtual Halloween Events for All Ages

Haunted Destination: RMS Queen Mary

 Queen Mary,

Long Beach, California

It was years and years ago when I visited the Queen.  We took a tour and had some cocktails and it was very enjoyable……but I had no idea that she was suppose to be haunted, apparently while she was in service there were reportedly 50 deaths aboard her and not all those spirits departed.   She’s worth a visit even w/out the creepy crawlers

Among the ghosts reportedly still hanging around is an engineer who died in the ship’s engine room, a “lady in white,” and various children located throughout the ship including the 1st Class Pool.  Why is there always a Lady in white—is it mandatory or what?

The ship which is now permanently at dock has restaurants, bars and a hotel —I know the hotel is temporarily closed due to the pandemic but you might check out if they’re still doing ghost tours.  This would be an interesting place to stay on Halloween!!!!

​Legendary Ghosts of the Queen Mary

14 Cute Halloween Recipes to Pin (and Maybe Even Make)

Slender Man Was A Harmless Internet Legend — Until A 12-Year-Old Girl Got Stabbed In The Woods

• This night was considered an evil night when spirits roamed the streets and villages. Lord Samhain, the lord of Darkness, would arrive in search of the spirits to take them to the underworld.

There is actually more than one ghost said to haunt Drury Lane’s halls (London) and wings, including those of several actors.

The Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood is known for two types of sightings: big Hollywood stars and free roaming spirits:  The most famous of the spirits being Marilyn Monroe.

      Stay Home Halloween Weekend and Stream These Horror-Movie Favorites

Ghastly Gatherings

Transport your guests to the other side, create a spooky space by making a haunted house.  To get yours up to—-or down to–snuff, think abandoned–house ambience.  Don’t clean a thing  (ghosts love dusty spaces), but do drape sheets over furniture and handerkerchiefs over mirrors and framed pictures.  Hang stretched cotton batting in your ceiling corners to mimic cobwebs and add a few spider.

Halloween Food, Fun, and Crafts

PIL

25 Gruesome DIY Haunted House Props To Make Your Halloween The Scariest Ever

Day of the Dead Dining in London

Though there still seems to be a bias against scary movies during awards season, The Exorcist earned 10 Oscar nominations in 1974, including a Best Supporting Actress nod for Linda Blair,

Sissy Spacek slept in her bloody clothes for three days while filming the Carrie prom scene in order to keep continuity.

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who was approximately 14-years-old at the time, was originally approached to play the role of Regan, the young girl who gets possessed by a demon in The Exorcist, but her parents, actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, forbade it

9 Halloween Projects for Kids

Spooky stories from Britain’s haunted houses

Who lies in the tomb of the ‘Six-Headed Chief’? DNA reveals clues.

the legendary subject of Bram Stoker’s epic 1897 novel, Dracula, the history of vampires began long before Stoker was born.

Concerns about the ritualistic torture of animals around Halloween were more widespread in the 1980s and 1990s, when fears of secret Satanic cults were at their zenith. Many shelters have since abandoned the policy of hiding black cats, and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says, “There is no reason to believe that these cats are at risk.”

Lots of universities in the world are believed to have secret tunnels below their campuses. Through the years, students have made up various stories concerning hidden pathways leading to dungeons, ritual rooms and so on. This legend is again particularly popular in the US

The 10 best new horror films to come out in October 

Colonial Park Cemetery – ‘Where there may be as many spirits as grave markers’

This site is probably one of the most interesting places you can find in Florida. Located in Miami, the Coral Castle was said to be designed to mimic the Egyptian pyramids. But the entire design seems intriguing enough to trigger some conversations. While the place isn’t really haunted per se, rumors have floated for many years that Edward Leedskalnin, the architect of the Coral Castle, was said to some kind of magical superpower.

The abandoned town of West Castleton is like Vermont’s answer to the ghost towns of the Old West: Once a big industrial boom town, it’s now empty except for a few ghostly residents that refuse to leave, among them a boatman

Luper Pioneer Cemetery located just outside of Eugene is one of the oldest in the area. Seventeen of those buried here were pioneers on the Oregon Trail. The isolation of this cemetery adds to the scare factor: it’s hidden by trees, surrounded by open fields.

Halloween Cocktail Recipes 2020: 8 Quick Alcoholic Drinks With Vodka, Punch, More

The Real Reason Clowns Creep Us Out

Drive-Thru Halloween Experiences in 2020

The Vampyre: A Tale

Old Christ Church in Pensacola, FL:  Said to have had a reburial of former priests with several of the onlookers insisting the priests attended the even int well kinda in person—-can ghosts be in person?

ECHOES FROM THE PAST: HAUNTED HOUSES OF PENSACOLA

And as to the really scary stuff—Corona:

Be sure to get enough sleep (7-9 hours a night)  The better you sleep the better your immune system functions.

17 Proven Tips to Sleep Better at Night

this week I suggest you try:

Sanford Ghost Tours

instead.

I-4 Dead Zone

Meet The Real-Life Couple Who Investigated ‘The Conjuring,’ ‘Annabelle,’ And ‘The Amityville Horror’

Halloween Candy Pail

Just beware of the Naegleria fowleri, a nasty little single-celled organism lurking in warm water and nicknamed for its favorite pastime—literally eating human brains. Naegleria enters your body through the nose and shimmies into your skull, where it plays around in your brains, destroying the tissue. (This amoeba can also strike when you use contaminated tap water to flush your sinuses, FYI.)

These Easy Cat Halloween Makeup Ideas Are Next-Level

The True Stories Behind These Urban Legends Are More Horrifying Than The Tales Themselves

From Key West Citizen Oct 3, 1999

Key West Ghost and Mysteries Guided Tour

13 Spooky-Good Mummy Recipes We’re Obsessed With

Giant snakes unearthed in Cold War Florida missile base

The HUMAN’s Monster Base

To me there is much more than Vampires that drink your blood and ghosts that inhabit our cemeteries and spooky old houses……to me the things that man make (and I’m not thinking of Frankenstein) are far scarier and far more life shattering that anything in that scary realm.

For instance the Everglades—also called the “River of Grass”  Holds one of these places—The HM-69 Nike Missile Base (also called The Hole in the Donut by the staff)  one of 240 US sites (4 of which were in South Florida) after the Cuban missile Crisis in 1962.   This site houses Nike suface-to-air-missiles  to shoot down bomber during an attack in the expected World War III.

The site still stands — in fact it was in use until 1979.  You can actually visit  and have been able since 2009–the 22 buildings including 3 missile barns.

the other sites in Florida are

B Battery in North Key Largo which is now Key Largo Hammock State Park

C Battery in Miramar and D Battery in Miami which now the US Department of Homeland Security’s Krome Detention Center

A CUBAN CRISIS LEFTOVER

How to carve a terrifying turnip instead of a plain old pumpkin this Halloween

Back to the 80’s Halloween Cruise

Fangtastic! The world’s best vampire-spotting locations

These vampires have a certain physiology that sets them apart; the most obvious is their body temperature, which stays well below normal and implies a tendency to lead an active life at night.

In addition to having an interest in dark and neo-Gothic vampires also have a fascination for horror. A lot of it can be seen on their official website called AlterVisa.  

Italian vampires have their own capital city – the town of Meldola, in Romagna province. In early 2017, a film and TV series about vampires were screened by David Santandrea; the movie is called “The Vampire Diary.”

Things to Do in Meldola

Story of Real Vampires Residing in Italy and ‘Cooperating With Police’

SOCIETY   18:01 GMT 25.10.2017

Sputnik News

“Vampire” unearthed in Venice plague grave

Monster of the Month   

Into the ‘Stranger’s Room’ at Yeats Thoor Ballylee

Yeats’ Haunted Home

Thoor Ballyee

Nr. Gort, County Galway

I declare this tower is my symbol, I declare

This winding, gyring spiriting treadmill of a stair is my Ancestral stair

From Blood and the Moon by W.B. Yeats

Once known as Islandmore Castle, this evocative and  atmospheric stone tower, wit its narrow and time-worn stairs was a virtual ruin when the poet W.B. Yeats (1865-1938), purchased it in 1917 for the nominal sun of 35 pounds.      Yeats renamed the building Thoor (Being the Irish for tower), Ballylee, commenting that “I think the harsh sound of Thoor amends the softness of the rest.”  Following considerable restoration the property was finally habitable in 1919, when it became Yeat’s summer residence and, thereafter, a central symbol of his poetry.  Yeats was a devotee of the occult, once observing that, “The mystical life is the center of all that I do and all that I think and all that I write.”  He believed implicitly in the existence of ghosts and was convinced that the tower was haunted by an Anglo-Norman soldier.  A later curator was also convinced that a spectral form wandered the worn stairway of the tower and was reluctant to ascend it as the day turned into night.  Her suspicions were evidently hared by her pet dog, who would frequently appeared terrified of something it could apparently see in the downstairs rooms.

Haunted Castles of Britain and Ireland

Richard Jones

THE LEGEND OF YEATS` TOWER AND THE GHOST BOY CAPTURED ON CAMERA

23 Cute Halloween Face Masks to Complete Any Costume

Doctors and patients among spirits at haunted Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Th Priory Farm has a campsite now.

England’s most spine-tingling myths and legends

On the Yorkshire Moors—not too great a distance from Whitby (the town that gave us Dracula) is Grosmont  a  village    that you probably never heard of .    Though there are not signs of it now the Roman Road forded the river in this area.

Once the site of a Priory (Grosmont) which pre-dated the village as it was found in the early 12th century and survived till the 16th c when Henry VIII end all the monasteries in his self serving reform and break with the Catholic Church.

The village, which I presume got its name from the lost monastery is close by to some pre-history sites:   east of Grosmont is a collection of stones named The High Bride Stones and a second group the Low Bride Stones  .  

If all this history and bleakness and the strange stones aren’t enough for a spooky few days off the beaten path it might be noted that the North Yorkshire Moors are regularly proclaimed one of the top places in the country to see ghosts,

British myths and legends: history and best haunted sites to visit

15 Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas for Book Lovers

13 Epic Horror Books to Read While Quarantined

Medusa – whose name probably comes from the Ancient Greek word for “guardian” – was one of the three Gorgons, daughters of the sea gods Phorcys and Ceto, and sisters of the Graeae, Echidna, and Ladon. All of Medusa’s siblings were monsters by birth and, even though she was not, she had the misfortune of being turned into the most hideous of them all.

From then on, similarly to Euryale and Stheno, her older Gorgon sisters, Medusa was depicted with bronze hands and wings of gold. Poets claimed that she had a great boar-like tusk and tongue lolling between her fanged teeth. Writhing snakes were entwining her head in place of hair. Her face was so hideous and her gaze so piercing that the mere sight of her was sufficient to turn a man to stone.

Medusa :: The Real Story of the Snake-Haired Gorgon

Greek Mythology

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Creatures/Medusa/medusa.html

What Would Happen to You in a Horror Movie Based on Your Zodiac Sign

Watch As Two Gettysburg ‘Ghosts’ Are Caught Running Across The Historic Battlefield

Witches and ghouls, it’s time for some scary good-fun! B0STON

Creepin’ It Real This Halloween

Witch-repellent graffiti discovered in ruins of medieval UK church

Ghoulish goings-on at BOXPARK this Halloween

The Creepy Halloween Legend of Mary Meinert’s Grave

Spook-tacular Halloween Cocktails

Actual, Factual Creepy San Antonio!

Leftover Halloween Candy Recipes

Hotels That Will Scare The S*** Out Of You This Halloween

HOG-O-WEEN @ The Hard Rock

13 Things To Know Before Visiting The Tower Of London

Fasting (ymprydio) was used by the Celts as a ritual and it appeared much in sagas and myths—-it was also used  to make a point—-kinda like our more modern hunger strikes.

12 Horror Novels Our Readers Are Loving

James Fox Cigar & Whiskey Store

In Dublin, near Trinity College on Grafton Street (119) sets what started out as a Cigar store and more recently has added Whiskey.  It has been in business well over 100 years (since it was established by a Londoner James John Fox in 1881).  During World War II the shop claimed that they were the only shop in northern Europe to maintain a supply of Havana Cigars—How they did that is still a well kept secret.  They also originated the first Duty Free Shop at Shannon Airport.

Win a Bundle of Five Spine-Chilling New Horror Books!   

The church of St. Saviour has stood on the same site  in the ancient city of York--UK– since the 11th century. The present building dates from the 15th century, although some earlier stonework survives.  It is now the home of DIG – An Archaeological Adventure.

6 Fairytale Castles in the U.S.

Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh $17.99   $4.98

The Roman Emperor expected to be worshiped as a god during his life time, and for temples and statues dedicated to him to be built throughout the Empire.  At Colchester podium (11 ft, 6 inches high) on which the temple stood was later used for a foundation for Colchester’s medieval castle.

NEW VIRTUAL CLASS! PILOXING® WITH KATHLEEN ESPOSITO

Celtic females had equal rights and were able to be elected to office, inherit wealth and held full ownership.  It was not unusual for them to be warriors and champions.

What to Make for Dinner When You Only Have 10 Minutes

Halloween & COVID-19: Have Fun While Staying Safe

Many Wiccans have adopted the Greek Deity Pan as a symbol of the Horned God’s virility and life affirming lust.

‘Put your mask on’: Woman needs double lung transplant after battling coronavirus

Virtual Event: Monarchs, Migration & More

Kids Night at the Museum
SpoOoOoky Edition Featuring Human Gross-Out Experiments!

Groucho Marx supposedly proposed this for his tombstone

Here lies Groucho Marix

And lies and Lies and Lies

p.s. He never kissed an ugly girl

Allow Oakley the springer spaniel to show you how to wear a mask correctly

Ameilia Island (FL) with its principal city of Fernandina Beach (formerly Fernandina) is home to hundreds of shipwrecked sailing ships blown in by hurricanes and storms over a 300-year period.  Just how many ships are sunk here will probably never be known

Slow-Cooker Soups You’ll Be Eating All Season Long

The 8 Best Teddy Bears of 2020

Teddy Bears

Teddy Bears were first made in 1902 and were named after Teddy Roosevelt.  The story goes that Roosevelt was hunting in that year in Mississippi and refused to shoot a bear that had been rendered defenseless by Roosevelt’s attendants.  The story was put in a political cartoon and within a year Morris Michtom (founder of Ideal Toy Co.) was producing Teddy’s Bears.

The Germans managed to make the most famous bears (they began production in 1903)-by Steiff, a company that has       been making plush animals since 1880. (they have sold for over $1,000 at auction–the one pictured above  is for sale on Etsy for $1,650).

And as we all know the bears have maintained their popularity with children and some of us older kids ever since.

The Most Outrageous Toy Museums Around the World

Where to get spooked this Halloween in the UK

   

King of Wands

This King supports our creative efforts and motivates our ambitions, upholding the prinicples of integrity.  Beware of relying on him though, as he cannot devore all his efforts to one cause.  He has the same intense capacity for romantic passion that he applies to his creative work and can push us to persevere in seeking the highest of unions.

Turmeric and Your Aching Knees

Amazons

A land populated entirely by these women–the Greeks believed in it, believed it existed on their very borders, a country on the River Thermodon.  Once or twice a year, on the borders of their country, the Amazons had intercourse with men from surrounding tribes, keeping their daughters and returning the sons to the tribes of origin–or possibly killing or crippling the boys

The New Book of Goddesses & Heroines

Patricia Monaghan

Blue Moon and Red Mars on Halloween

Witches who supposedly rode their brooms during storms, had black cats, which became signs that there would be heavy rain when they were seen

Florida’s 11 national parks: Bet you haven’t seen them all

5 Ghostly Walking Tours To Do In London

1189-99:  Richard the Lionheart went on Crusade against Saladin–and brought back knives and forks

The Art of the Walk

Bahama House

730 Eaton Street

at intersection of Williams

Key West, Fl.

Lot: 5280 sq. ft. House: 2648 sq. ft. (plus 532 sq. ft. attic apartment)
Current Owners: James & Patricia Kemp (and their dog “Daisy”)

The house was  reportedly built in the Bahamas (Green Turtle, one of two that houses in 1847)  and then taken apart and brought to Key West and reconstructed.

Arch House

808 & 810 Eaton

Part of the Island City Hotel

Constructed in 1890.  The work on the arch itself is unique.

Restored Eyebrow House

816 Eaton Street

(there’s another at 823)

Restored “Eyebrow” houses with eyebrow windows set beneath a heavy roof overhang.  The original floor plan included a central hall and two large rooms upstairs,  many examples –at least 30— of this type of domestic architecture can be found on the island.

19 miles from Aigai, just outadie the village of Naoussa, lies a tranquil claring with caves, springs and ancient carved limestone benches.  This is Mieza, or Sanctuary of Nymphs

., ‘If she can do it, you can too!’: Pandemic doesn’t deter 102-year-old from voting

ST. CLOUD MAKES CHANGES TO DOWNTOWN HALLOWEEN EVENT, BUT TRICKS, TREATS, AND SCARES ARE STILL ON!

The Railroad Passenger Station in St. Cloud, Fl.  is said to a great example of Prairie style architecture with its low pitched roof, triangular knee braces, concrete course, hip dormer, symmetrical design and hip-with-ridge elements.

Valued $2,500 – $3,500

The Most Haunted Places in Greece – YouTube

Love yourself enough to live a lifestyle:  Eat nourishing foods, adopt an exercise routin, stay connected to your loved ones, prioritize sleep, meditate and whenever possible, soak up some sunshine.

Jane Harrison

Coronavirus
grief

After Albert’s death in 1861, a public fund was set up to finance a memorial and to realise Albert’s scheme for a hall with libraries, exhibition rooms and an enormous lecture theatre.  Not enough money  could be found or both the hall and a memorial, so Henry Cole proposed financing the hall by selling a 999 year leasehold of seats.  Over 1,300 seats were sold, at 100 pounds each, which entitled the owner to free attendance at every performance–a scheme which is still in force today.  Queen Victoria bought 20 seats, which make up the present Royal Box.  The Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition who are still the hall’s landlords, donated the site at a peppecorn rent of 1s (10p) a year.

My yard one of many Halloween Season the main picture is more of the same.

The Witches Reboot Starring Anne Hathaway Is Coming to HBO Max—And the Trailer Is Here

6,000-Year-Old Skulls, Altar, And Goat Remains In Spanish Cave Point To Ancient Death Ritual

Check out the town on the border of the Yorkshire moors and it’s connection with Stoker and Dracula

The Great Tours: France through the Ages

Clydesdale Hotel

12 CLYDESDALE STREET, HAMILTON. Scotland

• An Amtrak Ride Through the U.S.’s Best Fall Foliage

Avoid Liquids close to bedtime:  What goes in must come out, and it does so in about 90 minutes.  So plan accordingly.

Halloween 2020 In London: Events, Film Screenings And Food

The Curse of the House of Atreus: A Dysfunctional Family Taken to Extremes

Atreus

was the son of Pelops,  Peloponese an early king after whom the in southern Greece is named, and Hippodaemia.  The house of Atreus was infamous for the hereditary curse laid upon it by the son of Hermes, the messenger of the gods.  A terrible cycle of murder and revenge was ended only by the trial in Athens of Atreus’ grandson Orestes on a charge of matricide.

Mythology–An Encyclopedia of the Gods.

Arthur Cotterell

Heart and soul: Travel the new Heart 200 touring route through Scotland’s central counties

The King was in his counting house,

Counting out his money

the king in this rhyme is believed to be Henry VIII

The Queen was in the parlour,

Eating bread and honey.

The Queen is reported to be Catherineof Aragon, Henry’s first wife and mother of Queen Mary his oldest legal child

The maid was in the gardens,

Hanging out he clothes.

When along came a blackbird,

And snipped off her nose!

And that is Anne Boleyn who was his second queen—he divorced Kathern–and mother of Elizabeth his second child—and it wasn’t her nose that got snipped off but her head as she had no sons—-he found daughters useless-

Henry VIII Tour

Take Your Little Monsters To The MAOAM Mischief Manor This Halloween

Nine Scottish locations have made it into Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel List

The Emperor Augustus proclaimed that he had “found Rome a city of brick, but left it a city of marble

THE DELICATE BALANCE OF PHOTOGRAPHING FLOWING WATER (VIDEO TUTORIAL)

Halloween in Myakka City

Royal Lipizzan Stallions of Austria

32755 Singletary Rd.

Myakka City,  Fl  34251

This is a rare opportunity to see the magnificent Royal Lipizzans up close.  The stallons were saved from almost certain extinction at the end of World War II.  Colonel Herrman and his father smuggled their horses out of Europe under the protection of General George S. Patton.  Decades later, these “original” Lipizzans are here for all to behold!

More One Tank Trips

with Bill Murphy

Epic New Trailer for Stephen King’s The Stand Miniseries

The actual Sunset Celebration in Key West          began in the 1960’s with the hippies and other carefree souls would gather to watch at the end of the day—it is now a major event with performers, artists and food vendors to name a view come to Mallory Square to celebrate the close of another day.

Cakes, Cakes & More Cakes!

Hocus Pocus

Thelma (“Butterfly”) McQueen, best remembered for the role of Prissy in Gone With The Wind, was born in 1911 in Tampa, Fl.

Vintage Photos Of American Roadside Attractions

Mount Dora 

is a lovely town north west of Orlando with lovely shops, excellent restaurants some with lake views, lush parks—even a mini-working-lighthouse/one of the few on freshwater in Florida.

But the town originally settled in the late 1800’s has some history that wasn’t always positive—but I think the incident of Robert Warburton and his family is among the strangest and quite sad.  Seems that Robert Warburton his wife, who had homestead 160 acres in the Mount Dora area in 1875, took a wagon trip to Eustis and on their way back on May 21, 1882 stopped at a place called Fiddler’s Pond to water their horse (which was of course attached to the wagon) .  Apparently the area going down to the lake was quite steep and it is reported that the horse and wagon both went in taking the family with it.  All were drowned.

But I did find one child survived though I have not found any details

Edith Maria Warburton Binns

Married on 17 Dec 1913 at Lawrence, Essex County, Massachusetts to Harry Binns

But then I find that she was born in Mass. 2 years after the family had homesteaded the land in Florida which is equally confusing   and both her and all the family’s listings show her as one of 3 children the couple had.  One wonders how she escaped the drowning, though I do assume that she was returned to Mass. to live with family there after the loss of her immediate family—but that is sheer speculation.

So I leave you with a sad and not entirely clear picture of an early incident in the history of Mt. Dora—my favorite town in Central Florida

Halloween Blowout 

In original Celtic Society there was  no focal point—no single authority—no single group or people dominated the others.

An Eerie Evening at the Tampa Bay Hotel

Biglow-Helms House

The house was built in 1908 on the corner of Bayshore and Gandy Blvds. by Gilas Leland Bigelow.  He had come from Brooklyn in 1884 and later served on Tampa’s first city council.  He died in 1917.  His widow sold the gray-stone mansion to Dr. John Sullivan Helms, who converted it to the first private hospital on Florida’s west coast.  Since then the edifice has also been an artist’s home and studio, and later an office complex.  Sometime in the past decades, visitors started reporting seeing Gilas Biglow’s apparition in the house.  After its hospital days, the cries of phantom babies were heard from empty sections of its ten thousand square feet.  Other visitors reported a feeling of being watched, not knowing if it was by Mr. Biglow or ethereal babies needing their ghostly diapers changed.

Haunting Sunshine:  Ghostly Tales from Florida’s Shadows

Jock Powell

Witches Broom Halloween Candy Bag

Increasing your serotonin levels creates a feeling of calm and makes you sleepy:  Foods that can help with this (try some a few hours before your bed time) are:  Bananas,     dates, crackers, figs, milk,  turkey, whole grain breads, yogurt. 

GRAVETYE MANOR – PLANTING INSPIRATION

IT’S ALIVE! The Halloween Boo-Tique is live!

Soccer, as it is quaintly known in the US, is by and large referred to as football in the rest of the world.

Your dream vacation starts at check-in

North from Khartoum on a narrow dessert road near Meroe, are dozens of  pyramids that , if you’re like me, you know little about.  And even the City—once the capital of Kush.  

The pyramids are in the royal cemetery, on the east side of the highway that divides Meroe–and the west holds the ruins of the royal city

This land is south of Egypt and its names have included Ta-Seti, Ta-Nehesi, Ethiopia and Nubia.  

Since all of this is located in the country of Sudan,, not a prime tourist place even if there wasn’t a pandemic I thought you might like a

Virtual tour Menroe

The 25 Best Horror Movies Of All Time — And The Chilling True Stories Behind Them

Cassadaga’s Haunted Hotel

Any settlement that has been founded and run by spiritualists would be expected to have a significant proportion of its population that can neither be seen nor heard.    Fortunately, the voting requirements are too stringent to include residents of the noncorporeal persuasuon.

The hotel there is haunted as one would expect.  Arthur was an Irish tenor who particularly liked the area and stayed in room 22.  It is also where he died.  The room has sometimes been reported to smell of cigars, gin, or pine needled.  Gin smells somewhat like pine needles, and Arthur liked cigars.  Even body odor has been noted in the room—Arthur lived before air conditioning, and Cassadaga’s heat and humidity can be intense.  A chair in the hotel has been seen to rock by itself.

Arthur has been seen in hallways.  People have attempted to contact him, and it is claimed that he will turn lights on and off in response to question.  He is also playful–one guest complained of being repeatedly pushed out of bed.

Strange music, like vintage music being played too fast from a distance has been heard by guests in room 22, though no one else was staying on the floor and televisions and radios are not allowed in the rooms.  A modified scream was also heard.  Is Arthur playing pranks and entertaining guests who expect a spooky show.

More about Cassadaga

Heirloom Recipes That Take You Back

Lycanthropy is the supernatural condition whereby a human transforms into a wolf. If an afflicted person transforms into another type of animal, the correct term for their condition is therianthropy.

FRIGHTFULLY FUN EVENTS In Salem

In this compelling exploration of language, archaeology, and early medieval literature, Max Dashu illuminates hidden cultural heritages. She shows that the old ethnic names for “witch” signify ‘wisewoman, ‘ ‘prophetess, ‘ ‘diviner, Read more.

5 Crazy Cool Ways to Decorate $1 Plastic Pumpkins!

the word “ghost” in English tends to refer to the soul or spirit of a deceased person that can appear to the living. 

Fearsome Creatures of Myth and Legend

Make an (Edible!) Haunted House

TOP 10 Halloween Events in Ireland you NEED to Experience 

The celebration of Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant belief systems there. Halloween was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies.

HERESY, THEY SAY? JAMES VI AND THE WITCH TRIALS

19 Best Things to Do in Los Angeles

Located inside the Postal Training Center in Nazarbad, the Postal Museum

Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General. His annual salary was $1,000. 

National Postmark Museum    Bellevue, Ohio     

The best-selling commemorative stamp to date is the Elvis Stamp that was issued in 1993. Since then, USPS has come out with all kinds of intriguing stamps, including triangular, round and holographic stamps.

The Smithsonian National Postal Museum

2 Massachusetts Ave NE,

Washington, DC

With all the talk about the Post Office lately I was interested in a recent article in the Smithsonian Magazine about the history of the besieged institution and I discovered they had a museum for the institution (though if I’d have given it much thought I would have expected they did).

Anyway here’s some the facts you might not know:

Housed within the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Canadian Postal Museum— Gatineau, Quebec

Veterans. The Postal Service employs more than 97,000 military veterans and is one of the largest employers of veterans in the country.

The British Postal Museum & Archive  London, England

The British established a primitive postal system to connect the 13 colonies—but it was Benjamin Franklin, who oversaw it from 1753-1774.  He improved it from primitive to an organization that was delivering mail from between Philadelphia and New York City in 33 hours (about 3 miles an hour which isn’t bad for those long ago days).

By the early 1770’s the leaders of the Revolution had an underground Constitutional Post and even before the Declaration of Independence they had turned the net work into the U.S. Postal Office.

It was James Madison who in 1792 denied a plan to allow for the cheap distribution of uncensored newspapers and the like to be sent cheaply, financed by the much higher rate of letters (that were mostly sent at that time by businesses, lawyers and the like).

The Postmuseum  Stockholm, Sweden

America’s first president was the first one to be on general-issue stamps that were released in 1847, and since then, he’s been on more stamps than any other person.

The Japanese Postal Museum is within Tei-Park, Tokyo, Japan

By 1831 the country the country boasted twice the post offices of Britain and five times those of France.  In 1840–sending a letter more than 150 miles cost twenty cents–about $6.00 today.  The answer to protests and the use of cheaper private carriers.  Congress converted the institution into a public service which no longer even had to break even.

During all this time the Postal Service subsidized private transportation companies and sent mail thru ships and the Panama Canal.

In the 1860 we got the short lived but very spectacular Pony Express that covered the distance from where the rail roads ended from St. Joe Missouri to Sacramento, CA—1,800 miles in 10 days.

The Pony Express Museum preserves the legacy and legend of the nation’s pioneering Far West mail carriers–St. Louis, MO

The National Museum of Postal Services and Telecommunication Rabat Morocco 

That five cents didn’t include home delivery, though.  If you wanted your mail, you had to go to the post office to get it. Free City Delivery wasn’t started until 1863 by an industrious postal worker in Cleveland, Ohio. He didn’t enjoy watching his female customers standing in line, in the freezing cold, waiting to get news from loved ones fighting in the war. To remedy the problem, he started delivering to his customers. Of course, this service was so popular that news quickly spread and postal home delivery became the new

post office in the Eiffel Tower.

During the Civil War the mail service was up-graded as they saved money by suspended service to the Confederate states.   

It was also during this time (in 1864) that the first money orders were introduced.  These allowed Union soldiers to send money home without the risk of sending cash.  Oh and by the way, the postal service was  the first institution to employ large numbers of women and African Americans.

In 1869 the Transcontinental Railroad was complete giving the mail a service they could use instead of ponies.

Vanuatu Post’s Underwater Post Office; Republic of Vanuatu

The number of gallons of fuel used in 2009 was 444 million, at a cost of US$1.1 billion. The fleet is notable in that many of its vehicles are right-hand drive, an arrangement intended to give drivers the easiest access to roadside mailboxes. Some rural letter carriers use personal vehicles. All contractors use personal vehicles. Standard postal-owned vehicles do not have license plates. These vehicles are identified by a seven-digit number displayed on the front and rear.  ^Wikipedia

Post Office Bay; Floreana Island, Galapagos, Ecuador

1896:  Rural Free Delivery was started

1913:  Parcel Post was began

Bringing the rural population into the main stream.

They also began using planes for transporting mail and the postal service was the main support for the Aviation industry until the late 1920’s.  

After World War II the service grew rapidly

Washington Park and Oregon Zoo; Portland, Oregon. Portland, Oregon

Street postboxes used to sport various colors in the past until they got standardized to blue in 1971. Before that they had been green, red and white, among others.

Madison Square Post Office; New York, New York

But with growth came increased cash problems.  So in 1970 Congress made it into the US Postal Service, a government business which interestingly enough, according to the article hasn’t received a tax dollar since 1982,

As usual Congress’ over sight cost money and provided more burdens.  It’s  Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act in 2006 required that the service pre-fund its retiree’s health benefits–resulting in tens of billions of dollars of debt.

Oh and despite all that negative press  the Gallup Poll of 2019 found that the Post Office was the Federal Service that Americans rated most highly.

Post Office of Mardin; Mardin, Turkey

It may be a cliché, but the mailman-hating dog is a real problem. In fact, close to 6,000 mail carriers are bitten or attacked by dogs each year, inspiring the post office to sponsor an annual National Dog Bite Awareness Week in June. To stave off potential problems, the USPS advises homeowners to secure their pets before opening the door to accept a package, refrain from taking mail directly from the mail carrier’s hands in the presence of your dog (some canines can perceive this as a threatening gesture), and remember that mail carriers who feel threatened by an unsecured dog can refuse to deliver mail directly to your home.

 Austrian Postal Savings Bank; Vienna, Austria

With the internet, Face Book, Email and the like the Post Office mostly delivers parcels of all kinds (and if my mail is any indication junk mail keeps them busy as well).   This seems to have been a good thing—again the article says that between 2018 to 2019 the service had a $1.3 billion increase in its revenue.

In 2020 it has been a great deliver of stimulant checks and don’t forget all those ballots—being received and hopefully mailed back again…..as well as getting test results and the like.

Polish Post Museum; Gdansk, Poland

• Vote early: If you do plan to vote by mail, voting early can help ensure that the USPS is not overwhelmed at the last minute. The website Vote.org has a good roundup of early-voting rules by state.

U.S. Post Office, Christmas, Florida

This modest post office sits on the site of H.H. Holmes’ famous murder castle.

And let’s don’t forget what month it is:

This modest post office sits on the site of H.H. Holmes’ famous murder castle. 

check it out

and this Postal Service Ad is great

This Utah post office makes haunted house list. See the creepy photos

NCXIAO Magnetic Mailbox Cover – 18”W x 21”H, Zombie Head Evil Dead Man Portrait Fiction Creature Scary Monster Graphic,Mailbox Wraps Post Letter Box Cover

https://www.amazon.com/NCXIAO-Magnetic-Mailbox-Cover-Portrait/dp/B07X3G3XCX

Meet the man:  Wilde

Great stylist and lovely lady working in an area where you can become beautiful without becoming infected —-just across from Winter Park Village.

The podcast for kids that the whole family will enjoy!

These

interesting stories of the law are from the UK and not the USA

nothing crazy like this happens here I’m sure ????

This church once part of the larger abbey bordering on the Epping Forest in Essex.  The monastery, which dates way back further than I have studied the history of, was founded during the reign of King Cnut (1017-1035)  

which is one of the kings of the Viking period in England and the now UK.    but it’s main claim to fame came a few years later when Legend says that  Harold the  Saxon King who was killed at a battle with the invading Normans at Hastings and his body was brought here and buried with that stone at the front of the picture—which was at the time of the burial was at the Abbey’s High Altar sight and so the stone marks it spot (above) which would have been inside the building and over his grave.  But others insist that he was left at the sight or near it of his death and dumped with no ceremony at the site of the battle itself—-and if that isn’t enough there have long been legends that Harold survived the battle—though his kingship did not and that he retreated from the Normans to the north and stayed out of sight and sound until his death of natural causes many years later.  But visiting Hastings and the church is an interesting way to spend a day and just in case you’ve got two out of three of the burial spots off of your to do list.  In all fairness there’s a lot more than 3 but I didn’t want to discourage you

King Harold ‘may have survived Battle of Hastings’ claim

Marking King Harold’s Grave. The inscription reads: ‘This stone marks the position of the high altar behind which King Harold is said to have been buried 1066’.

BLENDED SCOTCH V SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY: WHAT SHOULD I BUY?

Halloween Ideas

THE FIRST HEALERS: Ancient Medicine and the Art of Wellness

It was over 284 years ago that the first British Prime Minister:  Sir Robert Walpole moved into Number 10 Downing Street.

Bright fireball widely seen over northeastern Mexico

The Key West Cemetery 

is much like the town it serves—a bit (or more) off the beaten path.  One of the oldest markers is the final resting place of Duncan Cameron since 1855.

Next along the way is a tiny stone that marks an the early grave of 22-year old Rev. J. Van Duzen, the first missionary to Cubans in Key West

if you continue along the semi-circular roadway northeast along 3rd Ave.  You’ll pass Tombs of Key West elite:  The Lowes, Careys, Pinders and Currys.

Note the two ceramic swans and double white roses at the corner.

and finally on the right are 42 “condos” burial cubicles stacked to conserve space.

The Witches’ Ball  Orlando 2020 

37 is the angle that the number 10 is painted on the door of #10 Downing Street

7 Books to Read Based on Your Favorite Fall Activity

Ormonde Castle

Carrick-on-Sur

County Tipperary

Ireland

DISCOVER GHOUL BRITANNIA

Today, thanks largely to the efforts of Heritage Ireland , 

the old house is gradually assuming something of its former glory and visitors can admire its atmospheric huddle of rooms, including a Long Gallery that stretches for an impressive 100 feet, and which is unique in Ireland…

…On its wall the marks of the original staircase are clearly visible.  It is here that ghostly activity has been experienced.  Michael Wallace, a sprightly guide who looked far younger than his 80 years when I met him, used to live in the house.  There were nights when as he sat close to the bottom of the staircase, he would hear the distinct sound of a ball apparently being held in the Long Gallery above.  He would hear the swish of the ladies skirts, the echoing sound of their footfall and from time to time the voice of a one minstrel that would burst into song and entertain the assembled phantom throng with a mournful rendition of “Greensleeves.”

Haunted Houses of Britain and Ireland

Richard Jones

19 Incredibly Haunted Hotels Around the World

The largest room at 10 Downing Street is the 42 foot long State Dining Room

International Archaeology Day

Dr. Pound Pioneer Farmstead

Dripping Springs

Texas

Hair-raising stories from pioneer days. – Texas Escapes

Three families settled here from Missouri in 1853.  One a Physician Joseph M. Pound and wife Sarah built a one room log cabin—they would eventually be the proud parents of 9 children.  The cabin became the site where a Methodist circuit rider gave meetings for the community.  Eventually the cabin grew to include a kitchen, dining room.  The site remains intact today looking much like it did then.  The site houses family items including desk and the doctor’s medical tools as well as a Confederate flag.  There is also a smokehouse, corral, windmill, and a barn.  An item that sounds particularly interesting is an old time green house called a “hot frame”.

The Land and Its Early People – Texas Our Texas

A brown and white cat named Larry is the Official “Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office”—-it’s reported that there have been assorted felines in residence here for over 500 years—Nelson, by the way was the name of the feline for Churchill.

Discover The Power of Pollinators

Knights Templar: Escapees in Scotland | Crusader History

At Peterculter

a paper mill town, the statue seen from the bridge overlooking Leuchar Burn is Rob Roy (1671-1731) the traditionally amiable outlaw (who in fat was just a cattle-lifter and freebooter) Peterculter and Maryculter were named after St Peter’s Chapel and St. Mary’s Chapel when the Culter district was divided by donation of the south bank of the district (Maryculter) to the Knights Templar in the late twelth century.  The Roman Catholic St Mary’s College (founded in the 1827) has some notable treasures which include a portrait of Mary Queen of Scots found hidden at Doual after the French Revolution.  Aberdeen is eight miles (13 km) from here.

Around Scotland:  A Touring Guide

Ken & Julie Slavin

The Salacious Letters That Helped Bring Down Mary, Queen …

  Stan the T. rex just became the most expensive fossil ever sold

St Paul’s Episcopal Church and Rectory was originally built on corner of Duval and Eaton Street in Key West in 1838, this plus two subsequent churches built on the same spot were all destroyed by hurricanes.  The current church was built in 1919.

Stan the T. rex just became the most expensive fossil ever sold

More UK pictures both the main and this and again I lost track of where exactly they were taken.

The Best Halloween Decorations to Celebrate The Spookiest Time of the Year

Check out THE MAN:  Bogart

6 New Showstopping Fall Cakes

Kitchen Tips and Tricks

Acorn Clearance Sale

Artificial intelligence is preserving our ability to converse with Holocaust survivors even after they die

England’s Only County Without a McDonald’s Is About to Get One

Have you ever heard of Rutland County in the UK.  Well I hadn’t but now…

Rutland is just 2 hours north of London and just 17 miles wide with only 2 towns.

I found that the county’s land originally was granted to Emma of Normandy (another person I wasn’t aware of) who was the mother of England’s most saintly king–Edward the Confessor.  Edward  

gave the county to his wife Queen Edith in 1053—-Edward who was known for he non-indulgences in the pleasures of the flesh it would seem that  it’s the least he could offer as the marriage didn’t seem to have that which is one of the usual perks    

as one of his clams to Sainthood was his chastity.

Of course by 1080 or so  it went to Edward’s cousin William the Conqueror, who no one ever nominated to sainthood as far as I can see in my studies.

In its earliest days it was royal hunting grounds and there is still a Forrest Leighfield to the west.  The county actually disappeared for about 20 years starting in the 70’s when it became part of Leicestershire-–but reappeared in the 1990s as Rutland again.

Okham is the site of a castle, which was originally more of a manor house and today it is  considered among the most beautiful Norman Domestic architecture in the country.    Check out this virtual tour

Upper Humbleton is the other town or village (?) in the county and is home to Humbleton Hall with a world class restaurant among other things

Oakham Castle Horseshoes

Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Bookstore

Geisha Ware

is made from porcelain, a clay mixture of petuntse and kaolin.  When fired in the heat of a kiln, it becomes a hard, translucent material.  While porcelain weights vary from the thinnest “eggshell” to pottery look-alikes, all porcelain bodies have one thing in common–light can be seen through them.  The thinner the porcelain, the more light shines through.

The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Geisha Girl Porcelain

Elyce Litts

Isle of Scilly:  Autumn:  A feast for your senses.

Greenville, South Carolina

ROKR 3D Wooden Puzzle for Adults-Mechanical Train Model Kits-Brain Teaser

The Waterford Fair is coming

Use 21st-Century Technology To Experience The 18th Century

FANTASY FEST BACKGROUND

The Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden

On College Rd in Key West

Through a combined effort of the Key West Garden Club and Monroe County. this garden was open several years ago, creating a natural preserve of indigenous and south Florida botanical species.

Key West: Graves, Ghosts, Goblins and Ghouls

12 Excellent Things To Do In London In October 2020

Beheadings And Ferocity At The National Gallery: Artemisia Is An Artist We Should All Know About

At Fort Christmas, It’s History All Year Long

It’s Christmas All Year In Florida

in 1837,

Fort Christmas 

was built in east Orange County.  In 1977 the Orange County Parks Department constructed a replica of Fort Christmas about one mile south of its original location.  The fort is used as a museum honoring the memory of the Seminole Indians who were defending their freedom, the soldiers who fought for American expansion,  

the runaway slaves who sought refuge in Florida and the early pioneers who set up communities in the area.  Museum guide Vicky Prewett explains how Fort Christmas got its name:  “There were two thousand soldiers that were marching from Fort Mellon, which was over in Sanford.  When they arroved at Powelltown, a large Indian village that was abandoned, of course at the time, they built their fort on the opposite side of the creek.  They arrived there on December 25, 1837, and that was Christmas Day, so they decided that ey would name their fort Fort Christmas.

Beyond the Theme Parks:  Exploring Central Florida

Benjamin D. Brotemarkle

Stone Age Rock Tombs Found Near Göbekli Tepe Provide More Ancient Clues

It also comes in tee shirts

Behind the Scenes Peek into Audubon’s Raptor Trauma Clinic

Memories of Halloweens past

6 fantastic masks travel fans will love

Looking into the past of a few places in Longwood

Not too far from the train depot for Amtrack—-to the west on Church Ave is

The Old Post Office

117 Church Ave

In a building that one held Pete’s Eats more recently, it was built in 1920 and was later owned by the Paynes.  It served as the Longwood Post Office from 1931-1946 with Blanche (Payne) acting as post mistress.

Keep going west toward 427

Turn left over East Church Ave when you reach 427

Henck-Tinker Building

101-159 South CR 427

Which is on the SW corner of 427 and East Church Ave

It was built around 1925 by Edward Hench and Baseball Hall of Fomer Joe Tinker short stop for the Chicago Cubs.  The  Longwood state bank operated out of the building’s  north end, and a drug store, a grocery star and a barbershop operated out of the south end.  Hit by the Depression, the bank folded in 1932, but its vault is still inside the building. The Hench-Tinker Building is constructed of brick and false-brick stucco.

Longwood pioneers are colorful lot

The Forgotten Kidnapping Epidemic That Shook Depression-Era Americ

they have it on Amazon OF COURSE

About the Purple Leash Project

Getting a Florida Fishing License: All You Need to Know

Fort Desoto Park

At the mouth of Tampa Bay,

a few miles south of St. Petersburg Beach

Park & Campground Office (727) 582-2100, select Option #2

….consists of several sun-drenched islands surrounded by miles of beautiful beaches and sparkling gulf waters.  The sites in the camping area are among the most attractive in the state.  Many of them are directly on the water yet cut into a thickly wooded area of oak trees, palms and palmetto bushes.  Points of interest include the fort and a long a long fishing pier.  This county park is exceptionally popular so reservations are a must and they can only be made at the campground office for a maximum of 14 days.  Pets are not allowed.

Guide to Florida Campgrounds

Jim Stachowicz

Explore Ft. Desoto

Lakeridge Uncorked

And the answer is $8,000 to $12,000

Writer Sailor Soldier Spy: Ernest Hemingway’s Secret Adventures 1935-1961

Cobra Season One—Watch the Preview

DRUM CASTLE, GARDEN & ESTATE

This is an ancient castle—dating back to medieval times and the family that lived lived here for 21 generations (over 650 years).  But it did not stay rooted in the ancientness of its origins–and while you can see a medieval tower, there’s also a Jacobean mansion house and many Victorian additions.

and don’t forget the gardens which include a Historic Rose corner with roses from as far a China and Japan.

Secret medieval chamber found in Scottish castle

Viking Raids in Britain – Ancient History Encyclopedia

The Abingdon Sword

(surviving length 31.5 cm)

The warfare between the English and the Vikings in the late 9th c was perceived by some contemporary commentators as a struggle between Christians and pagans.  This sword of English manufacture, is decorated with a combination of designs best understood in relation to the Christian symbolism of other late ninth-century metal work, and seems in this way to capture the “Onward Christian Soldiers’ mentality of the age.  The sword was found at Bog’s Mill, Abingdon, Oxfordshire in about 1874.

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings

Edited by Peter Sawyer

Magical swords in myths and legends – from Britain to Vietnam …

• Still staying in—how about being Sherlock Holmes Assistant

Castle Howard

Runestone Discovered in Sweden Provides Window Into Viking Past

Symbols & Secrets At the Charter House

One of the places we were planning on visiting on our rescheduled trip to London is the Charter House

And one of the things that endears this site to visitors are their gardens which form part of the 7 acre site that sets just minutes from the City of London  and has done so since 1348 during the time of the  Black Death.  

It has been many things including a Carthusian monastery, 

a private home in Tudor times

and finally even a private school….

But for the last 400 years it has been an almshuse which opened to the public 3 years ago and gives tours of the House and Garden on select dates, as well as noee having Open Gardens in the evenings of summer which allows you to access the paces and even was to feature BBQ and a bar.  check www.thecharterhouse.org to see what is actually going on under the restrictions of the pandemic (not to be confused with the medieval plague)

In The Charterhouse—Plague Pit

What I Wore When I Went Through Menopause

London has several church ruins scattered about —unlike the Greeks and the Romans, these are of much closer dates mostly thanks to the German’s bombings during the Second World War.   This is one of those churches—sorry cant say which one  

• The main picture was the starting site at Plymouth in UK for a cross Atlantic Sail race—though I knew little about the details, the ships were beautiful and the activity highly exciting.

Visit George IV’s private apartments

What you need to know now about COVID-19 in Florida

Sorry I didn’t do my blog last week–-2 wks ago I got my flu shot and spent some time at a shop awaiting some service for my car .

By Sat a week ago my  usual energy was waning and I spent the weekend just watching TV—not something I do very seldom—by Monday last I was not feeling well at all with some fever—not severe and intermittent but still an indication I’d managed to pick up something.  I was able to schedule a Virus test by the next Friday.  Meanwhile I was self isolating and not going even for my brief grocery shopping and the like.

I was very apprehensive about this whole thing of testing I had seen the long lines– despite appointments I might add—Setting large parking lots in the high head of fall which seems to have caught on to the fact that it could stay hot for global warming.  I left early—after extensive driving up and down and about in the small town the test was being given in— I finally found the park and was courteously told which area to go to—I drove there and found that it was a small area, far from the maddening crowds and people who might decide to wander in and try to be included in the testing lines, causing delays in a system I’d been told specialized in delays.

More than that the small parking lot is lovely bordered on one side by a lovely lake all alight with the morning glow.  Trees kept the sun off of you while still allowing a nice light to surround us.  The staff—part county workers who specialized in organizing all manner of responses from hurricanes to floods and now even pandemic.  They got information and things set up at a few sites  to confirm who you are, get your ID and then send you on where Allied does the testing—-a throat rather than a nose swab and while maintaining a great routine of glove changing and the like—I was in and out in less than 45 min —and my attendant apologized for being a bit slow as one of their staff had called out that day.    And that was it and I was free to go back and hide in my house and progressively feel better.

Oh and today is Monday–and about 10 ish this AM–exactly 3 days from my test date—-and I got that call they promised (I was given a full page of instruction—only partly for me as only part of English)  that confirmed who I was and told me I was negative—OK can we close the Pandemic now?

[

        The Oldest Continually Inhabited Cities on Each Continent

Sam Kinison, the outrageous comic  was known for his substance abuse and his reckless life filled with drugs, alcohol and controversy—but did you know he died of a broken heart?  On April 10, 1992 a group of teens who reportedly had littered their car with beer cans swerved into traffic and hit head on into Sam’s car (occupied by Sam and Sam’s new bride Matlika Souiri ) near Needles, California.  He survive for a short while after.  But it seemed that he hadn’t been wearing his seat belt and when he struck the other car his body was slammed into the steering wheel, the sudden deceleration ripped his aorta from his heart—a broken heart and he passed away along HWY 96.

By the way he’s buried at his family’s plot at Memorial Park Gardens, Tulsa.. OK            

SIX – Live At The Lyric

Travel the world without having to social distancing, mask—hell not even a passport.

Archaeology:  An Introduction to the World’s Greatest Sites

over 20 sites and lectures —-you can purchase and watch it on demand on line or buy the videos.

Sites include:  Pompeii & Herculaneum

Troy

Jericho

King Tut’s Tomb

Sutton Hoo

Micho Picchu

I purchased one of these on Great Britain and loved it.

Ten Banging Chocolaty Desserts

This is Hattie Daggert

she was one of those rare women—particularly for the late 19th century—first of all she actually had a profession–she was a nurse and second she was apparently quite independent—traveling to the lightly developed area of Central Florida that is now Clermont, FL.   

At age 23. she came as a dutiful daughter to check the area out for a possible place for her her parents to settle.  However she was so impressed with the area she purchased  20 acres and eventually would be joined by 17 other pioneering families around what she had named Monte Vista.  (in Current Clermont)

She spent her summers in Philadelphia working at her nursing profession for the money to hire laborers from the Sanford Docks to build a canal between Crescent Lake and Lake Minnehaha.  

But she didn’t stand by being idle—she supervised the digging and reportedly the use of dynamite to blow cypress stumps.

And when the 6,600′ long 30′ wide canal was done she wasn’t done yet and purchased a steam launch to haul produce and in her spare time she married a Robert Mullholland, a widower from Oakland.   

and of course there was a house—a home for her and her hubby—Called thee Log House (3-stories high) which she used for—you guessed it—a headquarters for her

Monte Vista Land & Improvement Company that marketed the property she owned.  The street here still bears it’s name—no she didn’t actually, physically build it–she had her brother do that.

Lake County history: Did you know?

Glastonbury Tor:  this terraced mound raises above what at some point following the last ice Age, was in fact a shallow inland sea.

Smart Talks

The Aardvark isn’t just a bottle shop – it might be the best and truest gastropub in Orlando 

William  the Conqueror  (Formerly William the Bastard of Normandy) was cousin to the English King Edward the Confessor.  William insisted, but had no actual paperwork, that Edward left the throne to him—But William eventually defeats Harold, whose claim to the throne was also unsupported by documents—and makes himself king after which he built the Tower of London—giving Henry VIII a place to put unwanted subjects and wives.

Is it safe to get a flu shot during pregnancy?

---

Trina Robbins

Serpentine–New Alex Delaware Novel

A Secret Garden tour of England

More tips for Lock Down

Now that we’re inside much more some of us (me!!!!) have shed those shoes unless I’m making rare excursion out and about—But whether all natural or in your favorite pump your feet need to be cared for regularly.

Of course there’s the basics:  clean and dry for both and all 10 digits

Check regularly for cuts, blisters all that kind of thing.

Going to spend some time by the pool or the beach—don’t forget to put sunscreen on your feet—and don’t forget the rest of you that’s bare to the air and of course sun.

Just cause you love the look doesn’t mean that the shoes are right for you—make sure they fit well—no pinching, rubbing, well you get the idea.  Avoid those flat ones with the thin soles as they leave your feet to absorb the stress of walking.  And don’t get me started on High heals—from tendon issues, bunnions and hammertoes to name a few.  And get some good and well fitting exercise shoes if you plan to walk, run or—-well you get the idea.

And if you have any issues with circulation or Diabetes, neuropathy you need to get at least a yearly check as these have been known to cause major problems—some of which may result in amputation of toes for instance.

Boris Johnson orders British pubs to close early as Covid-19 cases rise

RIX:  A Celtic word meaning an act of stretching or reaching

Making Miami plans?

HistoryMiami
101 West Flagler Street
Miami, FL 33130

305-375-1492

The Museum’s Research Center is a repository of hundred of photos, period maps, posters and related materials showing the significant role that South Florida played in WWII.

Fredericksburg’s Fall Activities

The Tarot Card Queen of Wands  Represents a passionate female who wants to rouse people into action through her outspoken and critical nature.  Although she appears to be fighting those that cross her, she is a true champion of anyone she supports.

Ancient German Tomb With Circle Of Female Skeletons Found

Fort Taylor

Fort Taylor, situated at the southernmost point in continental US was built in 1832 to guard the entrance to Key West Harbor.  The fort is now a state park and can e reached through the Southard Street entrance.  Civil War Parrott guns and other military relics are exhibited.  One can park in the grounds adjacent and see ships passing through the Main Ship Channel.  Swimming at the beach can also be enjoyed.

Key West Booklet

Coronavirus mutations: What we know so far

St, John’s Wort is also called Amber, goatweed, Johnswort, Klamath weed and Tipton weed

Celebrate Black History Month

This and the main picture are from my trips to Edinburgh

AI ‘resurrects’ 54 Roman emperors, in stunningly lifelike images