In my defence, I should point out that I never send anyone flowers. Simply because I could spend the money on more useful gifts like a set of spanners. I know what I would rather have, and suffice to say a bunch of pansies ain't going to help me change a flat tyre.
Back to the matter in hand. The last week or so has been a bit of a blur, comprising lots of random shit, and exacerbated by red wine. I'm telling you, the stress of it all would have found a lesser person wondering naked through the streets of Forest Hill, wringing their hands and mumbling; "where did Bitty go? Where's Bitty?" (P.S. I don't know who Bitty is either.)
Here is an example of some of the random shit ......
Pic.No.1 I am not sure why, but Izzy had to go to school dressed as a viking. She got into character and wanted to pillage Naughty George's dog biscuits. I only lintervened when she wanted to behead him with plastic axe
Pic.No.2 My car suffered a flat battery, and when I opened the bonnet to jump-start it, my iPhone fell out of my pocket and smashed (again). Thank the lord that I had previously treated myself to some jump-leads instead of a bunch of flowers
Pic.No.3 Izzy's Grandparents came to stay. You've already met them - they are the ones we went to visit in Cyprus, earlier in the year. Grandad Paul looks like Noel Edmunds
Pic.No.4 Grandad Paul and Izzy painstakingly built a lego castle with a wind turbine for power. I asked Izzy to showcase her creation. "Have you got me in the shot Mama?" she asked. I sure had, and she looked like an evangelical preacher with a levitating yellow Paddy hat
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Anyway, enough of that random shit, I wanted to finish off this post by showing you some more pictures from my Cornwall holiday (this is the last of the Cornwall series - huzzar! I can do some new stuff tomorrow! Huzzar squared!). If you can remember, Izzy and I went on holiday to Cormwall with Sarah and her friend, Gary, and on the last day we decided to visit a place called St Michael's Mount.St Michaels Mount is an island with a Medieval castle built on it's summit. I say 'Medieval', but in reality, it's history spans a huge amount of time
Pic.No.5 This is what St Michael's Mount looks like on the map. It's a blob in the middle of the sea
So I am going to do a bit of history for you. But not too much. If I try to do too much "history", I lose interest and always end up playing Angry Birds on my iPhone. Or even better, that Flight Controller game. I managed to land 32 consecutive aircraft yesterday.
I digress. Back to the history of St Michael's Mount: In 350 BC (yep, before Jeez), the mount was a key port for trading tin to the rest of Europe. In 1135AD the stone church was built on the top. Following that date, there were centuries of scrapping done over the mount, some of which involved the Spanish Armada. The general scrapping ended in 1647 when Colonel John St Aubyn was nominated Captain of the Mount (woof! how many men would like that title?). He bought the Island in 1659, turned it into a private home, and his descendants have lived there ever since (and still do, although they have had to redecorate a number of times).
And because I am like Mother Theresa, except that I don't wear scratchy crackers ...... I have got some pictures for you .........
Pic.No.6 This is St Micheal's Mount. You can only get to it when the tide is out
Pic.No.7 At last! A picture of me ...... and Izzy of course
Pic.No.8 When the tide went out, a causeway (path) was revealed ...... quite a slippery one at that. We had to make sure we had enough time to visit the island before the tide came back in to avoid being stranded
Pic.No.9 One of the first things we encountered when we landed on the island, were numerous references to 'giants'. Here was the 'Giant's Well'
I got a bit curious about the references to Giants, so I did a bit of research ........ and here is the explanation (from the St Michael's Mount website - I nicked it):
"As you start to ascend the path leading to the Castle on St Michael's Mount, you'll walk past the Giant's Well - and a rock called 'The Giant's Heart', which is well marked. Both these are references to another Cornish legend. Jack the Giant Killer allegedly dug the well while the evil giant Cormoran was sleeping. As dawn broke, Jack blew on his horn and when Cormoran woke and rushed towards Jack he was blinded by the sun and he tumbled into the well; his heart flew 50 yards up the hill in the process - and that's the Giant's Heart that is in the stonework to this day. The well is to be found at OS Map Reference SW515298."
Pic.No.10 This was the marker for the 'Giant's Heart'
Pic.No.11 See that heart-shaped stone in the middle of the picture? Apparently, that's where Jack's heart landed after his encounter with the Giant
Pic.No.12 Enough of the Gianty-shit ....... we finally reached the castle perched upon the top of St Michael's Mount
Pic.No.13 The first room we entered was the study, and it had this marvellous fireplace
Pic.No.14 This was the view from the study window
Pic.No.15 This was the castle library
Pic.No.16 This was one of the Medeival bits (approx 1300AD) - The Great Hall. It was older than that tin of Corned Beef at the back of my cupboard
Pic.No.17 The Medieval dining table (over 700 years old). Definitely not from Ikea
Pic.No.18. In 1641AD, this was the family's Coat of Arms - two dobbins rearing, and some latin shit
Pic.No.19 The view from the castle to Marazion (the village on the mainland)
Pic.No.20 This was the view from the castle ramparts. Man alive, I DO NOT like heights .... and I started feeling all sway-ey
Pic.No.21 This is one of the turrets ..... it was a LOT higher than it looked in the pictures. Sacre Bleu!
Pic.No.22. I loved this: In 1846 Queen Victoria made an impromptu visit to St Michael's Mount whilst passing on the royal yacht, Britannia. The St Aubyns were not at home so she had tea in the Blue Drawing Room
Pic.No.23 I promise, they're 'armless! The Blue Drawing Room with Gothic Rococo styling
Pic.No.24 Hurrah, it's me again! (picture taken by Izzy)
Pic.No.25 The Ginge poses on the ramparts whilst multiple poses are going on in the background
Pic.No.26 Aha, so now we reach the Medieval church ...... it had better be good after climbing up 20 million steps and nearly swooning over the ramparts
Pic.No.27 Ok, yep. It had some lovely stained glass windows
Pic.No.28 A ladee with wings apparently trying to tazer a crim
Pic.No.29 This was the altar. The stained glass was magnificent and the walls were thicker than Mitt Romney
Pic.No.30. After the church, we headed down a number of small corridors adorned with numerous portraits of the St Aubyn family
Pic.No.31 And then we ended up in the Armoury room. There was this Japanese armour on display. But it looked like a taxidermied hamster was modelling it
Pic.No.32 Look at this! it was a window in the Armoury room. The walls were at least six feet thick. That's thicker than Paris Hilton
Pic.No.33 Finally after our tour of the castle, we got to play with the heavy artillery. This is Izzy, with her hero, Gary .......
Pic.No.34 Born free! As free as the wind blows ....... ! It felt like we were on top of the world being so high up in the castle grounds
Pic.No.35. And so we finally descended from the castle on the mount. And following a stroke of genius, we briefly stopped to have a cappuccino in the cafe next to the harbour, before heading home (Izzy is posing next to the cafe wall)
So dahlink, I have two tasks for you: (1). What have you done in the last weekend? and; (2) tell me about the oldest place you have ever visited.
LOVED all this history! What a place! Imagine owning it?!
ReplyDeleteOf course your humour, Annie, was top-notch!! Mitt Romney one the BEST!
OK. What have I been doing? Answer...not too much.
Oldest place I've ever been to? Answer.....let's put it this way, nowhere as old as this place!
Another great visit, thanks. I love your captions! I have been to the island many years ago, but didn't get to go inside. Isn't" Bitty" from David Walliams character when he was a grown up asking for boob milk feed?
ReplyDeleteOK, you got me. I haven't been there. It looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend: keeping out of the rain.
Probably not the oldest place, but I recall spending the night in a haunted castle in Scotland. Borthwick Castle, 1430 and still bearing the scars of Cromwell's cannonballs. We were the only guests, and after dinner all the staff left us alone in the castle. Eeeek!
What a super place to visit, must put it on the list.
ReplyDeleteWeekend as per normal was on the railway and the oldest place I have visited must be Stonehenge quite a few years ago now.
Oldest building I guess would be Canterbury Cathederal, which was really interesting.
It was bloody brilliant. But not as good as the French one (unfortunately)!
ReplyDeleteHow was the railway? Is it getting quieter as the weather gets colder?
Stone Henge - now that IS old. 2150 BC it says on the website. Blimey. And Canterbury Cathedral - that is one place I would love to visit.
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Hello Jessica - uh oh, you got rain? We managed to duck most of it in Oxford.
ReplyDeleteBorthwick Castle sounds wicked! Surely you are going to do a post on that. And the obvious question - did you see any ghosts?
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Why thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it! You are right you know, Bitty is that David Walliams character. I hope there is nothing subliminal in my choice of name ;-)
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Greetings Jimski! Glad you liked it - the people living there definitely need a head for heights.
ReplyDeleteI bet you've been up to loads - you guys are always out and about ;-)
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Yes Anne the railway is calming down, last day of stopping passenger services is 4th November. Then in December we run the Santa trains but they do not stop at my station as they are a non-stop service end to end. Then back to normal in February. So I get almost a 3 month break except for some days doing maintenance. Latest adventures can be found on my blog as normal. http://www.arkwrightsoforton.co.uk/blog
ReplyDeleteThree months? That's more than teacher's get! I have popped round to your blog to catch up on the latest! Great post about the railway museum!
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Remind me to never let you get near my new phone. You've got some bad mojo with such things.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the weirdest place- I've sat in the cell where they kept Alferd Packer, a cannibal.
What is it with you and mobile phones, oh and not forgetting digital cameras?.....Great blog as usual. This place is on our bucket list though we have visited Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy which we thought was awesome......We entertained your Dad and Dawn on Saturday evening as we hadn't seen them for a while and the oldest place we've visited.....well Trumpan church on the north-west coast of the Waternish peninsula on the Isle of Skye is pretty old, a great place to boot, but I suppose it has to be Stonehenge which we visited whilst away across the other week.
ReplyDeleteLove the Mount - Proper lovely :-)
ReplyDeleteAye, but not as good as the Frenchy one!
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I am the gadget terminator!
ReplyDeleteFlippin' hek - what was the cell like? Did it have a weird atmosphere? What were you doing in prison anyway?!
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1.) Hello Old friend!
ReplyDelete2.) Just so you know, I've been visiting, just not commenting. . . my computer is a piece of sh**.
3.) Why in the world don't you put your Iphone in a case??? The titanium type, you nut job.
4.) You take the best outings. Lurv the pics:)
ReplyDeleteIt was my first stay there that was truly wicked...
Now I don't dabble in heroin, but I'll wager that those two "giant" teaspoons on the fire hearth have been used for some almighty parties (if my understanding of free basing is correct).
ReplyDeleteHa ha! It never even entered my head that they were used for heroin ;-) You have a warped mind, it's great.
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Hello Dahlink, I was just thinking about you. I need to think up something for Izzy's dinner, and I was going to stop round your place for inspiration!
ReplyDeleteNut job! hahahahahah ... that made me laugh ;-) I have now invested in a case for my phone, so my destruction capabilities are going to be tested to the limits.
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That was a brilliant post about the ghost. Just in time for halloween too! I am surprised you didn't perish from shock.
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Flippin' hek, the French Mont Saint-Michel is way better than the English one .... much bigger and grander. And I hoped you charged me Dad and Dawn for the food. Dad is a gut bucket.
ReplyDeleteOooh, you've been to the Isle of Skye? I've always fancied touring the north of Scotland, it looks so wild and beautiful. What did you think of stonehenge? Were you there for 5 minutes wondering what you should do next? ;-)
Annie, the Isle of Skye is my all time favourite destination, it is stunning. I just love the beauty of the Cuillin and the emptiness of the whole place as well as the sunsets. I can't recommend it enough. Google The Stein Inn....Angus and Theresa are BRILLIANT...we were there to celebrate the millennium...... At 11.30 they kicked us out of the inn for a fireworks display and bonfire on the beach in pouring rain. Once the fireworks had finished they opened the door of the inn and invited us all back in giving us champagne and food......Everything was free.....Stonehenge I was very disappointed with. £7.50 for ten minutes and that was it. Wished I'd gone to Avebury up the road.....No I didn't charge, they've done a great deal for Gail and I and it was nice to give them something back for a change.....he did say the Baklava I made was the best he'd ever eaten....
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