TUESDAY CHAT

I found this picture when searching for something else and thought it rather beautiful.

I was glad I found it as I needed something nice after the last couple of days.  It has been soooooo hot.  40C (104F) on Sunday and the same yesterday.   I know I promised not to mention the weather again this summer but....really.  I know our eastern and southern states are affected by El Nino but what on earth is happening in the southwest corner of Western Australia?  I believe the Indian Ocean is warming up but could that be the reason for this heat in mid-March?  All the rain from our north seems to go east instead of coming south.


I have the results of my blood tests except for the one I really want.  It is the one that has to be sent to the hospital for their pathology people to do so it takes time.  Hopefully it will arrive this week and then I can pop down and see our GP.   Just love to know what the verdict will be.

Our new airconditioning unit has been installed and is working well and it so quiet.  Derek arrived at 6.30 yesterday morning and worked non-stop all day till about 2.30 in the afternoon.  Much of that time was spent up in the roof (with tiles having been removed) in the dreadful heat.  He doesn't eat all day but just drinks water and he is very fit.  Some people have their own way of doing things and that is his way, strange as it may seem to some of us.  I think the temperature in the living room was well over 30C (86F) when the airconditioning was finally turned on and it took a while for it to get down to 24C (75F) which it is set on but it feels so wonderful.   Of course the kitchen will now be cool enough for us once again begin to thinking about cooking.   We both love salads but you often want to have a cooked meal so now we can do just that.  The other good thing is we can now cool the bedroom down or even leave the aircon on all night if we have more hot nights (last night was 26C (79F) as it is so quiet it won't annoy the neighbours.

We are promised a cooler day of 32C tomorrow and then a week of temps in the high 20s which is bearable and they are saying it 'could' rain, and with that I will make a promise that I won't mention the weather again, or at least not till next time. 

MONDAY MIRTH

What were we saying recently about sometimes having to make excuses?   I guess you could include this one on the list.  Hope this begins your week with a smile that will remain with you till next Sunday.

SOMETHING RATHER DIFFERENT No 4

This is a passage from William Shakespeare's "MacBeth" which Phil and I often quote (or parts thereof) when we hear some bumptious twit make some outlandish statement or the world appears to be going really mad.   We think it explains everything.  What do you think?

"Tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow.
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day.
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.   Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

DID YOU KNOW?

Construction of HADRIAN'S WALL began in AD122 and was largely completed in 6 years.  Construction started in the east, and proceeded westwards with soldiers from all three of the occupying Roman legions participating in the work.  The route chosen largeley paralleled the nearby Stangate road from Carlisle to Corbridge, upon which were situated a series of forts.  The Wall in its central and best-preserved section follows a hard, resistant igneous diabase rock escarpment.

 Hadrian's Wall (also called the Roman Wall,  Picts' Wall, or Vallum Hadriani in Latin, was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in 122AD during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. It ran from the banks of the Tyne River near the North Sea to he Solway Firth on the Irish Sea.  It had a stone base and a stone wall.  There were milecastles with two turrets in between.  There was a fort about every five Roman miles. From north to south, the wall comprised a ditch, wall, military way and vallum (another ditch with adjoining mounds).  It is thought that the mileccastles were staffed with static garrisons, whereas the forts had fighting garrisons of infantry and cavalry.  In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been used as customs posts.

Hadrian's Wall was 80 Roman miles (73.0ml) long, its width and height varied according to the construction materials that were available nearby.  East of the River Irthing, the wasll was made from squared stone and measured 3 metres (9.8 feet) wide and 5 to 6 metres (26-30 feet) high, while est of the river the was originally made from turf and measuted 6 metres (20 feet) wide and 3.5 metres (11 feet) high; it was later rebuilt in stone.  These dimensions do not include the wall's ditches, berms and forts.  The central section measured eight Roman feet wide (7.8ft or 2.4 m) and on a 3m (10ft) base. Some parts of this section of the wall still survive to a height of 3 metres (10 ft).

Immediately south of the wall, a large ditch was dug, with adjoining parallel mounds, one on either side.  This is known as the Vallum, even though the word Vallum in Latin is the original of the English word wall and does not refer to a ditch.  In many places - for example Limestone Corner - the Vallum is better preserved than the all, which has been robbed of much of its stone.

The purpose of construction:  Hadrian's Wall was probably planned before Hadrian's visit to Britain in AD122.   According to restored sandstone fragments found in Jarrow which date from 118 or 119. it was Hadrian's wish to keep "intact the empire", which had been imposed on him via "divine instruction".    It is entirely possible that, on his arrival in Britain in 122, one of the stops on his itinerary was the northern frontier to inspect the progress of the building of the wall.

Although Hadrian's biographer wrote "Hadrian was the first to build a wall 80 miles long to separate the Romans from the barbarians".  Reasons for the construction of the wall vary and no recording of an exact explanation survives.  Theories have been presented by historians, mostly of an expression of Roman power and Hadrian's policy of defence before expansion.  On his accession to the throne in 117, Hadrian had been experiencing rebellion in Roman Britain and from the people of various conquered lands across the Empire, including Egypt, Judea. Libya and Mauritania.

Hadrian's Wall was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987; it remains unguarded, enabling visitors to climb and stand on the wall although this is not encouraged as it would damage the historic structure.  On 13 March, 2010, a public event illuminating the Wall took place, which saw the route  of the wall lit with 500 beacons.  On 31 August, and 2 September, 2012, there was a second illumination of the wall as a digital art installation called 'Connecting Light', which was part of the London 2012  Festival.

In 2003, a National Trail footpath was opened that follows the line of the wall from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway.  Because of the fragile landscape walkers are asked to follow the path only in summer.

There is a lot more information on Wikipedia about the Wall but far too much to include here.

FRIDAY FAVOURITES

Ghost Riders in the Sky is a song I've always enjoyed and I was delighted to find it on YouTube sung by Burl Ives.  It was written and first performed in 1948 by the writer Stan Jones and then in February, 1949 Burl Ives gave us this simple version.  It has been sung by many very well known artists (Johnny Cash and Frankie Lane to name but two) but this version remains my favourite.

I hope you will enjoy it along with me and perhaps let me know if you also enjoy Burl Ives singing it.  Not only was Burl Ives a wonderful vocalist he later went on to become a brilliant actor.

A LITTLE BIT OF MADNESS

As I was checking our weather forecasts my thoughts turned into verse.  I am not poetical by nature but sometimes it seems the only way to say how I feel.  Here we are well into autumn and this wretched heat continues.   Our forecast reads as follows 37C (yesterday); a slight respite of 30C today and then we have 31C, 31C, 34C, 35C and 31C and so on it goes..  (30C is 86F and 38C is just above the old century).   The had promised us 38C next Monday but fortunately have now reduced that to 35C.  One can only hope as that is the day our new airconditioner unit will be installed.

Bear with me as I poetically say how I feel about it all.  I promise not to bother you with poetry again....at least not until the next time, whenever that may be.

And so this is autumn,
You're having me on.
The heat and the dry days
Just drag on and on.

It's half way through March
Will autumn leaves fall?
It's very unlikely
With no cool days at all.

They say that it's climate change
The boffins they know.
But we're sick of these blue skies
And would welcome some snow.

Some rain would be nice
For both people and land.
Our gardens are dying
The soil's turning to sand.

I'd dance in the rain
Should it ever arrive.
We're so short of water
To keep us alive.

Please Mr Weatherman
Have some pity on us
Just send us some rain
And end all this fuss.

WEDNESDAY WISDOM

I'm not much of a dancer these days, unfortunately, but I can understand the wisdom here: