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“The Neolithic period lasted from around 4300 BC down to 2000 BC. Neolithic means 'New Stone' and so this period is sometimes called the New Stone Age. Famous Neolithic sites in Britain include Avebury, Stonehenge, and Silbury Hill” (Uni of Warwick). Many theories have been put forward about the purpose of Stonehenge as it appears to have no known practical function. Therefore, the focus is upon spirituality and the whole layout of the stone circle in relation to the solstices, which are the extreme limits of the sun’s movement.
The quote from Nigel Tufnel is from This is Spinal Tap -A Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi - a 1984 American mockumentary comedy film. It is one of Paul's favourite films and he can recite it at length!
The film satirises the behaviour and musical pretensions of rock bands. The link to Stonehenge is that Nigel (vocals and guitar) suggests staging a lavish, Druid-themed glam-rock show based around the Stonehenge trilithon. However, Nigel mislabels its dimensions, and the resulting prop is only 18 inches (46 cm) high rather than 18 feet (5.5 m), making the group a laughing stock. Stonehenge - Song by Spinal Tap In ancient times hundreds of years before the dawn of history Lived this strange race of people, the druids No one knows who they were what they were doing But the legacy remains here into the living rock of Stonehenge Stonehenge, where the demons dwell Where the banshees live and they do live well Stonehenge where a man is a man And the children dance to the pipes of pan Stonehenge, 'tis a magic place Where the moon doth rise with a dragon's face Stonehenge where the virgins lie And the prayer of devils fill the midnight sky And you my love, won't you take my hand? We'll go back in time to that mystic land Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow I will take you there, I will show you how And oh, how they danced The little children of Stonehenge Beneath the haunted moon for fear That day break might come too soon And where were they now The little people of Stonehenge And what would they say to us If we were here tonight Songwriters: Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, Michael Mc Kean, Rob Reiner. For non-commercial use only.
We stayed at The Red Lion Hotel in the centre of the city. It was originally the “White Bear Inn” and was constructed to house the draughtsman working on the 'new' Cathedral - where building started in 1220 ! When the basic construction was finished in the late 13th century, the White Bear continued to house visitors to the Cathedral and subsequently the ‘New City’ of Salisbury. It is therefore probable that the hotel is possibly the longest running purpose-built hotel in the country. In the early 1700s the name was changed to the ‘Red Lion and Cross Keys’. This name remained in use until 30th January 1769 when the sign was altered to the ‘Red Lion’ only. The name was changed by its new owner, Daniel Pearce Safe, who was the Postmaster of Salisbury. He subsequently moved the Salisbury Post Office to the hotel building and therefore the Red Lion became the main entrance for all mail coaches arriving in and leaving Salisbury.
  Mompesson House,
 Well, February. ‘Nuff said. Especially in the UK, that's for sure. It has been a pretty full-on and not necessarily a positive couple of weeks - and that doesn't even include the weather!
I won't go into everything as I don’t want to bore you to tears, but it included my car breaking down [at work] and the logistics of getting it to a garage to be fixed (at a cost of £260). I was without the car for over a week - very irritating. Then, two days later Paul’s car started making weird noises so that is booked into the garage later this week too. Ruddy typical! I also had a complete nightmare within my second job-role; a Sports Hall 'customer' was being particularly difficult, and, in the end, I referred the issue to the Committee as I refused to be "harangued" anymore. It completely ruined the whole weekend because, you know what I am like, I worried and worried about it! That was eventually sorted out and I feel somewhat vindicated however, why is there is always one person who can upset the apple-cart? Also I have been really struggling with the on-going vision issue in my left-eye. At the beginning of the month I had an appointment with Professor McNaught at Cheltenham General Hospital's Ophthalmology department....
Having said that, there are limited direct flights to Florence (can you credit it?) and instead there are more to Pisa which then involves trains, buses or taxis for transfers. Now, being of an age where we can't be bovvered with certain things (people, attitudes, faff) we've opted for an additional night's stay, travel with a reputable airline, reasonable flight times and despite an hour's stop each way (at Frankfurt airport funnily enough), we are landing at Florence airport. In the grand scheme of things the difference in price is negligible and it also affords us more time in the city itself. Win-win!
YIPPEE!
Oh well. So, on this dull, grey and cold day I’m donning multiple layers and the posh Barbour wellies and trudging off to the greenhouse for take stock! With a cuppa - obvs. *taken from a piece by Alice Vincent in 2021, for the Penguin books website.
So, that aside, Marjariasana (Cat Pose) gets its name from the Sanskrit words marjari, meaning cat, and asana, meaning pose. It is an easy forward-kneeling pose, that is used as a warm-up pose to prepare the body for higher level and intense Yoga practices. In cat pose, a gentle stretch begins from the neck to the lower back that makes our core muscles work together; coming down to the floor on hands and knees and then arching the back up (cow pose), then round it down. It mainly tones the core & spinal muscles and increases their flexibility. Like all elements of yoga, it can help improve mobility and strengthens mental health and is cat-egorically a good basis for more advanced techniques and flows.
My new role is as PA / EA to the MD at J Rigg Construction. It is a part-time role (afternoons) and it is based just this side of Broadway, so only about 8 miles away. For those friends who are overseas - Broadway is a very pretty “go to” Cotswolds village, full of chocolate-box Cotswold stone cottages with thatched roofs and roses around the door!
Riggs Construction do fabulous projects - for example, one estate started off with a £3 million budget but over the next six years it became £7m...! GULP! At the moment, apparently, the trendy place-to-be is the area surrounding Chipping Norton (Oxfordshire) where the uber life-style venue [i.e. pretentious] is SoHo Farmhouse (“Surrounded by 100 acres of Oxfordshire countryside, Soho Farmhouse is a rural escape offering food and drinks, wellness experiences and outdoor activities”.). Also, Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm and Farm Shop are at Chadlington – this is the “Clarkson’s Farm” as aired on Amazon Prime. Also, the Beckhams’ estate is at the village of Great Tew, and that’s in the same pocket of the Cotswolds. Anyway, Riggs Construction have a number of rural estates or country houses that they are renovating, or building, or conserving for members of the great and the good … but I am sure there will an expectation of confidentiality from anyone linked to the various projects. However, it should be interesting. I still have my Sports Hall job too and, as you know, that is self-employed and predominantly when-I-want-to-do-it, so that's good. Therefore, I am still a part-time employee in the general sense but, in all honesty, this is just what I need at the moment whilst adjusting to the eye trauma and everything else that has been going on for the past couple of years. I start the new role on 11th November… wish me luck! |
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