Continuing the tale of my flying experience inside an RAF Airbus ‘Voyager’ refuelling tanker, hope you read pt1 we’re passengers within an Airbus Tanker and transferring ‘air-to-air’ tonnes of aviation kerosene into ‘thirsty military fighter jets.
Hope you enjoy 🙂 .
With their hair neatly swept back into a bun behind their heads, I just had to surreptitiously ‘snap’ photos of two military in flight attendants (there were some gorgeously stunning young women on this flight), their role to pass around the in flight meals and assist cabin safety in fact very similar to civil aviation. The only difference I’d guess is these ladies assisted in the evacuation of Afghanistan refugees week’s earlier.
Slim & pretty female….
….flight attendants
Many years ago you just may have been invited onto the flight deck during your holiday abroad, not now though, September 11th in New York when those hijacked planes flew into the Twin Towers changed aviation forever, now both Pilots and Navigators are securely locked within their Cabin with some flights even having their own armed Sheriffs……….however because we were invited guests we were given the opportunity to chat to the Navigator.
Streaking across the skies at 540 mph and 28,000 ft
…………………..cold outside as well!
The monitors were captivating viewing
The screens revealed fascinating information throughout our flight, the map of England plotted our route along the length of central United Kingdom, from rural Oxfordshire to the Outer Hebrides and Northern Island our Tanker refuelled Typhoon fighters mainly above Scotland before returning home (nearly) empty……and the next day this expensive pantomime begins all again with the Tanker now ‘topped up’ via a pipeline buried beneath English soil, built in the 60s it stretches from RAF Brize to oil refineries in Southampton. God Knows how much this all costs?
An inflight lunch comprising of cheese and pickle sandwiches, a slice of pineapple also pink juicy melon and a packet of cheese and mustard crisps…………………….and very tasty they were to.
‘Atlas’ parachutist/vehicle transporter
‘Boeing C17’ transporter
As our voyager Tanker taxied the runways we passed tens of military aircraft, many with differing roles such as carrying parachute troops, small fighting vehicles, ammunition and servicemen into conflicts around the Globe, when they go wrong the same aircraft return with coffins draped in Union Jack flags, all pointless and whether that be The Falklands War, Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns they all end badly with many mothers losing their sons. 1913 cheerful Tommy’s marched and set sail to the Trenches in Western France beneath the banner of “we’ll be home by Christmas”, four years later they’re locked in stalemate with German foes with a generation of male lives lost……………….pointless total madness!
Covid safe Andrew
Covid safe Andrew
I have to admit I’m probably one of the few people who enjoy wearing covid-19 masks, even though I’ve been double jabbed I wear in lol potentially dangerous environments, you know grocery supermarkets having said that the wearing of masks on military aircraft is mandatory, in other words you either wear them or you don’t fly……………..why am I a fan? Masks gift you anonymity and self confidence.
As you know the only rule to blogging, if such a thing exists, is to ‘hopefully’ make your posting interesting and hold a reader’s attention. With this in mind myprevious postingreally does help explainall and stops me repeating everything again 🙂 ….oh and sadly noBrilliant Viewpoint I’m 😀 not 007………. then again…….
Ok let’s begin.
Yes I work for a renowned University as a mechanical Engineer, and yes I was invited to fly as a passenger inside a military refuelling Tanker, owned by the RAF Friday last, a perk of the job so to speak, I’m the small piece in the engineering jigsaw who manufactures specimens from exotic materials so that intelligent people can destroy then decide if they’ll go inside a jet engine.
To put your jittery minds at ease, myself and colleagues take our jobs VERY seriously, and I’ve signed the Official Secrets Act.
We boarded our Airbus Voyager at Brize Norton airforce base in the heart of Oxfordshire, Google photos if you wish but all you really need to know that ‘Brize’ is the United Kingdom’s military Transport hub, with it’s impressive 1960s runways long enough for the Concorde to land (they did) both Tanker planes also airliner size transporters operate 24/7 moving munitions/troops across the Globe. Soldiers fighting in the Falklands conflict, every overseas campaign we’ve been party to have flown from Brize. Only a matter of weeks ago 30,000 refugees were extracted from Afghanistan and flew into Brize………….with it’s sprawling garrison town aside this military installation is important to UK’s defence. When Typhoon fighter jets are scrambled because a Russian long range bomber enter our airspace, Voyager Tankers are swiftly mobilised flying to the potential conflict, there role to transfer tonnes of aviation fuel into thirsty Typhoons. Jets ‘pull alongside’ lock onto trailing pipes suspended from both wings I guess no different to automobiles, before loudly turning away.
A choreographed manoeuvre that’s also unnervingly dangerous, thought of where’s my life jacket do come to mind!
As an aside, Brize Norton was originally, as many were), a grassy bumpy field used to fly spitfires from so they could engage with Hitler’s Luftwaffe over the white cliffs of Dover…………..old Adolf never did invade Britain!
With our band of invited guests now seated at the rear of the Tanker we then taxi rumbled across the runways and made straight for the Outer Hebrides, that’s NE Scotland for you, flying at 540 miles an hour. The around trip took 5 hours in total feeding jets over Northern Island before making our way home to Oxfordshire.
Two hours pass and now in Scottish airspace a staggered procession of Typhoon fighters pulled alongside to take on fuel, id guess one strike aircraft laden with bombs now thirsty for kerosene would lock onto the trailing fuel lines, look at the photos below and in the bottom right and corner you can just make out the corner of a portal window, yes these multi million pound lethal flying hardware was a mere ten metres away, absolutely incredible not forgetting incredibly dangerous at 500 mph. Several minutes later with tanks now full they’d unlock a signal for the next jet to sweep alongside.
I’d guess these pilots were aware guests bristling with digital cameras were photographing them, occasionally the pilots would wave and after refuelling they’d glide the length of the fuselage so we could all could gaze and ‘snap’ this choreographed and much rehearsed stunning view, yes I’d experienced a once in a lifetime experience that very few are privileged to witness, and I must admit more than once I wondered what financial cost to the British taxpayer? With this hi-tech military pantomime happening each and everyday and emergency Tankers on standby…………anyways that’s human beings for you, we’re the reasons for creating conflict, incapable of ending that conflict, and spend Trillions on military hardware maintaining that conflict with never a clue how to bring about that buzz phrase “a lasting piece”………..total utter madness when you stop and think about it?
The BA Typhoon Fighter Jet
Anyways before I get carried away with my self importance here’s some photos taken on the day, incidentally the white jet stationary on the runway with the Union Jack tail wing (wait for it!) Is unsurprisingly Boris Johnson’s personal equivalent to Airforce One, owned by the MOD this jet carries our PM with accompanying civil servants as they track the globe on Official business, legend goes he personally requested the Union Jack livery after all this clown has history when it comes to painting vehicles to symbolize his damaging Brexit, remember seeing the photo of a Red Bus travelling around the UK with the slogan (a lie) £350,000,000 a day to our NHS when we leave Europe painted across its side, a sickening cynical Politian lie to hoodwink the public…………..that’s politics for you, a dirty business.
View through a window above thick blanket cloud
Friday 8th of October and the United Kingdom was enveloped with a low lying blanket cloud, a fluffy sea of white cotton wool beneath us……………(lol rather good that wasn’t it)……………but seriously quite a stunning visual spectacle.
If you’re curious lol, Brize is also home to Britain’s fleet of Apache gunship helicopters also Hercules and Boeing C-17 transporters oh and home to the red berried Parachute Regiment…………..I’d guess there’s a lot more classified goings on the general public are NOT privy to, a cloak of defence secrecy we’re told is good for us!
(Note I’ve been both careful and double checked the information I’m revealing, anyone let’s say overtly interested lol will glean nothing from here…………..I have experience! A woman once tracked me down her source my WP, yeh, I know 😮 that created a ****storm I can tell you).
Hi….. I know it’s been a while! 😦
Yes I’m now an infrequent WP Blogger but I do like to share something interesting once in a while, oh and read blogs written by ‘middle aged women’ (only follow the ladies 😀 ) every single day!………. Anyways I have another ‘and prequel’ photo dump for you today 🙂 .
Sharing my photos is fun.
“Blah blah blah“………………………….lol.
Several of my regular readers to this WP will be aware I work for a world renowned, no iconic English University, more specifically employed as a mechanical engineer. Well cutting a long story short, Oxford’s ancient thirteen or so colleges have connections with British industry dating back centuries, with a personal connection the Engineering Department has links with Rolls Royce aero engines dating back before the second world war and more recently instrumental in the development of the Turbo Fan jet engine……….when you fly by plane to holiday destinations in Hawaii or interstate destinations for work, then you’ll be powered by a jet engine whose birthplace can be traced back to Oxford University!
I could bore you with tales of Sir Frank Whittle and Barnes Wallace, ‘Trent’ and ‘Merlin’ engines…… but you’ll be relieved I won’t.
Back in the 21st Century, Oxford’s historic ties and links with brilliant men and women in hi-tech industry comes with perks, namely day trips such as yesterday’s unavailable to the general public, a fabulous day being flown the length and breadth of the UK in a Royal Air Force military refuelling Tanker, it’s role in life to fly the world’s skies transferring tonnes of aviation fuel to Typhoon air strike fighters fast running out of Gas!
Million pound hardware protecting British interests and keeping the British public safe………you have a rogue jet piloted by Muslim extremist heading for London’s seat of Government? Well the Typhoons role in life it to ‘scramble‘ intercept and kill the terrorists missile before it reaches our skies (sadly innocents of people die and that’s a tragedy), perhaps even Russian long range bombers prepared to unleash their load similar to the1940’s Blitz…………..well I’m sorry there’s no sugar coating those inflammatory statements, but back in the real world there are those prepared to die in the name of deranged twisted Religious causes and those bombs suspended below the Typhoon’s wing are there for a reason 😦 .
……..btw I’m a passivist but you’ll guess I have no problem with this, well I haven’t.
Within following posting’s I’ll be sharing many more photos taken on the day and consuming the final amounts of media memory remaining………..hmm I’m going to have to pay and Upgrade this Blog. Until next time.
The British BA ‘Typhoon’ fighter jet
Selfie whilst queuing for the flight deck
Very few passengers, remember this is a secret Operation
Our ‘host’ for the day, the Airbus Voyager ‘air to air’ refuelling Tanker.
The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom,
concerned with the creation protection and restoration of native woodland heritage,
they’ve planted 50 million trees in over 1000 sites across the UK.
……….and my financial contribution is £4 a month, yes I know a small amount but they do have 500,000 members!
This large English Oak tree marks the entrance to Eynsham woods
Eynsham Wood, created 25 years ago on land purchased with charitable donations
Charity begins at home (he says tongue lightly in cheek). Now there’s a controversial statement if ever I read one, even more contentious awkward and perhaps slightly racist when written by a middle-aged white male, so I was born with white privilege, I’m sorry but it’s the cross I have to bare! And as we’re all aware, men do become extreme and right wing as they get older, whilst women lovelier and maternal for a second time as they become grandmothers.
(It’s true! Don’t disagree with me 😀 )
There was a time in my youth I donated money to causes in Africa and India, (wide eyed and in your twenties you want to save the world), I remember causes such as Live Aid in 1985, the question how that money’s spent is something you ask yourself when you’re 55! Sadly I watched that BBC Panorama documentary……. enough said 😦 .
Yes poverty remains in these not so Third World countries today, but they’re both fabulously wealthy in their own right, and it’s not an issue I worry about remembering both are corrupt as mine own, a patchwork of States where riches and wealth don’t trickle down to the poor and needy.
Today I gift my hard earned cash to charities closer to home (yes a conscious decision), there’s a hospice with family connections, others, alsoThe Woodland Trustwhich is now the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK, they’ll lobby government and environmental policymakers, bring damaged woods back to life, create urban woods for local communities to visit all year round and enjoy free of charge.
I would suggest ensuring public access to local woods has been the key to this wonderful Charity’s success.
Ok so now that I’ve labelled myself right wing and extreme, though most definitely NOT racist, why is The Woodland Trust a favourite charity? Well to answer that question I’m sharing today’s photos ‘snapped’ on a sunny September walk around Eynsham Woods earlier today.
(Taken especially with WP in mind.)
Twenty five years ago TWT purchased what amounted to a brown soiled agricultural field on the outskirts of Eynsham, a smallish village in the heart of Oxfordshire, and proceeded to quietly create also plant a typically native British woodland. Volunteers tightly packed sapling trees allowing little space for humans to wander through, nurtured Blackthorn and Hawthorn sided pathways with native Silver Birch, Holly, Crab Apple, Oak, Hazel, Elder and Rowan trees within. Wandering around I could hear birdsong, caught site of several rabbits and even ate a few wild blackberries alongside other families enjoying their day.
The Woodland Trust has created a natural wildlife habit also woodlands for my local community to enjoy, perhaps environmental charity should begin at home and then we can go about saving the world?
A. Shepherdson 2021 (I know a little controversial but hey makes for an interesting discussion)
(All photographs taken by me, August 2021, note, rather than several postings I’m sharing all the remaining pics)
If you’ve been following my WordPress closely, (humour me) today’s is the photographic finale to my families week long vacation. In previous postings I’ve shared our London sightseeing also canal boating legs, now to the visits of Stonehenge and our beautiful countryside walks through Wiltshire, a rural and farming County largely untouched by the current orgy of housebuilding across Oxfordshire.
(Big sigh), that’s called progress and now I’M veering off message. Anyways…………..rather than repeating my tale, there’s 3 earlier postings of photos that explain all 🙂 .
You’re all busy people, so if you wish to understand more about this beautiful and ancient English County, go visit Wikipedia but lol if not here’s the synopsis:
Wiltshire is characterised by its high downland and wide valleys. Salisbury Plain is noted for being the location of Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles which together are protected along with so many other ancient landmarks close by, with many raised ‘barrows’ and 4000 year old White Horses cut into the chalk,
…………….also the largest training area for the British Army.
An ancient County, Wiltshire is notable for its pre-Roman archaeology also Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age people that occupied Southern Britain, building settlements on the hills and downland that cover much of Wiltshire, with Stonehenge and Avebury being the most famous Neolithic sites in the UK.
Here endeth the History bit, but just understand Wiltshire’s downland could be described the birthplace of ancient Britain…………you, me, who knows may just have descended from here?…………..I think that’s fair lol.
Stonehenge
English Heritage describes Stonehenge thus,
‘Walk in the footsteps of your Neolithic ancestors and circle the large blue stones transported great distances from Wales (however no body knows how), marvel at one of the wonders of the world and the best-known of all prehistoric monuments in Europe’.
I guess these mystical ancient stones might affect people in many different ways, Barak Obama famously describe them as “being on my bucket list!” Yes seeing them up close is emotive, 4000 years old no less! But being truthful a famous scene taken from literature crossed my mind, Stonehenge is the place Hardy’s ‘Tess D’Urberville‘s’ apprehended by the police after murdering her evil manipulative and rapist husband.
Natasha Kinski’s ‘poor Tess’
There you are, Stonehenge is a truly incredible structure again described thus:
Stonehenge photographed by me (Andrew)
At Stonehenge on the summer solstice, the sun rises behind the Heel Stone in the north-east part of the horizon and its first rays shine into the heart of Stonehenge.
Observers at Stonehenge at the winter solstice, standing in the enclosure entrance and facing the centre of the stones, can watch the sun set in the south-west part of the horizon
Burial Mound or ‘Barrow’
Recreated huts
‘Snacks’ in Stonehenge visitor center
Christchurch beach
Moving on from Stonehenge we lunched at Christchurch beach on the South Coast, not far from the seaside Town of Bournemouth to be more exact, a cold day the weather can be described as bracing rather ‘bikinis and trunks’. Still after a year of COVID lockdowns, looking out to sea was a lovely highlight for me.
The New Forest
Wiltshire’s ‘The New Forest’ is one of Britain’s many National Parks (also protected from building houses upon), hmm I guess there’s little more to add than you can walk for miles through tranquil woods or across rugged heathland, the complete antithesis to bustling London…………..oh and you’ll be persistently bothered by wild horses stealing packed lunches of food (if you allow them to).
New Forest wild ponies
………more ponies
Wiltshire cornfields
As I described earlier, the rural County of Wiltshire is peaceful relatively un-spoilt and regarded as a ‘bread basket’ of Britain, summer views with fields of golden corn as far as the eye can see………..and hopefully for many years to come.
Horse drawn Canal barges, first seen in the Industrial Revolution now converted into floating holiday homes
I never did complete the tale of my family’s week long vacation did I! If you’re interested the previous 3 postings tell the tale of our London overnight stay, it’s basically a ‘photo dump’ of shots taken by myself, you know sightseeing and different places of interest………….fairly easy reading.
After departing London we then ‘set up camp’ so to speak at my brothers home, he lives in the rural farming County of Wiltshire, the complete antithesis of London, slow paced and peacefully tranquil when you venture into a countryside now golden with ripening corn.
Below photos taken from our Canal barge we hired for the day, notice the ‘tow path’ on the right hand side trodden by horses throughout the centuries centuries and now replaced by diesel power, steam trains locomoting along thousands of miles of track put an end to commercial barge traffic, but at least tourism saved them from being filled in with soil or garbage……………..I saw more Herons in one day than I’ve seen in my lifetime, not forgetting Dragon Flies the size of flying pencils, and SO quiet.
Pulling into mooring
Swing bridge
Wiltshire from the Canal
Wiltshire’s cornfields
Thatched roofed cottage, I’d guess several hundred years old and now a county Pub
Early evening and homeward bound!
The Canal network of the UK played a vital role in the Industrial Revolution, creating great wealth by moving valuable goods manufactured in the Shires, like cotton pottery and steel…… goods destined for the British Empire and making many a Victorian rich. The UK was the first country to develop a nationwide canal network, expanding to nearly 4,000 miles the length and breadth of England. These Canals allowed raw materials to be transported to a place of manufacture, then finished goods to be transported to consumers more quickly and cheaply than via a land based route.
Roads were being constructed, improved and replacing dirt farm tracks, but they couldn’t easily handle heavy and bulky materials like coal for power stations and steel from Sheffield, or delicate and fragile materials like pottery from Stoke and lace from Nottingham, one horse could pull fifty tons of cargo by barge and I guess created the unit we know today as Horse Power!
Easy peasy to understand, 1 horse drawn Canal barge equates to 1HP!
Final selection of my London photos……note the word MY!
Quite a few grammatical errors in yesterday’s posting, sorry, what can I say it’s been a while 😀 . Fourth posting this week and today’s has a lighter and fluffier tone………………then again how can you ‘sugar coat’ human Slavery? You cannot!
I haven’t asked my mother’s permission if I can keep sharing her image on my WordPress with strangers, hmm probably I should with two caveats, one this sharp-as lovely woman has no comprehension as to what Blogging actually is (neither do I!) Two, I wouldn’t wish her to read some of the other Postings here…….say no more!
This photo below was taken on our family’s vacation in the vicinity of London Docks, more precisely Canary Wharf the financial heart of London and for NO apparent reason we see a bronze bicycle on the side of a road ridden by a cast bronze dog and cat with one spare seat! Yeh I know?
Well without without being asked she climbs aboard………………I’ll miss her one day 😦 .
Canary Wharf street art……….I guess you could Google if you wish
London Street Art titled ‘Summer Lights’
A Thames installation viewed from an Emirates cable car
My niece recalled the name of the Thames installation but the name alludes me.
Tower Bridge taken from an Uber Ferry
We took a tourist Uber Ferry ride, you can see Greenwich and Canary Wharf in the distance.
Tower Of London entry to Traitor’s Gate
The Tower Of London snapped from our Uber Ferry, ‘Criminals’ soon to lose their heads would have seen their final view of the Thames as they passed through that Gate…………..sadly, Henry VIII’s ‘Queen consort of England‘ Jane Seymour died here aged 29 in 1537.
Tower Of London and another Uber Ferry plus boarding Pier
HMS Belfast now a floating naval museum
HMS Belfast was immediately called into action and played a crucial role in protecting the arctic convoys, Russia’s supply route throughout the war. Most notably in her role during the Battle of North Cape which saw the sinking of the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst and the loss of all but 36 of her 1,963 crew……………(thanks to Google).
‘Cutty Sark’ tea Clipper moored at Greenwich, hundreds would have sailed from Docklands
Entry to this floating Museum would have cost £78 for a family ticket, jeeze why is everything SO expensive these days?
…………………now an excellent floating Museum
‘Cutty Sark’ is a British Clipper ship, built Scotland in 1869 for the, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of design development for this type of vessel, which halted as steamships took over their routes………………………..(thanks to Wikipedia).
(How did we research back in the days before Google and Wikipedia?)
A converted Rolls Royce ‘ice cream van’ in Hyde Park………..Vandalism! (but on reflection I think it’s fake lol)
Marylebone Station we both began our London vacation, and returned home from here
A Trent 1000 Rolls Royce engine at Greenwich Docks, no idea why? I photographed because over the years I’ve done a lot of work on these marvels of engineering
The Southern English County of Wiltshire next………………………………………..
Day 2 – Docklands Museum also in Greenwich click here
All photos taken by me within the Exhibition.
Reading Part 1 (again with my photos) may help a little with background to this posting, lol saves me repeating myself again!
‘Is it not strange to think, that they who ought to be considered the most learned and civilized people in the world, that they should carry on a traffic of the most barbarous cruelty and injustice….are become so dissolute to think slavery, robbery and murder no crime?’
Honestly speaking, apart from watching American movies (love Tarantino’s Django Unchained) sadly my knowledge of African Slavery, Plantation life in North America, sugar/tobacco production in the The West Indies WAS very sketchy before today, in my defense American history wasn’t taught in British schools, so understandably I knew very little and probably the reason I found the Slavery Exhibition at The Docklands Museum captivating.
Most Brits will be aware of the notorious and disreputable ‘West India’ also ‘East India’ Companies, their ships crisscrossing the oceans from Docklands creating an Empire, plundering the world’s treasure as their own in the name of The Crown, HOWEVER I had been unaware (should have been) ‘Great’ Britain supplied the shipping for the transport of African Slaves, many hundreds over three Centuries!
Thames Docklands has a truly disreputable past, Slavery Empire and Colonialism all inextricably entwined.
Maritime trading allowed European nations to impose European rule across Africa, established colonies as their own. This contributed to an assault on African identities, and from the early 1600s onwards London merchants were importing increasing amounts of gold and ivory, sugar tea, tobacco and silk. 500 years ago little was known about Africa, a little knowledge came from the writings of Portuguese travelers in the 1500s, but often those mixed truth with fantasy.
Legends of fabulous cities of gold mines hidden in the heart of Africa and mythical tales of black people replaced real knowledge. This, in turn led to a dismissal of African cultures, and as Africa became the principal source of human Slaves for the new world of the Americas, perhaps Britain’s ignorance fed racism which, in turn, came to justify brutal exploitation.
African writer
Ottobah Cugoano, Narrative of the Enslavement of Africans of Africa, 1787.
Slave ships sailing from Docklands
The Docklands Museum
(Below) Portrait of George Hibbert a highly successful ‘West India’ merchant and slave owner owning a large number of Plantations in Jamaica. An MP (no less) and leading member of the ‘West India Merchants and Planters’, he played a key role in the defense of the Slave trade.
In the parliamentary debate on abolition, Hibbert argued “that a greater number of acts of cruelty occurred each week in London than a month in Jamaica”.
In 1834 his family received £31,120 compensation for 1,618 Slaves.
George Hibbert (slave owner) 1757-1837
Britain is finally coming to terms with Colonial Slavery, marble statues have been removed, cultural institutions renamed, business paying compensation for centuries old crimes…………..oh how distinguished George looks in oil and canvass, sadly there are many many more! Now should they be removed from Art Galleries? Rewrite our history?
(Below) The names of enslaved men, women and children are listed here. Children were put to work from the age of seven. Those too old to do heavy work managed the livestock, collected animal fodder or nursed the sick…..says so on the plaque.
‘List of negroes and stock’, Thomas Mills Plantation, St Kitts, 1750 & 1752
(Below) Painting titled ‘The Island of Fort William Estate with Part of River Roaring, 1778’.
Jamaican Plantation
(Below and clockwise) Sugar Cane harvest, Preparing the ground, Selling Sugar, Use of Sugar in confectionary, Use of Sugar in tea, Skimming the Sugar, Boiling the Sugar.
Illustrations depicting the production of Plantation Sugar
(Below) During the 1700s Britain was the leading slave-trading nation, A half of all Africans transported across the Atlantic into slavery were carried in British ships.
Ships sailed from Thames Docklands, slaves to the Indies, Sugar to Britain
(Below) Once boiled, the sugar crystallized a thick liquid called molasses, ‘cakes’ later exported to Bristol, Liverpool and Thames Docklands.
1. Earthenware sugarloaf mould 1670. 2. Earthenware molasses 1600s. 3. Plantation token 1688. During reign of King James II the price of Tin collapsed. To help recue owners of mines in Britain from financial ruin the government began mining Tin coins for use in Plantation currencies. 4. Machete, 1880.The machete also known in the Caribbean as a ‘cutlass’ was both a tool and an instrument of punishment.
Items used on Sugar Plantations
(Below) In 1783, the packet ship Antelope was wrecked on the Pellew Islands in the East Indies. The crew were befriended by the local islanders who helped them them build a new vessel in return for help in conquering rival islands. When the crew sailed away they were accompanied by the 19 year old Prince Lee Boo, who lived in London until his death 13 months later. Lee Boo’s well intentioned yet patronising treatment in England was a form of exploitation.
Prince Lee Boo
………………………and of course The Docklands Museum contains so much more treasure and historical document. 🙂 Go visit if you have the opportunity……………and it’s free of charge!
Oh My God where to begin sharing Docklands history in one short Blog? (All photos taken by me).
Absolutely impossible but I’ll share with you photos taken on day 2 of our family’s London Vacation.
Docklands, situated at the mouth of the River Thames is very close to Greenwich Royal Observatory also the Emirates Cable Car and mirrors London’s history through the centuries, they are intrinsically entwined, from Bronze age discovered artifacts excavated from the area, to Roman settlements this small area of land divided by the Thames Estuary has a history like no other place on earth………………………
Disused Dock cranes afront houses in the style of Quayside Wharehouses
Bronze Age Sword
Bronze Age Axe Head
…………….a Bold claim indeed, but as a visit to The Docklands Museum situated in a preserved West India Company warehouse revealed, for centuries Britain a seafaring industrial powerhouse plundered ‘booty’ from across the Globe all returning through the Port of London. Troops sailed from here to fight wars in far away lands such as the Crimea, South African Boer War, two World Wars, and a disturbing fact I’d either forgotten or simply not realised, Ships bound for Africa transported Slaves to the West Indies, later retuning with crystalized Sugar, Tobacco (the Cotton went to Liverpool feeding Lancashire cotton Mills). In the days prior to containerization trucks and cargo planes, ships sailing from Docklands created an Empire, later servicing ‘her’ Colonies.
Below The Docks Museum, I recommend you visit this wonderful resource if you have the opportunity, both educational and also brilliantly presented Docklands was the highlight of my stay in London.
Thames Docklands in the 19th Century
Docklands Museum
Docklands Museum within a preserved Wharf Warehouse
(Below) Recreated shop fronts from the eighteenth century, you peer through the windows to gaze and wonder at businesses of the time, pubs, animal emporiums, Dockside offices.
Animal Emporiun
Clerk’s Office
Today in the Twenty First Century, Apple, Chinese Tech Companies, Tesla……. are the World’s industrial powerhouses, great wealth is generated, politicians bow to their every desire and whim, well just so as you know, the direct descendants/equivalents would be Britain’s ‘West India’ also ‘East India’ Companies see below.
London’s wealth paid for many buildings of note also Royal Palaces……………………..so I ask you this, if the construction of Buckingham Palace was paid from the profits of Slavery, seriously does the Queen have compensation to pay?
The ALL POWERFUL and DISREPUTABLE ‘East India’ company, created an Empire and plundered the world of their riches
London, sugar and slavery exibhition
Disused Dock Crane
Hundreds of Ships sailed from Docklands, their awful crime, transporting enslaved Africans to the West Indies
Cape Coast Castle, Balance Island, Gambra just 3 from hundreds of Slave ships
Ships sailing from Thames Docks, establishing an Empire, transporting plundered ivory, silks, gold, tea, spices, tobacco, sugar, slaves………..
Wandering around the museum you’re first introduced presented to Docklands Bronze Age also Roman history, history both my Brother and I knew a little of…………………HOWEVER naively we forgotten, or simply not realised (we’re both white skinned), London Docks has a grim awful disgusting charge sheet of shame, ships sailed from Quaysides Wharfs and Piers named Canada Water, Royal Victoria Docks……………………… many sailing to Ports in Africa to transport enslaved Africans to the Americas and Caribbean, later returning laden with Tobacco and Sugar, a shameful past indeed!
‘The Mercure’ 4 star Hotel situated in a leafy Square at Hyde Park Corner
I haven’t written on WordPress for many months (read a lot though), well if you didn’t catch yesterday’s introduction (don’t bother lol) I’ve just returned home after a week’s vacation with extended family, we visited many varied places around Southern England and as you do took many photos………….so I thought why not share a selection over the coming days.
You’re all busy people so I’ll try and keep the text brief.
Day 1 began with a train ride into Central London enjoying a 2 night stay at a Hotel close to Hyde Park Corner, 4 stars it was and possibly the highlight for my two nieces, beautifully clean rooms and a wet room shower to die for!
Stylish décor and immaculately clean
Built in the 1800’s as a Town House accommodation for London’s wealthy businessmen.
Below my mother feeding Parakeets in Hyde Park, the unusual story goes and quite true btw, several pet Parakeets escaped from someone’s London home later establishing a breeding colony in the Park, and tame enough to take food from tourists hands.
My mother feeding Hyde Park ‘wild’ Parakeets
Hyde Park is home to many varied and famous works of art like this Henry Moore sculpture, apparently depicting human boned hips I think? Notice a live Heron sitting on top………reveals how large it actually is.
Henry Moore Park sculpture (Google ffor more info lol)
(Below) More Hyde Park wildlife and ALL comfortable with human company bearing food!
With Hyde Park done, our small group travelled an Underground train (several) to the Borough of Greenwich close to the mouth of the River Thames. Back in the day 2012 a cable car was erected to span the Thames connecting the Olympic village with London’s financial district at Canary Wharf………………you know shiny glass tower blocks owned by scamming Merchant Banks.
Emirates cable car spanning the Thames at Greenwhich
Emirates Cable Cars suspended beneath the sky, with a backdrop of tower blocks in London’s financial district.
(Above) Canary Wharf again, the two ‘gondola’s’ hanging from crane jibs are in fact restaurant tables! No thank you.
(Above) Greenwich a large expanse of disused industrial land is still being developed today, you’ll know this area as London’s East End heavily blitzed by Hitler’s carpet bombing in WW2.
(Above) Way back in 2012 the Millennium Dome was built at huge expense as the centre piece of London’s Olympics, then as continually happens, the Games over NO ONE knew what to do with it! Consequently after many years vacant, the Borough Council converted ‘The Dome’ into the O2 Arena now used for Pop concerts pre Covid.
(Below) The Royal Observatory at Greenwich is the home of time and space, the Prime Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and situated on a hill in Greenwich park………………………….also a Covid testing station.
London Bridge (I’m taking this from an ‘Uber’ tourist ferry)
Back in the day I blogged on average every 3 days, and as of this year I very seldom do?
As for the reasons why I’m absent from ‘blogging thoughts photos and life’ all I’ll add is I’m fit and healthy, received 2 AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccinations and surviving this pandemic chaos the best I can……….. absent yes, but in my defense consume blogs penned by middle aged women every single day, 🙂 oooh they can be such enlightening stimulating hilarious reading and am TRULY addicted!
So Andrew why today’s posting?
Thanks for asking 🙂 , well I won’t be sharing my many opinions (I’ll spare you those) and swiftly getting to the point, I’ve just returned from a week’s vacation with a Smart Phone memory overflowing with photographs, and you know how it is, you either share them with somebody because they’re gonna get deleted in 3 months time anyway.
All I have to do now is upload them into a Blog fast running out of media memory! See you either tonight or tomorrow and all this week.
I think she’s just had her roots touched up AND it cost £450 lol
Hi B**** just thought I’d post a little something to prove who I said I am, (and btw a discreet posting which goes without saying), no names, no links……..I’m on this platform just for fun, no drama, no arguments, no politics, no religion, just be myself!
So yep I have a Blog although I haven’t written anything in a while (covid kinda knocked me for six similar to everyone else), I wrote this for fun mind you and definitely no money was wanted or made thank goodness. It’s my guilty secret that no one knows in real life that I’m aware of!
Here any reader will find an eclectic mix of photographs taken by me, sexy true stories (written by me), many personal thoughts and opinions (too many of those lol) and a comment on life in general, anyways you said you wanted to see it lol.
………..with Britannia watching over troops disembarking at Cape Town harbour
Bethulie home, Orange River Colony S.A. and a photo passed down to me from my Grandmother
My Great Grandfather, Great Grandmother, housemaid Emma and my then 2 year old Grandfather
My Great Grandfather along with family at the beach somewhere in the UK!
Generally when someone reaches their fifties they begin to wonder about generations past, a time when they begin to research their family’s history which I did several years ago prompted by anecdotes handed down from my Grandmother.
As I said my Great Grandfather Matthew with wife Jane and two young children (more were to follow when they resituated to the UK) lived in South Africa at the turn of the nineteenth century, though we’re unsure if he travelled to fight for the British army in the 1898-1902 Boer War, or whether they were already living in SA having emigrated earlier. We’re unsure but we do know Matthew served as a military Trooper having been later awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal pictured above, and you’ll see one bar attached to the braid reads Orange Free State however the Bethulie home Town photo reads Bethulie Orange River Colony which suggests they were already living in Bethulie, all treasured items given to me probably because I was the Grandchild who always asked to see them when I visited.
The point to my reply is Matthew served in the South African Constabulary in Bethulie a small Mission Town situated in the Orange River Colony, Bethulie has a shameful history being the site of the world’s first concentration camp used to imprison Boer women and children living in truly appalling conditions. Little is known about the black inmates of the camp but they were certainly there, A.G.H. Daller the first travelling inspector in the ORC observed the presence of black children as,
‘A peculiar feature is the presence of the families of “adopted” or “apprenticed” little coloured children – virtually slaves’, he noted. Their lives must have been hard for they received no rations, depending on their employers for food. As the black townspeople were virtually destitute, blacks in the camp could get little help from that quarter either.’
An appalling and shameful episode in Britain’s colonial past of which there are many, whether Church of England missionaries converting brown skinned girls and boys into Christian English speaking ‘subjects’, or transporting slaves to the America’s I’m afraid we have little to be proud of when talking Empire and her Colonies, the current troubles in Israel are a direct consequence of Britain’s meddling in Palestine.
So a question remains as to my Great Grandfather’s place in just one shameful colonial War, South Africa was quite literally a diamond jewel in Queen Victoria’s crown, our Matthew was a military policeman in a Concentration Camp Town fighting in a Colonial War, so as a family we’re left asking ourselves as a policeman what atrocities did he witness? He would have been aware of the camp housing 1700 prisoners but is there a darker side to my family’s history, might Matthew have visited or worked in the Camp? Questions we’ll never know the answer to and after all these years perhaps it’s best we don’t know.
Thanks for the laugh Laura, here’s my mother’s Eurasian Blue Tit nesting box and a firm favourite for UK homeowners rear gardens, you’ll find them erected in every Town and City across the land and she has a nesting pair, notice the row of upturned woodscrews I inserted to keep Pigeons Crows and Sparrowhawk’s from landing! A success and she enjoys watching them (en) during this pandemic.
A stock image of the rather cute Eurasian Blue Tit, I was going to cut and paste something from Wiki but you get the idea.
I have a talent for guessing a woman’s correct bra size also theme today’s musings as a tenuous response Posting. Humour me, I haven’t posted in a while and I love writing about women’s breasts, though note, always respectfully which goes without saying.
🙂 Just for fun!
And no I don’t consider this GIF obscene or inappropriate, what better way to demonstrate bra versus no bra than share an image both instructive and constructive, perhaps call this posting a female public service and yes with knowledge ‘lifted’ straight from the internet!
I’ve alluded to the fact my WordPress has a boob obsession theme, oh but you didn’t know I have a talent for sizing a woman’s bare breasts and correctly I might add. Straight up, I am rather good at guessing the size of bra cup she requires to support her two bundles of squeezable fun, though with one glaringly no legally important caveat! No I’m not in the habit of walking up to women I’ve never met before and telling them their correct bra size, 😀 no certainly not, a guy could get himself into serious trouble pursuing a vacuous (if not illegal) hobby like that one!
But enough to say when I’m bored or at a loose end I’ll loiter around a legally regulated adult chatroom, populated by hard working camgirls (my favourite the 18+ lady above) hustling for a living like the rest of us, and yes I’ll tip them money from my PayPal if I’m enchanted by their personality and turned on by their bodies, lovely ladies of any age and size and who knows perhaps single moms as well, yes they remove their clothes for money and the extrovert they are the more they earn. We all have to pay the electricity bills and buy food to eat so live and let live I say, I have total respect for strippers and err where was I? Oh yes I’ll both chat within their log and tip if I enjoy their company and yes I’ll guess their bra size for fun and I’m not lying when I say I’m invariably correct. In fact they’ll reply “you are correct!” whilst sporting an impressed yet slightly amused smile.
And unfortunately I do not work as a bra fitting consultant in a Victoria Secret lingerie Store but wow what an incredible job that must be! 😀 I guess I’m just a guy blessed with an unusual talent!
Okay I’m only joking.
Here’s a fascinating fact I’d never happened across before, Rigby and Perry lingerie styling specialist Josie Fellows (no idea who she is) shares her thoughts in acaptivating Elle article ‘Everything you ever need to know when thinking of going braless’, and why buying new bras should be seen as essential as visiting the dentist. Apparently 80% of bra support comes from the back-band which must be firm not tight, yes the cups need to encompass the whole bust ensuring there is neither overspill or gaping which goes without saying, but here’s a thing, only 10% of the support comes from the straps, and there’s more, the straps are not there to hold the bust up, that’s the job of the back-band.
Who’d have known? Like the saying goes, you can learn something new everyday such as 80% of bra support comes from the back-band and NOT the bra straps! Who knew?
Now for interesting facts blatantly ‘lifted’ from the internet 🙂 .
And finally from causing sagging breasts, skin irritation, and pressure lines around the body to costing a lot of money, bras might not be as harmless as they seem. Whether they’re push-ups, lace, sports or strapless bras they all come with varying levels of discomfort. Social norms also habits might make women wear bras on a daily basis, but it seems like rules can be broken for their own comfort……………………… personally as I’ve written before I think bust lingerie should be banned by law.
No sweat under the breasts anymore!
Hot days are nice until ladies start feeling that uncomfortable under-breast sweat. In this case, wearing a bra can make a situation worse — it will just rub the unpleasant moisture into her skin. Whereas going braless and letting the chest skin breathe will help moisture to simply evaporate so giving her a fresh and enjoyable feeling.
Can also help to clear up your skin
Additionally, by letting the dirt and sweat build up underneath the bra, women can run the risk of developing an infection or acne. This is extra important during hot seasons when they sweat more than usual, apparently tight bra straps drenched in sweat can also cause breakouts so isn’t it better to just remove the thing that causes them!
Going natural improves Boob shape.
Even though bras are worn to support breasts, they don’t play such a useful role in the long run. In reality, bras make the chest sag according to a study (so the web article says), and there’s more, breasts shouldn’t be denied gravity medically, psychologically, or anatomically. So, removing your bra will be beneficial for both health and beauty.
Binning the bra makes your breasts stronger
Being free from artificial support, breasts are free to develop their own muscle tissue! This means that they won’t need any other support than their own. They use the pectoral muscles to recreate this tissue and are then able to resist gravity, this way, while they work ladies can enjoy their beautiful perky shape!
Saves her a considerable amount of money
Most bras out there are expensive. Super-fashionable bras from popular brands are even more pricey apparently. So finding one that will fit her, provides nice support, and doesn’t cause any discomfort is a long and complicated task. However, going braless is absolutely free!
She’ll be freed from those pressure lines around her body
No matter how good or expensive her bra is there’s always a chance it will leave some pressure lines around the chest. Well, in this case, no bra means no suffering.
She will be comfortable all day long
Most women know the great pleasure of removing a bra after a long day, I have been told first hand btw……just sayin, so shouldn’t a lady enjoy this feeling of freedom every single day?
Removing can help to improve circulation
Bras can also limit the lymphatic circulation around her chest area. Lymph is an important fluid in the human body helping to remove bacteria, abnormal cells and other matters. Removing a bra will stimulate its flow so providing muscle tissue and helping to keep her skin firm. So wearing a bra isn’t harmful and by not wearing one might definitely be worth it.
Going braless can ‘apparently’ feel invigorating and adventurous
Going without a bra might seem err inappropriate but from another side, ‘going natural’ might be taken as an exciting beginning to new experiences (so says every guy). Removing such an important yet invisible wardrobe item could help to spice up her day (or maybe even a whole life).
When is it necessary to wear a bra?
There might be situations when wearing a bra is necessary like while doing sports, for example not wearing bust support during intense physical activity can be harmful to a woman’s breasts as it can cause tissue damage, pain, and discomfort. So a good sports bra with decent support is a must-have.
Do you wear bras often? Would you ever give up wearing them? Yeh lol like someone will answer anyways a lighted fun posting with no offense intended.
Don’t you agree my new wristwatch is an exquisitely beautiful timepiece? (Btw it’s not as big as the camera close up suggests.)
My new wristwatch
In 1961 Chairman Mao (no less) assigned the Tianjin Watch factory to make the first Chinese aviation watch (chronograph) for the Air Force of the People’s Liberation Army………… and I now own a 2021 reissue which cost rather a lot of money 😦 .
Turn over and the watch back reveals a window of beauty!
The face of my 1963 sea-gull is pure, purposeful and surprisingly elegant for a military watch, with a slightly antique pearl dial giving it a vintage feel, even reminds me of the watch my Grandfather used to wear………. Ahh but today we all own (wear?) Smartphones so I’m wondering will mechanical timepieces, with a linage traced back to John Harrison’s naval chronometer in the 1700’s and invented to solve the problem of calculating longitude while at sea, will mechanical clocks and wristwatches be consigned to history, only to be found in Dickens novels like Miss Havisham’s doomed attempt at freezing a memory in time.
Here’s a thought, when was the last time you saw a teenage girl without a Smartphone physically attached to her hand, never?
Call this a birthday present to myself, an indulgence I feel slightly guilty about purchasing in an economic pandemic, but at my old age of 55 I’ve bought myself what I’d describe my first expensive watch, and if you didn’t know lol, adorned around my wrist is the iconic 1963 Chinese Pilots chronograph. Now gaze at the obverse watch-back draped across my wrist and you’ll see this is no battery powered quartz adornment, no not even a self winding automatic movement, this mechanical instrument is a wound spring, gear driven timepiece with many working parts and a delicate balance wheel that beats as the watches heart.
It quite literally does and quite hypnotic to err watch lol.
Hold the sea-gull movement to my ear and and the metallic beat reminds me of a ticking time bomb in a James Bond movie, that’s before 007 cuts the wires so saving mankind yet again!
My watch story begins months ago after tiring of gazing at my £7 Casio wristwatch day after day after……… One of several exact copies I’ve owned this past 25 years, black plastic cased quartz timepieces that keep impeccable time yet feel soulless cheap and manufactured (because they are), oh and seldom removed from my wrist even when I’m in bed with a woman jeeze they could tell some stories if they could. But I’ve grown bored of my Casio and ‘kind of on a whim‘ treated myself to an aviation chronograph, with its dazzling sapphire crystal the hardest glass known to man….. I love it.
Yes accurate and reliable at the moment, but we’ll see if the power spring and many moving parts keeps it that way in years to come.
No boob chat today 😦 (that’s my intention after just this second logging on!)
A serious Posting!
How lucky was I surfing the net and discovering this Hospital Doctor
A new phrase has wriggled it’s way into our spoken language, yes you guessed correctly a rather clunky sounding expression of gratitude “thank you SO much” has become common usage over here in the UK.
You’ll guess by the appearance of this posting this new grammatical immigrant rather fascinates me, I say immigrant for good reason because I first noticed this newcomer several years ago coinciding with the the first influx of East European economic migrants to these shores, but no talk of Brexit here my friends. I’d suggest to my ears it’s displaced the English phrase my Grandparents would have used “thank you very much”, a not too dissimilar declaration of gratitude which in turn displaced a phrase you’ll read in a Jane Austin or Emily Bronte novel, “thank you kindly”, pause for a second, can’t you just hear Elizabeth Bennet replying “thank you kindly dear Sir” as Mr. Darcy bows delicately lifting the babe’s outstretched hand to kiss.
I bet you that got Lizzie’s pussy juices flowing!
Anyway where was I?
Now as we all are aware, and often livid about, language usage in day to day conversation metamorphises adapts as the years pass and usually teenagers are to blame with “lolz” and the “like”, a fill-in word thirteen year old girls are addicted to! I’ll listen to their conversations on the bus home and it appears to me “like” has no meaning other than a pause to allow their brains to catch up with breathless conversation. Spoken language changes where ever you reside, and I’m reliably informed we Brits do not talk ‘like’ the characters in a Shakespearian Play…….. I wouldn’t know because I’ve never read Shakespeare but I’ve lusted over Julia Styles in ’10 Things I Hate About You’ and isn’t that another ‘Taming Of The Shrew’ reboot?
I digress.
So why does this one phrase “thank you SO much” with the emphasis on “SO”, fascinate to the point I’ll listen hoping the Romanian coffee lady serving in ‘Taylors’ delicatessen might (severe but lovely girl) reply after she hands me her hot beverage. Incidentally, I’m not annoyed by this recent interloper, hearing it doesn’t bother me or grate my ears, yet inexplicably “thank you SO much” has inhabited my consciousness and YES I’ve found myself using it again with my own emphasised “SO”. This affirmation of gratitude doesn’t roll off the tongue, sounding rather yes clunky in conversation and not Queen’s English and that’s why it fascinates me, and yes I think I can remember the exact place and circumstance I first noticed me using it, again with an emphasis on a rather earnestly spoken “SO”, now I’d suggest any recipient will appreciate the speaker’s gratitude is both heartfelt and not just a cliched platitude.
When you reply “thank you SO much” you really DO mean it and not just as a throw away servility!
So when and where did I first notice myself using this phrase, and why was I so SO grateful? I’ll tell you why, several years ago I suffered a fall at work and long dramatic story cut very short, I was whisked off to our wonderful John Radcliffe Hospital with what turned out was a fractured cheekbone in 4 painful places, however I was conscious and no bones had been depressed into my skull and I was going to be ok thanks for asking! After several hours waiting in a busy Casualty Department, with overworked doctors and nurses rushing here there and everywhere as warning sirens sounded, electronic equipment beeped and trolleys bearing really ill people were wheeled in from reverse parked ambulances……. I’d describe both ambiance and atmosphere as organised chaos.
Come my turn I was shown into a bare white examination room, instructed to take of my shoes and lay upon the bed….. I was a walking wounded brave little soldier, (way tooo many metaphors Andrew). Then minutes later a beautiful young woman wearing blue scrubs, tore open the curtain glided to my side beaming a confident radiant smile, AND I’d guess this angel was working a 14 hour shift! Wonderful men and women all.
Well I remember her as a cheerful chatty soul, I’d guess age 27 slim of an average womanly height with a beautiful face and short cropped blonde hair, a lovely intelligent young woman any mother would sell her soul to have a son marry such a goddess and yes I’m a sucker for a pretty face, I was smitten and SHE with her caring bedside manner did actually seem worried by my injuries probably because head injuries can change to horrifically life threatening very quickly.
For the next 10 minutes or so she gave me a full neurological examination, note with me fully clothed, I had to raise either leg on command as she pressed down upon the limbs, I had push her hands away then grip and pull hers toward me. I had to touch my nose with alternate fingers, watch as she checked my reflexes as she hit my knee with a small rubber hammer……….. yes this angel dressed in powder blue cotton uniform followed a neurological list of checks to test if I had suffered brain damage, I’ll not repeat what my work colleagues would have said.
To finish my initial examination before being shown to an overworked X-ray Department, my beautiful clinician whipped from her top pocket a slim black pencil like object, and with one click of a switch a bright light appeared on one end, with a graceful ‘lunge’ she hunched over me and began to shine her tiny torch into my eyes……………. and omg all I can remember this second is her face so close to mine as she inspected for I guess brain damage, so gifted are our betraying eyes. That close I remember her breath touching my face and yes I gulped, an involuntary emotional reaction triggered by having a beautiful young woman unnervingly close I could have kissed her on the cheek, lol I could’ve would’ve lol of but of course didn’t!
Isn’t there a name given to men who fall in love with nurses?
Oh and I forget to say this boyishly slender young woman displayed NO bust, nope there was zero boobage but for two hardly distinguishable mounds with only ‘bee stings’ for nipples visible as she moved, and hazarding a guess these tired young females, overworked in stifling hot Hospital Wards wear only a bra beneath as underclothes, and why wouldn’t they?
You see I’m emotionally incapable of recollecting a serious true tale without bringing a heroines breasts into my story.
Finally with examination completed and this young doctor no doubt relieved I wasn’t about to suffer a bleed to the brain, note I’m neither trying to be flippant or funny, damaged brain injuries can deteriorate within minutes to the point a patient requires urgent open brain surgery to save their life. With my beautiful clinician now content I wasn’t about to drift into unconsciousness, smiled and made plain her work was finished and now I was to be someone else’s patient, I bid her goodbye and yes I remember me saying a heartfelt “thank you SO much”, with an emphasis on the “SO” because I was genuinely thankful from deep within my heart, she’d never met me before but showed such care 🙂 .
And then she was gone! One of those moments in life when you realise you will never ever see a wonderful human being again, who’d have thought when I woke that morning for another humdrum day of work, that same afternoon I’d experience a beautiful young woman peering into my eyes and so close I could have kissed that soft skinned cheek.
Hospital workers are wonderful caring men and women and our NHS the gift that keeps on giving 🙂 .
So my question for today is, “could you pull this look off?”
Rianne Meijer
Or then again the phrase ‘ingenuity is the mother of all invention’ comes to mind.
Pulling this look off depends on boob size I guess, if you’re an A size bra cup (possibly a AA) like Rianne Meijer above then you’ll have little to worry about, they’ll neither jiggle or bounce whilst she walks however larger endowed ladies of a certain age may struggle, and regrettably real life takes its toll, after a lady has nursed her offspring they’ll sag a little no doubt pendulously swinging from side to side, I’m not being disrespectful mind! I think it’s wonderful mothers breastfeed their babies, nurturing them with warm milk so they’ll grow healthy and cognitive with strong bones oh and a little sweet tasting as I’m reliably informed.
Yes I said sugary sweet but note I’ve never tasted………… unfortunately 😦 .
Many many months ago I commented a mummy blogger as to the taste of her breastmilk and she replied lol ‘a little sweeter than cows milk Andrew’, well you gotta ask haven’t you. Anyways before I (don’t) meander into my love of women’s breasts yet again (yawn)…….. what was I chatting about? Oh yes question for the day ‘could you pull-off a bra look made from disposable face masks’ and I’ve concluded the smaller boobed lady could but breastfeeding mothers and bustier ladies may struggle, I guess if you’re of a high round firm B cup maybe C you’ll be ok, but D’s and DD+ may be light on support but omg for us guys the results would make for spectacular viewing as they bounced their unsupported jig beneath tight fitting jersey’s.
The Dutch influencer I’m sharing above has been slammed online after fashioning a bikini from old facemasks, Rianne Meijer shocked and offended her Instagram followers (well there’s a surprise lol) by wearing a bikini fashioned from yes facemasks, and all I can add is I admire her results, disposable mask material is designed to concertina outwards covering a human animals nose mouth and chin, and looking at Rianne’s AA cup boobs her facemasks appear to cover and support beautifully………. and don’t you think azure blue is such a flattering colour on a woman and the matching knickers are a work of art! 😀
You didn’t know this but one of my more useless life skills is guessing, correctly I might add, a woman’s correct bra size, yep I’ll look at her pair of boobs and can tell you if she’s an A cup B C or DD whatever, a talent honed from my lifetime’s gazing at women’s breasts but that’s a whole other on-line posting, 😀 .
I have a social media theory I’ve touched on before. When followers reply comments like these below Rianne’s posting:
Why you waste masks like that?” One person wrote, while another simply said: “Just no.”
“What a waste of PPE,” another person commented, with another saying: “You are so great & I love your content usually. But wasting masks is not something that should be advertised.”
But come on are they actually disgusted? Are they really deeply offended? Or are they just making their voice heard and trying to provoke a reaction? I’d guess the second, they’ll comment and click the send button and being as the youth of today have the concentration timespan of a goldfish, seconds later they’ll ‘swipe’ to another Tweet or Instagram photo and dream up some other pithy humorous offended reply hoping that others like and share, it’s only the 5% of nasty bullying Trolls who are in truth angry and that’s a reflection of their personalities in real life……….. I blame the frigging media, it’s their fault these harmless ‘offended’ replies are taken seriously, for heaven’s sake why does the BBC share a selection of Tweets written by G list celebrities beneath a serious News story? I neither care for these musicians and soap actors opinions and as I said before, they’re NOT that offended anyway.
Returning to beautiful sexy Rianne, what I say is lighten up, at the least the young lady is upcycling disposable facemasks into brand new bra’s, as we know mask plastic fabric is unrecyclable ending it’s useful life discarded and thrown in City streets across the globe, or heartbreakingly it’s elastic straps entwined around a birds feet or sucked into dolphins and whales stomachs 😦 , jeeze we invent these wonderful products yet don’t think about what to do with them when used and the affect on nature is upsetting.
So for heavens sake lighten up with the criticism I say, now if every girl fills her knicker draw with bras fashioned from old facemasks then just imagine the positive affects for our environment, so I’ve a suggestion for all you ladies out there, whether A or DD cup go to your bedroom and lock the door, seat yourselves before your vanity mirror, carefully construct a bra from facemasks, strip naked topless and put on the delicate to admire the effect……… and why not start a movement and POST THE PICTURES ON YOUR INSTAGRAM!
A. Shepherdson 2021
(Remember I have the utmost respect for women who have breastfed their babies and would NEVER make fun at their expense.)
Been a while but not to worry 🙂 . Whether my seasonal Calendar agrees with me or not, this weekend feels like the first days of Spring, a low warming Sun has lifted air temperatures and I even walked the dog without wearing a coat for the first time this year………………… as an aside 20 million Brits have now been vaccinated (including moi), Covid-19 cases appear to be dropping, or maybe it’s the lovely weather but life seems ok at present…… finger’s crossed!
Oh yes returning to my theme of today’s Posting, my mother now has 4 bird Nesting Boxes in her garden and attached to side walls. I know because I constructed them from oddments of timber and erected in various positions earlier this year and joy of joys for my mother, because she loves her garden flighted visitors, Blue Tits have begun visiting one Nesting Box with hopefully a view to laying eggs and raising a family.
But first and pictured below are 3 species of birds regularly visiting British suburban gardens, or I should say 3 species that regularly take residence, the Blue Tit, Robin and Pied Wagtail.
Blue Tit (Stock image)Pied Wagtail (Stock image)Robin (Stock image)
I’m no ornithological expert but if you place these timber constructions around you garden either side of Christmas then with a little luck mother nature hopefully will provide, and as you’d imagine my mother gains great pleasure from watching and feeding her feathered friends……….. I may even buy her a pair of cheapish binoculars from Amazon, yes that seems a good idea. Anyways before I meander off topic below you’ll see photos captured this fine Sunday morning. Incidentally I don’t wish to get tooo technical but Nesting Boxes are very species specific, a Blue Tit prefers stand alone Boxes with a 25mm entrance hole (32mm for Sparrows), but not Robins or Wagtails who will only use the open front design……………….. and if you have densely foliaged bushes then just may have Blackbirds build a nest therein!
Oh and I’ve included a photo of mum’s garden feeder (resembles a Hat Stand), great for hanging bags of nut and attracting hungry birds who just might be house hunting?
Blue Tits are visiting this Box
………and notice the line of screws!
Pictured above is my pride and joy, I constructed this timber design specifically favoured by Robins, a beautiful red breasted garden bird that can be so tame that they’ll feed from a person’s hand…………………… or so the wildlife books tell us………………oh and notice the position, whereas Blue Tits prefer open space boxes attached to poles, Robins prefer nesting within deep foliage. Apparently!
Picture above I placed an open fronted Nesting Box favoured by Robins or who knows the pair of Pied Wagtails that visit and feed, wildlife are fickle animals, you never know we might be lucky although March is leaving it late.
Pictured above and attached to a side wall is a second nesting box specifically for Blue Tits, might be lucky you never know.
HOWEVER every story has villain of the piece, over the past decade or so and as more open farmland’s been turned over by housebuilder’s excavating equipment, another bird species attracted by warm blooded protein has colonised suburbia as it’s own, and the results are savage and definitely not pretty. Below you see an all to common sight in British Towns the evil eyed Sparrowhawk, a small bird of prey that yes feeds on Robins, Blue Tits, Blackbirds, Thrushes, Wagtails……………… you could say Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection and yes a beautiful if brutal feeder. That being said I have seen one particular Sparrowhawk perched on a fence dividing gardens, a savage feeder yet striking bird of prey, you either embrace and appreciate its beauty or anger yourself over ‘what may have been’s’?
Sparrowhawk, perched sitting on a plucking post with prey. Scotland, UK
As I’ve said before the average length of an erect human penis is 131.2mm, I guess only a lady can tell you if that 0.2mm is important to her or not?
Self indulgent musings, but hey.
Women! This is how they seduce you, they smile sweetly whilst playing the giggly eighteen year old girl with their puppy eyes and pouting rosy red lips, dexterous fingers working their sensual magic curled around my penis and then charge me £70 for the pleasure of said sexy massage with a happy ending (it’s the happy ending you’re paying for), I honestly don’t think women fully understand (or utilize) the sexual power they have over men!
Blah blah blah………. before I meander down a road of self indulgent brag fest, I should like to say I ONLY ever follow female Bloggers aged 35-55 quite simply because they’ve lived a life good and bad with stories to tell, experiences to share, heartbreaking or hilarious honesty you’ll not find written by a nineteen year old nymphet, who’s biggest worry in life is finding her prince charming, that elusive soulmate they’re utterly convinced is waiting be discovered, to whisk them off their feet, fall in love, marry and give them lots of cute babies. Young female bloggers are so upbeat positive and adorable yet bland naïve and sometimes wearing, you can only read so many tales of the day her pet bunny rabbit escaped (happened) or a drought of suitable f***-buddies on Tinder before their Blog becomes well you get the idea bless them 🙂 .
You want Real Life warts and all? Then Follow a middle aged female writer for insight real life and hilarity! (Way tooo many metaphors in my postings, have some imagination Andrew!)
So how to tie the threads of a self indulgent introduction, well several week’s ago whilst reading a lady’s Blog comment thread, I noticed another woman’s reply ‘how many people are happy with their own bodies?’ And me being me I just couldn’t help myself replying ‘yeh the length of my dick’……….. I got away with that conceit because the writer in question has a naughty sense of humour, and now I’m reminded of two comments said by ladies I’ve slept with……………. “can we do it with you on top Andrew because you’re long and it hurts”, and with another “I like to ride cowgirl cause I like it deep”……hmm no accounting for women’s quirky likes or fetishes but I am rather proud of the length of my penis….just sayin lol.
And while I’m here tell me, do women’s pussy’s actually drip wet as all those erotic writers keep telling us?
But then all men are in love with their dicks, insecure worrying as to said girth and length, anxious they cannot keep the ‘old man’ hard as iron for as long as their partner wishes. Do you know sex isn’t always enjoyable for a guy when he’s fretting if the lady is enjoying herself or not. I’ve ‘slept’ a missionary position performing a rhythmically pumping stroke yet enduring an out of body experience as my mind and concentration delays climaxing or if you wanna get mystical about it, reaching that joyous two second nirvana, nature’s signal for a groin convulsing release of creamy ejaculate deep inside the core of her body. I’ve often laid there imagining how close the tip of my penis is to certain lady’s internal organs, so near and touchable but for a thin membrane of skin.
I’ve enjoyed writing about women and sex and yes I’m very proud of the length of my Penis 160mm is above average, not gigantic in girth mind you but I’m more than happy when gazing down upon ‘him’, did you know there’s a Pornstar named Mandingo who’s blessed with a 300mm BBC (work it out please!) and from what few videos I have watched these black gentlemen understand ‘how to use them’ yet just as incredible are the white skinned blondes who’ll physically take such a great length………………..wow what troopers! Anyways I’ve a posting on here themed Penis facts and just so as you know, extensive internet research informs me 160mm is above average which (sporting a beaming smile) makes me very VERY happy.
Btw current political correctness states referring to a guy as black skinned with good reason is ok, and have you deduced what BBC stands for yet?
I’ve weighed 10 stone my entire adult life, then along comes a health Pandemic and I’m 11 stone 1 and 3/4 lb, and at my age this ‘belly fat’ has to come off soon or it’ll never be shed……. repeated lockdowns aren’t good for the waistline.
And so I sit typing and grazing on a punnet of Peruvian Blueberries!
Here I am pictured above working diligently for my employer, captured by my Smart phone for a reason that eludes me and interesting because minutes after taking these photos, I looked behind to see a colleague of mine rushing out the door having just received a call via the Government informing he’d been in contact with a positive case. Such are the serious times we live in, the unnerving consequence was we all had to return home and self isolate until he’d been tested himself, and that my friends is the closest I’ve come to wondering if I’d caught the disease……………. an anxious two days but he got the all clear and we all returned to machining within our designated bubbles, wearing mandatory PPE and keeping two metres distance which is nigh on impossible, who’d have thought several months earlier that I’d be wearing a face mask the entire day? Not me.
Well so far so good, I’ve been working and commuting by public transport since June 11th 2020 and I haven’t fallen ill to this awful virus, so I’ve either been very lucky or the PPE precautions have worked a treat? Who knows who cares though here’s a few salutary thoughts, the UK is in an awful place with the virus raging out of control with every citizen apart from essential workers being confined to their own home, we’ve 30,000 covid patients in Hospitals from John O Groats to Lands End and I’m confident every Brit knows of someone who’s had or recovering from covid or heartbreakingly has passed away 😦 .
Hope I’m not writing tooo soon! But perhaps the reason I’m still working in a City with high Covid positives is I religiously take sanitizing and hand cleanliness very seriously, and never fail to wear 4 ply mask coverings with pure silk sewn in filters inside shops and riding buses………. in fact after this awful pandemic is behind us I may continue wearing the masks because Coroner will be with us for many months yet and I’ve yet to catch a cold.
A work Colleague of mine survived coroner virus, as did a friend of the family her husband and two daughters who are recovering in baby steps, but looking on the bright side my Great Aunt has had the vaccine, my mother is injected Friday and I’ve several close relatives who’ve received theirs seeing as they are Hospital clinicians. And seeing as I’m a positive soul I’m predicting by April/May the UK will be returning to some sort of normality, with the British Government throwing all resources at getting the Nation vaccinated so living will improve……. finger’s crossed.
‘Lolita’
On the positive side, I’m rather pleased with myself because I’ve been filling my newly acquired spare time rather productively, yep unusually for me I’ve been reading novels I’d always been curious about namely Joseph Heller’s ‘Catch-22′ and Vladimir Nabokov’ ‘Lolita’ and almost certainly the most disturbing tale I’ve read. I’m going to refrain from writing a review though I’d advise caution if you’re a mother with young daughters, Lolita’s beautifully written and described as a ‘Classic’, but be aware Humbert Humbert’s abuse of a twelve year old girl is a disgusting tale though never sexually graphic, thank God. Yes controversial and banned in the UK under obscenity laws several decades ago, I would advise rather than enjoying reading Lolita, being shown a window into the mind of an abusing pedophile is a disturbing and necessary education…………………..oh go on then here’s my review! The first third is a captivating read, skip the following two thirds because listening to Humbert Humbert’s whining is interminably boring, then finish by reading the final ten pages.
Theme this my Christmas posting, and I hope you’re all making the best holiday you can after a challenging and awful 2020……. that’s enough of the Pandemic for this evening 🙂 .
(Been a while since I’ve Blogged here but I do check the stats from time to time, now here’s a perverse fact for you, I don’t write here yet I’ve never been so popular, why?……Well the sad fact of life is ‘sex sells’ and if you’ve read this Blog previously you’ll understand why the popularity, yep people enjoy reading about sex, watching others have sex (tedious and boring) and best of all we all live for sex with other humans. Oh and I haven’t lol met with any women since March 23rd and beginning of covid lockdown! Read a post or two here and you’ll understand why enough said 😀 .)
A Rainbow taken somewhere close to Oxford 21/12/2020 from my mobile phone
This afternoon I saw my first Rainbow since I don’t know when, then I got to thinking I only ever witness these wonderful meteorological phenomenon two or three times a year and that honestly shocked me, every one of us knows what a Rainbow looks like yet we see so few! Can you remember the last one you viewed for real?
After having delivered several Christmas presents to friends, pausing to chat also allowing a brief rain shower to pass important to this tail, oh and socially distancing which goes without saying, I began to walk my return journey home with a bright low winter sun shining behind me.
HOWEVER (and remember that rain storm passing through) those same dark clouds now faced me in the distance, two meteorological ingredients perfect for recreating a quite remarkable visual colourful spectrum, because rays of sun shining into cloud laden droplets of water are the perfect conditions for creating colourful Rainbows and a que for other pedestrians to pause and whip out they mobile phones, for residents to spill out from their homes to like me, take photos of a wonderful 8 coloured Rainbow in the sky, a same natural world phenomenon sure to have perplexed cavemen several thousand years ago.
Other photographs were taken, to be continued……………………………..
My favourite blogger LA likes to play a game on Friday’s, today she proposed an intriguing brain teaser, a brain twister have you will, which song would I choose for my personal theme tune? Interestingly (for me) the first thought flooding my mind (less than 5 seconds) was Monty Python’s ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’, yes played before the final credits to ‘Life Of Brian’, a thought provoking magnificent film ridiculing organised religions for being, well, ridiculous! Oh and quite probably one of the finest must watch films ever made………………………… only wish they’d had the nerve to make ‘Life Of Mohammed’ and lampoon Islam, lol bloggers have been beheaded for making statements like that 😀 and I’m not joking.
Anyways not to worry….. why not just listen and contemplate the brilliant lyrics.
Do you want a dictionary definition? Well if you look on the bright side you’re trying to remain cheerful when faced with a bad situation, offset life’s awfulness by convincing yourself things cannot get much worse so making you feel just that little bit better, or thinking life isn’t as bad as it could have been. Hmm.
As in the past Friday games nights, I’m ignoring some of the rules for this tune isn’t a B side, no it’s probably one of the most recognisable movie songs ever penned, people who don’t take life tooo seriously even play Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life at their funerals and I think I just might!
You have to agree with me life cannot get much worse than if you’re nailed to a Cross but like these troubled times we live in, you just have to try for what’s the alternative? You give up that’s what, but however down and depressed you feel, what an earth is the point to giving up? None at all because remember we all have friends and loved ones who rely on us, to be there when they need us, yes I could quit on life but who would look after my mother if I was gone? No one! And that’s a completely honest answer because looking after my mum in her old age will define my life for however long she is with me………………………. oh and I don’t live with her because she’d drive me around the frigging bend!
Jack Carter, a cold ruthless London gangster thoroughly unlikeable yet a character ladies rate as Michael Caines’s sexiest. Work that one out?
The backdrop industrially decayed NE England gripped by recession
Judith Crist in New York magazine gave ‘Get Carter’ a glowing review, saying “Michael Caine is superb, suave and sexy” and describing the film as “a hard, mean and satisfying zinger” and I could agree more.
A photo taken alongside the film’s female characters ALL brilliant well honed strong character performances in themselves
Caine said of Newcastle “I’d never seen such poverty“
Remembered as one of the movie’s great scenes, and no I’m not going to say what happens next!
It was NO myth! Northern young women DID used to dance around their handbags (a scene from the Dance Hall)
Starring Michael Caine (a performance he takes great pride in), a young nubile Britt Ekland never sexier and playwright John Osborne, ‘Get Carter’ was adapted from the novel ‘Jack’s Homecoming’ as all great great films are……. oh and the opening title music set’s a dark menacing tone brilliantly.
Yesterday evening I recommended the movie ‘Get Carter’ to a blogger I follow, yikes that’s problematic when we all have differing tastes, and likes are purely subjective.
But here goes with my take on a film review.
‘Get Carter’ is rightly regarded as the greatest British crime movie of all time, but don’t expect an eighteenth century ‘Downtonesque’ soap opera British TV inflicts on the rest of the world (ahhh I can’t take this dross any longer!), but a period drama all the same with the backdrop a North East decaying England gripped by recession. You’ll see no fancy period costumes, no quaint English villages or lush Shire countryside, for 1970s Newcastle is a bleak grimy city who’s truly great industrial past is long gone leaving it’s inhabitants in misery and depressing poverty, ‘Get Carter’ is a TRUTHFUL time-capsule all the same depicting a region of England that’s never recovered………. and expect a meandering tale leading to a vengeful crescendo and unexpected ending.
Packed with great quotes like, “behave yourself… you’re a big man but you’re in bad shape with me it’s a full time occupation” (I’ve used that one) ranking up there with Duval’s “I love the smell of napalm in the morning”………… and there’s SO many more!
Jack Carter played by Michael Caine is a cold ruthless unlikeable London ‘crime lord’ who travels north to avenge the death of his brother (yet female movie goers thought him never sexier, unfathomable creatures 😀 ) Carter’s lack of remorse didn’t sit kindly with critics of the time but many would agree gangsters are vicious nasty criminals, you shouldn’t like him, and certainly the viewer has no empathy for Caine yet we know these heartless menacing villains exist, and I’d rate Jack Carter alongside Coppola’s ‘Godfather’ both psychopaths’ oozing screen charisma who’ll kill a man and show no remorse.
Here’s what Caine himself had to say,
“One of the reasons I wanted to make that picture was my background. In English movies, gangsters were either stupid or funny. I wanted to show that they’re neither. Gangsters are not stupid, and they’re certainly not very funny” “Carter is the dead-end product of my own environment, my childhood; I know him well. He is the ghost of Michael Caine”.
The Pub scene, working class men wearing cloth caps and brassy women who’d be an easy lay after the doors had closed shut
Grim slum housing which has since been demolished as is the coal fired Power Station in the background
‘Get Carter’s’ response from critics was lukewarm, although not a widespread theatrical release it made money, and as the years have passed popularity has now surpassed cult status, does that ring a bell? Remember ‘Shawshank Redemption’ one of the greatest movies ever made bombed at the cinema, was panned by critics and is yet now regarded by audiences as a favourite, no a classic.
With a meandering plot (not a criticism btw) pushing the boundaries in cinema and a cold unlikeable Michael Caine’s at is finest, ‘Get Carter’ is definitely worth a watch 🙂 .
Hopefully someone will watch my latest YouTube video 🙂 (bottom) the title hints at what to expect. So why sew one Andrew? Truthfully I was sick and tired of buying expensive masks online and them not fitting well and these are important, also thinking to myself ‘how hard can these be’ so I began sewing.
Ok let’s ‘not beat around the bush’ (did you know bush is a nick-name for a woman’s beaver in the UK?), let’s ‘cut to the chase’ shall we (I have noticed at work I use an awful lot of metaphors and catchy phrases when chatting to work colleagues, does that mean I’m a lazy conversationalist? Or I have a tiny vocabulary pool in which to choose appropriate words? Or perhaps I’m just boring.) Anyways let’s ‘state the bleeding obvious’ and say my WordPress has kinda died, very few people like or comment which is fine blah blah blah…. HOWEVER conversely I have never been so popular!
Work that one out 😀 .
I’ll tell you why.
I’ll look at my statistics ‘once in a while’ (a boy thing) and my past 2+ years postings and one genre has never been so popular, seven months on the spin they’ve been rising and yesterday’s views ‘went through the roof!’…………… But hold on folks people are only reading the postings with sexual content, tales of me in bed with women NSFW, penis fun facts, joys of bj’s, colleagues not wearing bras, topless massages, fun vagina facts, women flashing their underwear at me, female orgasms, button down blouse boob gap, masturbation (a fun hobby for us all 😉 ), favourite positions………. the sordid list goes on and on. I guess sex sells and the phrase ‘it’s the way of the world’ applies, prostitutes worked this out thousands of years ago…. err wrong analogy.
But I am a little bored of writing about sex (plus I’m not getting any for obvious reasons) SO who knows where this WordPress is heading, the digesting of social media content has exploded in so many directions, so many platforms and not enough time.
Not to worry, I filmed a new video last Friday and hopefully a Follower out there will watch me making Face Masks, I’ve been giving them to friends also family and they’re being sold in a local charity shop. YES I know the commentary is measured and unfunny but you try filming with a phone camera to hand, crafting with the other and narrating all three at the same time, I’m in my 50’s for heavens sake and multitasking was never a strong point for us men 😀 .
🙂 Go’s without saying these shared photographs were taken by me during my July holiday break to London, obviously in 2020 because why else would I be standing in Parliament Square wearing a face mask?………. After a while I stopped removing them (feeling slightly stupid) and kept them on all day……….will ‘wear a face covering’ be remembered as the buzz phrase of the year? I think so, wander around a tourist attraction and the tannoy bellows instructions on how to keep me safe, ride London’s Underground and I’m reading warning signs instructing me to keep 2 metres distance from other passengers really?……. But we human’s are stoic creatures, we’ll adapt and survive 🙂 .
Me (Andrew) standing covid secure beside an empty Parliament Square
(Above) Me enjoying a Mint Tea (cup sitting on the table) outside ‘Costa Coffee’ and very close to Kew Gardens Underground Station……… you won’t be interested to know but the photo to the right is my favourite of all the London pictures and others viewable in four previous postings, and deep down I think we all realise obligatory face masks are and will be a common sight for years to come…………. who’d have imagined this way back in January as we were welcoming in a New Year.
Btw I have a serious mint infusion addiction.
(Below) Me standing in an empty Victoria Underground Station, a quite unnerving and truly incredible photograph for London in summertime. July 2019 and these open spaces would be packed full of commuters and foreign tourists……….. I’ve not seen the like of this desolation before and until my dying day I doubt I ever will again.
(Below) Empty city streets around central London, again quite eerie photos as if a great plague had struck London the consequence all its inhabitants were locked inside their homes………… oh that’s actually happened! Previously I have actually ridden inside a capsule on The Millennium Wheel, if you ask me this vastly overpriced attraction was a disappointment, you slowly rise then dwell 6 seconds of skyline viewing at top dead centre only drop to the ground again…………. over-rated but that’s just my opinion.
(Below) Notable statues standing in Parliament Square, both Winston Churchill also Oliver Cromwell are ear-marked for removal if the black lives matters campaigners have their way. Churchill a hero who’s destiny was to win the second world war, so loved by white Londoners is contentious because as a young man he served as a soldier in the South African Colony, Oliver Cromwell will topple because he chose to colonize Northern Ireland………… political correctness or the blackwashing of Britain’s Imperial History? You decide because lol I’m saying nothing.
(Black Lives of course DO matter however America’s and Britain’s racial histories couldn’t be more different, on the one hand African men and women were captured enslaved and transported to America working in concentration camps, living pitiful horrific lives and of course making many white folks very wealthy………on the other, Pakistani, Indian, West Indian….. citizens CHOSE of their own free will to travel to Britain seeking a better life, whether that be paid jobs or educating their children at University oh and not forgetting many sought sanctuary (and welcomed) here as political refugees, so please don’t try and tell me America’s racial problems have any connection to Britain’s multicultural history………… A great proportion of ‘foreign nationals’ made better more prosperous lives for their families and a credit to Britain’s welcoming immigration policy and good luck to them but ffs research your history and show some gratitude 😀 )
For what it’s worth, keep all the statues or topple them ALL down I don’t much care either way, and I absolutely refuse to apologise for my colonial history………. lol not my problem, nothing to do with me, not in my name! Enough Politics.
Incidentally Millicent holds a banner displaying the words ‘Courage Call To Courage Everywhere’, without Googling I guess this lady was a suffragette campaigning for equal voting rights for women…………. brave pioneering ladies one and all 🙂 and again without Googling I’m sensing Lincoln has notable British connections?
Winston Churchill
Abraham Lincoln
Millicent Garrett Fawcett
Oliver Cromwell’s statue outside the Houses of Parliament, when black lives matters have their way this will be removed….. ‘it is what it is’
Parliament Green in July!
Parliament Square and I AM THE ONLY PERSON HERE (near unbelievable) and you are looking at a BIG BEN shrouded in scaffolding…………… a shame, would have made a fabulous picture
(Below) More photographs taken of empty city streets, at times I genuinely couldn’t believe I was walking around London but July was the first loosening of lockdown and I chose to risk my life lol, but still at times I did wonder if I was the only person in London! That sense of freedom was fabulous and quite intoxicating…………… AND I DIDN’T CATCH ANY VIRUS, just sayin.
(Above) A Fun Fact for you. A pair of iconic red telephone boxes standing on a pavement close to my Hotel, but don’t be deceived for you cannot make a phone call from here, no the doors are locked shut and they’re here strictly for visiting tourists to take photos of with their mobile phone cameras.
(Below) Picture to the left Saint Paul’s Cathedral ‘peeking’ in the background and again yet another Tube Station empty of passengers…… quite incredible.
(Below) Covid secure Victoria Railway Station…….. 2 pretty ladies wearing their face masks (I think they are twins), also covid secure passengers standing within a virtually empty concourse oh and 2 ladies handing out helpful ‘how to be’ covid secure literature.
Covid secure Victoria Railway Station
Virus screen wearing helpful young ladies, cheerful and enjoyable to chat with
(Below) One final photograph of Victoria Station, last year I wouldn’t have been able to move for the sheer volume of passengers.
London Underground signs, wash your hands and always wear face masks or be fined thousands of pounds
London Underground
Tube train
I know I keep saying these images are incredible but they are, I glanced both directions and could look through carriage after carriage empty of people, images I know I’ll not experience the like of which again which is very sad.
(Below) Me wearing the obligatory covid secure face mask, stops the virus from spreading…….. really? Did you notice I had three different ones but I sew my own these days.
Me covid secure: Standing by the Great Fire of London monument
Me covid secure: Victoria Station
I am actually enjoying myself and feeling quite happy though face coverings have robbed our personalities of smiling faces…………………… for the foreseeable
(Below) The Great Fire of London started at ‘The Monument’.
The Monument denotes where The Great Fire of London started
The Monument, designed by Robert Hooke in consultation with Sir Christopher Wren, was built 1671-1677 on the site of St Margaret Fish Street Hill to commemorate the Great Fire of London1666. The fire burnt from 2nd to 5th September, devastating two-thirds of the city and destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 churches and 52 livery Company Halls.
Standing 61M/202FT is equal to the distance westward from the site of the bakery in Pudding Lane where the fire broke out, with the central shaft housing lenses for a zenith telescope, with a balcony that is reached by an internal staircase of 311 steps.
‘The Great 1665 Plague’ painted by Rita Greer
The Great Plague, lasted from 1665 to 1666 and the last major epidemic of bubonic plague to sweep England, centuries-long Pandemics of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics followed ALL which originated from Central Asia in 1331……………… why are we so SO surprised?
The Great Plague killed an estimated 100,000 people, almost a quarter of London’s population in 18 months infected by Yersinia petis bacterium transmitted through the bite of an infected rat flea.
The 1665–66 epidemic was on a far smaller scale than the earlier Black Death and remembered afterwards as the “great” plague and the last widespread outbreak of bubonic plague in England during the 400-year Second Pandemic. 400 frigging years! We’re only into a six month pandemic and cannot take the mental strain any longer.
Looking on the bright side, whilst wandering around the Grounds of Kew Gardens two young ladies happened to be in front of me, with a strong breeze rustling and lifting the hem of their skirts, when near unbelievably and I still cannot now, every time the wind caught the lady to the left’s skirt she revealed two pink naked ass cheeks (shapely as well)………. she glanced behind several times, didn’t care, smoothed the dangerous fabric down against her thigh and carried on, I guess by the sheer law of average I’d be flashed at some point but imagine her self confidence having the nerve to wear NO panties on a windy day! Truly mind blowing, perhaps they were ‘off duty prostitutes’ enjoying a stroll in the sun? HOWEVER lol perverts will get 5 years in jail for taking ‘upskirt ass/vulva photos’ on their mobile phones and quite correct to……. a woman’s violation if ever there was one 🙂 .
Our very own HRH Kate Middleton ‘showin some ass’ on a windy day, ahh but is she wearing knickers?
(Below) Photos taken at Kew Gardens, more may follow.
Yes I’m feeling sad but have memories to treasure for the rest of my life
Just look and appreciate Dana’s magnificent breasts, and take it from me, they’re even more impressive when I’m gazing at them while she’s kneeling between my two open naked thighs, me reclined into a soft clean towel outstretch on a comfy bed, her warm fingers curled around my erection as she masturbates me with (amazing) skills honed from servicing hundreds of male clients… lovely lady as well, amusing to chat with, beautiful and blessed with a beaming smile that would melt the icy coldest of hearts, yes she’s gone from my life but at least I have happy memories to cheer me up when I’m feeling sad and anxious 😦 .
I’m upset I mean REALLY upset! My gorgeous masseuse has returned back home to Romania.
To begin with, a week or so ago Dana’s website disappeared (not her real name btw) and now I know for certain she’s no longer massaging clients for a living because her mobile number neither accepts texts or calls………….yep I’d guess this lovely lady, a migrant worker earning money to buy her own home in Romania, aware Oxford’s R rate is rising has now left our shores for home and (big sigh) who can blame her.
Jeeze massaging male customers not forgetting the gorgeous happy ending is a high risk occupation, no an illegal occupation during a pandemic, and goes without saying touching a male client with coroner virus she’ll catch this awful disease and infect every client thereafter. But hold on! Covid-19 is asymptotically spread so surely if Dana and I wore face masks, the only proven way to break the transmission cycle, our intimate afternoons together would be safe?
I think so, and here’s a sobering statistic for you, yesterday afternoon at work we had the radio on listening to yet another doom and gloom covid story, apparently the Oxford drug trials have been suspended because one patient displayed unexpected symptoms, sad news but this expert went on to say 88% of those dying from covid-19 are seniors! Perhaps the time has come to accept mother nature has decided human beings are living to long, all four of my Grandparents lived well into their 80s to end their days living in depressing care-homes, breaking our hearts as their mental faculties waned to the point they hardly recognised sons daughters and Grandchildren. Give me the choice between dying a swift covid death or ending my days confined to a small room with only a bed and comfy chair for personal possessions, only meal times to look forward to and awful television to keep me company………… I’m actually truly hoping I’ll end my days as yet another daily coroner virus statistic.
Hmm I wonder where life’s journey will take lovely Dana? I guess I’ll never know.
Go on say it, “sewing your own masks Andrew? You’d make a good house husband!” (I wish 😀 , spare a thought for me whilst you are riding hubby’s ‘dick’ ‘cowgirl’, I haven’t been laid in 3+ months.)
I’m thinking the ‘bubblegum’ Pink one a tad tooo girly? Perhaps a mask for the super confident young lady who loves to be the centre of attention……… then again see a pretty girl walking in the street dressed in shocking Pink and you’ll think she’s a sex hooker touting for business in a Pandemic!
Anyways where was I? Oh yes covid-19 face masks. F*** me if you said to me way back in January that I’d be making masks on my mum’s sewing machine come summertime, that in the UK you’ll be fined £3000 pounds for riding on a bus not wearing one, that you are breaking British Laws by not wearing a face covering whilst shopping in a supermarket……. well I’d have replied “you really do need to see a Doctor right now!”
Yes made by me using mum’s sewing machine
First time I’ve ever used a sewing machine
Strange times indeed, and tying my posting neatly together who’d have imagined the most viewed videos on YouTube are middle aged American moms using their sewing machines to make yes cotton face masks! I should know I’ve been watching these mommy seamstresses more used to making party dresses for their daughters. But then you already knew this and btw don’t think me flippant, theses ladies videos have millions of viewings because worried parents are making them for friends family and first responders, fabric coverings that may well be the difference between catching coroner virus whilst riding on public transport or not.
Sad times indeed, I limit the amount of covid-19 related news stories I expose myself because I value my own sanity and wish to stave off clinical depression. But from watching News streams from across the globe this past 3 months, experts DON’T appear to agree on anything apart from wearing face masks in public areas stops the spread of coroner virus, they may not stop you catching it mind, but if you’re coughing sneezing and spreading this horrible virus asymptomatically, fabric cloths covering your nose also mouth will (may) protect others around you.
So returning to my original question, which colour do you prefer? (To be continued.)
Part 4 of my long weekend visit to London late July 2020, today with photographs of both inside and outside the rather expensive ‘posh’ Hotel. Be sure to read postings 1 2 and 3 🙂 and all photos taken by me.
My plump cheeky ass has been complimented by several women……….. lol thought you’d be interested in that fact! 😀
Water was tooo ‘blanking’ hot!
And yes that is a photo taken of me in the shower, gotta start with a little nudity haven’t I. I set the camera timer to 10 seconds then jumped into a frigging scalding hot shower…… all but burn’t my penis!
A common theme that gels all my London photographs together is coroner virus, in fact whether you live in New York London Paris or Delhi, covid affects us all hence the white mask!
A selfie of me undressing, yes there exists a full frontal photo of me in the shower…….. message me if you’d like a copy. Don’t lol you’ll get me banned 😉 .
You’ll find my Hotel in Gloucester Street, Google the name and you’ll see it’s in posh Pimlico, is it the camera angle or have I put on a little weight during lockdown? Yes I have.
My bed with contents of my rucksack laid out on the Duvet, beds inside London Hotels take up the whole room with inches to spare…….why? So that they can cram as many rooms into the Terrace House as physically possible!
I made a last minute booking enabling me to stay in a 4 star Hotel for a third of the normal price……….. why so? Because in 2020 NO foreign visitors are staying in London, yes Covid-19 again.
Yes the iconic British red telephone box, HOWEVER these days the doors are locked shut closed their only function is as a photo opportunity for tourists who love London…….. like me!
A beautiful Hotel with my room directly above the entrance door, yep I paid for a front facing window with terrace looking out onto this Georgian Street
My room again with coffee making facilities in the foreground. Incidentally I LOVE to travel light, one rucksack containing clothes tech etc is my only goal when preparing for a weekend away.
The shower lol? Goes without saying I wished the (young Italian female) Hotel receptionist knocked at my door late one night and we took a shower together! Alas my dick never got sucked this vacation 😦 .
View from the balcony, nothing spectacular but it was lovely to look out on a typical London Street AND South facing with sun streaming through in the early morning.
A. Shepherdson 2020
(Go visit Booking.com for great last minute accommodation deals, Hotels slash prices if you’re prepared to take a risk, scour the internet and wait till the last day even.)
Photos! Nice and simple and no more 1000 word essays lol.
Inside the lift taking us to the top along with social distancing floor stickers….. we actually had to stand facing the lift walls………. ridiculous? (This was me coming down in an empty car.)
Rather than explaining the tale of my Covid-19 lockdown holiday in London all over again….. phew that was a mouthful! If you’d like to read more of how I came to be there I have 2 previous postings, this evening’s one is what the cool kids call a ‘photo dump‘.
London Sky Garden’s viewing gallery is on the 43rd floor of the ‘Walkie Talkie’ building with awesome panoramic views over London.
With floor-to-ceiling glass windows, this leafy indoor garden provided fantastic views of the iconic London skyline. I strolled through lush landscaped gardens before making my way to the observation decks and open-air terrace………. except I couldn’t, coroner virus regulations banned outside viewing? However I could still buy a drink and bite to eat which shows there’s no rhyme or reasoning to covid safe living
Two ladies chatting wearing face masks, in fact I wore mine all day
Guy wearing a mask again
Goes without saying all photos taken by me!
I love this one, lady in mask is the new normality!
Steep climbing steps allow you to look out across the London skyline.
Chairs if you’d like to sit and drink a coffee from the restaurant.
Beautiful plants and trees and entrance is free!
More of these looking out the window photos to follow!
Jeeze you just don’t know long I’ve been trying to trace this YouTube video I’m sharing below, thank god for the fabulous internet that’s what I say!
I’ve heard MARUV & BOOSIN – Drunk Groove playing inside shops as I’m paying for new jeans or whatever, I’ve heard it on the radio during lockdown, I’ve been humming it to myself on the bus, I’ve watched streamed Chatroom babes play this in their rooms usually when undressing or inserting a dildo (judge me I don’t care 😀 ) and just understand this, not being able to put a name to this banging song has been driving me insane for the past six months! And because I’m not down with the kids, I still have no idea who Maruv & Boosin are? Who cares now I can rest easy, yes I know I’m an 80’s music lover but I have to admit ‘Drunk Groove’ is my favourite tune of 2020 bar none.
🙂 I’m SO HAPPY lol, I’ve now put a name to the song and quickly uploaded onto my WP before I forget who on earth Drunk Groove are? And I’m not joking!
(My London photos may or may not follow, I am beginning to wonder if I’m ‘flogging a dead horse’ lol, not to worry I’ve loved the past 2 years blogging.)
(After reading the brilliant comment thread on lady LA’s irregardless blog, I’d be amazed if I can write another posting ever again.)
#Accommodation
Hmm so where’s my train of thought taking this posting? I always try so hard to keep these brief and to the point but I guess if after reading you have an idea that booking late saves you money, then I’m happy, oh and as for sharing a photo of my ass in the shower I’ll leave the explanation for a later posting, NOW lady/male readers don’t lie that captured your attention!
(Whether travelling to London in the middle of a pandemic was irresponsible I’ll leave for a later post)
The past weekend I enjoyed a 4 day city break in London, sleeping 3 nights in a rather posh Hotel (prices reduced by half due to the pandemic) so be under no illusion I most definitely, without question never usually stay in swanky expensive accommodation, they’ll always be out of my price range ok…… now’s a good point to perhaps read the introduction postingWhat could possibly go wrong? 🙂 .
I’d suggest the Hotel accommodation website booking.com is familiar to you? If not, the clever premise behind this digital business is brilliantly simple (as good ideas always are). Competing Hotels are desperate for customers, bedrooms empty of holiday makers also weary travelers and they’re hemorrhaging cash by the £1000, consequently if you leave booking as late as possible prices plummet and you can save yourself a lot of money.
Well curtailing a short story even shorter, late evening on the 23rd of July I booked the 25th through to the 29th at the ‘Hotel with no name lol’ in central London, we’re talking the borough of Westminster where houses sell for millions and Hotels are in-affordable to the great unwashed public like myself to ever contemplate staying at, then covid-19 decimated the holiday booking market and prices were slashed…….. I paid £168 for 3 nights at a frigging 4 star Hotel in swanky Pimlico, the lovely receptionist looking classy in her navy pencil skirt and nude shear stockings said “you can triple that for last year”.
Hmm as always I wondered if she wore any knickers, just saying 😀 (I’ll be returning to this question another time)………… can’t lie dreams of her calling by room late one night did cross my mind, yeh dream on Andrew.
(Blah blah lol, you all play this game of hunt the cheapest whether ‘rental cars trains air-flights ovens whichever’… thank god for the internet we say!)
😉 Number 25
If you’re interested my second floor bedroom had a balcony, only trouble being the gazing out at a row of identical houses opposite……….. I’m not showing off BTW, I got lucky with the pandemic because the risk of catching covid-19 was recklessly high, the phrase ‘you pays your money and makes your choice‘ come’s to mind. But after 3 months legally enforced home detention I’m prepared to start leaving my home again, we’re all living a life of assessing risks and taking care with PPE precautions, we’re all crossing our fingers and hoping for the best, agreed?
I’m probably getting a little over excited retelling my urban walkabout tale because my usual accommodation is always in cheap Motels, drab red brick buildings populated close to soulless motorway stations, you look out a window (if there is one) and you’ll see noisy rumbling lorries hauling their Chinese manufactured cargo the length and breadth of England…………….. still on the upside when you’re in bed with a 50 year old lady (with a dodgy knee) who cares you have to keep the bathroom lights switched on because the bedroom’s doesn’t work!
(Below) The view from my balcony, as an aside the Hotel room was spotlessly clean however ridiculously SMALL no word of a lie with only a 5 inch gap between bed edges and the walls all around.
View of the street from a perilous balcony
Anyways where was I?
(Above) And yes that’s my glasses edging into view as I take a selfie, I put off purchasing a smartphone until recently but now I love this amazing smartphone with interactive maps and digital ticket apps, this device can be found glued to my hand similar to any teenage girl………….. I now see the attraction, I understand the obsessions, I’m aware addiction is but one ‘swipe’ away still on the bright-side google street maps is a godsend to someone (like ME) with zero sense of direction!
No word of a lie, I studied my trusty well thumbed ‘London street-map’ for five minutes, walked straight out of Victoria Railway Station then returned 5 minutes later having walked 200 metres in the wrong direction……….. my spacial unawareness amuses my brother but is more than a little worrying, hmm the beginnings of dementia?
More about the bedroom and walk-in shower below in the following posting 🙂 ,
There is a full frontal but that would upset WP 😀
Yes I’m aware I look ridiculous backed into a corner what’s with the odd shadow on my neck? After setting the camera’s 10 second timer I hopped inside the cubicle and the water was f****** boiling hot! And note the high hands! As for rating my ass feel free all comments are welcome.
(…………………….and if you’re feeling envious don’t be, I’m conscious this appears showing off, so yes travelling on your own can be fun and the freedom liberating, but the downside is living with ones own company can be lonely a place and a little depressing at times, you know shared experiences like the simple pleasures of holding a partner’s hand, 1 2 3 ahhh!)
Maybe a little foolhardy of me to visit London last weekend seeing as we’re in the middle of a pandemic, perhaps sleeping in a Hotel for 3 nights could be seen as reckless with an R rate rising, but lol I appear to have survived ‘for now!’ (btw I’m going to isolate myself from people until Monday).
I guess the key to sharing photos on WP is NOT repeating myself over and over again, so if you’re (hopefully interested in my tale please read earlier postings)……….. I’l try my utmost to keep the text ‘light and fluffy’, don’t you just hate travel blogs where the writer keeps telling REMINDING you what a fantastic time they’ve had in Bali.
Last Sunday until today was little more than an urban city break we ALL can enjoy.
Hmm I’ll try to explain why we should try to live some sort of ‘normality’ again, yes take safety precautions, but I’d suggest visit places of interest because the attractions I visited really havetaken covid precautions seriously!(Very seriously).
Blah blah blah 😀 .
So let’s begin with a photo teaser showing 3 places visited, St. Paul’s cathedral, an exquisite church I hadn’t seen in side for 30 years, the world famous Botanical Gardens at Kew, and London’s newest attraction Sky Gardens a tropical plant oasis situated on the top floor of a skyscraper, incidentally I was a virgin visitor to the last 2…… so go visit, they were truly spectacular.
I ONLY wish I’d photographed used my trusty Fuji camera instead of the phone, but hey things don’t always work to plan………. 😀 anyways you get an idea.
Inside St. Paul’s cathedral
Inside Kew Garden’s largest glass house, a space where humidity was high because all the plants are ‘collected’ from Tropical rain forests across the world.
Inside Sky Gardens and looking across London’s skyline.
Doesn’t the saying go ‘pictures paint a 1000 words?’ 🙂
And of course they’ll be anecdotes a little sexy or it just wouldn’t be me lol.
Below you see 2 young lady’s both happy and cheerful (supposed to be a pandemic according to the press?) striding across Victoria railway station, note I’m only using the photo to demonstrate we have to wear masks by law now.
Twins? Even wearing masks they’re happy and cheerful
Finally I’ll try my best to avoid my usual 1000 word postings, more photos to follow.
I’m unsure how many people regularly read this WordPress anymore, lol I used to be quite popular (it’s all relative)but then I broke thegolden blog rulewhich as we all know IS to Post ‘regularly and often’ (or is that fellatio?) Anyways not to worry I enjoy the creative process 🙂 .
I’m an impulsive sort of man, in the past I’ve chatted to a woman I hardly know online, then afternoon the following day we’re to be found f****** in a budget priced Motel bedroom….. however I’ve written those postings. Spontaneity acting without forethought could be regarded a lazy way to organise your life, carefree or reckless even, well late Thursday evening I was surfing booking.com’s webpages looking at Hotel accommodation whilst feeling an irresistible urge to visit somewhere anywhere! So after 3 months lockdown then 6 weeks unbroken work, I booked myself into a London Hotel for several nights, paid a non refundable £ by credit card soon followed by a confirmation email with the upshot being tomorrow night I’ll be sleeping in a quality Hotel bedroom (prices are unbelievably cheap at the moment)……….. fantastic!
Then I put myself to bed.
Next morning the first thought on my mind was ‘pandemic’ closely followed by ‘oh s*** the virus R rate (?) is on the increase again’ or so the media keep telling us! Move along several hours later after having consumed several mugs of mint infused tea, and calmed my frayed nerves reading the Hotel’s covid-19 precautions they’ve taken, I thought why not just go and have myself a short break in London.
(Walking across the common I overheard a woman talking to a friend “we took the kids to the Cotswold Wildlife Park and it was packed…. after a while it’s impossible to socially distance so we gave up” In other words ‘what will be will be’.)
I guess with the World gripped by a disease we’re all desperately trying to avoid catching, as highly infectious as the common cold (then again that’s another coroner), I’ve done my best however throughout Government enforced solitary confinement I’ve increasingly been asking myself “am I earning to live? Or just living to exist?”
(A wise old colleague told me that one.)
I’m not a fatalist but I have come round to thinking I’ve read far tooo many scare stories this past four months………. first the Government says avoid public transport! This past six weeks I’ve been travelling to and from Oxford for work and still here to live to tell the tale, I wear a mask, socially distance ‘Try to’ avoid touching my face, I sanitize my hands with alcohol cleaner ALL the frigging day… what more can I do? Life is a mere game of luck and chance, I could catch this nastiness at Tesco’s supermarket on the estate or anywhere so if you don’t read another posting on this WordPress you know what’s happened……. shouldn’t be flippant Andrew.
Ok I’m not climbing Mount Everest I know, I’ll take precautions, try and enjoy myself if only because we all have to return to some resemblance of normality, covid is here to stay and I need a change of scenery, anyways I have a day ticket for the famous Kew Gardens and that’s outside in the fresh air.
Hits: Early 1980’s (and as anyone who’s read this WordPress knows I LOVE eighties popular music 😀 )
City of origin: Liverpool UK
Vocalist: Ian McCullough
If your first thought is ‘who?’ Then I’ve 3 classic tunes for you from the 1980s, an era when SO many great songs were written along with fabulous ‘hooks’ and toe tipping melodies, once mocked by ‘hard rockers’, I’d suggest eighties Bands and electronic synth have been reappraised with many hit songs being covered by recording artists decades later.
I’m a fan of these 3 timeless classic tunes, even if the band’s’ name ‘Echo and the Bunnymen’ escapes you (fabulous name btw), I’d guess you’ll have heard these songs on the radio.
One remarkable observation of 1980s music is the birth of the music video, an era pre internet where MTV played 24hr videos creating a narrative also an essential marketing tool, they had to stand out amongst hundreds of other iconic videos of their time incidentally many still broadcast 40 years later.
Throughout the decade Record companies spent vast amounts of money producing theatrical music videos often telling their own story, many having been filmed by famous movie directors of the day, and many other’s by Directors who’ve since moved on to directing blockbuster movies of today……..I cannot think of any off the top of my head? So you’ll have to take my word for it 😀 .
Of all 3 songs ‘Seven Seas’ is my personal favourite (btw ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ above is a re-recording of their 1980s hit.
I’d suggest the very favourite posting written on your Blog changes by the day/week (or perhaps you ‘publish’ and hardly ever give them a second thought). I’ve recently discovered the Widget ‘Popular Posts’ and added to my homepage (it’s only taken me 2 years to find and I love it) Lovely WordPress appears to update by the hour and it’s a snapshot of the content people are reading on your Blog…. hmm very interesting. My own appears to be 70% vanilla sexy related, that’s fabulous and fine (anyone who reads my Posts thank you) but I’d hope to think I’m more than just frivolity…… 🙂 not to worry we’re all having fun here. I’m going to re-blog my very favourite posting the heart-breaking true story of Czeslawa Kwoka who died age 14 in Auschwitz concentration camp, and only weeks after the SS murdered her mother there. One of my favourites from 289 and I’m not ashamed to say her story made me cry the evening I wrote it…….. a reminder of the hateful times we live in.
A reflective Post this evening, makes a welcome change and good or bad I can guarantee my blog will never be one theme, I’ve enjoyed writing this 🙂 .
I look at Czesława Kwoka’s Auschwitz registration photograph time and time again, her haunting expression isn’t unique, the many other prisoner photos being colourised so magnificently are equally as haunting and devoid of ALL human emotion.
I look at her, and I wish I could do this post justice, convey how I’ve been feeling whilst reading her true horror story. However I fear I don’t have the breadth of descriptive language and yes I think I lack an ability to convey the upsetting emotions I’m feeling…………. I’ll write you humorous posts all day long of tales sleeping with women BUT serious issues I struggle with and that makes me very angry. And for once I break copyrighted photographs legally, Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum…
Research the internet asking the reasons why men are so obsessed with a lady’s boobs (I have been and I am lol) one fact’s for sure, Scientists have never satisfactorily explained men’s curious breast fixation, for all the cultural emotional and ‘weird’ theories, no one can really explain why I am so obsessed by this certain part of a female’s physique.
Jeeze where to begin with YET another lady’s breast themed posting, there’s been SO many over this past two years, many true tales of happy times spent fondling adorable women’s breasts, shared anecdotes after having been busted, caught unawares gazing fixated by plunging cleavage, captivated by small boobs or fulsome milky bags of fat drooping from a woman’s chest…………. but why on earth why? This requires further introspection!
Disclaimer, I blog for fun! Bosom postings amuse and entertain my boy-child sensibilities but yes I agree this isn’t for everyone 🙂
So where to begin?
To be honest I’ve given up on my Holy Grail quest to seek out the definitive reason why (because none exists) though I am seriously perplexed, so where better place to start than research 3 fun facts lifted from the internet……. I’m trusting they’re not fake.
A Canadian biologist called ‘Bruce Bagemihl’ noted several primate species, including humanity’s close relative the ‘bonobo’, have been observed stimulating their own nipples while masturbating. (Err hold on, I’m not interested why women gain pleasure playing with their tits.)
Fun fact 2
A study was done on 66 Englishmen who were hungry also 58 who had just eaten, and surprise surprise, the hungry men preferred bigger boobs compared to the ones who had just eaten (that goes someway to explaining the comfort and nurture theory.)
Fun fact 3
And to this one I can 100% attest, “Boys don’t learn in the playground that breasts are something that they should be interested in. It’s biological and deeply engrained in our brain,” write’s an expert lol in his book.
He goes onto say, “In fact, research indicates that when we’re confronted with breasts, or even breast-related stimuli, like bras, we’ll start making bad decisions” so yes I agree, we men are biologically drawn to breasts and I guess due to sexual imagery in TV advertising as a young child, I was trained in my informative years to find them erotic, learned to view boobs as sexually attractive whether that be long and pendulous, or pointy perky hemispherical tits………….. I’ve fondled a fair few pairs in my life time and to be completely honest, large or small the size of her breasts (as long as they’re real!) Doesn’t actually matter, though if pushed for preference I do love squidgy slightly saggy and pendulous.
Confused? I am, though I’m leaning towards nature nurture and biological to explain away my WordPress’s boob obsession, cue another piece of expert analysis lifted from the to be trusted ‘HuffPost’:
Two researchers (you really don’t require their names do you!) Believed that the male attraction to a pair of boobs goes beyond being:
‘a good, full cleavage indicates to a man that a woman is in good health and an excellent choice to bear and raise his children’, a boy’s love of boobs develops in childhood, when a mother breastfeeds her child, the infant becomes the most important thing in the world, and during breastfeeding a bonding chemical Oxytocin is also released into the mother’s milk and consumed by the baby. A biological bonding takes place, makes nursing a feel-good experience for mother and child and it forges a very important bond between the two.’
“This bond is not only the most beautiful of all social bonds, it can also be the most enduring, lasting a lifetime,” wrote the authors.
“Essentially then, when a man sees, touches or massages a woman’s breasts, it sparks the same series of brain events as nursing – the feel good chemical is released in the man’s brain and he is drawn to the breasts because subconsciously he remembers the feel-good experience of nursing as a child. Any interaction between a man and a pair of boobs then helps to bond a man to his female other half.”
One glaring problem with this theory is, my mother didn’t breastfeed me!…….. I don’t know this for 100% sure having never asked my mother! But I’m reliably reminded she used the formula ‘Cow and Gate’ brand. So yes I wasn’t breastfed though I’m utterly convinced my captivation can be attributed to nature and biology programming me that way, and I’d suggest watching many hours of TV as a child trained me to appreciate breasts sexually.
Now I’ll share with you my earliest recollection of seeing a pair of REAL boobs for the first time! That’s such an easy one to answer, and it wouldn’t have been from the television because when I was a child Britain had only 3 terrestrial TV channels and one of those would have been dedicated to the arts! Not forgetting back in the day we had a very strict ‘watershed’ with anything vaguely adult only being broadcast after bedtime, if ever!
Close my eyes and I see a young lady jogging toward my 8 year old self as if viewing a home movie from my childhood, there I am sat just inside the opening of a campsite tent whilst holidaying as a cubscout, and this’ll be the only image of a fun weekend spent with 30 other young boys I’ll remember. Although I do recollect she was one of our Leader’s wives, alas her face is lost in the midst’s of time but I do remember her as youthful and pretty and I certainly cannot remember if she saw me crouched watching.
So yes picture my childhood vision running through a grassy field toward me, wind blowing her auburn hair and wearing a blue cotton blouse with only the top buttons holding both flaps closed, when for one fleeting second a combination of her half stumbling through rough ground, perhaps a girlish jump in the air caught with a strong breeze in her face, the wind capturing her untethered flaps of fabric blowing them upwards and open, to reveal yes a flash of two underboobs, no nipples mind, just the pink profile of her two lower fulsome breasts for she wore no bra! Who knows why? Perhaps she was jogging towards the showers having left the delicate in her tent!
So there you, over 40 years later close my eyes and I see my scout mistresses’ boobs and that’s my earliest childhood recollection. Fabulous! Who needs the internet to corrupt young minds?
Here are 10 probable reasons why, as a woman, you might catch me looking at your chest rather than your face.
1. Breasts Are Great to Look At
Men love looking at the breasts for the very reason that they are great to look at. Whether they are small or big, breasts are one of the first things a man sees in a woman.
Though it is offensive, but men can’t resist taking a peek!
(Hmm offensive? That’s as maybe, but of the many times I’ve been caught peeking or gazing in the street I’ve only ever been smiled at, never received a harsh word.)
2. Breasts Add Grace and Poise
Breasts are one of the few body parts which are curvaceous. Men don’t have any curves on their bodies, which makes being hard and straight a sign of masculinity.
On the other hand, curviness is a symbol for womanhood which adds grace and poise to the way a woman carries herself.
3. Breasts Represent Fertility
Since a long time back, it has been believed that men are attracted to women who are healthy and are able to reproduce.
Breasts are a sign of fertility as they portray the notion that the woman would be able to bear children as well as nourish them.
4. Breasts Offer Visual Stimulation
One of the main differences between men and women is that men are stimulated visually. They get ‘turned on’ just by looking at a woman’s body. Firm and perky breasts catch the attention of every man wherever a woman goes and stimulates him visually.
(Hmm now I’m reminded of an anecdote a colleague retold me at work one day, when he first met his wife to be in a pub she said to him….. “would you please stop staring at my tits!” Lol I’ve nothing to add 😀 .)
5. Breasts Are the Key to Second Base
Most men don’t know about this but those who do use it to their advantage. The breasts are the key to second base as they are located close to the libido.
Fondling and playing with them leads to sexual arousal. (This is one of the major reasons why men love breasts!)
6. Breasts Lead to Great Foreplay
Breasts are a crucial part of foreplay. In fact, foreplay is incomplete without a little fondling, sucking or kissing on the breasts.
Apart from the breasts, there is little else a man could play with before the actual act.
7. Breasts Are Nice to Touch
They are soft and supple, tempting men to grab them.
Men love how the breasts feel in their hands. While some of them can get wild and start twitching the nipples, most men are gentle with breasts, holding them with love and care.
(Never a truer word was written, the moment a lady removes her bra and allows me to fondle, my touch is as delicate as handling a piece of fine China!………. Err except later when she’s riding me cowgirl and I’m squeezing so hard I can feel pointy hard nipples pressing into my palms.)
8. Breasts Are Mysterious
From the moment a guy sees a girl her breasts become a source of mystery for him. He spends most of his time thinking about and visualizing what hides beneath the clothing. Until he gets to actually see them, the mystery is a cause of intrigue for him.
9. No Cleavage without Breasts
The cleavage is perhaps the best sight a man could want to see. Low-cut tops or dresses that show a little too much at the top are highly attractive for men.
Without breasts, there would be no cleavage, so men love the whole package.
10. Breasts Are Comforting
For some reason, men find breasts comforting. They love resting their heads on them. The very sight of them can make their bad mood disappear.
In fact, there has been a study which shows that men who get to see breasts for at least 15 minutes a day live longer and healthier!
I’ll not disagree with any of those reasons because well, all I do know for whatever reason whether that be cultural biological learned whether that be ‘nature or nurture’, I’m captivated by a woman’s breasts! So have I answered my titled question? Yes and no but then again after surfing the internet this afternoon, strikes me whether you are an ‘expert’ or women’s magazine columnist, no one can truly explain the male obsession with a ladies boobs!
And finally! I’ll leave you with a bra comment written by a lady on one of my previous blog postings, and I do so love reading boob perspectives from a lady! (And NO I’m not divulging either her name or which of the 289 postings).
‘I hate bras… I wear them to work because, work. I wear them if I’m ‘in public’ and the temperature is ‘normal’ for the U.K. when I get home the bra comes off. Literally as I put my bag down, shoes off, bra off. And often it doesn’t go back on again. I wear a lot of dresses in summer, without underwear- at all. If the temperature goes above 20°c the bra comes off.
If I see men looking at my breasts I make eye contact & smile & walk on. Sometimes I even laugh (I know, that’s mean but hey…’
Working from home is the future they said, socializing and entertaining ourselves whether that be streamed movies or computer gaming will be how we occupy our spare time they said, and now the future’s arrived prematurely due to covid, many people are asking themselves ‘do I really want to live my life without real human beings?’ Now we have all this incarcerated free time many of us are missing the physical contact our workplace’s bring, whether that be ‘me’ people watching scantily clothed ladies on a commuter bus ride to work (simple pleasures but I love it so), or someone chatting about their family’s up and coming summer holiday to Greece, yes many of us are regretting the digital age’s grand finale, the realisation we now NO longer need to leave our homes!
Btw the media aren’t lying, I’ve seen so many more braless women this summer…cue a shallow excuse to show braless ‘mature ladies’ on my Blog. (In my opinion these completely useless garments of lingerie should be banned by law, spot fined if they’re seen in public, jail even unless removed! 😀 )
Anyways where was I? Oh yes on-line video conferencing.
I surreptitiously took our Teams photo earlier today midway through a meeting (via my mobile phone camera), and if you’re at all curious glance down to the bottom right hand corner, and you’ll see my face lol video linking from the comfort of my own living room…. 1940’s science fiction incarnated!
A simple example of how our workplaces have changed forever due to lockdown, no more travelling into Oxford by commuter bus each Friday, sitting around a table with these familiar work colleague’s faces a long ago memory, now I sit at my dining room table staring at a laptop computer screen for one hour (even more ridiculous I’m talking to a PC), and happily our interpersonal ‘dynamics’ haven’t changed since our last physical get together in March….. jeez that’s four months ago!
Even if workplaces do return to some sort of normality, many aspects of our lives will not, digital shopping has replaced walking into Town in person and I’ve lost count of the number of packages Amazon has delivered. Now we surf their ‘shop window’, pay digitally with a credit card and a very nice gentleman will deliver the package very next day and if you have Amazon Prime postage is completely free (no more queueing and buying car park tickets), in fact I’m struggling right now to remember the last time I used cash!
I Have to admit I’m missing the hustle and bustle of crowded city centers 😦 .
The future has arrived prematurely so say retail experts, cov-d-19 has accelerated the move to working also shopping from home, wander down your desolate High Street’s with all the closed business and realise many will never reopen and that’s so so sad. (Big sigh) that’s progress for you, but I cannot help wondering whether the social cost is worth the convenience of being able to buy on-line, globally million’s of shop workers will be thrown on the employment scrapheap, occupation’s consigned to history along with chimney sweeps and gas lamplighters walking darkened city streets flame in hand, now there’s a truly dangerous occupation!
A female colleague today commented lockdown is “sending me mad”, a sentiment I’ve heard said many times by different people, so has human progress taken us to the point where we’re prisoners living 24/7 in solitary confinement? Meals brought to our doorstep, social interaction via a TV monitor, amusing ourselves playing on-line computer games with complete strangers living in other countries, children being schooled from home, group fitness sessions with friends via zoom, we’ve now reached an actual point in human history where we have NO need to leave the house.
But I’d suggest this accelerated switch to digital living has caught people unawares, blown through our lives like a whirlwind with many of us our asking ourselves ‘do I really wish to live this way?’ Is isolation depression, the toll on our mental health really worth giving up the simple pleasure of wandering around department stores, perhaps meeting with friends in some quaint coffee shop, or experiencing strong winds and driving rain blown into our faces as we enjoy window shopping for things we’d love to buy one day.
Transport me back to the 1980’s please I’ve seen the future and I don’t like it!
The BBC unleashed their Pitbull ‘superstar’ interrogator Emily Maitlis, ice water flows through this brilliant woman’s veins (oh and wearing her famed army style dress coat)
November 2019 (3 months after Epstein’s ‘suicide’) our BBC Newsnight was granted a rare audience with the royal Prince Andrew in the interview of the century, and all the more relevant today with arrested Ghislaine Maxwell’s appearance in a New York Court ……………. Hmm, so will she live to see trial? Or will she be murdered by a male wealthy elite just like Epstein (Trump has questions to answer), will the rich and powerful make sure this female pedophile is silenced?……….. I’m erring on the side of a gun was ‘accidentally’ fired and she was ‘accidentally’ killed, time will tell! (Surely the Bureau wouldn’t fake two suicides?)
……………. and yes you did read that correctly, THE INTERVIEW OF THE CENTURY!
We saw Prince Andrew discuss his relationship with Epstein, fending off allegations he never had sex with Virginia Roberts, the then seventeen year old who claimed she had been trafficked to him for sex three times………. for what it’s worth I don’t think Andrew is a manipulative evil man, he’s just (very) dim witted, an average unintelligent guy who got lucky virtue of birth.
I’d propose an opportunity to have sex with a pretty young woman presented itself (I guess she looks 19) after meeting her clubbing at ‘Tramp nightclub’ (possibly victim to a sting) but guilty as charged I do consider him pedophile. I cannot underplay the British public’s fascination with the ‘did he didn’t he’ question, we are still inexplicably deferential to our Monarchy, fascinated by this dysfunctional family to the point of an unhealthy psychosis and you can include me!
Now I realise you neither have the spare time, inclination or possibly already seen Emily Maitlis’s forensic interrogation of Prince Andrew and his links to the Jeffery Epstein scandal, (also we’re in the midst of a public health epidemic!) But I would suggest if you haven’t already watched this BAFTA Award winning interview, you could do worse than while away 45 minutes of your lives watching this car crash unfold before your disbelieving eyes, ask yourselves is he telling the truth?
Ask yourself why he didn’t just say, “VIRGINIA ROBERTS IS LIEING!”, If she’s making it up call her a liar, no instead he doesn’t “ever recollect” meeting her (the pic was a photoshop), sweet Jesus I’d remember if I’d had sex with her, wouldn’t you?
(Seriously, there’s questions to answer, Virginia was someone’s child abused daughter.)
I’m not overplaying this statement for effect, but the whole World both public and media (especially the British) are fascinated asking themselves is the Queen of England’s third child, a self confessed friend of serial pedophile Jeffery Epstein, a sex offender? Common be honest, we are all intrigued to know if a member of British Royal aristocracy f***** children, and I’m not going to apologise for using such disgusting language. Pedophilia is a heinous disgusting crime and if Prince Andrew is guilty (disclaimer, not saying he definitely is!) Then if yes he should go to Prison.
So………….
In order to stop this media circus dragging on for yet another decade, he just has to be interviewed by American Federal Investigators, ‘spilling the beans’ is essential for his (long gone) reputation, the reputation of our Monarchy needs closure (I don’t care but my mother does), then again look back through centuries of Royal history and you’ll find murder’s, abortionists by proxy, rapists, extra marital philanderers, bigamists, thieves, narcissists, sociopaths, psychopaths, ego maniacs, pedophiles……. the worst kinds of humanity are all there, go read the history books 😀 …… and why Britain isn’t today a Republic I’ll never know! (A whole different posting!)
Below the 49minute ‘disastrous’ interview to be yes found on good old YouTube, you just have to look at the guilt ridden expression on his face to know he’s…………………….
I can still remember way back in November 2019 switching on my TV set marveling at Emily Maitlis hauling Andrew’s ‘ass over the coals’, this skilled and Brilliant woman didn’t disappoint as she basically gave him enough rope to hang himself with (way tooo many metaphors A. Shepherdson… I know but wth just know she’s our number one TV broadcaster, way tooo sexy as well!)
We saw Prince Andrew discussing his relationship with Epstein and deflecting allegations he has ever had sex with Virginia Roberts, and what’s truly fascinating about the interview, after hearing all Andrew’s obfuscation and denials is that afterward the British public were in no doubt of his guilt, the very next day he resigned from royal life, handed in his P45! Ditched ALL his patronage to charities because they all were going to sack him anyways! Guilty or not he has been retired from public life forever, with his irretrievable reputation in tatters.
I’ve watched and re-watched this interview many times, a fascinating expose of how to lie (or not to), I’m ultimately captivated by the many body signals that for all the denials, betray his lies and reveal (that in my opinion) Andrew is guilty as charged.
So the £64,000 questions. Is that Prince Andrew with his arm around Victoria Roberts waist? Was he stitched up by a very cheerful Ghislaine Maxwell?
Andrew riding on a Bus, yeh and wearing a face mask!
Oh and 3 guesses as to what the ‘green tick’ on the window means?
Way back in January 2020 if a colleague had said to me “come summertime you’ll be wearing a face mask on the Bus everyday to work”, my disbelieving reply would probably have been “are you smoking those ‘funny’ cigarettes again?”
Nope I never ever thought this day would happen!
I’m employed by a historic and world renowned educational institution, students from S. Korea China Taiwan Hong Kong….. ‘fly here’ to study for a Degree, and even before March 2020 one similarity set them apart from every other nationality yes the majority wore face masks.
Fast forward to July 2020 and ‘wander walk’ the city streets of Oxford whilst NOT wearing a face mask, and you’ll stand out like a proverbial ‘sore thumb’ to such a point people will stare, others may throw a disapproving glare or incredulous unbelieving double-take, accompanied with thoughts of ‘look at that idiot NOT wearing a face covering!’ This evil covid-19 has changed the world in so many ways to such a point you’ll now be considered weird and foolhardy for not wearing a mask in public.
(Btw travel on public transport in the UK not wearing a mask and you’ll get two years in prison! Only joking, but you will have to pay a £25 fine.)
Nope to be perfectly honest I never thought I’d wear a mask in my lifetime, what’s more I now definitely feel naked when not wearing one but something else has changed, face masks are now a fashion statement, girls are wearing brightly coloured wacky patterned ones, cool classy business ladies wearing stylish Chanel or Gucci ones, hell I even saw at the weekend a young guy masked with a blush pink one! Fair play he was either gay or someone with an irreverent sense of humour. So yes we’re all well aware this virus is asymptomatic airborne spread, but it’s celebrities and influencers who’ve made face mask fashion cool and trendy, a cool extension of your personality, a statement of individuality.
As you can see I’ve opted for boring natural unassuming white cotton, but I have seen a pussycat face covering adorned with whiskers and the girl looked pretty sensational in Tesco’s. Long may this fabulous trend continue I say, and what a brilliant way to help combat a disease that indiscriminately kills young or old alike 😦 !
What’s more experts tell us face masks will help stop the spread of other airborne diseases like pneumonia, common coroner colds, SARS, influenza…… and when used with carbon filters they’ll improve lung health from the disastrous effects of car exhaust pollutants………………… Yep the global trend for wearing face masks is probably the silver lining to this airborne coroner dark cloud, stylish colourful and trendy long may this wonderful face mask phenomenon continue 🙂 .
(One important caveat, I read this lunchtime face masks are a disaster for those who lip read, (deep sigh)………. Oh dear 😦 )
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