Gretna Green

Just over the border in Scotland not far from where I lived is a small town called Gretna Green.
It is the first village in Scotland and used to be the first coach stop in Scotland about 250years ago.
In England there was a law passed in 1745 which forbade people marrying without their parents consent under the age of 21.
Scotland did not have this law.Young people over the age of 16 could be legally married there. Many young lovers eloped to Scotland and were married in the
Blacksmiths Shop in Gretna by the blacksmith priests . At that place, people like fishermen, builders or carpenters could marry people.
The young couple would be married next to the anvil in the blacksmiths shop and when it was hit
with a hammer ,they were married after the wedding vows.
These days people still marry or renew their wedding vows in Gretna. 13% of all weddings in
Scotland take place in Gretna Green. From the mid 18oo's young people had to stay in Gretna for 21 days until they could be married.
One story tells of a father who arrived to stop the wedding of his son . The Blacksmith quickly told them to get into bed to make it look like they were already married. The father believed it
and went home. The couple were married the next day.
Gretna Green is a famous place in Britain.
People often make a comment like "You should run away to Gretna Green!"

How unfortunate!

Here is another odd thing

The picture moves. Focus on the dot and move towards and away from the picture.

Thank you all for coming today. It was lovely to see you.
I hope Kumiko's knee gets better soon.
I hope Kie and Tamami's volunteer Halloween party
goes down well.
Thanks for the cookies and coffee jelly from the bazaar ( I was listening!)
The days are drawing in and getting cooler so take great care of your health.
Try the above test.
I did and was hopeless.
Nick

Well. It's Wednesday tomorrow. The day of Woden
The Norse god of war. Thursday? The day of Thor, the Norse god of Thunder.

There will be a class as usual at the International Lounge.
I hope it will be open when Tomoko arrives!!

The weather was very clear today.
I enjoyed the dog walks. I think the dogs did too
They always do.

See you all tomorrow
Nick

How were the weekend musical events?
I hope they were successful.
And you were praised accordingly for your hard work.

Sheep bleat.

The plural of sheep is sheep. The plural of fish is fish.
The plural of carp is carp.
The plural of email is .......... ????
I have often wondered.
Do you know any more odd nouns that share the same singular and plural name?

Request and Autumn

Today there was a request for a lesson topic.
Sometimes when you buy imported goods there is an explanation
of what it does or the ingredients. Maybe it is hard to understand if there is no
translation. So if you have some product in your house from abroad that
is difficult to understand, please bring the packet or make a note of what is written.
I will , of course prepare something.
What are you up to this weekend?
Me? It seems my son and his family will drop in.
He will play baseball locally with his old school friends.
So I will have be a "grandfather"
I'm not good at it.
I often watch grand dads out with their grandchildren and think,
"I am not like them!" How do they do it?
Ah well.......Not worth worrying about it.
have a jolly weekend
Oh, by the way Akiko will have a concert at Kanto Gakuin Odawara campus
on Sunday afternoon. Please drop by and listen to her and her talented choir
if you have the time.
Nick

Today, I will introduce my home town (again!)
I was born and raised the market town of Keswick in the English Lake District. The town has a population of 5,000 people and the main industry is tourism. There are many hotels,restaurants and gift shops.
Keswick was made popular by the Lake Poets and later on by the story of
Peter Rabbit.
It is set in a lovely valley with mountains on all sides. It is situated between two lakes. Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite. Derwentwater is quite a large lake and has a regular boat service. The area around the lake is owned by the National Trust and is unspoilt.
Keswick is a bit inconvenient to get to. There is no train service. But there are stations at Penrith and Windermere which are a short bus-ride away.
The first pencils were made there in the pencil factory and there is a stone circle just outside the town about 4500years old.
Popular things on sale in the town are goods made of slate(local stone) Border Collie goods. Woolen clothes and sheepskin and Cumberland Sausage.
One day you might have the chance to go there. I hope so.

Lake District Bluebells in May

The slanted tea room in Windsor

Cow Map

Well. How did you do in the trivial Halloween Quiz?
Not so good?
It doesn't matter as it was just a Halloween quiz.

How to cheer someone up is very difficult.
Cheering yourself up is easier as you know what works.

Thank you to Tomoko for dealing with the "lockout"
The young guy was very apologetic on the way out.
I hope it wasn't his fault and that he doesn't get into trouble over it.
Thanks also for the sweets and food as always.

Nick

Cats a nd Dogs

Missiles?

No. Balloons tied to the car. I think the people going in the opposite direction must have got a shock.

Someone with good taste?

One of the best Christmas Decorations I have seen.

One Way To Cheer Yourself Up!

Is to do something thrilling!

It seems the topic for Wednesday will be
"Ways to cheer yourself up"
So have a think about it.
I'm sure you have lots of good ideas.

Just watched The Dark Knight
Heath Ledger was great as The Joker
Pity he passed away.

It seems to be colder tonight.
Wrap up warm and don't catch cold.
Today's pictures are of "not scones"!

A view of the town square

Maybe the view is too good. People can see you eating high calorie food through the window.
How would you feel eating such food in such a prominent place?

The menu? It's outside,madam.

Do you think they write out the menu afresh every day?

This place is bit more "posh"

It looks cosy,though.

View from a tea room in my home town.

Look at the thickness of those walls!!
I wonder why there is a kettle outside.......
Any ideas?

Good evening
This evening was a bit chilly.
Does anyone have any plans for the weekend?
I don't.
I will just take my dogs out for a lot of walks
and look for MORE pictures of scones for this blog
Just kidding.
The picture above is of a tea room in the Cotswolds.
Have fun
By the way. If you would like to make a new post on this blog
type in your email address and use "scottydog" as the password.
Tamami, if you send me your email address (to mobile or PC)
I will put your details into the blog so you can do it.
Nick

Some more tea rooms in Devon and Yorkshire......sorry for the similar posts.


Today I gave Shep a bath.
He has so much hair! It takes about one third of a packet of shampoo to wash him
and a lot of energy!
My back is a bit stiff from washing him....but he is black and white now
not cream and white.
No pictures of tea rooms and scones this evening?
Smile
Let me see.........................................