BRAS .......


BRAS! If you're having a clear out please note that most charity shops don't take bras but as they often cost us a lot of money they are too nice to throw in the bin. I have found a UK based charity that send unwanted bras to African villages to improve hygiene and prevent the rape of young girls as wearing a bra in some villages is a sign of wealth, status and power. If the bra is too tatty they recycle the material and metal to raise money to buy these young girls new knickers as some of the girls only have one pair and others have non whatsoever. Not nice when you're a young girl just starting her periods. So if you're throwing out your old bras, please send them here instead:http://www.smallsforall.org/donate/ also add the facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Smalls-for-All/126999917379012

SAD.........



York Quilt Museum has closed due to lack of funds.  I didn't even know it existed!  And now it's too late ........

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-34687930

FOR THE OVER 50s

From make-up artist and model Cindy Joseph, who happens to be the same age as me - but looks far better.  (well, it's her job (and perhaps her genes?)! - or perhaps her make-up ............)

Make up for the over 50s

The whole idea of less is more, that women shouldn’t be slaves to dozens of makeup products, is what I really believe in,” said Cindy Joseph, a makeup artist and model who’s pared down her own cosmetics kit to just a few items.  

Cindy goes for pro-ageing, rather than the usual anti-ageing, which sounds good to me, ageing gracefully and not over-doing the makeup.

see: http://www.boombycindyjoseph.com/pages/5-makeup-tips-for-baby-boomers-by-cindy-joseph?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=ads&utm_campaign=new-image&pp=1

and for her hair-do see: http://www.refinery29.com/2014/08/72253/cindy-joseph-short-hair

Soothing Shower Melts for Cold and Flu

Wellness Mama 68 Comments  This post contains affiliate links
Wellness Mama » Blog » Natural Remedies » Soothing Shower Melts for Cold and Flu

Ingredients

• 1 cup Baking Soda (I get mine here)
• 1/2 cup Sea Salt or Epsom Salt
• Up to 2 teaspoons of water
• Essential oils: I used 20 drops each of Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Lavender, Rosemary and Lemon (any combination of these would work)
• 1 teaspoon powdered menthol crystals (optional) I bought crystals and crushed them between parchment paper to get a powder

Instructions

1. Combine baking soda, salt/epsom salt and mix well until combined.
2. Spray or drop small amounts water into the mix and stir until you get the consistency of slightly wet sand.
3. Mixture should hold together when squeezed without crumbling but should not appear wet at all. You may need to add slightly more water if it hasn’t achieved this consistency yet.
4. Once you get this texture, add the menthol crystals and the essential oils and stir to combine.
5. Quickly push mixture into silicon molds, greased muffin tins or any other greased container. Press in firmly and leave at least 24 hours (48 is better) or until hardened.
6. When dry, remove and store in air tight container.

Notes: Please use caution with products like menthol and strong essential oils like peppermint or eucalyptus on small children. As a general rule, I personally use these only on children 2+ and I dilute them but check with a qualified health practitioner or aromatherapist before using anything on small children!

FROM: http://wellnessmama.com/24777/soothing-shower-melts/

Sopranos losing it on stage – here are the 7 best 'mad scenes' in opera

By Elizabeth Davis, 3rd November 2015

The 'mad scene' is a staple of 19th century operas by the likes of Donizetti and Bellini.  Essentially, it's an excuse for the prima donna to show off her vocal acrobatics.  Here are seven of the most over-the-top 'mad scenes' of all time.

Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/discover/opera/mad-scenes-bel-canto-opera/#XAedly2qHjtik7vV.99Sopranos losing it on stage – here are the 7 best 'mad scenes' in opera - Discover - Classic FM

Today we went on a coach trip to Cannon Hall, near Barnsley (amazingly it's free, http://www.cannon-hall.co.uk/).  

As you can see from these photos, there was a very good display of Moorcroft Pottery, both older and modern. Also several paintings on loan and it's a place which is well worth visiting, both for the exhibits inside the building and the extensive grounds.
(http://www.moorcroft.com/).

John Singer Sargeant

Edward Alexander Wadsworth (1889 - 1949)

Edward Alexander Wadsworth (1889 - 1949)

View over some of the parkland

autumn leaves

one of the splendid trees

autumn fungi

a surprise rhino coming out of the glass house

... then this afternoon we visited Nostell Priory near Wakefield (NT, http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/nostell-priory/).  
This place is especially interesting to those who know our local Kedleston Hall, just outside Derby (NT, http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/kedleston-hall/) as James Paine was the architect of Nostell and then went on to design Kedleston Hall (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Paine_(architect)).  

I didn't take many photos at Nostell Priory as there were stewards in every room and I didn't think they'd take kindly to someone wielding a camera.  
One of the best rooms, to my mind, was the state bedroom with fabulous bed hangings, so to look at this it's best to go to the Nostell website, see above.

The top 10 most beautiful villages in the UK are given in the link given below.

No 1 is Tyneham in Dorset, a village which we visited way back in the 1970s and even then it had a charm all of its own:

"It’s still 1943 in Tyneham, where time stood still when the army told everyone to leave because they needed the surrounding hills for training. Most weekends and throughout the summer school holidays the village is open to the public and you can stroll along the main street, between the abandoned stone cottages and poke your head into the old schoolhouse and church. Look out for wild flowers, abundant here thanks to the army keeping the public out and unable to trample them."

The site then goes on to list the rest of the top 10, including: Port Isaac in Cornwall, Staithes in Yorkshire, Crail in Fife - do you get the drift?   These are all coastal villages ..... except for Bedgellert in Wales and Avebury in Wiltshire.   
I've visited nearly all of this top ten and would agree that they are fabulous places, but would love to add a few more beautiful places to live, especially ones which don't rely on water for their beauty.

Here's BT Lifestyle (?!, I though BT was a telecoms company!) 50 most beautiful rural places to live: http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/house-home/revealed-the-50-best-rural-places-to-live-in-britain-11363967843956.   If BT's recommending them then let's hope that they also have good broadband connections.


Top 10:
http://www.skyscanner.net/news/features/the-top-10-most-beautiful-villages-in-the-uk/?utm_medium=social+paid&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=uk-article&utm_content=UK-dm10-uk-sa-most%2Bbeautiful%2Bvillages-+sepw3-55%2B65-desktopfeed-Link+Post-Villages_Plockton_Sept15-9213701292_10153477238776293-N%2FA&utm_id=55f8579b58e7ab5a208b459c&AssociateID=SOC_FCB_00640_00012

Western Art History
500 years of women ignoring men?

http://the-toast.net/2014/06/10/women-ignoring-men-as-art/

Anti-cold call firm fined for cold calling


According to the papers recently, a company that specialises in stopping nuisance phone calls has been fined £50,000 for making them.
Point One marketing, which trades as Stop These Calls*, was condemned for operating in a 'bullying' manner.
The Bournemouth[-based firm was selling a call blocking device and a service that removes people from a cold-call database. But the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) foound it promoted its services through aggressive cold-calling.
The ICO received hundreds of complaints about Stop These Calls including that staff shouted at people who asked not to be contacted again, and made threatening calls.  The official way to prevent cold calling is through the free Telephone Preference Service.



*http://www.stopthesecalls.co.uk/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/11822394/On-a-suckers-list-The-simple-mistake-that-guarantees-your-place-on-cold-calling-marketing-databases.html

Wednesday is Grandma day and most weeks we toddle off to the library to have a look and see what we'd like to borrow.

Unfortunately both our local libraries are closed that day (Allestree and Derby Central), so we visit one over at Mackworth, where they're very welcoming. 

We sit on beanbags (rather a challenge getting up again afterwards!) where we read a couple of books.  Then we check out a few to take home.  We can borrow up to ten books at a time, which is quite enough for us to keep track of.

(There is one down side to this in that when we visit a book shop then Alba thinks we can sit on the floor and read and book, and then borrow it for nothing)

Here is a list compiled by the TES (Times Educational Supplement) and the National Association for the Teaching of English.  They ran a survey to find teachers' top 100 fiction books all children should read before leaving primary school and these are the results.

1          Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

2          Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

3          Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

4          Matilda by Roald Dahl

5          The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

6          The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis

7          The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

8          We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

9          Dogger by Shirley Hughes

10        Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Alfie and Rose

11        Stig of the Dump by Clive King

12=      Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

12=      The Iron Man by Ted Hughes

14        Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown

15        Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne

16        Funnybones by Allan and Janet Ahlberg

17=      Owl Babies by Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson

17=      The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien

19        Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss

20        War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

21=      Grimm’s Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm

21=      The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr

23        Peace at Last by Jill Murphy

24        Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer

25        Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy by Lynley Dodd

26        Not Now Bernard by David Mckee

Add caption

27        Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

28        The Twits by Roald Dahl

29        I am David by Anne Holm

30        The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes

31        The Paddington series by Michael Bond

32        Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch

33        Esio Trot by Roald Dahl

34        Five Children and It by E Nesbit

35        Clockwork by Phillip Pullman

36        The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

the Worst Witch

37        The Magic Far Away Tree by Enid Blyton

38        Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell and Helen Oxenbury

39        Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

40        The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier

41        The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy

42        The Alfie and Annie Rose series by Shirley Hughes

43        Shakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield

44        Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

45        Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore

46        Sad Book by Michael Rosen

47        The Borrowers by Mary Norton

48=      A Dark, Dark Tale by Ruth Brown

48=      The Jolly Postman by Allan Ahlberg

The Jolly Postman

50        Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

51        Coraline by Neil Gaiman

52        Zoo by Anthony Browne

53        Treasure Island by R L Stevenson

54        Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne

55        Cinderella by Charles Perrault, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti

56        Pig Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman

57        The Railway Children by E Nesbit

58        Cloud Busting by Malorie Blackman

59=      Kidnapped by R L Stevenson

59=      The Sheep Pig by Dick King-Smith

61=      Beegu by Alexis Deacon

61=      The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham

63=      Eragon by Christopher Paolini

63=      The Mr Men and Little Miss series by Roger Hargreaves

65=      Gentle Giant by Michael Morpurgo

65=      Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

67        The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

68        Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti

69        Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

70        Theseus and the Minotaur by David Orme and Wendy Body

71=      The Just William series by Richmal Crompton

71=      On the Way Home by Jill Murphy

71=      Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

71=      Street Child by Berlie Doherty

71=      The Happy Prince and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde

76=      Angelo by Quentin Blake

Angelo

76=      The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Draywalt and Oliver Jeffers

76=      The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

79        My Mum by Anthony Browne

80=      The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

80=      The Tunnel by Anthony Browne

82=      Face by Benjamin Zephaniah

82=      The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tyler by Gene Kemp

84        The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

85=      Click Clack Moo: cows that type by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

85=      The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

85=      The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

88=      I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child

88=      The Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy

88=      The Early Years at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton

88=      Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

92=      Birds Beasts and Relatives by Gerald Durrell

92=      The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner

Milly Molly Mandy

94        The Mrs Pepperpot series by Alf Proysen

95=      The Asterix Series by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

95=      The Fib and Other Stories by George Layton

97        The Giant's Necklace by Michael Morpurgo

98        The Kipper series by Mick Inkpen

99=      The Milly-Molly-Mandy series by Joyce Lankester Brisley

99=      The Suitcase Kid by Jacqueline Wilson

• For more on the survey, get the 24 July edition of TES on your tablet or phone or b by downloading the TES Reader app for Android or iOS. Or pick it up at all good newsagents 

From: https://www.tes.co.uk/news/school-news/breaking-news/100-fiction-books-all-children-should-read-leaving-primary-school-%E2%80%93