Friday Cat Blogging


Heidi




George in his favourite chair

Birthday Blogging

I share my birthday with the Scottish poet Robert Burns



To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry man's dominion,
Has broken nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen icker in a thrave
'S a sma' request;
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!

Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,
An' weary winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell-
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.

That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men
Gang aft agley,
An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me
The present only toucheth thee:
But, Och! I backward cast my e'e.
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!

It is celebrated with a Burns Supper

from the Guardian - How to make your own haggis

From the BBC - 250 years of Robert Burns

Birthday Cake Blogging

Birthday Music Blogging

Happy Birthday To Me!

Friday Music Blogging

Friday Cat Blogging


Heidi


George

More Cool History News

Remains of Alfred the Great's granddaughter returned

• Tests expected to confirm woman lived in England
• Princess sent to Germany as diplomatic prize

The granddaughter of Alfred the Great came back to England yesterday – or at least fragments of a body returned, more than 1,000 years after the Wessex ­princess was packed off by her brother as a ­diplomatic gift to a Saxon king.

Tests in Bristol are expected to ­provide further proof that Eadgyth (roughly ­pronounced Edith) was indeed the woman found wrapped in silk and sealed in a lead coffin, inside a magnificent stone sarcophagus at Magdeburg Cathedral in Germany.

"Her brother Athelstan was the first king of a unified England, her husband became the first Holy Roman Emperor and her blood runs in the veins of every royal family in Europe," said Professor Mark Horton of Bristol University.

"Alfred's body disappeared long ago, bones of other members of her family are all jumbled up in Winchester Cathedral after [Thomas] Cromwell got his hands on them, so this may prove to be the oldest complete remains of an English royal."

There is no contemporary portrait of Eadgyth and few insights into her life. She was born in Wessex in 910 into one of the most powerful families in ­England, daughter of Edward the Elder, and half-sister to Athelstan, well on his way to being recognised as the first king of all England.

Cats In The News - Ancient History Edition

Very cool!!!!!

Egyptian cat god's 2,200-year-old temple unearthed in Alexandria

Ptolemaic-era building may have been dedicated to deity Bastet in city founded by Alexander the Great, say archaeologists

A 2,200-year-old temple that may have been dedicated to the ancient Egyptian cat god Bastet has been unearthed in Alexandria, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said today.

The ruins of the Ptolemaic-era building were discovered by Egyptian archaeologists in the port city founded by Alexander the Great around 331BC. Alexandria was the seat of the Greek-speaking Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt for 300 years until the suicide of Queen Cleopatra.

The council's statement said the temple was thought to belong to Queen Berenice II, wife of Ptolemy III who ruled between 246BC–222BC.

Mohammed Abdel-Maqsood, the Egyptian archaeologist who led the excavation team, said the discovery may be the first trace of the long-sought location of Alexandria's royal quarter.

The large number of statues depicting Bastet found in the ruins, he said, suggested that this may be the first Ptolemaic-era temple dedicated to the cat god to be discovered in Alexandria. This would indicate that the worship of the ancient Egyptian cat-god continued during the later, Greek-influenced, Ptolemaic period

Friday Music Blogging

Friday Cat Blogging




George enjoying the winter sun




Heidi warming herself by the electric heater

Sunday Ballet Blogging

Pas de deux by Frederick Ashton from the ballet "A Month in the Country" danced by Natalia Makarova and Anthony Dowell.

More Snow Photos












Our resident bossy blackbird

Friday Music Blogging

Friday Cat Blogging


George in the cradle


Heidi all snuggly

Snow in Devizes

Blogging

As you may or may not know Haloscan is being discontinued, so have changed my template in order to reset the original blogger comments. Still have to get it just how I want it but it will do for now.

I've exported all Haloscan posts, so even though they are no longer on my site they are stored away safely.

Doctor Who Review

Doctor Who finale watched by 10.4m as Tennant bows out

David Tennant's final outing as Doctor Who was watched by 10.4m viewers on New Year's Day, according to early overnight figures.

At the climax of the episode, a total of 10.8m tuned in to see the Time Lord regenerate into his 11th incarnation, 27-year-old actor Matt Smith.

Tennant's final words on the show were, "I don't want to go".

Smith, meanwhile, uttered the immortal line, "legs! I've got legs!" as he made his screen debut as The Doctor.
(snip)
A preview for the new series has been made available on the official Doctor Who website.

It shows Smith facing vampire-like creatures, hitting a Dalek with a mallet, and shouting what seems set to become his catchphrase: "Geronimo!"

The trailer also hints at the return of Alex Kingston as River Song - an archaeologist who had appeared to have had an intimate relationship with The Doctor.

Her character was created by Steven Moffat, who has taken over from Davies as the head writer of the sci-fi franchise.

The new series is due on BBC One in the spring.

I was a bit too emotional yesterday to write a review but here it is:

I really liked the Christmas and New Year Specials, David Tennant brought a tragic pathos to his portrayal of the Doctor. The episodes themselves had me at the edge of my seats= and I was shedding a few tears by the end of it.

I'm a little unsure about the actor who is replacing him, Matt Smith, it did look a bit like Doctor 90210 when I watched the preview trailer, what with his companion as young as him but with Moffat taking over producer duties I will give it the benefit of the doubt and half the fun of Doctor Who is exploring it with a new Doctor.

I don't think I will totally get over David Tennant, he is such a fine actor and I have a major crush on him.

Happy New Year!



New Year's Eve revellers see in 2010

Hundreds of thousands of revellers have gathered in temperatures close to freezing to see in the new year in towns and cities across the UK.

In London, tens of thousands of people gathered along the banks of the Thames to hear Big Ben strike midnight.

Fireworks erupted at the London Eye in an eight-minute display and there were also fireworks in Cardiff.

Thousands joined Hogmanay celebrations in Glasgow and Edinburgh, where temperatures fell as low as -6C (21F).

There were no civic events in Belfast.

Meanwhile, celebrations were cancelled in Inverness because of severe weather.

The London Eye's £313,000 firework display was cut by two minutes this year, helping organisers save a total of £70,000.

It was a clear night in central London, where partygoers enjoyed a comparatively balmy 3C.