Trojan Staircase

Firstly, apologies for anyone who received a garbled email this morning. I’ve had a look into it and hopefully it’ll be fixed for the next one!

Today’s post is in relation to yesterday post. The gargoyle plant pot lies on the right of the staircase as you walk up, and can be seen just beyond the green railing..

Royalty and many other famous people have stayed at the mansion at the centre of the park. The rooms are lavishly decorated and the landscaped gardens take full advantage of the spectacular views of Romney Marsh.

For Rebecca...

Today’s post is dedicated to Rebecca, who successfully guessed what the background was in the Everyday Household Objects Series. In case you missed the answer it’s a Canon Pixma IP4000 printer, which produces fantastic photograph printouts.

Happy Australia Day!

On 13 May 1787, a fleet of 11 ships, which came to be known as the First Fleet, was sent by the British Admiralty from England to Australia. Under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, the fleet sought to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay on the coast of New South Wales, which had been explored by Captain James Cook in 1770. The settlement was seen as necessary because of the loss of the colonies in North America.

Chinese New Year - Year of The Ox

According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nian or "Year" in Chinese. Nian would come on the first day of New Year to devour livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, the Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu, an ancient Taoist monk. The Nian became Hongjun Laozu's mount.

Dr. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary's Descendant

Photograph /fṓtə graaf, gràf/ n. picture produced with a camera an image produced on light-sensitive film or array inside a camera, especially a print or slide made from the developed film or from a digitized array image, or a reproduction in a newspaper, magazine, or book ▪ v. (-graphs, -graphing, -graphed) 1. vti take a photograph of sb or sth to produce an image of sth by pointing a camera at it and allowing light briefly to fall on the film inside 2. vi. be photographed with a particular result to be able to be photographed, or to have a particular quality or appearance in a photograph ◦ Scenes like this photograph best in bright sunlight. [Mid-19thC]