Lost in the past: April 2020

#AtoZChallenge X is for eXtraordinary Blogs

510 bloggers joined the A to Z Challenge 2020 The theme has been 20 20 Visions of Blogging

What is blogging from A to Z?

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/what-is-blogging-from-to-z.html

Here are my favourite A to Z blogs:-

Rachel Walkley gave us British Theatre through the ages

https://thequietwriter.com/2020/04/23/theatres-royal-the-patent-theatre/

My favourite this year is this amazing selection of beautiful quilts by Frederique

https://quiltingpatch.blogspot.com/2020/04/avril-omg-april-finish.html?spref=tw

Survival strategies by Aquila

https://theakilahbrown.com/2020/04/01/a-is-for-attitude-atozchallenge/

Family Fun at Home during the Lockdown by Anstice Brown

https://curiousdaydreams.com/2020/04/25/v-is-for-virtual-visits-atozchallenge/

My series of Things to be Grateful For

https://somerville66.blogspot.com/p/atozchallenge-2020.html

For Folktales of Endangered species

http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2020/04/v-is-for-volcano-rabbits-folktales-of.html

For nutrition and recipes

https://lancequadras.com/watermelon-a-to-z-2020/

Can you suggest some other AtoZ sites i should visit?

#AtoZChallenge W is for Water

A to Z Challenge 2020

Things to be Grateful For

is for Water

Whenever there is water in the scenery I can't help feeling good. Water is essential to life but it also good for our well-being to see it in the landscape.

In the Algarve

Ferry north from Santander

Eating by the beach

Rio Tinto mine. southern Spain

Winkworth Arboretum, Surrey

Norway

Alte, Portugal

Cape St Vincent

Rio Formosa, Portugal

I am longing for walks by the sea again!

#AtoZchallenge V is for Vacations

A to Z Challenge 2020

Things to be Grateful For

is for Vacations

Many people have missed or will soon miss their vacation this year. but I am sure they are thinking about future trips and looking back to holidays in the past.

As a child all my vacations were spent on the west coast of Scotland. I would play with my cousins on their farm, see many relations, enjoy the best ice cream in Britain and superb fish and chips and go up to Glasgow to visit the Kelvin Art Gallery and Museum. One painting which I always wanted to visit first was Christ of St John on the Cross by Salvador Dali

Eventually, at the age of 11, I took my first trip abroad, flying to Dusseldorf on my own to stay with family friends.

After that I enjoyed a holiday with my family touring Cornwall. Visiting Tintagel sparked my interest in the stories of King Arthur and Merlin

By the time I was 15 we moved to the Far East travelling by sea through the Suez canal to reach Singapore. The voyage was of course an incredible vacation stopping off briefly at Port Said, Aden, Ceylon and the malay Peninsula.

Our journey home to Britain from Singapore, three years later, was via Perth, Western Australia, South Africa, Tenerife and Lisbon.

Cape Town

As an adult I explored more of Europe, usually camping, in France, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Saumur

In the last ten years I have cruised to Madeira and the Canary Islands and also along many of the Norwegian fjords

Madeira

Flåm

And now I am missing our drive through Spain and a long stay in Portugal

Salamanca

Faro

Where would you like to be spending your vacation now?

#AtoZChallenge U is for up and Under

A to Z Challenge 2020

Things to be Grateful For

is for up and under

During the Lockdown we have been lucky to have beautiful weather so there has been plenty of opportunity for exercise. During my daily walk I have spent time looking up above at the trees and the sky and down under the shrubs and bushes.

Looking up

Helensburgh By Josephine English

Looking under

What have you seen up above or under the bushes?

#AtoZChallenge T is for Thames

A to Z Challenge 2020

Things to be Grateful For

is for Thames

The River Thames has always been important to me. It is the place where my ancestors worked and also a special place for me to visit when I go to visit London.

This map, drawn by John Roque in 1747, shows Wapping on the north side of the river and Rotherhithe on the south side. I love the ships you can see in the Thames and the vegetables planted on the south bank.

Many of the pictures I have collected show the Spritsail barges which my ancestors built. You can still see several today at St Katherine's Wharf near the Tower of London.

This painting by Walter Greaves shows the flat bottomed barges unloading their cargo at Lindsay Wharf, Chelsea.

Here is a picture of the Mudlarks who in Victorian times scavenged the tideline for articles to sell or dead bodies to rob. Modern day Mudlarkers have a licence to search for artefacts.

This beautiful fish is one of many made by Tidelineart.com from found pieces of river washed glass.

Here are two paintings of the Thames. Above is one of the colourful pieces by Sarah Fosse including the Shard and Tower Bridge. Below is one of many pictures Monet produced while staying in London.

And these pictures were taken from one of the Thames Clippers which in normal times travel up and down the river from Westminster to Canary Wharf.

#AtoZChallenge S is for Seasons

A to Z Challenge 2020

Things to be Grateful For

is for Seasons

My favourite Season is Spring for the new growth. I also love the warmth and flowers of the Summer. Winter has its own charms but I used to hate Autumn because things were dying and the days becoming shorter but in recent years I have come to appreciate the colours and the air quality of that time of year.