Lovely little Norman doorway to (I think) Milden Church. Been a busy week in the workshop. Just time for a quick blog before choir practice. Pruned the three fruit trees this morning, whilst waiting for some lead soldering to cool. Must get out some straining wire and tie them in. We're trying to espallier them . At Aunt Mary's funeral on Monday met her youngest grandson. Hadn't seen young Ben since he was in his teens. He's now, I think, 24. He's been growing a moustache which he says is based on mine!!! Great compliment I suppose. The shape is right and the colour is better than mine (chestnut as opposed to white), but he freely admits that it's not nearly as big yet. I complimented him on having got off to a pretty good start. If he carries on like that for another forty years or so my whiskers will have serious competition in the family (not that I'll be too bothered by then). He's teaching, he tells me. Classics, I think he said. Seems a very pleasant youngster, as indeed do all of his siblings. Must close and get off to choir practice. Tra la- la la.
5 comments:
Wonderful doorway Mike, Looks like a rustic Saxon effort in the new Norman style. It just hasn't got the crispness, precision and integrity of most Norman architecture. Unless of course it was built on a Friday afternoon and the masons had been lunching on the local brew!
Hi Carl. Yes, know what you mean. It's the doorway from the church porch into the church. It's not neat, but it has a sort of country confidence about it that I like. The sort of thing that gives a sense of....continuity (?) to a village.
Exactly so Mike, it is much more obvious in the provinces, where a certain amount of acceptance of what could be done with the inherent and indigenous craft-skills available was neccesary - even for the Normans.
By the bye, glad to hear you're still very sprightly; you must fairly whizz around with the pruning if you can manage three trees while a bit of solder cools - or are you using the thermite method of soldering? If I remember aright it produces oodles of chromium sesquioxide and cuts through steel anvils like a razor through butter on a warm day!
It was quite a big job of soldering, using the item to be soldered as the heat source, i.e. heating the item (well fluxed) until the solder ran into the right area, leaving almost none on the surface; whilst, conversely the three fruit trees are still comparatively small, fan trained, and didn't need a great dedal of pruning, so that whilst a large brass candlestick cooled off, I was able to prune three trees, wash, make two cups of coffee, and drink one of them, by which time the candlestick was just handleable.Therefore :- Warm regards, Mike.
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