Kwan Yin
Mother of kindness
compassionate observer
hear your people cry
Month: April 2014
Wordless Wednesday
Agatha Christie, an American Connection
The volunteers at National Trust properties are a mine of information and very friendly. When I went into the library at Greenway I was immediately struck by a frieze/mural high on the walls, so I listened and joined in with another visitor asking the volunteer about it. Apparently the house was requisitioned by the army in WW2 and the painting was done by an American soldier.
The mirror also has a tale behind it. There was a painting on the wall where it now hangs, of Churchill and Roosevelt together. When the war was over and the family were able to reclaim their home, they found the continuous gaze of the pair somewhat oppressive and painted over it!
I’m sure the mural has been restored over the years, but I’d love to know who the soldier was and if he’s still around. Any ideas from my lovely American readers about how to find out?
An Agatha Christie Day
This weekend I have visited the home of Agatha Christie, Greenway in south Devon. Greenway is set on the banks of the river Dart with fabulous views to Dittisham and Dartmouth, just a few miles from her birthplace Torquay. Dame Agatha and her second husband Max
Mallowan bought the house in 1938 as a holiday home.
Here are a few pictures of the inside.
The hallway
Plump cushions
Living room towards the hall
Cosy sofas
Game over
Still in tune, visitors are welcome to play
Agatha, back left looking over her family
While we were in the library we listened to a recording of Agatha’s son saying that it was his favourite room in the house. I think it was mine too it was very homely and packed with collections from around the world.
The library
Collections
I’ll show you more of the collections and the wonderful gardens in a separate post. Meanwhile some upstairs photos and the back door with painting that I think is of Max.
The main bedroom
The Throne room!
The necessary!
Back door
related posts
https://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/agathas-greenway/
https://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/miss-christie-revisited/
Weekly Photo Challenge: Monument
Ben at the Daily Post says
In this week’s challenge, show us your take on a monument (broadly defined). It could be a fresh angle on a well-known tourist site, or a place nobody knows outside your community. It doesn’t even have to be an official monument. A legendary coffeehouse, a churchyard cemetery, the remains of a treehouse you’d built as a kid — anything can be monumental as long as it’s imbued with a shared sense of importance.
I visited Gallipoli and Anzac Cove a few years ago as part of a tour of Turkey. To be honest I wasn’t interested and could easily had a snooze while the others went off to see the battlefields and memorials. I’m glad I did go, it was one of the most moving days I have ever experienced. I’ve written about it before, including a poem and if you’re interested click the Turkey tag in my tag cloud.
For the challenge I’m showing you the monument commemorating the men of the Turkish 57th Infantry Regiment lost in the battle of Gallipoli. The then Lieutenant-Colonel Mustafa Kemal made a famous order to his Ottoman troops.
I am not ordering you to attack. I am ordering you to die. During the time before we die other forces and commanders will take our place.
And die they did, at least 1800 of them. Kemal went on to become a revolutionary statesman, President Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, but I digress, here is the monument.
Join in this week at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/monument/
Lazy Poets Thursday Tanka
The B3212
Distant stands of trees
breaking the barren landscape
where a dry-stone wall
weathered but still eternal
frames the timeless common land
Wordless Wednesday
Cotehele, views in the grounds
Cotehele has beautiful grounds, with broad vistas of the river Tamar – which forms the border between Devon and Cornwall, off in the distance. 
The house is built from grey granite, lovely in sunshine but perhaps a little foreboding on a grey winter day.
But there are always fresh sights opening up.
They have a large variety of daffodils, some very old with wonderful fragrance.
Plenty more spring flowers.
And I don’t know how many favourite flowers a girl is allowed, but these are some of mine.
I only had time to see a small part of the beautiful gardens at Cotehele, so I must go back later in the year. Perhaps then I’ll take a woodland walk to the river bank.
Click on any photo for a clearer view.
100 Word Challenge For Grown Ups Week # 127
Because we put our clocks forward last weekend Julia’s prompt is ‘time marches on’. Here is my entry.
Past Times
She slithered under the metal bedstead. The object of her desire waited in the dark, dusty space in all its splendour. It had a picture of a dog, and a large winding tube, like a Sally Army trumpet, that she could fit her head into. What could it be she wondered?
‘Get out of there now you naughty girl, I told you not to touch that.’ Surprised, she banged her head on the diamond shaped mesh under the mattress.
That was sixty years ago, now she could plug a tiny gadget into her ears and listen to a thousand different songs. Time marches on.
If you’re really quick you can join in at http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week127/
Past
Weekly Photo Challenge: Threshold and Bastets Pixelventures
Krista at the Daily Post has picked the theme of THRESHOLD for the weekly photo challenge this week. She says,
A threshold is a point of entering; that point just before a new beginning — that split-second moment in time, full of anticipation. All the hard work is over; relief is palpable.
I find thresholds exciting, that strange space or feeling when things could be vastly different depending on a choice, so it inspired a poem.
Threshold
the threshold of disintegration
crumbling shattered overgrown
with vine tendrils both living and lost
where Capulet fingers perhaps lingered
flakes of rust eating into metal that
rests precariously no support for any arm
that dares to lean to stretch towards
the golden light still dawning
balcony of decay and neglect
standing on pillars of sustenance
destined to fall or rise from
the threshold of disintegration
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/photo-challenge-threshold/
Bastets pixelventures challenge is looking for pictures that inspire a poem so I’d like to add this post, I think it fits
http://wedrinkbecausewerepoets.com/2014/03/31/bastets-pixelventures-april-1-2014/
Lucid Gypsy 