Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2010-36

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Lyle Meeres reaches London in their Baltic cruise
• Kate Brookfield writes about a puppet show in Scotland
• Pat Moore also has problems with window replacements
• Bruce Galway forwards a letter from Scout camp
• Here are some suggestions for books you might enjoy
• The editor finds that the best plans do indeed gang aft a-gley
• Sites are suggested by Carol Hansen, Catherine Green, Jay, and Pat Moore

Lyle Meeres arrives in London as part of their

BALTIC CRUISE

August 29 is Pat´s birthday, and I had a card from Red Deer to give her, as did Donna and Paulette. I woke up at 5:11. It´s fine to say, "You have an extra hour to sleep," but it´s another thing to be a person who can seize the opportunity. We had champagne at the Champagne Bar, where we munched caviar and marvelled at a little girl who returned over and over and over to fill a medium plate with huge quantities of caviar, so much so that crew had to refill the supply. It did not save her parents on dinner since that was included in the cruise fees, but the girl would be well trained to need a big earner to pay for her expensive tastes. At dinner, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Pat, and then the immediate area servers came along and sang to her as well.

Everyone seems to feel enough tension at departure time on August 30 made breakfast in the Windjammer so busy that we could not find a table together. Donna and Paulette ended up seated with a couple from the U.K., who were surprised that people would talk to them in such a friendly yet polite manner. They remarked that we would not find people in shops that friendly in London.

We were called to depart at 8:10, but our bus waited for stragglers so it was 8:55 when we finally pulled away. Our driver was a bit disgruntled because he had been told that there would be 30 passengers on one bus. Instead, we had three buses full, which I read as meaning that RCI had not let others know ahead that they could get a bus to Victoria Station, and we were far from the only ones who had insisted on a change in destination. The driver identified sites in London as he drove.

At Victoria Station, we waited in line ("cued") and got a taxi fairly quickly. Ten British pounds lighter, we arrived at the Claverley Hotel. This time it was our room that was ready while Donna and Paulette´s was not. The Claverley is an old place with character, recommended by Rick Steeves. Its South Kensington location, two blocks from Harrod´s, makes it handy to many places a tourist would want to see. Despite being near a very busy street, the Claverley´s own street is quiet ,so other than a few partiers one night, all was peaceful. The elevator ("lift") was a European style with wooden outer door and small cage interior. Paulette held her little backpack above her head so four of us could ride together.

We walked to a lunch spot and then hoofed it to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is free, but asks visitors to make a three-pound donation. While the museum contains a bit of everything, it specializes in showing the decorative arts over the ages, so displays reflect design, tastes and styles. While I knew it was coming, I raised an eyebrow at the modern chandelier in the lobby. It looks as if a glass maker went spinny. Blue and yellow glass bubbles weave their way along a central spine, forming clumps in about three places. After looking at it for a while, I decided it was attractive, but I have enough trouble cleaning our simple entry chandelier so I wouldn´t take it as a gift. The reason I had time to look at the chandelier was because I was travelling with three women, for which I was often teased. I was often found waiting outside shops, but on this occasion I was waiting while the women were in a bathroom ("toilet" in Europe).

In the museum, Pat and I went our own way, starting with the Islamic displays, which were impressive, to say the least. We worked our way through the Raphael cartoons, which are designs for tapestries, and up to the British galleries where we could see the work of William Morris and the influence of his designs on others. We were glad we had read Tracy Chevalier´s novel "The Lady and the Unicorn", because it gave us background on making tapestries (spiced with the artist´s sex life).

Donna and Paulette had caught a cold or virus (sore throat, runny nose, and instant cough) so they went back to the hotel. Pat and I walked to Hyde Park, and then worked our way back to the hotel.

Dinner at a little pasta and pizza place fed us well, but we couldn´t help but notice that we were almost the only English-speaking people there, as well as being the only non-smokers. In fact, the waitress came to two men behind us, smoking and conversing with empty coffee cups in front of them, and told them they would have to move on as it was after 6:00 o´clock. We were to see that the many little cafes along this block or two were frequently used by people who loved coffee, tea, cigarettes, conversation, and perfume. The men seemed to assume that their dominance was natural and sometimes treated waitresses as servants.

Back at the Claverley, when I asked staff to call a taxi, the young fellow caught me by surprise and left the place to get us a taxi. I learned that there was a line of taxis about three-quarters of a block away. In moments he was back, and off we went to "Mamma Mia" at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

I traded in our confirmation sheet, showed my credit card, signed for the tickets, and shortly we joined others congregating in a bar downstairs. There was no such thing as being improperly dressed as people appeared in anything except pyjamas. They drank anything from lemonade and beer to champagne. After the place became crowded, we were allowed into the "stalls" (ground floor) area of the theatre. Our seats were under the balconies but the sight lines were fine. I nearly hit my head on the balcony when the overture started - it was so loud it reminded me of being on duty at a school dance.

The play itself was about a young woman who wanted to identify her father before she got married. She had been raised by a mother who had "dot dot dot" with three different men about the time the daughter was conceived. The young woman invited all three men to her wedding, feeling certain that she would sense which one was her father when she saw them. The bouncy Abba music suited the tone, and true to Shakespearean comedy tradition, the play ended with a wedding - but not the daughter´s! The whole thing was good fun.

We had some trouble getting a cab after the play, but finally one taxi driver said ,"You won´t get a taxi here. Drivers don´t like trying to get out of this little street so go around the corner and wait there." We did and caught a taxi almost immediately. While we met the odd quiet taxi driver, most were friendly and helpful. Back at the hotel, when we fumbled to find the number to enter into the security lock, someone buzzed us in.

To be continued...

Kate Brookfield and family are attending a wedding in

SCOTLAND

It was lovely to wake up and hear the happy sound of toddlers in the kitchen. Liam, the four-year-old, was so excited. He was shouting, "Whoa! Look at all these junk cereals on the table! Can we have a junk cereal, Mummy?" The local store had not had much choice, so Michael had purchased one of those multi packs of various individual cereals. Fortunately, there were two packs of Cocoa Puffs. Cole goes to sleep and wakes up with a car in each hand. He eats everything put in front of him, then goes back to pushing his cars so they drop off the table. Amelia is not dressed until she has donned her princess tiara, the first thing she does every morning.

Amanda had surfed the web for events for children in the area and found Purves World of Puppets in Biggar, Lanarkshire. She had purchased the tickets on-line so we had to find our way to the venue for the 11:00 a.m. performance. We needed only two cars as Mike and I sat either side of our little princess in Robert´s car. I must say these child safety seats take up an awful lot of room, and I was thankful I had lost a few pounds and inches round the hips before this trip.

Biggar was not exactly in the immediate area. We had to drive north towards Edinburgh and take the circular road around the city limits and then drive south-west. The small town is about halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Despite the heavy city traffic, we managed to stay in convoy and as it is not a big place, had no trouble finding the Puppet Theatre. The theatre grounds had plenty of exciting playground slides and climbing apparatus to keep our youngsters happy as they unwound from their respective car seat imprisonments. We were first to arrive, but soon buses and cars drove up, unloading school parties of kids, birthday party groups, and families.

The theatre opened its doors and we all piled into a spacious cafeteria and shop area. I don´t have to describe the noise from a roomful of excited children and adults trying to calm them down! The shop area had lots of exciting products to purchase from large puppets to cute little finger puppets.

Eventually, it was time for the show to start and we moved into the theatre itself. We were asked not to take photos inside the theatre while the show was in progress, but my photos show the beauty and craftmanship of the decor. The owner-manager, Mr. Purvis, had constructed everything himself or purchased pieces from older theatres.

The show we saw was Pip and Panda in Circusland. The puppets were large and handheld by the puppeteers, who were invisible to the audience as they were dressed all in black. Pip and Panda are the principal puppets of this company and there are many different shows with these characters. Another character was Cheeky Monkey. When asked if there were any Cheeky Monkeys in the audience, there was a loud confirmation from all over the theatre!

It was a good story and everybody had a fun time. You can find the website for the company at http://www.purvespuppets.com/index.html and my pictures of that expedition are at http://arunaurl.com/3lb1

We returned to Humbie via Melrose Abbey. It is believed that the first Abbey in Melrose was built in the 6th century and that Saint Cuthbert was an early abbot before he went to Lindisfarne on Holy Island. This earlier building was destroyed in a Danish invasion.

The ruins today are of a second abbey built in the 12th century about a mile from the original site. The Reformation ended the active life of the abbey when King Henry VIII had it burned. Fortunately, much of the original building still stands, although only a sad remnant of its former imposing grandeur. Robert the Bruce´s heart is believed to be enshrined in the abbey. A plaque marks its location. Unfortunately, it started to rain so we were glad it was not completely ruined and had some roof over out heads.

Harry Potter fans will be interested in a stone coffin, supposed to be that of a famous wizard and philosopher, Michael Scott. The length of the skeleton was six feet, and a stone head at the foot of the coffin has a vague wizard-like appearance. Scott is said to have predicted his own death, which would be by a small stone falling on his head. Many kings of Scotland are also buried here.

Melrose Abbey is considered the most beautiful of all religious houses in the United Kingdom, being especially notable for a wealth of well-preserved figure-sculptures of saints, dragons, gargoyles, and plants. We had fun finding a gargoyle of a pig. Its architecture is some of the finest in Scotland. Sir Walter Scott wrote about it in one of his poems, and it is the subject of a painting by the famous English landscape artist, J. M. W.Turner. On one of the abbey´s stairways is an inscription by John Morow, a master mason, that says: "Be halde to ye hende" (Keep in mind, the end, your salvation), which has become the motto of the town of Melrose.

To be continued.

CORRESPONDENCE

Pat Moore writes: I loved your story of the windows because we have gone through the same thing - slightly different but similar - no cat or open window problem.

The last few days the noise has been terrific because they finally came back with the correct sized windows for all the bedrooms. I wonder who paid for the mistake of delivering all the wrong sized windows for the bedrooms, and we had to wait another year! The living room windows were all the correct size.

It makes a mess, both inside and out, as everything has to be moved away from the windows (hard for seniors to do), then new frames have to be put in, then waiting for the painter, then waiting for the maintenance to come back and clean a bit, then put all the vertical blinds up - for 120 apartments! I´m glad it´s over.

Like you, I was never too sure when they were going to do the work. They did try to let us know, but I found it necessary to be in my apartment to make sure the workers didn´t bump into things, or the painter drip paint all over the place (though he declared it was not him!)

Now the noise is on the roof as they try to check everything before the snow comes. This apartment complex was built in 1972, so there are many things to change or fix. But it is in good condition as the foundation looked after it very well through the year.

Bruce Galway forwards this updated

LETTER FROM SCOUT CAMP

Dear Mum,

Our scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and got worried. We are okay. Only one of our tents and two sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Adam when it happened.

Oh yes, please call Adam´s mother and tell her he is okay. He can´t write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search and rescue Jeeps. It was great. We never would have found Adam in the dark if it hadn´t been for the lightning.

Scoutmaster Ted got mad at Adam for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Adam said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn´t hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas will blow up?

The wet wood didn´t burn, but one of the tents did and also some of our clothes. Matthew is going to look weird until his hair grows back.

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Ted gets the bus fixed. It wasn´t his fault about the crash. The brakes worked okay when we left. Scoutmaster Ted said that with a bus that old, you have to expect something to break down; that´s probably why he can´t get insurance.

We think it´s a super bus. He doesn´t care if we get it dirty, and if it´s hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the bumpers. It gets pretty hot with 45 people in a bus made for 24. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the policeman stopped and talked to us.

Scoutmaster Ted is a neat guy. Don´t worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Horace how to drive on the mountain roads where there aren´t any cops. All we ever see up there are huge logging trucks.

This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out to the rapids. Scoutmaster Ted wouldn´t let me because I can´t swim, and Adam was afraid he would sink because of his cast (it´s concrete because we didn´t have any plaster), so he let us take the canoe out. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood.

Scoutmaster Ted isn´t crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn´t even get mad about the life jackets. He has to spend a lot of time working on the bus so we are trying not to cause him any trouble.

Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Andrew dived into the lake and cut his arm, we all got to see how a tourniquet works.

Steve and I threw up, but Scoutmaster Ted said it was probably just food poisoning from the left-over chicken. He said they got sick that way with food they ate in prison. I´m so glad he got out and became our scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time. By the way, what is a pedal-file?

I have to go now. We are going to town to post our letters and buy some more beer and ammo. Don´t worry about anything. We are fine and tonight it´s my turn to sleep in the Scoutmaster´s tent.

Read any good books lately? Here are some titles you might want to look up:

SOME NEW BOOK RELEASES

How to Write Big Books by Warren Peace

The Lion Attacked by Claude Yarmoff

The Art of Archery by Beau N. Arrow

Songs for Children by Barbara Blacksheep

Irish Heart Surgery by Angie O´Plasty

Desert Crossing by I. Rhoda Camel

School Truancy by Marcus Absent

I Was a Cloakroom Attendant by Mahatma Coate

I Lost My Balance by Eileen Dover and Phil Down

Mystery in the Barnyard by Hu Flung Dung

Positive Reinforcement by Wade Ago

Under the Bleachers by Seymour Butts

Shhh! by Danielle Soloud

The Philippine Post Office by Imelda Letter

Things to Do at a Party by Bob Frapples

Stop Arguing by Xavier Breath

Come on In! by Doris Open

The German Bank Robbery by Hans Zupp

I Hate the Sun by Gladys Knight

Prison Security by Barb Dweyer

Irish First Aid by R. U. O´Kaye

I Didn´t Do It! by Ivan Alibi

Why I Eat at McDonalds by Tommy Ayk

ED. NOTE: Yeah, I know: awful puns! And there are more....

FROM THE EDITOR´S DESKTOP

You are undoubtedly waiting with bated breath to hear how the installation of my new windows went last Saturday. It did not go the way I had planned.

Before the workers were due to arrive at 8:00, I tried to lure Hairy into the storage room where his litter box (and a lot of other stuff) is stored, with a view to either having him spend his incarceration in an improvised bed, or to capture him and hand him over to my neighbour for an enforced visit.

He went in, but he was suspicious. He ate the treats I gave him, and enjoyed being brushed in the morning instead of late at night, but when I surreptitiously tried to close the door, he bolted out through a crack and sat looking at me from a distance.

A worker chose that time to arrive, and the cat scooted under the bed. The workman moved the bed, and the cat with it, so he could get at the window, but when he took down the venetian blinds and laid them beside the bed, Hairy streaked out of the bedroom into the living room. There he went to ground under a china cabinet, from where I had no hope of extracting him.

Abandoning any hope of moving him from his hiding space, I got my book and joined him in the living room. The other workers had arrived and were working on the three windows simultaneously: the bedroom, the kitchen, and the dining area. The noise was horrendous, the result of cutting metal frames with a saw, and then driving the screws into the frames to secure them, and pounding the new windows into place. I ignored the noise as well as I could, and managed to read most of a book while the work was being done.

During all that time there was not a sight nor sound from my terrified cat, and even after the work was done, he did not appear again until dinner time. He was skittish all that night and the next day, which fortunately was Sunday so no work was being done. However, the workers started again on Monday, though fortunately they had finished in my apartment. They were renovating the suite next door, and it sounded as if they were ripping up the tiled floor in the bathroom and breaking down walls, though I don´t suppose they were going that far. Whatever it was, they managed to leave black footprints on the hall rug leading from the elevator to the apartment.

Upgrading is all very well, but it does get tedious, and very threatening to a nervous cat. Hairy has been in hiding most of today, frightened by noise that I have become used to over the past month. I do wish he had not had such a traumatic youth!

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Carol Hansen and Catherine Green forward this link to a very funny woman, Mary Maxwell, who was asked to give the invocation at company´´s convention:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPFCn3itBFE&feature=player_embedded

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After looking at a pps file from Gerrit deLeeuw about the Tinamen Mountains in China, I found this site online which shows airplanes flying through a narrow arch, the Gates of Heaven:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu8S5vn6ShI

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Jay sends this link to a wild West video filmed with Shetland ponies. Don´t worry about the ponies: they are sturdy animals and the riders were filmed for only a very short time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI6ZZsRVtW4

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Pat Moore sends this link to unusual museums:

http://www.museumstuff.com/museums/unusual.php

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Pat also sends the URL for a rapid search of eBay:

http://www.getitnext.com/

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If you have not already seen this video of Rick Mercer going through airport security, check it out at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMRe2tusDhQ

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Paleoanthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged looks for the roots of humanity in Ethiopia´s badlands. Here he talks about finding the oldest skeleton of a humanoid child - and how Africa holds the clues to our humanity: