Snowy Snaps (Two New Posts)

Snow in our back garden (of the B&B )
This looks very reminiscent of those snowy scenes in "Peanuts" when Snoopy has snow on his kennel. This time the birds have got their fair share...

A bridge in Longbyre (our hamlet)

This is the section of Hadrian's Wall just down our road - on top of a railway embankment (now disused)

And a close up...

The "Vallum" just over the way. It is in shadow but it comes up in stark relief. It is the ditch and should be called "Fossa" but the Venerable Bede got his Latin mixed up back in the 800s. (Happens to the best of us!). "Vallum" actually means "Wall" and "Fossa" means "Ditch". It is still called "The Vallum" to this day...

Gigantic Swiss Rolls (see my last post...also posted today)...... (just been reminded that they are, in fact, "Artic Rolls"....of course........)

I'm wearing my hat purchased in Hungary and it's coming in handy!

Fancy a bath anyone?

Looking down at Longbyre from the top of the hill...our B&B is on the bottom right at the edge of the hamlet.

Walking the dog...even he looks a tad cold!

School is off! Meetings are off! Is the tax return off????????

Nevertheless we are very happy playing in the snow and enjoying the warmth. Cheers everyone!

A Grand Day Out at The British Museum

Hadrian meets Hadriana: "It's up close and personal now pet!"
Hadrian surveys his new subjects outside The British Museum.

I think it is definitely worth going to the Hadrian Empire and Conflict Exhibition if you have the time, the inclination and the odd denarius (coin) or two!
The exhibition covers Hadrian's whole life, love(s), reign, and grand living quarters (his sumptuous villa/entire town at Tivoli). To his final resting place (Mauseoleum)/Castel San Angelo in Rome.
On the way home in the car. I read this letter from The Daily Telegraph (06/09/08):
Poor gallery layouts undermine visitors’ enjoyment SIR – Like Catherine Adams (Letters, September 3), I also went to Getty Images Gallery after seeing it on your website and was amazed by the clarity and atmosphere of these photographs, as well as the accessibility of the exhibits. I then went to the much-vaunted Hadrian exhibition at the British Museum and was very disappointed – not by the content, but by the display layout. Small exhibits were in cases at waist level. Labels were displayed at knee level with subdued overhead lighting, with the result that, as soon as a visitor leant over to look into the case, no one else could see a thing. He could not read it either, as his shadow was cast over the label. Fortunately, on returning home, I caught Dan Snow’s BBC programme Hadrian, which gave close-ups of the exhibits I had struggled to see, and I watched from the comfort of my armchair. Chris Green, Prestwood, Buckinghamshire
I have to say that the exhibition was jam packed and agree with a lot of the sentiments expressed here. That is a pity because there were a great many interesting exhibits - including some of the famous Vindolanda wooden tablets. I also did see Dan Snow's marvellous programme and I am hoping that I recorded it somewhere. If you can't get to the exhibition...try to see Dan's BBC programme on Hadrian. Well worth a visit!