Hull and some junk and art.

 We finished up our knickerbocker glorious ice creams and headed out into Hull to see the city of culture. We started at the University of Hull to look at Quaker records from the 1600s. I thought I could decipher hand writing and language from 400 years ago. actually I had not given it enough thought. And this day I found that I could not. So we went for lunch to catch up on the last thirty years and then the few junk shops and charity shops that Hull had to offer. I did manage to buy a sparkly photo frame and a Monster high doll on the way around....and then we headed to the art gallery to see the Turner prize contestants.

A street called Land of Green Ginger?  Yes this is a street in Hull.
There once was a land that nobody believed existed. And every day people passed by it or around it or over it or through it, but never once saw it or felt it or heard it or knew any person or thing in it. Until, one day, the land revealed itself…

The land of Green Ginger in Hull contains a pub with the smallest window. It is just a slit used by the gate keeper to check on stage coaches and customers at the George Hotel......
So why is it called the land of Ginger? well there is a story that between 1640 and 1735 it became the land of green ginger because ginger spice was stored there. There is also a novel "land of Green ginger" by Winifred Holtby.  1927.

"Joanna Burton was born in South Africa but sent by her missionary father to be raised in Yorkshire. There she dreams of the far-off lands she will visit and adventures to come. At eighteen, tall and flaxen-haired, she meets Teddy Leigh, a young man on his way to the trenches of the First World War. Joanna has been in love before - with Sir Walter Raleigh, with the Scarlet Pimpernel, with Coriolanus - but this is different. Teddy tells her he's been given the world to wear as a golden ball. Joanna believes him and marries him, but the fabled shores recede into the distance when, after the war, Teddy returns in ill health. The magic land turns out to be the harsh reality of motherhood and life on a Yorkshire farm. Yet still she dares to dream."

(from little. brown book group)

Hull Minster and Trinity square where there is a huge art sculpture installation........

It is huge and designed as a climax of Hull's culture programme. "hall for Hull" features 16, six metre high steel columns placed in a grid outside the Minster.

Each one has space inside for mini exhibitions and displays which are illuminated at night.

They are the work of Chilean based design and architecture practice Pezo Von Ellrichshausen who won a competition . 

This is massive......

This is my fave photo that I took of this on the day.........
Then on to Hull art Gallery to see the Turner prize exhibition......a free exhibition which we headed to next.

Andrea Buttner was born in 1972 in Stuttgart, Germany. She studied at Royal college of art, London.

her topics include botony Catholicism, philosophy  and art history. she is celebrated for her bold use of woodcut and glass painting. subjects of shame, vulnerability poverty and embarrassment run through out her work.....

Hurvin Anderson. Born in 1965 in Birmingham and studied art at Wimbledon school of art and the Royal college of Art, London. Born to Jamacian parents in Birmingham, he draws his inspiration from his community and identity, his Jamacian heritage, and art. his work pays homige to afro -caribean migrants and explores cultural history.

lubaina Himid....born in 1954 in Zanzibar, Tanania and studied at Wimbledon college of art and Royal college of art. her work celebrates black creativity and references the slave trade and its legacies.

What looks to me like Junk shop finds which are then painted.

I commented that I wish we had thought of this earlier as there was loads of this stuff we saw in the junk shops........
After this we had a quick look at the permanent exhibitions and the shop......

These are some of the pictures I liked .....

Peter Howson. Mr Great Heart (1996)  used as an album cover by the band The beautiful South.  Quench. "How long does a tear take to dry?"

The reflections in the glass of this picture make it even more weird!

We still had some time left before my train home...so we went to the Maritime museum to see the whales.

Quakers and on the way to lunch at Wetherspoons.

This is what I came to Hull to see. Quaker records from the 1600s.

 I eventually got to Leeds train station. We all set off in the Fonz car in what I thought would be plenty of time. But it wasn't. Fortunately this is the days of mobile phone complete with live train apps so I could see that the train I was stressing about was delayed anyway.
The traffic is horrific in rush hour, and so was the train station. by the time I got to the platform I was a foaming mess. I was late and the train was a good deal later yet.
I messaged to say I was delayed. I did get to Hull and I got on the right train going in the correct direction. I was only half hour later.
I knew I was on the right train as Selby and the Humber bridge appeared through the window.I have not travelled by train for a good ten years. It stresses the hell out of me. I have no sense of direction. Not a lot of sense at all for that matter...

 The Humber Bridge...now this was a bit of a relief, as I was on the right train. The announcements were quite clear. So why did I not believe them.???I only panicked slightly more when the announcer apologised for the delay and said to report any strange packages.

 Coming into Hull and walking from the train to the exit. I had no idea what so ever where i was going. The last time I visited Hull was about 1979 when I went to see a friend at University. I can not even remember what the place was like at all. so arriving was a new place to me.

 Gill was waiting at the exit and jumped on me before I got chance to look around. After all these thirty years she had not really changed at all. Now in 2017 she had long hair......"you have hair!" i squealed. then we both squealed and had a hug.

Then off we went in to Hull. The Quaker records beckoned.

 Gill and I met with a squeal. followed by a hug. it has been nearly 30 years, so we just carried on the conversation just as if there had been no break. mind you we do message on facebook . still after all this time we are mystified as to why we took photos of each other as if in a murder scene in Bath . still....we might never know the answer to that one, as neither of us can remember the 1980s that well.
So first call...the Quaker records at Hull university.  Gill came with me ....and we whispered in the reading room which was otherwise a quiet reading room. considering we had so much to catch up on perhaps this was not the best of venues. 
We both looked at the old old old Quaker records from the 1600s and very quickly came to the conclusion that we were looking for something that very likely was not there.

 So we went out into Hull city centre to find what was out there to be explored in this year of 2017.....

 All the way we talked away......and first we went into one of Gill's Fave churches. Yes she does that too.......

 A very Catholic church. Can not beat a good Catholic church for atmosphere and ambience!

 This church left me in no doubt that I am a sinner and should turn to God immediately. Like Whitby church...if you have no religious tendancies on entering you sure will when you feel the hell fire singing your back end as you leave......

 Quite something. We had it all to ourselves. We continued our conversation from 1980 but whispered in the face of the lord. This is his house though I think he was out this day.

 The light! light in such a way that scares and inspires all at once.

 The alter. I am only a poor sinner.......

 I turned and took one last photo and then onwards to lunch.

 We did not know why these student types were walking and then running around this sculpture....but they were. Gill informed me that the holes in this structure form patterns and letters on the ground in light when the sun shines through. May be this was a sun ritual!? any way by now we were hungry, and the need to catch up on the stuff not on facebook was urgent. Love life and marriage and divorce. we are both very talented in these areas. thirty years is a lot of drama to impart.

 some lovely buildings........... So to Wetherspoons. Not the most exotic but I know what I am getting . So we paid our money and took our chances.

 We did first marriages with the baked potatoes.......

 Then realised we were about half way through the story and ordered a second course for the rest of the tales.....

Knickerbockers in glory x2......who cares about divorce. we stopped talking and ate the ice cream. priorty!!!

Thats the other thing about Wetherspoons.....the buildings are always worth a look.

After lunch we headed off into the city of Hull to discover the art and culture which it is now famous for. The maritime museum and the art gallery hosting the Turner prize enrtys for 2017.
This is as much as I have time for at the moment, The news is full of President Trump ending the world and my mortgage needs to be sorted out. so over to Otley we go and to walk Monza the dog.

Halloween, Hospital and Hull time.

 Halloween Hospital and Hull time. not totally in that order. We did the hospital part this morning. I made sure that I had the day off as Lee can not be trusted to go to hospital on his own. It is not that he will not go to the appointment or turn up late it is that he does not always tell the doctors all the problems and therefore he does not get the treatment he needs.
So first as ever we walked Monza. Rather quickly today as it is still very windy and cold, and time was trucking along and we needed to get going to Chapel Allerton Hospital. Monza was most disappointed at being left at home. As we were parking on the street ....Lee refuses to pay parking fees in the safe hospital car park and parks on the street . This is okay if you have a worthless banger of a car that has been blown up twice, but anything of value will disappear even in day light hours. So leaving a pedigree German Shepard in the car is not a good idea.
Once at the hospital Lee checked in and waited.....and waited. eventually there was a note written on the white board by a nurse saying BWF running 3/4 of an hour late.  "what is a BWF? " I asked ...."and are we a BWF?"
Any way, To cut a long story short. The doctors and the Professor are pleased with Lee but very concerned about his mental well being. The loss of the van and the stress of neighbour shouting and threatening abuse and violence have taken their toll. Lee is not sleeping properly and therefore very vulnerable. They have taken him off Methatrexate for 8 weeks and prescribed a sleeping pill.
Apart from that all is going well with his new meds. There was a student in the room too, so when his hands were examined, the student also examined them too....Lee is to be sent for a scan to check on inflammation, and he was offered counselling as he appears slightly depressed.
The Professor himself came into the room and asked Lee some questions and made the decision to stop his methatrexate. I looked it up a bit later and one of the side effects ii depression.....so this is first action.

 On the way home we stopped off at Kirkstall and bought some halloween decorations and some food as an after thought and home.
I then put up some Halloween decorations. It is my fave time of year. Much more fun than Christmas to me.

 Some dolls I made for other years...and some decorations that came from part of a "tip job" when we still had the van.

 I have loads more stuff to get out, but that will have to wait. As tomorrow I go to the Quaker archive in Hull, and I have to get all my dates and people straight so that I can quickly find what I am looking for. Hopefully...and I really do hope....that this will finalise this story. Either the information on Edmund Mauleverer will be there or not. If it is not, I have to wonder where all the stuff on "the ancestry" web sites comes from on the internet. So tomorrow I will see for myself.
I am quite nervous actually as I have never searched an archive of historical stuff before. This is actual books and hand written papers from 1600s not microfilm or computers. So here goes.
The other part of the day is that I am to meet an old school friend that I have not seen since 1980. Well we think it is possibly 1980, as we took a series of photos and I think the stuff in the background relates to my time at Bath Academy of Art, which would have been summer 1980. Gill came to stay with me in Bath. The memory is a bit hazy...however we did amuse ourselves by taking photos. Why we chose to feature murder scenes and ketchup as blood I can not now recall. But we did and the photos still exist and have stood the test of time.......

 As the sun goes down, i set my alarms for even earlier than usual. my usual is that I am up anyway. this day i need to make sure.

Hull time on the train.

Winter is coming.

 Still dark it was when I left the house....

So I had to wait.

Winter is coming. I have to put the garden to bed and bring in all my precious plants that do not like the Yorkshire nippy air.
In fact it is very nippy today. I woke up and pulled the covers back around me and dared myself out of bed.

I put on clothes over pyjamas and a coat and boots and went out. the cold filtered through a bit but I kept on moving. Lots of people were out...I even saw dogs with flashing christmas collars this morning as the sun came up.

The boat club hut was open and I could see the kettle boiling through the door. People are members of this model boat club for the tea...not an interest in model boats. it is a stopping point on walks around the Tarn on chilly mornings. the old giy who is always out on the bench actually is not a member....he just sits on their bench. He can not have tea as he will not pay the 50p a year membership fee.........
Any way...there I was in my hidden pyjamas taking photos of my Bratz doll in the chilly wind and I heard a voice...
"What yer doing wi that doll!?"then.."how are yer? we just goin round the tarn then havin a cuppa"
said the voice of a lady called Wholly.
She is called Wholly as she has a business selling Wholly jumpers with Christmas motifs on them.

I was later this morning. This is what happens!......

So home...tea and more tea...back into bed to warm feet under a hairy dog and then regale Lee with my blog.