The Polo Season

<div style="text-align: center;">Savoring local sports, </div><div style="text-align: center;">we made our way</div><div style="text-align: center;">to a polo match</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmYd1CPWlYhQrKuxjWGNi2KF1TRCPUWqoA8BxQVXqFUzLDt2uTEc593PjHLa9o9a36ntNH_FZRWr1fwzSsRz1ylrWGLK6bskgn4gRlw3hV1YsQUdaihjjwZrSdR_Ea0PLRNA2L9YGm1u3/s1600/IMG_0073-003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmYd1CPWlYhQrKuxjWGNi2KF1TRCPUWqoA8BxQVXqFUzLDt2uTEc593PjHLa9o9a36ntNH_FZRWr1fwzSsRz1ylrWGLK6bskgn4gRlw3hV1YsQUdaihjjwZrSdR_Ea0PLRNA2L9YGm1u3/s640/IMG_0073-003.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Knowing nothing about the sport,</div><div style="text-align: center;">we were happy we brought a smartphone</div><div style="text-align: center;">to educate ourselves during the day</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We were surprised by how casual the event was</div><div style="text-align: center;">and that some of the teams were co-ed</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We sat in metal bleachers</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">and bought our food/drink from the nearby caravans</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Costing just £5 for the 'picnic ticket',</div><div style="text-align: center;">we found it to be very affordable</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6_ZyWL-Fu7inP0eYwoTD1xRQGi7CIi1JbufO-gSfDhFIWor81XZDrSEXdCOE-Fq5FzuWTnWJFiCqDi_seQtdVO70YAVxi5Uivkzn2k8GW_vFF9fzXUgM7NJTqabAp5Mk3Nw3TiCdGPla/s1600/IMG_0054-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6_ZyWL-Fu7inP0eYwoTD1xRQGi7CIi1JbufO-gSfDhFIWor81XZDrSEXdCOE-Fq5FzuWTnWJFiCqDi_seQtdVO70YAVxi5Uivkzn2k8GW_vFF9fzXUgM7NJTqabAp5Mk3Nw3TiCdGPla/s640/IMG_0054-002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The announcer had hilarious commentary</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We even helped with 'divot stomping' at half-time</div><div style="text-align: center;">just like in the film 'Pretty Woman'</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">All in all,</div><div style="text-align: center;">a great way to spend a few hours with the family</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;">- photos by me -</span></i></div><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Venue: <a href="http://www.hampoloclub.com/">Ham Polo Club</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(an unsponsored post)</span></div><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/35/2FD701A88E1AB920883327F28E3E4BF9.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>

The Polo Season

Savoring local sports,  we made our way to a polo match Knowing nothing about the sport, we were happy we brought a smartphone to educate ou...

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Giddy For Spring

<div style="text-align: center;">Spring has arrived!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lifting everyone's spirits</div><div style="text-align: center;">from such a long dreary winter,</div><div style="text-align: center;">everyone has a new spring in their step<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzeni5k0RV4kSIQ0YvZ8ogDUg5C06UkAn2GBiblTrtXP0V9RriHhb7fPTAknojV_YQqQW6gwR-pY9_RmD8HDhgeMySAIJ8NKy5SrX3YxoYx-cYSlhnjh6YVjpT-_yD5eVAXS9dxJCpvbBa/s1600/DSC05460-003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzeni5k0RV4kSIQ0YvZ8ogDUg5C06UkAn2GBiblTrtXP0V9RriHhb7fPTAknojV_YQqQW6gwR-pY9_RmD8HDhgeMySAIJ8NKy5SrX3YxoYx-cYSlhnjh6YVjpT-_yD5eVAXS9dxJCpvbBa/s640/DSC05460-003.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This brave neighbor filled a bed with Forget-Me-Nots</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I suppose they are so easy to pull out of the ground</div><div style="text-align: center;">and happy to reseed, </div><div style="text-align: center;">why not?<br /><br />Beeeaaauuutttifulllll!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is a long holiday weekend</div><div style="text-align: center;">and the sun is shining,</div><div style="text-align: center;">so I'm running out the door to be outside...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Have a great weekend!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">- photo by me -</span></i></div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/35/2FD701A88E1AB920883327F28E3E4BF9.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>

Giddy For Spring

Spring has arrived! Lifting everyone's spirits from such a long dreary winter, everyone has a new spring in their step This brave neighb...

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From Wigs To Windows

<br /><div style="text-align: center;">Ever wonder why those 18th century wigs went out of fashion?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's a good little story...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9m7An3I_POUmvoRf4vryR8Avz1bvHt0bMIiC6BEKOZ0IWELGdp3hwXpcos1yElv5yxaCtZE5RikzPSiRljf5r0u944baMn4Mm6JeiC9hG7CMVgHTqTSmeNu56ATTyt3hakhOB27HKi-Yf/s1600/518px-George_III_(by_Allan_Ramsay).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9m7An3I_POUmvoRf4vryR8Avz1bvHt0bMIiC6BEKOZ0IWELGdp3hwXpcos1yElv5yxaCtZE5RikzPSiRljf5r0u944baMn4Mm6JeiC9hG7CMVgHTqTSmeNu56ATTyt3hakhOB27HKi-Yf/s400/518px-George_III_(by_Allan_Ramsay).jpg" width="345" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George III (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_iii">wikipedia</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The fashion in the day for men was horsehair (or goat) wigs,</div><div style="text-align: center;">which tended to be scratchy and bug infested</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">They were powdered with finely ground starch</div><div style="text-align: center;">scented with orange flower, lavender or orris root</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">When the government started to tax wigs to help fund</div><div style="text-align: center;">the American War of Independence,<br />men started to ditch the wigs<br />and just powder their own hair by the 1780s<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In 1795, the government taxed the powder,</div><div style="text-align: center;">and out went the wig and powder fashion all together</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile, another interesting tax sprang up</div><div style="text-align: center;">which you still see evidence of in England </div><div style="text-align: center;">and other European countries today</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Window Tax<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphbUz979sFlXb9kwiKZ3F2o__Y6DlgSElCMzXfTrkKs2fs_8Bm5xQRqFywSS1pfbl7v-0xuuWofXYVqQnZumCPso6cqGBWSsKnA1NM6momgYkAn2JAyYUPHUShdMQzAmhX02sVUhNYi5D/s1600/DSC05317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphbUz979sFlXb9kwiKZ3F2o__Y6DlgSElCMzXfTrkKs2fs_8Bm5xQRqFywSS1pfbl7v-0xuuWofXYVqQnZumCPso6cqGBWSsKnA1NM6momgYkAn2JAyYUPHUShdMQzAmhX02sVUhNYi5D/s640/DSC05317.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Introduced by King William III in 1696,</div><div style="text-align: center;">this unpopular tax was seen as taxing 'light and air'</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The thought was </div><div style="text-align: center;">the bigger the house, the more windows it would have,</div><div style="text-align: center;">thus the more tax the occupants would pay</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">A house with fewer than twenty windows could escape the window tax</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This tax was easy to access from the street by tax collectors</div><div style="text-align: center;">so occupants started to brick up their windows</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Although the window tax was repealed in 1851</div><div style="text-align: center;">under Queen Victoria,</div><div style="text-align: center;">you still see evidence of it today</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The horsehair wigs,</div><div style="text-align: center;">not so much</div><div style="text-align: center;">:)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">- photo by me -</span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wig">1</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_Tax">2</a></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/35/2FD701A88E1AB920883327F28E3E4BF9.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>

From Wigs To Windows

Ever wonder why those 18th century wigs went out of fashion? Here's a good little story... George III ( wikipedia ) The fashion in the d...

Read more »