We Had A Quiet Day,

but in the afternoon Phil called by,

 for a tea and a chat, after saying our goodbyes it was time for our evening meal, for this evening an Indian, we started with poppadom masala as well as onion bhajis, 

 on to our main course, chicken tikka masala, chicken Jaisalmer, Himalayan lamb, and mushroom rice,

 'Cheers!'and tuck in! 

on to our dessert,

Victoria sponge and ice cream, we listened to music for the rest of the evening until the midnight hour, chatting about tomorrow, when we are going steaming, and then we were of to bed.

If You Are Into Star Wars,

this will make perfect sense,

take a concrete dome, like the observatory in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and give it a paint job, image via Hochschule Kaiserslautern,

 and this is what you get,

 Hubert Zitt, an electrotechnology professor at the Zweibrücken University of Applied Sciences, was already known for injecting his lectures with a little pop culture flavor when he decided to take on the project, He’s spent the last few decades traveling the world, speaking at sci-fi conventions on the scientific realism (or lack thereof) in fictional worlds. He even has a class called “The Physics of Star Trek,” where he explores such topics as the feasibility of beaming and warp-drive technologies, image via instagram @ferwen04

Zitt brought together a team of volunteer painters, including his father and some of his students, to complete the transformation in late 2018, as you might imagine, the R2D2 paint job worked, going viral on American and European media and drawing in Star Wars fans from lands (if not galaxies) far, far away, and to make the image compleat just add a bit of cosplay! image via instagram @cpt.maggi

Bricks,

we take them for granted,

 but without them many of our homes would be very different indeed,

 and here is a book celebrating their often unique designs, 

 the Brick Index is a collection of named bricks, 

 and the unseen makers marks stamped by brickworks from across the UK,

 the book features 155 photographed bricks, printed at actual size,

in it there is an introduction from David Kitching, a brick historian and an essay from Professor Rick Poynor, this must be an invaluable aid, if you are a brick collector.

What Have All Of These Covers,

got in common?

 BIGZ (Serbian), 1973

 Kirjastus Eesti Raamat (Estonian), 1971

 Meulenhoff (Dutch), 1970

 Gyldendal (Danish), 1969

 Mondadori (Italian), 1969

 早川書房 (Japanese), 1978

 Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó (Hungarian), 1980

Dell first edition paperback, 1971, if you know your authors you will have guessed it some time ago,

First Edition cover, Delacorte, 1969, the book is Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death, the book turns 50 this week, originally published on March 31, 1969, it has been translated into different languages and with that, its book covers have also been illustrated differently, Emily Temple of Lithub collates 50 different book covers of Slaughterhouse-Five from around the world, I have featured a few here, some are weird to say the least, especially when you think they all have the same book inside the jacket!

Diana Had A Busy Day,

Kai and some of Kai's friends,

 invited Diana to join them on a shopping fest in Bromley, so I had the day to myself, in the afternoon it was feet up for a couple of films, firstly The Thomas Crown Affair, the 1999 version,

followed by a real treat if you like the genre, The Lost City of Z, the true story of a man that formed the basis for the Indiana Jones character amongst others, the man in question Percy Fawcett, if you have time to follow the link here is another one that details his travels and life, a real truelife adventurer and explorer, back to the film, I thoroughly enjoyed it, a tribute to him showing the hardship that he and others including his son endured, if this type of film genre appeals to you then Mountains of the Moon is a 'must watch' film for you,

after Diana return home and our evening meal I was out through the park,

 to meet Steve,

 and pop into the club for a drink or two,

having set the world to rights we said our farewells and I made my way back home passing some of the houses in the park, a nightcap or three and then we were off to bed.

It Looks Like,

two enormous grasshoppers,

 and is in fact an insect-shaped cafe that sits along the popular Auraji rail bike route near Jeongseon, South Korea, 

  the Grasshopper’s Dream is a couple of converted and stacked green train cars that are placed near by the Gujeol-ri train station, each are outfitted with protruding metal legs and thin antennae to give them the look of insects,

 two other landmarks for bicyclists are also situated near the cafe, one pictured above, a pair of equally massive fish and another pair of grasshoppers that are far more cartoonish in appearance,

and what is a rail bike? it is as it's name suggest a bike that sits on a normal railway track, strangely enough we feature an early rail bicycle earlier this month, I have to say these look a lot safer.

Keeping To A South Korean Theme,

14 years ago, 

 South Korean Yeon-woo Jhi was just 20 years old, she was once a skinny, frail girl suffering from panic disorder and struggling to overcome social phobia, photograph SBS, 

but everything changed 14 years ago when she started going to a gym near her house, hoping to get stronger, photograph Yeon-woo Jhi/Instagram,

and did she get stronger! 

as you can see from these two videos,

 Yeon-woo Jhi is an IFBB Pro female bodybuilder with multiple major titles under her belt,

at first She just wanted to stop feeling weak and never imagined that she would one day compete in major bodybuilding competitions, but as her strength and stamina increased, she got more passionate about fitness and eventually decided to show off her toned up physique on stage, Jhi won the first bodybuilding competition she ever entered, and that only inspired her to work harder, She went on to win the Arnold Classic Europe Amateur in 2013, and became a pro in 2015,

 “I started lifting weights 12 years ago. At first, it was just a simple hobby, but in 2010, I was challenged to participate in the Korean National Bodybuilding Competition. I placed first, so I continued to compete,” Yeon-woo Jhi said in a 2017 interview with Oxygen Magazine, “I was very skinny and weak before I started working out, but I really wanted to have big muscles.”

 Yeon-woo Jhi’s unique look has made her very popular on Instagram, where she currently has over 130,000 followers and earned her TV appearances in her native South Korea,

 note to self, must try harder when lifting weights in the morning!

A Couple Of Days Ago,

we were talking about Goths,

the fashion that is, I can not remember why, but today I came across these, Goth Crocs, and yes they are really for sale, from Etsy seller HeavyCreamStore, the pants chain is an optional accessory, I wonder if I should get a pair for the summer? if so I had better be quick, there are only 4 pairs left for sale!

Below There Are Six Illustrations,

all named and all have one thing in common, what is it?

these beautiful illustrations above are just a small selection of the most endangered in each of the USA’s 50 states, all 50 are featured here on this poster below,

it is an exhaustive and also tragic list, with animals ranging from the smallest mouse, to the biggest whale, researched and designed by Braća Burazeri, Duck Knees, and NeoMam Studios UK, the poster was commissioned by NetCredit, unfortunately I can not find out where this beautifully designed but tragic poster is for sale.

As We Had Nothing Else Planned,

we decided on a day out,

 to Godstone,

 we parked by the village pond,

for a couple of photographs,

 Diana looking as lovely as ever, 

 well I had to get in as well, shame about the tree growing out of my head! 

 looking across the football pitch, 

 which many years ago in the summer a few of us used to visit, when the cricket season was in full swing, and have a pint by the green watching the game,

looking back to the pond,

 and the White Hart,

 we made our way around the triangle of houses and shops which is the center of the village, passing a few homes,

 with attractive window boxes,

 The Green Rooms, we will be calling in later, 

 just around the corner on the other side of the road, a GPO telephone box,

 outside of the Hare and Hounds,  

 we passed by looking back,

 and crossed the road to the main shopping area, and looked in the antique shop but nothing took our fancy,

 so into The Green Rooms we went for our lunch,

 lots of triple cake stands, but afternoon cream teas have to be ordered a day in advance,

 a quick pose by Diana,

 the management had a sense of humour! 

it was as good as this one in another restaurant,

 we ordered a pot of tea, 

 our table was overlooked by a cat,

 Diana chose Jeremy's breakfast, 

 muffins covered with scrambled eggs, fried mushrooms and bacon, with black pudding if required,

 the breakfast/lunch was huge,

for myself a salmon sandwich with a most delicious homemade coleslaw and salad, 

 meal over I had to have a pose,

 or two, 

 or three,

 or four!  

 next stop Polhill Garden Center,

 past the windmill,

 and park up,

 by the cherry blossoms. 

 for myself no visit to Polhill, 

 would be complete,

 without a helping of whelks, especially nice when sitting in the sun,

 the last time we were here a giraffe was on display, today elephants,

 we went past the shop, Diana called in to buy some biscuits and almond macaroons which we both like,

 we had a look around,

 and I noticed these, I am not sure what their latin name is, but they certainly looked different,

 as did this orchid,

 with its bright blue flowers, 

 I made my way,

 past the bonsai section,

 to the spring flowers,

 and planted pot section,

 many of which looked so nice,

 in a variety of colors,

 like this one in red,

 or yellow,

 so many to chose from,

 I just wish we had more room,

 a quick look at the water features,

 then back past the pansies,

 and splendid they looked too,

a Mothers day gift, a heart of succulents, 

 one of Diana's favorite flowers, a carnation,

 after arriving home with a pint of whelks which we freeze for snacking on over the next few weeks, it was upstairs to do a bit more painting, now Diana mind your head,

too late!

 the new safety rail,

 and door now fitted, I gave the door it's first coat tonight,

 and gave the boxes hiding the protruding pipework,

their second coat,

 next brown for the door hinges, 

 and a second coat for the bars that tie the 'A' frames into the ceiling and floor,

the last job of the afternoon, the first coat for the floor joists that the 'A' frames are secured into, in the early evening Matt called by to discuss the latests rounds of repairs to the building, it must be well over 120 years old, so maintenance is ongoing, next the electrician called by to give us a quote on installing our three ceiling lights in the living room, so hopefully in a couple of weeks time they should be in place, after our evening meal it was a few game and antiques shows, 

then a double helping of New Tricks and we were then off to bed.