Knobs and Dials - Thematic Photography

Looking round our home this theme look as if it would be easy - but very mundane.

There was no need for me to get hot under the collar as - 

The temperature is controlled

Some kitchen knobs get regular use.

Guess who gets to clean the wood.

When it comes to food there is a choice between

Cooker

or

Microwave

Then there are controls which I find difficult to select on the

The washing machine

It's simpler if I take the hint to freshen up - 

In the shower

I can take the time to check the score at the Open Golf.

But that was the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills in 2004

I can get a reminder each day to make better use of my time by a house in our village.

Sundial cottage

Carmi set the Knobs & Dials theme over at Thematic-photographic-414. Check it out for other contributions and/or have a go yourself.

Aged - Thematic Photography

I could have just stayed in my office for this 'Aged' theme. After all everything will be modern when compared with what normally sits in a saucer on my desk.

Ammonites (Cf to a Biro top)

When it comes to buildings these two are fairly 'aged.'

Church House at the right, Sundial Cottage in the middle

The date on the sundial says 1786. At the left is a modern extension to the cottage.

This looks like a modern cottage

Until you read the plaque on the wall dating it to

Carved stones from the Church of St Martin and St Hilary date back to 810. As St Martin was once a Roman soldier then  parts are truly ancient. Anglo Saxon and Viking stones from the Church from the 200 years before the Norman invasion are on display in a local museum.

St Martin and St Hilary

Next to the entrance porch to the Church stands a gravestone that has seen better days.

I wonder whether worshippers used to bring their horses to church in the days before motor cars.

Horse trough (Or ancient coffin?)

But when it comes to the oldest things I have a small collection to go with the first three fossils you saw.

Large ammonite

That's a 10p coin at the right next to the ammonite from my first picture. The fossil which looks like a hook is a gryphea.

I wonder how many million years it took for the calcite to be deposited in the animal's body cavity.

I've aged enough to be considered an old fossil by some but modesty forbids me from including a picture of myself.

So for more aged items you need to follow the links at Carmi's thematic-photographic-339

Life's Clocks - Sepia Saturday

At an early age we are taught to tell the time often using a cardboard clock on which the hands may be changed, aided by nursery rhymes like Hickory Dickory Dock.

You may even be led to believe that you can tell the time by blowing

A Dandelion Clock

(By Marco27 - CC A-S A 2.0 generic license)

But when I went to Stamford School in Lincolnshire life was ruled by the School clock and the bell.

Stamford School and Chapel

Just so that there can be no mistake here's the clock and the bell.

Clock and Bell

If I hadn't learnt the lesson then I'm reminded every day I walk up my village lane.

Sundial Cottage

It may be difficult to tell the time by this due to the shadows cast by the ivy and the climbing plant but when I get to the town of Yarm there is no confusion.

Yarm Town Hall (built 1710)

By coincidence I was in Yarm today to replace the battery in my watch which was losing several minutes a day. You could say I did it at the eleventh hour.

Had it stopped I'm sure someone would have said 'I told you so.'

If I could tell you - W H Auden

These days a lot of people check the time  and play games on their smart phones; mine just makes calls. I used to play clock patience with a pack of cards, but now like many others it's just Hearts and Spider Solitaire on a computer.

We don't have a clock like this.

De Scott Evans Grandfather's Clock (1891 oil on canvas)

Private Collection - The Athaneum - De Scott Evans (1847-1898)

Which reminds me that I'm a grandad 

Grandfather's Clock

Next weekend we are to attend a memorial service for a couple we knew who died earlier this year. You may remember John Hannah in Four Weddings and a Funeral reciting these words.

Stop all the clocks

Now I guess it's time for you to check out what other time travellers have posted at Sepia-saturday-141

Clock In For Sepia Saturday

In the days before clocks you had to devise other means to tell the time:

Sundial Cottage, Kirklevington

At this university the students, including my daughter, had no excuse for being late to lectures:

Birmingham University

You may have to look hard to check the time when sight seeing in Holland:

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

It's not much clearer in this university town where my daughter spent a year:

Freiburg, Germany

But nearer home everything becomes much clearer:

Yarm Town Hall Clock (Not taken in 1710)

Clock in for more at Sepia Saturday 72

Letters - Thematic Photography

Several days a week I walk from my village to get a newspaper from a local garage; the round trip is almost four miles. In that short distance there there is  lot of scope for letters:

I don't know if the owner of the cottage behind this gate is a railway fanatic but it might be a mistake to ignore the warning:

Then on his outbuildings the trains come into view:

I hope you can see the letters on the weather vane - the train is, I believe, Stephenson's Rocket.

But I'm sure that you will have heard of this:

Further up the lane is the oldest house in the village with a timepiece on the front:

Sundial Cottage

The cottage is older than the date the sundial and older too than the cottage across the road:

In the pub car park at the top of the lane is a collection box;

The pub was once a coaching inn on a turnpike road between Thirsk and Yarm. A royal welcome can still be expected here:

 

And finally before I turn for home some gates emblazoned with a motto:

In checking whether this meets Karen's concinnity test all that I have found out is that 'Virtus Sola Nobilitas' - virtue only enobles - is on the coat of arms of the Throckmorton family and  the Clan henderson motto is 'Sola Virtus Nobilitat.'

Learn more  at: Carmi's thematic-photographic-135-letters.