Anemone's arrive

It’s that time again. The time of the Swiss Spaghetti Tree, the Zero G-Day and the left handed Whopper. What am I talking about?

April Fool’s Day of course!

Many people play pranks on 1^st April but not many are really that good. Here is a selection of the better ones across time;

1698: The washing of the lions

Londoners were invited to a ceremonial “Washing of the Lions” in the moat around the Tower of London. People sold tickets for this large public event in which they were asked to enter through the White Gate.

At the time the Head of State kept many animals in the Tower mostly presents from other Heads of State.

Obviously they were never going to wash lions in the moat and also there was no such gate so people quickly found they had been conned. Apparently this con continued for several years with people selling bogus tickets.

1708: The death of John Partridge

Gulliver’s Travels author Jonathan Swift once published a fake set of astrological predictions under a pseudonym. His first prediction was that a celebrity astrologer John Partridge would die on March 29^th at 11pm. On the day he announced that this prediction had come true and news spread slowly of the death.

John Partridge discovered he was supposed to be dead on 1^st April when someone knocked on his door and asked him what special requests he had for his funeral. Despite his protests people didn’t believe he wasn’t dead and would comment on the street that he looked remarkably like someone who had recently passed away.

1878: Edison’s food machine

The year after Thomas Edison invented the Phonograph, the New York Graphic published an article claiming he had invented a food machine that could make biscuits, meat, vegetables and wine out of nothing more that air, water and dirt.

People believed this because he was so admired at the time and many other papers took the story and published it too.

1906: Wave vs. frog

Thousands of residents in Wichita read that the snow melt that year was going to cause an unusual 12-foot high wave to travel down the river just when hundreds of thousands of frogs were going to hatch and travel up river. The locals all turned up to watch the spectacle and waited three hours before they realised it was a hoax.

Some people have a strange sense of fun!

1957: The Swiss spaghetti harvest

This is one of the most famous TV pranks of all time. Richard Dimbleby narrated a BBC programme showing to the world the magnificent crop of Spaghetti grown that year.

Watch the 3 minute programme – it is very well done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVo_wkxH9dU

1976: Zero-G Day

Once again the BBC excelled in the art of April Fool’s Day pranks when Patrick Moore announced that on this day at exactly 9-47 am the gravity of the earth would be weakened due to the crossing of two planets.

It was said that if you jumped off the ground at this time you would float for a moment before gravity kicked in again.

Scores of people called in excitedly claiming to have felt it, including at least one woman who said she floated around her house before landing again.

1998: The left-handed Whopper

Burger King announced that they would now offer a burger for left handed people.

The toppings and condiments would all be rotated 180 degrees on the bun. This would in turn redistribute the weight of the sandwich and make it more comfortable when held in the left hand, according to the announcement.

Orders flooded in across America from people wanting to make sure they got the correctly orientated burger. Only in America!

2014: Why doesn’t America read anymore?

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297690717/why-doesnt-america-read-anymore

Thousands of people commented on the article defending their own book consumption and criticising the over-generalisation shown by the publisher.

Watch out for this year!

Grass Mountain

What a weekend to have Mother’s Day. It was spectacular for just about the whole country. It was almost like summer had arrived. You could hear the flowers breathing out as if they had held their breath all winter.

It was a pleasure to walk outside and feel the sun and breeze at the same time.

How did you spend it?  Getting some fresh air I hope.

We cut the grass with our newly serviced mower for the first time this year. The first cut of the year takes ages. I piled the grass as high as I could but by the time I had cut half the back garden I could not get any more on the pile without it collapsing. There was just too much grass. The mower just about managed to cut the grass on the highest setting. If it was any longer I would have been using a scythe or a pair of shears or buying an animal to eat it.

As I struggled to cut my relatively small lawn, I imagined how long it would have taken to cut down the lawns of some of the large estates in days gone by. If you wanted the lawn to look good you couldn’t use animals and you would have had to employ an army of people to look after it.

The environment is now perfect for Primulas and Primroses. They grow just about everywhere including all the way up the drive. It is hard to get them into the camera but the picture that follows does show them to some degree.

We met Gollum trying on the helmets at the exhibition. This photo is provided with permission - well almost!

For Mother’s Day we took my mum out to visit an exhibition and have a meal.

The Staffordshire hoard is currently on display at the Bristol museum. The display is not massive but the detail in some of the pieces is quite exceptional. It is incredible to think that 1,000 years ago and more, that there were craftsman who could make fantastic gold and garnet inlaid weaponry to the standard found in the hoard. Someone clearly stole the pieces from a number of weapons and then hid them only to die before they came and recovered them.

See the link below. The exhibition is on until 23^rd April 2017.

http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/news/bristol-museum-art-gallery-to-host-globally-important-treasures

Yesterday I ventured into the garden to enjoy the sun for a brief moment when I came across a new hole in our path. A reasonable amount of stones and soil has been dug out and a hole about 3 inches wide has appeared under a step.

What could it be?

How could anything get away with this when we have two eager and hungry cats spending most of their time within feet of the hole?

We have not seen anything appear, so I looked it up on google as you do.

There are many suggestions but sadly the most likely is a rat’s burrow or a mole tunnel. I am hoping it is the later but I fear the former. I have now filled it back in with the soil and stones and wait to see if it is pushed out again. This apparently will confirm the presence of a rat or few – an eventuality that fills me with dread.

Watch this space!

Enjoying the Sunshine!

It is thirty years since the launch of one of the supposed iconic albums of the 1980s. Prince died in April last year, but in 1987 he delivered ‘Sign of the Times’ which is supposed to be one of his best.

This is probably sacrilegious to some people but I was never a huge fan of his, although I have to say that this particular song was a real snapshot of the time.

Have a listen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-aKcxxE5lg

April Showers are kicking in this weekend, so pack your rain coat or take a brolly if you head out.

Have a great weekend!

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