Jeremiah Watt

DAY1- My son Pine, turned 16 in January right after the Denver Market Show which JWP always attends. And since Dad is almost always in Denver on his birthday, we decided to do something just a little different for the 16th birthday of this fine young man. At the invitation of a long time friend and guide out in New Mexico, we decided to take in a cow Elk hunt out on the plains of the Vermejo Ranch.

Right after we were done with the Denver Market Show, we tore down the display booth and once packed we were on the road south to Gene & Nancy Klein’s in Miami New Mexico. Now I have told you here that he is a friend and a guide, but many of you may also know of him as one of the finer Bit & Spur makers out there today, and his silver work isn’t too bad either. We arrived at Genes rather late, like 1:am late. I sort of half expected that the next day was a recupe day, but after arriving Gene then informed us that a large storm was moving in and we had better get to hunting that morning by 5am.

JW is not a morning person, and due to genetics it seems that Pine got my morning welcoming abilities. But boy howdy, he and I can sure stay up with the Owls when needed. So 5:am it was, rolling out, dressing warmly and wondering all the while why we didn’t just stay with our diet of wieners………………which by the way can be eaten in bed.
With the sleep rubbed out of our eyes, a cup of coffee down the gullet, I kissed my wife and told here with any luck we would hit an Elk with the truck and be back in an hour. From Gene’s house we headed sort’a north and west to a place called Ponil Creek which lays due west of Cimarron. Cimarron is also know for the largest youth camp in the world, which is based out of the Philmont Ranch.

The sky was just beginning to realize it also needed to accept the arrival of the impending morning, and from the farthest reaches in the east you could see first light creeping in to invade the darkness which had rested for the night. Edges of clouds were being tinged with red and orange as we unlocked the gates that received us into the fold to hunt for that day. The ice slicked blacktop gave way to the dull crunch of gravel, as I swung the gate aside and allowed the red hunting truck its entry, the wind blew and cut my Canadian skin like a knife, my bare fingers turned to bowling pins………….all this in mere seconds and I am wondering, “what sort’a wieney am I, shoot, I am from Canada from a land where even the women have a healthy mustache………..dang, I grew up in this sort of cold, yet I cannot by my will turn it away?”

I thanked God right there on the spot when I climbed into Genes old red hunting truck, as he began this short dialogue that explained his heater was broken, as a matter of fact it was stuck on high………..There is a God…………and that if we got too hot we were welcome to roll the windows down. I noticed that day, that not Pine nor I ever touched our windows…………….further genetic proof of my Fatherhood. The gravel road turned to a path, and then a trail and then a guess at times as to exactly where it was. Our first light eyesight needed some fine tuning, Pine and I had trouble differentiating between trees and Elk, between a willow clump and a mountain…………Gene seemed to be acting quite normal, so we drank some more of his coffee hoping for a cure to our problems.

The creek bed, was also the hot bed for the Elk we intended to hunt and on that we kept at least one sharp eye as we slowly drove out thru the flats of Ponil Creek. To our far right side we spotted what looked like maybe 50 -75 head of Elk attempt to cross a far distant road. Each time the Elk herd got started over the fence, a car would come along and divide them into smaller groups, until at last there was a small group of maybe 10 cows left on our side of the fence, these began heading for shelter amongst the willows that line Ponil Creek. We started with that small group, taking our time to wind our way over towards their last location. The warm red truck came to a stop down in a small arroyo (for folks back home in Canada and Rio Linda CA, an ARROYO is like a small gulley or wash). We talked about the battle plan, the sneak and the tactic once we spotted the Elk, and with that clear we stepped from the cab. Each of us had left Gene’s house that morning with 2 jackets on, I noticed when we got out now that I had 3 jackets, Pine had 3, and gene had a good heavy Tee-Shirt………..Pine and I both smiled………..we felt good about the prospects, and the added warmth. The wind didn’t seem too bad while we remained low in the arroyo, but the moment we rose above its protective banks and out into the wind it cut thru us like a sharp Saber.

We walked as far as the frigid wind would allow, our cheeks burned, and our fingers numb, we finally turned and headed for the shelter and warmth of the truck. It was 10 below zero, and a 25 mile per hour wind, no matter what we wore it cut strait to the marrow. The willows that day proved to be too thick, I walked them several times attempting to chase the Elk out towards the unprotected margins, and each time I failed as I could hear the Elk circling behind and in front of me, but never within eyesight. We did see Elk, but we never got close. The further along the day progressed the heavier the sky became, and the duller the afternoon sun as it struggled to overpower the lead grey clouds which skudded by on the ferocious winds. The closest we got to a cow Elk that day, was the white scut of a cow as it sought refuge amongst the thick red willows which cloaked Ponil Creek.
We retired that night to a warm house and a fine meal of Elk Tenderloin and good company of Gene and Nancy, we opened a few presents with Pine and gladly ate his birthday cake. Nobody refused the bed early that night, and both of us were eager to start our hunt early the next day.

DAY2- began about the same time, the day would prove to be clear and sunny, even thought the morning sky was heavy with cloud from the storm of the day before. We unlocked the gate to Ponil Creek at almost the same time, the headlights were turned off and we rolled quietly along the then gramma grass covered flats of Vermejo. Interspersed amongst the gramma grass and abundant ground cover type Cactus were large groups of Antelope and Buffalo, which placidly grazed as we drove past. The Buffalo seemed impervious to the cold wind that tore at their long brown hair, they looked to be as content as if they were grazing in the Bahama’s.
“Right there” said Gene, as a large finger pointed to our right out on a distant flat. We could all see three cows walking up out of the bed of Ponil creek and up onto the immense gramma grass flats which make its closest topographical neighbour. The Elk, some mile or so distant to us, walked in what appeared to be a parallel path to our own, what made it even worse, was they knew of our presence as soon as they arrived out on the flats. It was Gene’s suggestion, that he and Pine try to put the sneak on this group. Out in front of our location some 200 yards was an old ditch which had been dug decades before and for who knows what form of irrigation project. With the ditch as cover, they felt they would be able to move along and intercept the Elk on their present route. My job, since I was not shooting, was to stay with the truck and move along if it looked like the Elk panicked and decided to run off before we could intercept them.

The sneak, was long and slow, taking some 45 minutes to get to within maybe 200 yards of the Elk. Now, from my position back at the truck, looking thru a pair of binoculars, I kept wondering why Pine did not shoot. I would later find out that neither Gene nor Pine could ever get a clear sighting of the Elk, due to some heavy weed cover that blocked their view. The Elk, finally realized that something was afoot, they decided to run for a little more protective cover.
With Pine and Gene back in the truck, I heard all about how close they actually were, but how poorly they could see the Elk. We had a little coffee and a little of the sausage that Gene had cooked that morning and talked over plan B. The sun was breaking out in large scale, the day warmed to maybe 25 degrees and the wind began to abate, all while plan B came to life and we drove towards Cedar Hills. The hills lay to our north, and were a well known hang out for Elk during the winter months along Ponil, we no sooner but got to the foot of the hills and we jumped about 50 Elk which promptly broke into two groups and took flight in opposing directions. The herd of Elk that we chose to follow headed almost due north towards the snow capped Gallina’s mountains that form a barrier between the last of the big 14,000 foot mountains and the continuation of the continental divide as it menders south in its diminished capacity.

Our Elk as we came to call them, made their way to a small creek bed whose course wandered aimlessly amongst the almost imperceptible topographical changes to this plains area of Vermejo Ranch. Our only hope it seemed was to get down into this shallow dry creek bed, and use both bank and Willow, when present, affording us scant coverage to close the distance between ourselves and our prey. For almost 2 hours we trailed along behind the multiple foot prints of the Elk we had spotted earlier, each opportunity we found, we would scan the horizon for the cows we had set our hopes on. At one point in our approach, we arose from the coverage of the creek bed with stealth, only to be facing 3 nice bull Elk not more than 50 yards and totally unaware of our presence. What a site, what an awesome experience for a young man to be so close., and yet held back from that which he desired to do. To be able too do no more than admire the hand of creation……………….someday, came a low murmur…….someday.

Finally the dry creek bed came to its feeble end, as if all Gods creation were poured down into a humble rabbit hole at the base of a squat salt cedar our here on the plains amongst Cactus and Gramma grass. A bright blue expanse of sky and sunshine rienged over the 1500 yards between us and the cows we had been following now for some 2 hours. While a snipers “Gilly Suit” may have offered us the camouflage we would needed, nothing short of a Kevlar crawl matte would protect us from the constant presence of Cactus spine which paved the flat geography between us and the cows. Not to mention that the cows had our scent to their noses, they knew we were present and had chose to laydown with that advantage in their faces.
We slowly, and somewhat disinterestedly made our way back to the truck, all thoughts were on how we should or could close the gap to the cows without giving up our location. The scent carrying wind, and the flat terrain all seemed to be working against our best intentions and attempts. We had a coffee break, and ate a little sausage to give us time to gather our thoughts and compare our plans. Finally, it was the local knowledge of our friend and guide that won out over Pines idea of an aerial bombardment of sometype.

Gene placed the truck some 1000 yards due north of the now laying Elk herd, and with the heads of the Elk completely hidden from our view by a 20 inch swale in the ground, we commenced our surreptitious approach. Bent at the waist, and carrying our gun and pack, we made our way ever so slow and quiet, each few hundred yards we would check on the only evidence afford us of the Elk’s presence, that being the twitching tips of their ears when we raised to our knees to view them. And again we would crouch low and move in their direction……………our panting breath disappeared into the warm afternoon air not too belie our approach. That dreaded time arrived, when the low ground swale would no longer mask the approach of a man’s intent and we would have to resort too a belly crawl amongst the cactus if we would close that last 500 hundred yards to a vantage point from which we could get a shot. Inch by inch we made our way, with each squirm of our bodies we could see more and more of the exposed Elk, soon the time would come to mount the gun and take our shot………300 yards gave way to 250 which gave way too 200, and now the Elk are agitated and on their feet.

They cannot tell what we are, but they do seem to understand it is not a good presence.
Under Gene’s quiet tutelage, Pine slowly pushes a small back pack up and under the fore-stock of the custom built 308 caliber gun, it’s sleek silver barrel projects forward like a muscular arm which reaches out for one of those cow Elk. Pine’s breathing slows audibly, his youthful bright eyes focus on the nervous Elk, his hat brim set low to block out anything that would run interference and commit confusion with the shot. Take your time came Gene’s voice, and very slowly squeeze the trigger on the last cow in the group, its some 225 yards out Pine, when she turns broadside slowly squeeze while holding about 8 inches up under her front leg. I have shot thousands of rounds out of guns, and done so for better than 40 years now. Maybe it was my location to the right of Pine by some four feet, maybe it was the cool air which we were hunting in, I am not sure. But I distinctly heard the entire searing flight path of that shot thru the chill air, and then the resonant “THUNK” of a confirmed hit.

The Elk staggered, made a few more missteps but did not go down as we had hoped and expected. Instead she simply walked straight away from our location, and she did so being drawn by the remaining cows which had run some 200 yards distant from her. Slowly one step at a time, she walked as if along a tight rope, strait away from our sequestered location. “Lets just wait a minute”, came Gene’s reassuring voice, “She will soon present herself for a second shot, so Pine get mounted behind your gun, and be ready for that moment when she turns”. Gene then blew a low plaintive call from his mewing cow Elk call. Our subjects ears wiggled back and forth, she knew we had called but gave no profile shot of herself………….now some 400 yards distant from our location, and Gene gave Pine the go ahead shot from directly behind, place it just below her tail scut and right between her hams………………..a second shot broke the sound barrier on that crisp clear day in New Mexico. Only this time, our Elk took a heavy fall and lay with her head only partly raised. We waited, and Prayed that she would be at her end there in the dry Gramma grass of the infamous Maxwell Land Grant. A mew, then another from the herd of elk out in front of her, and she was soon on her feet and once again walking directly away from us, being drawn as if by magnet towards her kin and her Cedar Hill refuge. Now 500 feet pass us by, then 600 and on out to 700 yards distant from us……….We need to put a kill shot into her Pine came Gene’s reassuring voice, she is close but still has the strength to run if we give her a reason to do so. That last shot came at just over 700 yards, and was finally the clean heart stopping shot required to bring this wonderful hunt to an end.

We Prayed a Prayer of thankfulness, we rejoiced in the friendship we all had the chance to share, and we watched as the rest of the Elk seemed to stay just distant enough to be safe, yet close enough to take in all that happened. Call it anthropomorphism, call it curiosity, I am not real sure, but I do know that they took in every movement we made in our preparing of the cow to be transported home.
So came the end of a great first hunt. The elk was hung, and allowed to freeze solid and then we packed and headed to sunny California. To Gene and Nancy, we are forever thankful for their friendship and generosity. And, to the Lord for his creation and Blessings in all our lives. Pine’s birthday came to pass, it was a great 16th.

Good night and God Bless
Jeremiah

NOTE- I should make it known that my friend Gene is what is called a Master Marksman, regularily shooting in 1000 yard competitions around the USA. The gun that my boy shot, was entirely handmade by Gene Klein, it is a 308 caliber mounted with a Leupold Scope. Gene builds these rifles as a custom item from his shop. You can contact Gene & Nancy Klein at 505-483-2922

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Near to the last of our time to wander the streets of London, still several things to yet see and so little time. So let’s get going, we got the coffee hot2go at ………….yes Burger King. Not a lot of things open real early in England it seems, but these American franchises open early as they do back home.

We heade to the St James Palace, which is where the Palace Horse Guard are stationed. These guys are real sharp looking, and for me have the most charm or character, what, with all the long horse hair on the helmet and the drawn saber………it’s a given.

Being a history buff, the next stop was the Cabinet War Room, where Winston Churchill settled himself under the streets of London so he could more adeptly run the Great War. This is quite a statement of the cramped quarters and difficulties under which Churchill and his crew had to work. It was one of the better stops of the entire trip, but then I do love history and others do not.

West Minister Abbey, is a must stop for all who hit the streets of London, not as impressive as some of the other Abbeys we had seen in other cities of the UK. But still, given the importance of what has taken place at this Abbey over the years, it has a substantial place in English history.

Next stop on this rather whirl wind day tour was the House of Parliament, set on the river bank which I will assume is a real difficult place to protect during times such as we live in. None the less, they are huge and impressive. Nobody in that place rides horses, so need less to say we didn’t know anyone important sitting inside that may invite us in for a look around and visit.

On from there to the Imperial War Museum which was as stated a Museum dedicated to the art and events of War, all of them. It was a 3 or 4 floor Museum, and it has so many very interesting displays. Amongst them was a display on the Spy’s of the world, and that was very cool and had so many very cool items and talk-through audio tours. Then on up to the Holocaust portion of the Museum. We had already done the tours in Germany and Poland, which was and is a highly recommended tour, but this addition to the history of the Jewish Holocaust was incredible.

Now we had need to hit a few streets of Antique dealers, and on that route we once again headed past the St.James Palace………………oh my God, oh……….oh, my God I can’t believe it…………………it’s like so absolutely incredible…………..of my dear God…………I clamped a hand over Darren’s mouth to silence him. There’s no telling what folks walking past may have thought, he was carrying on like a cheerleader, thank goodness he didn’t have any Pom-Poms. So what you ask was the hulla-ballou…………well, the “stiffasapokerredhatfuzzyhattedguards” were on duty. Darren was just over the top aboput it all………..and we had no medication to give him.

We placed the folks beside the very willing Guard, not a motion was made by him……….till we stood Darren next to him. Then the Guard, after seeing Darren’s antics just yards away from him and just moments ago……………the Guard, got that Oh My God look in his face. He took it all in stride and was cool about it………..I did notice he had a pleasant smile on his face when Nevada moved in for her picture………oh, well there are years yet for me to worry about.

With the pictures taken, and still a few hours of light left. We headed for Grey Street and the Mews to take in a couple of Antique Shops and Numismatics Shops. Pine and Darren both collect coins, and have some pretty nice coins gathered already. Each place we go, each country we visit Pine buys some coins for both he and his friend Darren. Pine also still had hopes that he may find a Dirk or something antique and of the edged weapon type. In the end, we found several coins and a few doillies ( how the heck do you spell that), a couple items like Tea Cups etc………etc……….etc……..etc……….and we are done with buying. Its time to head for the Hostel and re-pack to we can fit it all into/onto the plane and get home. Two extra suitcases are needed and have to be bought before the store hours bring the chance for that to an end.

We packed and repacked, we had to get the kids to fold and refold their clothes so that all the items purchased in order to fit into the holds of the plane. Supper was very simple, and a few drinks passed around the room as we packed………..and Mom, she always seems to be able to come up with a few treats like a special Chocolate item, a new piece of sweet fruit etc.

Thanks goodness for a light switch, and the dark so we can go to bed……….
Good Night and God Bless

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 10:17 PM | Permalink

Okay, so I stretched the truth a tad. But hey, its exactly what they used to do at the Tower and we seen not only the Axe but also the block that they used to do it all on.

We started the day early with a brisk walk and a cup of Coffee to help us on our way. By the time the Tower opened we were standing at the front gates waiting to get in at the front of a short line. Now the Tower is the home to the Beefeater Guard Regiment and it houses the Royal Arms Collection……………….er, used to. But more about that later.

My young charge Darren, was rather upset that the Black hat Guard crew were nowhere to be found, and we had talked him into getting his pic standing next to a Beefeater since they are “way cool” in teen talk. Finally it was decided and the Guards seemed amiable enough to allow us to sidle up and get a pic for the folks back home.

The bad news arrived while we are talking to the Guards and Mom is reading some info on the Tower history. It seems that the powers of London decided to move all or most of the Arms to Leeds and open a new Museum just for the UK Armoury…………..and we drove right thru Leeds and new nothing of it. Pray for me Pastor Mike as I said a few things I shouldn’t have…………no, God did no reprimand me but my wife sure did. We as it all turned out there was still a fair representation of Armour within the Tower Museum and it was an open Museum for picture taking which always makes it nice.

It was a beautiful day in London, with high puffy clouds and brilliant sunshine poking thru the holes. We had done the Tower tour and are off to one of the oldest Live Theatres in London the Globe Shakespeare. My darling bride when asked what was here main objective in traveling to London, had committed us to seeing a live performance of Shakespeare……………..absolutely anything by William would be fine. SO we had a fun time at this open roofed Theatre built in a circular fashion and having been in steady use since Shakespeare’s time……….so……….about 1975????

The play was Othello, and it was just great…………and I am not a live theatre sort’a guy. Gimme guns and action any day, unless its Hobbits slashing Orc’s, or Crowe in the Hippodrome……………but live theatre………..and all that “wither thou” and “hark” stuff!! Jeremiah had a fine plate of crow too eat and my friend Darren made sure I ate all of it……………..it reminded me of the Liver , which I also very much enjoyed.

The play, with an intermission took about 3 hours and a little walking was in order to round up the spots that had gone flat sitting on those hard wooden benches. So we took a stroll across the Thames River and up the far bank from the Theatre. We headed for the floating HMS BELFAST Museum, which is a decommissioned battle ship from the mighty English fleet. This was a little different version in that they had wax type characters set up in various places amid the ship. And the characters were set to look as if they were doing their normal daily duty, be it a Dentist or Diesel Mechanic, a Cook or his helpers. Plenty of big iron to look at, and a lot of little gun barrels poking out anyplace there wasn’t room for a big piece of pipe.

With that done, we continued along the river side and walked thru an Art Exhibit by some renowned artist in which he has set up 10 foot tall guitars each modeled after some famous band or maybe an individual artist. I noticed the greats like who else but the Beetles……….and a little ways on we seen the Monkee’s, we seen one for B B King and another for Dave Stamey…………then there was Les Paul and a tribute to Nashville. The long road ahead to the Hostel was now infront of us and back across the bridge and we would wind our way back to our headquarters in Picadilly Circus.

Since it was most likely our last night to eat out in London, we decided to eat some of what had become our favorite food stops………….and have some “Pub Grub”. Nevada and Darren had some braised Fish and veggies. Pine got brave and had the Crayfish along with a plate of fried potato slices and melted cheese poured over, mixed in with it was bits of Ham or Gammon as they like to call it. Mom had a Yorkshire which was ladled full of mashed Tatties and Onion gravy, topped with a local make of pork sausage and veggies. I had a Ham/Leek and Stilton cheese Pastie, along with a little mash and gravy tooped with a few veggies. It all went down real fine, sitting outside on such a wonderful night with such good kids. How could you not feel Blessed. We had a last shot of some great Ginger Ale, which they make very well in the UK, and it proves to be very hard to find here. Closest thing we find here is Vernor’s………….which is close but still not that same sharp Ginger Ale taste.

Its now time for a stiff black coffee, and some dessert. It as unanimous………it was to be our last chance to try sticky Pudding once again, so three of them had the proverbial English fave…………….and Mom and I split an Apple Crisp. What a great night as we walked slowly back through the city and compared notes and thoughts on what had made the trip good and bad. While walking, we passed the Church of the Knights Templar, as it turned out it was closed, but would have been very cool to walk through. We seen the original location or Twining’s Earl Grey Teas. The kids still had a few items to shop for, so a little street shopping was in order to finish out the day. The city grew dark, the night life seemed to rise with the setting of the sun, the streets came to life with a new crowd once again. We sat in front of a fountain in a Square, the light on the adjacent building was just beautiful, we could look down the street and see the Tower Big Ben. Youth on skateboards whizzed by, vendors barked out details of items for sale while Lamborghini’s roared and bellowed in the streets like cats out on the savannah. It was past eleven when we made that long walk back up those 8 flights of stairs to our bed and our Hostel.

Good Night and God Bless

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 8:43 PM | Permalink

The long march to Buckingham, where talk runs wild and world polatics are solved

Our mission is in sight, now to find a place to stand and see it all

A trip to London would surely be a failure if you didn’t take time to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. So we started the day with a brisk walk from the hostel down to Buckingham. We stopped by a local market and bought a little food to pack in the backpack that I carried with us today. Nothing special really, just a few croissants, a little cheese and some fruit, some candy bars and cookies……………gott’a have those Hobo Creames by McVitties………………the kids loved them.

The Gaurds in Blue give way to the Royal Red Coats

Buckingham is quite the Palace, the grounds are immaculate and when we arrived the guards on duty wore the standard Blue Tunic version, not the bright Scarlet that I think we all have become accustomed to. One of Darren’s main goals for the trip was to have his pic taken next to one of those “BearfurHattedscarletcoatedstiffasapoker” guards that we see in the movies in front of that tiny guard shack thingy!!!!

Our first bad news for the day was that the Bear Skin hated guards follow the Queen up to Scotland when she goes north…………………so none here today…….SORRY!
We took in the changing and the small ceremony that is held in conjunction with it. Not trying to be a bit biased, but my kids have seen the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington DC and by comparison ours is much more precise and drill like. The English version on the other hand is more of a performance with some precision drill work and the band that accompanies the changing. We expected them to burst forth with some patriotic marching tunes like John Phillip Souza or something like it……………….but no, they burst forth with a medley of well known musical scores ie: James Bond, Pink Panther and Star Wars.

We arrived with a little time to spare before the changing was too take place and we were all glad that we did, or we would have had no room nor chance to see the actual changing take place. We as a result of having a spot next to the Buckingham fence did pay a price in the way of a very thoroughly tight squeezing for our being early as the undulating crowd pushed and swayed against us and the fence.

Next we took in the Royal Apartment Tour, which Mom wisely bought for us while we held our spot against the fence at Buckingham. The Apartment tour was quite fun and very informative, we took in all of the open to public sections of the Buckingham Palace rooms. Sorry no camera’s, and a pile of docents keeping an eye of the tourista’s……..so no seek peaks from JW and his concealed camera. We moved on and took in the Royal Mews and Stables. This was a better place for me, since it involved most things equestrian and had a ton of neat looking harness hardware and other such furniture. Cameras are allowed so I took a ton of carriage and what not pics. We also found the Royal Horse Guards and managed to find time to get a pic with them on the way thru.

From the Mews we headed for the Queens Royal Gallery, now here is a place I could spend some more time. It houses one of the largest collections of early drawings by the likes of DaVinci, Raphael etc. The sketches for the most part are of works that were being carried out in Italy during the very earliest years of these artists lives. And today you could go to the many Cathedrals etc that they worked on and see the finished piece, be it a Fresco on the roof or a pillar treatment in the Cathedral. For me it would be really cool to take the time to go and see the finished pieces. In all there are some 900 items of art within the Queens Gallery, and they were all magnificent. Not sure whose work I like better, DaVinci or Raphael but I think DaVinci……….he was so darned inventive, as can be seen in his many mechanical idea sketches housed here.

Next stop was JW’s main objective for my time in London……….The Victoria & Albert Museum. WOW, and Poochy Maggie what a place. If I could have been selfish about it all, I know for a fact I could have spent my whole 4 days time in London right here at this one Museum……………but then I had more than me to appeal too. As it was we only had about 2.5 hours to walk and take pics to my hearts content. It is unfortunate that you cant really walk and shooot pics at the same time so I covered 1 floor partially by my self, and I sent my crew scouting for other items they felt I should take a very quick peak at before we are kicked out.

We stayed till the last possible moment and took our leave. Decided to walk home to the Hostel, the night was a great one for walking………..and it wasn’t more than 200-300 blocks so no problem. Now may be the best time to tell you folks who like the fast style cars, that London is your kind’a twon. I am not kiddin, when I say that you can easily see a Lamborghini at every intersection. And if it isn’t a Lambo……..well it will be a Ferrari or Spyker, maybe a TGV. Did someone mention Porsche, well sorry the sixteen year olds get their learners in them and then maybe discard them for the big guns. It is amazing how many of these sort of cars you see prowling the streets once the sun goes down and the night cruisers come out. Every once in a while you will hear one of those street beasts getting turned full throttle and you should hear it bark and bellow between those closed in building walls………Poochy Maggie, that is a very cool sound.

Needless to say with the setting of the sun also comes the night creatures and that whole obscene scene. Through it all we seen too much at times, but nobody got hurt and the kids are all fairly mature so a little exposure was good in the end for maturity’s sake. We done the micro wave dinners and headed to the Hostel to eat and play cards………and yes type on the blog.

The gal who shared our room at the Hostel is from China, and she is in London for 3 months to take an intensive English Immersion class, upon completion she will return home and work in the political and business translation business. Very nice gal, quiet as a mouse,we hardly heard this gal at all while we were in the room. She was out by 6am or sooner and in bed by 9pm…………gott’a appreciate that sort of commitment for sure.

Poochy Maggie, I and the crew are plenty tired its about 12:05am

Good Night and God Bless

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 7:52 PM | Permalink

Front Gates of Windsor

The slaying of the Dragon, a panel about 8 foot by 20 foot

This is a big day for us, as we are finally going to be heading into downtown London and turning in the rental car. Just the fact that we are not under the obligation of protecting the car means I can sleep with a little ease.

Long time since this moate seen any water or warfare, filled with lanscaping today. Windsor

Just a sample of items in Windsor, items made in Turkey

One of the Armour Halls at Windsor

Up a little earlier than usual and on the road by 8am, my conversation with the wacko from Santa Barbara the night before had left a nasty taste in my mouth which made eating a Blessing. Glad this chick wasn’t riding with me, I would have to drop her in the desert if she was. Hell bent on saving the world, eradicating livestock, hugging all trees and just generally telling everyone she could about how bad America is. That in itself is a surefire way to light my fuse, then to top it off she passed herself off as an artist, what a sham…………hey, lets change topics because I am getting mad all over again.

The gardens of Hampton Court

Windsor Castle

The roof of the Chapel in Windsor

We hit the Windsor Castle first thing as it opened, this was a real magnificent Castle, and also one of the castles that the Queen visits regularly. It was a no photo tour so what we have is what we have, my best 007 sneak shots possible. For myself, the most impressive rooms are the Chapel and the Tomb Room which houses the sarcophagus of King George. The Tomb room, is just beyond belief, a huge roof housing only the ornately decorated cover of King Georges Coffin, it must have a 30 foot ceiling and is all stone vaulting, lots of Gilding and art. Its really something to see.

Windsor Castle from the rear gate where we climbed over!

That will be the last time I tell him he's a handsome kid..........

HAmpton Court had the coolest patterns of brick work on the chimney's

The Windsor had a reasonable collection of Arms and armour, but it was a no camera tour, and very little of it is shown the booklet which they sold at the front counter. This is a fact that we have learned about these castle, and there curators. It would appear to me that the armour is a visual piece and an interest but not of the same value nor level of importance as the Tapestries and China, or maybe the Fresco’s and the Library etc. I like all these things, but the armour the most…………..darn, I just wish they would see it my way.

Griffons and Gargoyles abound at Hampton

MOre chimneys

Gardens at Windsor

Next stop is Hampton Court Palace, which is just great. Not real old, built around 1770. It is a Castle that still has a family living in it within one wing while the rest has been turned into a living history type exhibition. It has a fair example of a period Kitchen facility, as well as an great Ale & Wine house. The gardens out behind were the best we had seen for a time, and Hampton Court also houses the Guinness World Record for the largest single Grapevine with no grafting. The vine was planted 1781, it now reaches some 60 feet in length and a height of 30 feet. Today the vine is contained within a special glass house that is climatically controlled, but this only happened some 30 years ago. There is a patch of ground that is kept tended and tilled, the size of approx 1 acre, this is where the actual root draws its nourishment from.

I am not sure just how many chimneys there are on Hampton Court, but suffice it to say a bunch. Every chimney was done in a different pattern, and quite often the chimneys were arranged in groups of four, so it made for a striking effect to be sure.

The entire Chapel at Windsor was just spectacular.

It was time that we made our way to London’s Heathrow Airport and found the rental car return, which was really not very hard to do at all. I have read that this is either the largest or the busiest Airport in the world, but to be honest, I think LA and Atlanta are both and more than Heathrow. Anyways I got one “att’a boy” for my driving as a first time right-hand side driver in the entire UK. I did have to pay for a new left front wheel since I had a deep scuff from hitting a curb…………glad I bought that extra Insurance. We are done with the car…………… now, as we stand/kneel/sit/grunt/yes cuss/and pace, out in the rental car parking lot struggling with packing all of our purchases into the suitcases that we came with it looked like the Hill Billies moving to LA all over again.

We made it to the Rapid Train which will take us closer to London central. Once we get down a little closer, we will then get on a standard subway and go deeper into the city and with any luck we will come up from underground like a darned Gopher and peek out the subway hole and be looking at “Picadilly Circus” which is to be our home for the next 4 days as we explore London in each of her cardinal directions from that Hostel. I’ve been on quite a few subways, and still have no great love for them. I feel a quite a bit like a sardine and it’s always very hot on these rides. Breaking out on top was a good feeling with the cool night air wafting over us, the dank smells of the subway fade behind us as we step out into the busy life of the streets above.

Outside the front gates of Windsor, where the security guard finally let us go!!

The worlds largest single root system Grapevine, Poochy Maggie this was a beast

Its fairly late when we finally made to the Hostel, about 9:30 pm. We got into the room, all together with one other young lady from China who was in London to learn to speak English as return home to work as a translator. It’s a steep walk up to the 4th floor and our room. The elevator was tiny, and after that first night we always walked up rather than wait on that beast. So late, so tired, so hungry as well ! We hit the streets and took in the nightlife around Picadilly area, which is abundant and fast moving. This was sort of a thunderous affair, as there are so many Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Astin Martins, Spykers and TGV’s and Porches which they learn to drive in. They would wind these thunderous beasts up and just rip pavement for a block or so and it would reverberate off the walls of the close by buildings. I am telling you the truth, at any of the numerous traffic circles we passed, you could easily spot up to a dozen of these sorts of cars.

Into the TUBE and hunting for a train to London

Somehow we take a left hand turn down a side street and run into China town. There are ducks and chickens hanging in the windows, and stooped little ladies working the kitchens etc, all of them are small, and all of them just look rather steamy inside…………so we just take a pick and make our way in. We spot one that is setup more like a DimSum Buffet…………….no not quite like a Kings Table Buffet over here with mountains of mashed tatters and roast beef swimming in gravy. It turned out to be very good, just the TIRED worked against us. By the time we ate and got back to the Hostel it was close to 12pm and the next day will be a long one so we best get some rest.

The night life of Picadilly welcomes us as we step out from the Underground

Good Night and God Bless

This is one of those "Thank God for feathers" moments, cause these gals didn't have much but feathers....................I know, I had to wait better than 40 minutes to get this shot just for you

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 11:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

NOt my photo, I had to borrow it, good aerial view of Blenheim and grounds

England had long suffered militarily at the hand of King Louis XIV of France . Too the man who would prove to be the King of Frances victor goes a just reward you could say. That person came in the character of a young man 1st Duke of Marlborough, an academic scholar and a brilliant battle strategist. It should come as no surprise that the young Duke actually worked for King Louis, before he became his conqueror. Now King Louis did not in the end loose the rule nor occupation of his country, but he did give over the supremacy of the high seas to British Fleets, and he no longer held that position of power with his continental land troops.

Wrought Iron gate within Belnheim, thru the gate to the Victory Obelisk

Front door is what we call it in a trailer house, but these folks call it a Grand Entry way.........I dun'o seems like a lot of letters used up for the same thing.NOT MY PHOTO

Heres the outside of the Grand Entry way

As a gesture of gratitude to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, the King of England made a special gift of a Castle on an Estate. Not just any castle mind you, but the Castle Blenheim which is a very grand statement of architecture for sure. There is a little unknown history that comes with this whole story, and it plays a role in one of my own favorite hero’s, and that person is Sir Winston Churchill, who is of the Marlborough family line. Mr. Churchill was born in Blenheim, and also wed at Blenheim.

This is a sitting room............but dang you'd be afraid to sit here after a branding. NOT MY PHOTO

My crew at the front gates of Blenheim

Just take a look at that Library, what a magnificent collection of books it contained..............and ther wasn't even one Hank the Cowdog. NOT MY PHOTO

It was time though for us to move on and get to All Souls College in Oxford before it closed, it was a stop of major importance to the young scholars in the back of the road rocket in which we rode. Both seem to hold this Oxford in some sort of high regard when it comes to education, far for me to say if it is or is not a bastion of education. The campus was shut down for the most part, no more tourist walk through, mostly due to a tightened level of security etc. SO we did manage to get permission for a security guard to step into one alcove by the front gate a snap a quick picture for our “posterior’s” sake.

From Whale jaws to T-rex skeletons, boy howdy they had it all at teh Natural History Muse

Gardens and fountains at Blenheim. NOT MY PHOTO

JW loves butterflies, not sure why, just fascinated with the colors and patterns. This was a tiny portion of a huge cool exhibit. We didn't have a lot of time so we had to flutter through.

Next stop the Pit River Museum of Natural History, and what “muse” this was, boy howdy I would have loved to have my older brother Bill with me on this one. He and I both love the Natural History type Museums, and this one was a dandy. A total of 4 floors, if I remember right, but only the 1st and 2nd have collection open to the public. The third floor is under renovation at this time, and is due to open in 2009 I believe. This was a collection of natural history items with a little Ethnology thrown in for fun. We had about 2 hours to make the tour and then onto another Muse.

More Gardens at "the back of the house", mind the lawnmower says the fella. WOW-NOT MY PHOTO

Yes, the security and the janitor were all a little concerned as I lay on my back and took this upward view of T-Rex...........even the little kids asked me "aure ewe allll right Sir".

Folks these are the wildest set of jaws I have ever seen, and as much as JW loves all things dead and hairy I am determined to have me a set of these...................DANG, I hate getting old, can you tell me who they belong too??

A new twist on Dead Critter Walking, over 90 feet of skeletons come marching past in zombie like fashion

This time around we are at the Ashmolean Museum, which holds the record as the first Museum to charge a fee, but also the oldest collection put forward as a Museum,…….so in Rio Linda, you would call it the first Museum.

A row of pillars that surround the second floor mezzanine, the light was just to cool to pass up

The Pit River MUseum from the second floor

Some very intricate wire work showing here on the handle of a Pistol

The Asmolean, as it appears, with cases too numerous to count. Each filled to the brim with artifacts from every continent, and from every culture............except COWBOYS

No, this is not the KETTLE section form the ZZ Top tour band. It is a kettle section from a Shinto Shrine in Japan............close though because Japan and Texas are on the same planet which is something that beautiful young girl in South Carolina may not know.

This was a spectacular stroll, in amongst the Renoir’s and Matisse, amongst the cases housing “Straddle-various” Violins and Viola’s. The collection of musical instruments would cause the socks to roll up and down for a guy like Scott Brown or Julian Tubb, who both used to be fine saddle makers but now have turned their talents to Luthery. This was a collection of everything cultural and many things natural, but its interest was that of Arts and Culture. I loved it, but I could tell the kids were getting a little burned out on things older than Brittany.

Walking the foot paths to All Souls "Collage"

NOw this will make yer sticker peck up. A sound hole in a Lute, it has a total of 7 layers of delicate wood fret work counting down inot the center, and a spiral stem sticking up from the bottom that is 9 layers. It was behind glass and a tough shot, I hope you can see it well enough

An Ivory and Rosewood Octagonal box...............wowzer Grommit this was a nice piece.

Without doubt the crooked-est house I have ever seen. I bet that the third floor leaned over by more than 3 feet........its amazing it is still standing after all this time. Built in 1295 and in constant use as a bar, with Disco Dancing on the third floor.

We walked quite a bit, as the kids blew off steam and done a little shopping in various stores along the busy streets. We seen some strange signs downtown, warning of Humped Pelicans???? Not sure just what it was all about, but we kept a wary eye out. It was getting on, so we found our VERY funky Hostel for the night and took refuge, by luck there was a grocery stop close by and we bought something to cook instead of dining out. Just simple stuff, some Pasta and Bali Sauce, a little corn and peas and yes I musn’t forget we had a package of cold pancakes and jam for dessert. Pancakes in a package are a very common item over here, easier to find than pancake mix matter of fact.

My crew JUST inside the gates of All Souls College

A very busy street in Oxford, say, isn't it almost time for Tea??

Good Night and God Bless

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The amazing roof in Canterbury

Morning Folks, I am running just a tad tired today I just got back from a ZZ Top concert, as you must know by now I am home in California and finishing up the final days of the trip by referencing my wife’s diary.

This was just a must, all that LAvender and a paint horse on the hillside..........

Believe it or not ( Do I sound like a Ripley’s commercial) I will tie this days trip into a little unknown history about my own little Company we call JWP, you will notice that I pay tribute to the “Knackerman”, which is an English term for a man who slaughters horses by profession……………..now, now. Before you throw your hands up in disgust let me say this, that some of the best tasting horse I ever had were the ones I could’nt ride. Regardless, if it hadn’t been for this certain fella, JW may have never had the chance to get his start making bits and spurs. Fuggedaboutitfernowwwwwwwww…..

Walmer Castle dry moat

Deal Castle wall

The day started with a walk about at the Castle Walmer, which had a huge moat of the dry type which is also quite common to Castles meant to be more of a show piece than a defence. Such is the case of Walmer, but it was a good walk for us all, except for Nevada who was sound asleep in the car………….too much poker and whuskee the night before?? We had a small cannon problem at Walmer, seems that someone left a cannon ball in one cannon and not the others.

Hey Dad, take a look at this..........somebody left a Cannon Ball in this thing..........

Whaaaaaat................lem'me see that...................sure enough as luck would have it I had a camera and managed to catch the whole crew with thier heads stuck deep in a Cannon

Onto Deal Castle, this was a huge fortification at one time, one of the 5 main port/harbour combinations meant to protect the southern English coastline. Some of the Castle was closed for renovation so the tour was a short one. The sky was actually looking like it would break and allow the sun thru. The small amounts of sun would shine on the sail cloth of small boats down along the shore and I would keep trying to get a good shot. Sadly, the sun moved in and out so quickly that it proved very tough to do.

Bridge over the dry moat at Walmer

What a teenager does best................contemplating the merits of getting a job........seconf thought, maybe not.

There was a bit of a street fair going on in the small town where Deal is located. It looked inviting to us, so we walked and shopped , we strolled past many Bakeries and did not fail to walk into each that we walked past…………….does that sound like a 10 pound sentence? Just gotta try a few Sultana Pies, and some Blimpie’s, a Welsh Cream Cake………and hey look at this Pine here’s that drink Company we like so much. These folks are the ones who make the Curious Cola, and Dandelion & Burdock Cordial. This time around we tried a Shandy, and a Ginger Jump-Up, now Pine and I liked both, Darren looked like he had just swallowed an earth worm…………and Nevada looked as if she agreed to taste the worm right after Darren spit it out. Noting their disgust we purchased something very generic and safe for the lesser beings amongst us whom lack taste buds, and we enjoyed a new buzz in life with our pastries.

Just some very cool building walking thru town.

A very classy delivery truck, it would look good at any car show

Our days drive would take us out east of London and around to the north side of the sprawling city. So we beat the streets for Canterbury Cathedral, this is one of the primary stops for our young friend Darren. It’s a Cathedral with an intriguing history, a story that could be a movie., and has been a play, as well as one of the best known works of Chaucer who wrote Cantebury Tales.

We are in an area of England in which you will still see quite a few "Thatchy's", houses with thatched rooves, very neat and very thick. I would guess that the thickness is 18-24 inches.

Another cool Thatchy

Canterbury at the front entry

Lets begin with the cast of characters here and we can watch it play out before our eyes in textual form. We begin with a small Abbey/Monastery in the English countryside, with not much going on except for the work of the Lord. The teachings and spiritual leadership at the time was under the guidance of a fellow named Thomas Beckett, who it proves was a man who was steadfast in the WORD of the Lord and not simply the actions of a religion. Then we have the character with the title of the King Henry II, who desired a divorce from then wife. It seems that this granting of a divorce fell on the improper side for our man Beckett, and in doing so he quickly found himself looking at a very serious adversary when LONGEVITY is given consideration.

One wing of St.Albans Cathedral

St.Albans

St.Albans

It was an utterance made by the King that spawned the series of incidents that follow. His murmured wish became the voice of action for four of his most Loyal Knights who upon hearing the King ask of no one imparticular………”Who is it that will rid me of this petulant Priest who would dare stand before my authority as King, Who I ask?”. Those quietly spoken words caused four men to mount their steeds and embark upon a stealth reprisal undertaken upon the Kings words as if it were an order. The riders black Capes had taken wing in the chill night air, pounding hooves met damp cobbles the resultant sparks falling short of life, whinnies, neighs and dashing horsemen caused a riotous commotion in the torch lit court yards of Canterbury Cathedral on that ominous night so long ago. As four loyal henchmen approach the solid Oaken Doors and demand entrance to speak…………..but their destiny was not caught in speech but rather it lay upon the sharpened edge of swords. Thomas Beckett was murdered, as he sat quietly Praying within the Monastery walls at the very altar over which supplication passes even to this day. When the footsteps of the murderers finally recede into the darkness of that moonless night, Thomas Beckett not only lay brutally slain amidst the Monks that he lead, but he lay headless by way of a single clean murderous swipe of razor steel.

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury

The ribbing of the vaulted cieling at Canterbury

Wall plaques denote the graves of those buried under the floor of Canterbury

The attending Monks hurriedly bound up the body and the head of Thomas Beckett and stowed his corpse away in the secret catacombs under the Abbey. He would be lain to rest, and made immortal by way of attaining Saint Hood. Not only did Thomas Beckett become a Saint over this entire affair, but he was immortalized by his followers Monks and parishioners alike. The Cathedral was then built to become one of the Grandest in all of England, as a testimony to the acts of God committed while Thomas Beckett was alive, the Cathedrals Stained Glass windows vividly portray to this day the mercy befell those under his Godly care. The largest footpath in all of England, led followers of Thomas Beckett as if by a magnet right to those cobbled courtyards which had seen murder so many years ago. Over time, the spirit of Saint Thomas Beckett, would once again rise to challenge yet another King of England.

The courtyard in which the murderers would have parrallel parked thier horses before entering

Canterbury

Canterbury

Some 300 years later the popularity of the Saint Thomas character was indeed a real problem for then King Henry of England. So popular was this Saint Thomas, and the throng of parishioners who felt it nessassary to pay homage to this Saint who was slain. Such a stir, that the King decided it was time to actually break the Godly bonds that Thomas Beckett’s soul had upon the Canterbury Cathedral. The King, done the unthinkable, he ordered that the body of Thomas Beckett be dug up from its Holy resting place. And to further exact shame upon the Cathedral, the King then order the bones of Thomas Beckett be scattered across England as a testimony of the lack of validity which had been given Beckett by his Sainthood. The King was an avowed Protestant, and the Canterbury is Roman Catholic in its faith. Well enough of the history, lets get on with the tour. NO doubt about it this was a very cool Cathedral, very ornate but in my estimation not quite what the Bath Abbey was. Another very neat aspect of our stop was that during the day and various times, the Church Tours would come to a halt and you are invited to Pray with the Father………….or leave take your pick. The Prayer was for “World Piece” and that was followed by the Lords Prayer.

Looking out of the Cloisters at Canterbury

The Cloisters, Canterbury

The part that really amazes me, is that if anyone of the fellows that built these arches was at a street corner today, we would most likley drop a coin in his hat and wish him well in life. No formal education, no engineering manuals for stress and load etc.............and it all still stands. Its a good thing they didn't have to walk across the bridge in Minnesota each day to get to thier work

A very busy street out in front of St.Albans

Hate to say it but it is time, we have to hit the largest major highway so far, the ring road around London. It’s a 6 lane affair with cars out the Ying Yang, and a batch of multilane traffic circles just to make it all interesting. I have to say this, not sure I should, but you know me…………have lips why waste them, right! Tow things would seriously help with our traffic here in America. First and foremost, I believe that American drivers are spoilt rotten. Spolit by the fear of lawsuits, we can no longer have livestock along the road for fear some idiot runs into them and kills himself, we scatter signs and flagmen out forever across the roads of America for the same reason because some idiot NEEDS to be told that “the reason you are catching up to a BULLDOZER is because some one is working on the road……………DUH. I noticed that you seldom ever see a flag man, nor a warning sign along the roads of the UK, sure you will on the real major roads, but the little roads you are on your own. And then the traffic circles, once you learn how to navigate them they are so much faster than all those darn lights. You don’t have all the start and stop stuff. Hey just a thought, run it by ya and see how mad it makes you.
Boy Howdy, can you imagine how screwed up California would be if we got Traffic Circles and Jerry Brown for Governor……………Poochy Maggie I better shut-up before some black-op takes me out.

A street Gypsy, doing some ball juggling and spinning

JUst a quick snap of what the ring road around London looks

St.Albans

I did manage to navigate my way around the ring road of London and would never have made it without my little garmin next to me………..yes Colleen and the ever present map. Which by the way, is also on the front seat of every European vehicle. Its getting sort’a late and we still have the St.Albans Cathedral to go thru. We find the Cathedral, but sadly it was locked up and our tour was shortened to walking around it in the rain. We decided to head on down the road and came to Hemmel Hempstead, a town that I had only heard of and never knew much about……………….matter of fact I still don’t know much about it. So, why you are wondering, why am I even mentioning it. For two reasons, we had all wanted to see a game of Cricket, and just happens we came to a road block that was detouring traffic around a huge Cricket Field. Hey lets go watch, which is exactly what we done. Parked our road rocket, and headed to the cricket field……….but only to find that the game was just winding down and they had a couple more swings left and the game was done.

Some sort of serious discussion no doubt

On the streets of Oxford, we seen it, we recorded it..........and still wonder

Lucky for us, the Cricket match was held in conjunction with the largest Car Show in England……………hey, that’s how they advertised it. Well, I mean how would I know, yes you could be right……….they may have hired some guy from Texas to do the advertising……………….but then again maybe not, because I didn’t see any Bar B Que anyplace. So, NO, it must have just been the largest in the UK. Non the less, it was big, and had plenty of very nice cars in it. I am not really into cars, but these vintage Euro models are very cool. There were a few vintage pieces of Detroit Iron to go along with the little putters from Euro-Ville………..we had our Challengers, and Chargers, along with a few Vettes and a couple old Mustangs. We had a very typical car Show dinner that night, with Fish& Chips and Bangers with Brown Sauce and Chips. Was just fine, kids loved it.

Common Jeremiah, your killing me, what the heck is the deal with this Hemmel Hempstead place? Okay, it goes like this and has importance within the history of my little JWP bit & spur Company. When I first moved back to Canada, I worked for Chuck Stormes in the saddle shop. Now I could have afforded a small apartment etc, but really it would have been a waste of time because I spent all my time down at the shop. SO Chuck and I came up with an agreement, which was I could sleep in the Saddle Shop in exchange for doing the regular cleaning around the shop…………..yes, all of it. Wash the floors, wash the John etc. SO I slept on the floor for just over 4 years and thought it was great………….you know sometimes having a diminished mental capacity is a real Blessing!

Along about the 2 year of living in the saddle shop, I began to do some steel and silver work in the evenings just to keep me fired up on learning new things etc. This was all with Chucks consent and encouragement, for he feared that I may burn myself out on the saddles if I was not careful as well. As it happened in came a fellow from Hemmel Hempstead, a cherry Limey as I came to call him. He was one Ralph Lane, a former Knackerman, from England whom had just moved to a small acreage just south of Calgary. We became good friends, and it came to pass that Ralph wanted to learn how to make bits and spurs as well, and out of that conversation grew the idea of having a shop together. A place where we really could make some major pieces, maybe even build a few Trophy items for the numerous Rodeos around. Not very long after that, we built a small shop and opened as partners with the name of Kingfish as our brand name. Now as it all worked out, Ralph never built any bits nor spurs, he went on to do other things that made him more money and a living for his family. After about 3 years of having a shop out at Ralphs, I moved my portion of the Shop to Black Diamond, Alberta and began marking my product with my own name instead of the Kingfish name.

SO, there you have one little trivial detail about a happen meeting with a man from England, and out of that here I am some 30 years later doing the same thing. Not only that but Ralph and I are still friends and have a laugh about those days whenever we visit.

It is getting rather late so I better turn in. Right now the Snaffle Bit Futurity is going on, and I have another Bit & Spur Making friend holding down MY bedroll and my living room floor. That would be Delwyne Treftz, he is one of the most talented fellows that I know, and its an honor to have him stop by. We didn’t get a chance to visit for too long, he got here at about 9pm, we talked for a while in the saddle shop and then Mom fed us some supper and Delwyne headed for bed.

So I say Good Night and God Bless

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 12:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We wake to bright sunshine, it bathes the flowers and houses along the street on which we had stayed the night before.

At some time I will write a little update on Colleen and Nevada’s first ½ Marathon which they ran back in October. But now is not the right time to get into that facet of home life. However, due to the fact that Mom and Nevada are runners, I begin the title with a good day for a run. For me, its never a good day to run…………unless some one has a gun and is chaseing me……………however, by the third mile of the run I may beg him to just up and shoot me instead.

Hearst Monsieux Castle

The long walk over the moat bridge to the front entry of Hearst Monsieux

A view of the bridge over the moat at the Castle, water lillies and golden Koy abound

Lordy, I say Lordy, it is sunny and I can feel His warm smiling face bearing down upon me and my family, we have been looking forward to a good bright warm day with no clouds. It strikes me as being rather funny really, my kids always complain about the fact that California where we live has no cloud cover from about May thru October, and when we first hit Ireland they would get up in the morning and just revel in the cool weather and cloud. Hey what gives I ask them over the last few days, you guys are mopping about like a “just kicked” hound, why the long faces I ask? Gee whiz Dad, there’s never any sunshine over here……………..blah,blah,blah blah goes the brain of a youth. Lordy I say, take a look outside boys, its so nice out there this AM, that Mom and Nevada have already went out and had a good 4-5 mile run.

The knarled trunks of Chestnut trees planted way back in 1770

Our B&B gave us a hearty Ulster Fry send off, told us a little about the local color and culture. That Brighton is a town known for its sort of edgy lifestyle, where weekends are punctuated by weekend flings, and its sort of a sinner’s paradise. Nightclubs abound, and health spas are the order of the day, high fashion stores, not just any old brand Outlets. So I figured no sense me hanging around, since I doubted I could find a good pair of Wranglers nor Levi’s, no button collar white shirts from Good Will, nor wild rags from Cap’s………………so hey dude, I and the crew is out of there and down the road.

NO, Colleen is not arguing the cost of admissions, she is discussing the Canadian ownership of the Castle and what is being taught to these young people who attend.

Sorry, but I just couldn't resist this old gate that lead to the gardens......too much character.

We drove a beautiful stretch of country that follows the coast more or less, and in time we arrive at Hearst Monsieux Castle. Now this is a very handsome Castle as they go, and this particular Castle was built at a time when it was stately to build a Castle but not at all required nor shall we say necessary for defenses. None the less, we have a huge Castle here that has been well maintained over the years. Having a full moat surrounding it that is some 25 feet deep at is deepest, and a goodly width for a COWBOY to swim, in some places as much as 100 feet………………so, you can clearly see the danger of an attempted Cowboy Crossing.

Just one of many paths that lead visitors around the abundant gardens

A huge sundial in the gardens

Hearst Monsieux is today, owned by the Queens University, Ontario Canada. This Castle, and the surrounding grounds have been converted into a foreign student exchange program, that invites students studying Agriculture, Horticulture and the Environmental Sciences. The Castle is now the office for the School, as well as housing some of the smaller lecture labs that take place. In addition to the Castle as an exhibit, in a separate area on the grounds they have a hands on type of Science Exhibit that was really quite fun. The kids made a full loop around the small lake which makes up a portion of the moat, and while on the walk, they gorged on the fresh wild black Berries that are in abundance around the Castle. The gardens are massive, and always have been. But since the school also engages in Horticultural teachings, they have added to the gardens as a part of the classes. Along the eastern side of the Castle runs a long row of what must be 50 or so trees planted in 1770. All are still alive, however some are beginning to look pretty ragged, the Chestnut trees have survived beetle blights, drought and flooding. They stand as a good testimony as to the sturdy design of their creator.

From there we move onto the location of the Battle of Hastings, an epic Battle that I guess few school children have ever heard of in USA or in England. In 1066 William the Conqueror made his stand here against an invading Norman force, obviously he won the battle hence the moniker (name) that he was then given. Can you imagine if it had gone badly, we would have William the Walloped, or Wiped Out Willy, but the worst would be Wun Willy Wun. All joking aside, it was pretty cool to look out over that low valley thru which runs a small stream, flanked by tree lined hills to each end of the Battle field……………..to look out over that half mile of ground, and know that some 20,000 men met in a clash of gleaming sharpened steel and a hail of arrows and cannon shot over the right to be free men. It makes you keenly aware of what men around the world will do to keep their freedoms, or attain freedoms that have been withheld from them.

A science class, in which you reach inot a hole that has a curved mirror laid inot the bottom and the reflection of your hands appear to be reaching back out at you, pretty cool.

just proof of my shocking personality

Hastings Castle

The Castle, Hastings Castle has been turned into a Tourist site now at one end, while the housing portion of it is today a Private High School and Boarding facility. It was a very pretty town with many homes which had been dated for the tourist to attest to, bearing dates as far back as 1066 when the battle took place. Most however ranged from approx. 1275 and forward, the downtown was a busy place with many shops for tourists, and a number of shops selling the everyday wears required to stay alive. I was sent in search of those items required to “Stay Alive”. I found a great Bakery, bought a Potatoe Farm Loaf, which weighed 65 ounces, having a total length of about 16 inches and maybe 10 inches tall. Quite a loaf of bread with a good thick crust on it, cooked right there in the 600 year old stone oven. I topped of the bread with some homemade Lemon Butter, which as I have said before, the preserves over here are less sweet and more tart in there making, usually having a slight rind when things such as Lemon are used. I also bought a little cheese to go with the meal that we would eat while we are driving to the next stop. I have to take a slight detour here, and ask how many of you are avid Red Wall Abbey readers with your kids, these are books written by Brian Jacques who hails from the UK and are just the greatest books to read aloud with your kids. Anyways in reading the books, you will find mentioned such drinks as “Dandelion & Burdock Cordial”, which we had always taken as being one of those items that live in story form only. Well not so, as I found out. There on a shelf in the cold drinks of the Cheese shop was a bottle called “ Dandelion & Burdock Cordial”, well by JO, I was not going to pass that up. I got to looking and noticed that the Company that bottled the Cordial also bottled some other very unusual drinks such as Curious Cola, Ginger Jumper etc. Well we had a small selection to sample for fun.

A home built in 1410, called a half timber and mud type.

This is the actual Battle Field of HAstings as it looks today

We are headed sort of East by North East now, to give you a little Nautical lingo since we are along the southern British coastline it only seems fitting. The Castle Dover is our intended destination, and we are passing thru an area of England with huge grain fields that are ripened and ready for harvest as soon as the weather co-operates. Its picturesque country, rolling on over these low lying hills like a gentle roller coaster, passing thru waving golden grain which is so close to the road they brush you car as you pass. When ever we pass thru what you may call a small settlement we usually see a single building with a tall white cone shaped appendage off of one end of a roof line…………..and I am wondering what the heck is that for. I finally can’t stand it any longer and decide the time has come to get a picture and ask someone just what this strange building is used for.

He is contemplating the value of Socialized Health Care, 9 months for a Hospital bed and 1.5 years to get inot an old folks home.................its enough to make you scratch your chin over.

Well, they are called Aust Houses”, and the cone is a vent port to allow smoke to escape. Each tall cone is mounted on a turntable affair that is unseen by the passersby, but to each cone is also attached a long tail such as you would see on an old type windmill. When the wind blows, it catches the tail and in doing so it then sets the opening away from the prevailing wind. Inside the Aust House, the local farmers gather there HOPS, and place them on screens or racks that fill the house and the cone to the top. Under all of this the farmers then light a small fire using peat, and they basically dry and at the same time infuse a smoke flavor to the hops being cured…………..not a lot unlike the Tobacco Farmers I stopped to visit back in Tennessee. There you have it, and are now a little smarter about the “OOST” hose as it is pronounced.

Do you smell that sea air, I do. We actually took a bit of a detour at this point of the trip. AS many of you know, England/France has jointly built a tunnel under the English Channel thru which vehicles pass while being piggy backed on a low slung rail carriage. We stopped to look into the cost of crossing over to France for supper, maybe staying in France for the night and then return in the morning. But our lack of pre-planning made it financially reprehensible……………in other words to cotton picking expensive for this buckaroo. So on to Dover Castle we went.

This an actual train station we passed out in the country side, they had parked the older cars as places to wait in case of rain. It was a pretty quaint affair, and take a look at that deluxe Pram. Thats a keen set of wheels for a baby buggy.

This is an Aust House, pronounced "Oost" House

What a huge Castle, which by the way you can see for miles off, as it sits jutting up into the surrounding skyline. The Castle is a huge on, and was of strategic importance for the defense of England during the days of the Tall Ships and the wars with France. We park and head out to explore this vast stone fortress, which runs for some ¼ mile of length along the coast. No telling how many men are crippled from packing all those rocks to the top of the imposing hill on which it sits, with the beautiful green/blue waters of the Atlantic to the south, Gulls mew and waves break along the Limestone cliffs. To the north, lay rolling wooded hills. To the East and West are steep hillsides, and at each valley runs a rippling stream which empties into the Atlantic. This is Dover Castle. It houses within its walls a Regimental Museum, dedicated to portraying the campaigns and artifacts of each British Regiment. It wasn’t a Museum that was filled with Armour and the like, but rather a Museum that contained Regimental Standards, the Regimental Field Drums, the Bugle Corps Uniforms and Bugles. A full description of every Medal of Honor , Campaign Service Ribbons, gifts from a far off Regimental Outposts, things like silk handkerchiefs, Indian Tea Sets and Ivory items from South Africa.

We are on the coast, over a place which is well known to all of those pilots who flew during the War and longed to see upon their return home from a bombing run over Germany. We are standing atop the White Cliffs of Dover, huge Limestone cliffs that fall precipitously into the Atlantic Ocean below. The Limestone that breaks away and or erodes over eons, does strange things to the color of the water along this portion of Britains coast. The whiteish sediment from the Limestone imparts a soft green color to the chilled waters, making it look much more tropical than you may expect to find. I and my family stand amazed at how pretty these white cliffs are when seen in person. I try to imagine what they would have looked like if you were approaching in a sputtering fighter, or a Bomber which had been badly shot up by German anti-aircraft fire……..just the sight of them would give you a bit of moral boost.

The Chaple as it sits in the very center of Dover Castle on the highest piece of ground within the stone wall compound.

just one of many stacks of drums used at many British Campaigns around the world.

We headed into town, and easily found our guest house for the night. Not a bad spot, not to far from down town and not to far from a nice walk along the shore. We dropped our luggage, and headed down to the car to hire 4 fella’s off the street to help with carrying Darrens up the stairs. If you have ever watched Toy Story, Darren packed a little like Mr.Potatoe Head………….a plastic pork chop, some red rubber keys, a twisty tie, and monkey chow just in case. We head out for a nice walk along the coast, the sky is going to be just gorgeous tonight with the high cloud forming out to the west and the clear sky over head, it should be perfect for the painters.

I just loved the soft light that came thru the windows in the Cstle. MOst of the panes are the hand poured glass panes, and the light does not go thru them as it does our new g