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Posted 14 hours 7 min ago

I found some rather pleasant cowslips growing on London’s Hampstead Heath. Its bright yellow flowers cheer the walker and provide a contrast with a parkland’s ubiquitous green. Its name likely comes from the cruder expression for cow dung, and it has sometimes been called cowslop. It grows well in pastureland, especially those parts in receipt of cattle’s bowel movements.

Posted 1 day 14 hours ago

Fruit tea: doesn’t it sound nice? I drank some Cranberry and Raspberry last week. As the hot water was infused a deep red, a sweet and pleasant aroma emanated from the cup. It was a little like potpourri, those nice-smelling bowls filled with dried petals and spices which old ladies were once pleased to keep in their homes.

Unfortunately, it tasted like potpourri, too.

Posted 1 day 14 hours ago

Posted 2 days 14 hours ago

One sign that the tourist repeatedly encounters at Smithills Hall, Bolton, is ‘Please mind your head’. I am not a tall man, but through many of the doorways was I obliged to stoop lest I banged my head. It is sometimes said that the medieval diet was so poor that the people of that era were small and stunted, and for whom smaller doors were required.

Posted 3 days 14 hours ago

Posted 3 days 14 hours ago

Posted 4 days 14 hours ago