" We'll Meet Again."

Topping the number one record in Britain this week, is Dame Vera Lynn, at age 92. The top one hundred, included the newly remastered Beatles albums, and several Michael Jackson recordings.

Lynn was born Vera Margaret Welch on 20 March 1917, in East Ham, then in Essex, now part of Greater London. Her father was a plumber and Vera Welch grew up with her parents' Cockney accent, which she has never abandoned. She began singing at the age of seven in a working men's club, and later adopted her grandmother's maiden name for her stage name.

The much loved singer, who 70 years ago, recorded an evocative reminder of home for British soldiers fighting far away, became the oldest living recording artist to claim the number one spot, with her album "We'll Meet Again" _ The Very Best of Vera Lynn",

Lynn was fondly known as the "Forces Sweetheart", with her songs including, "We'll Meet Again", and "They'll be Bluebirds Over, The White Cliffs of Dover", were all wartime's anthems.

Music writer John Aizlewood attributed the popularity to the times in which we live. "In a sense, it's comfort music,". "These are quite uncertain times, and quite austere times, as well. And in these times, you need music to help you through."

He attributed much of Lynn's resurgence to nostalgia, a longing for simplicity and old-fashioned values, and "pension power".

Made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth in 1975, she has been an established part of significant national functions, such as the 2005 anniversary celebrations of World War II's Victory in Europe Day, and the late Queen Mother's birthday.

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Info credit: Wikipedia and BBC News

Autumn's Calling....

"September days have the warmth of summer in their briefer hours,

But in their lengthening evenings a prophetic breath of autumn.

The cricket chirps in the noontide, making the most of what remains of his brief life.

The bumblebee is busy among the clover blossoms of the aftermath,

And their shrill and dreamy hum hold the outdoor world above the voices of the song birds,

Now silent or departed."-

~ September Days : Rowland E. Robinson, Vermont.

Athens Of The South...

When most people hear of Nashville, they think of country music.

Nashville is home to the Grand Ole Opry , a symphony, a ballet, The Tennessee Performing Arts Center, The Nashville Children's Theatre, The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, a State Museum, a children's science museum, a planetarium, a zoo, 21 four- year colleges, and The Parthenon.

You read that correctly, The Parthenon !

Before Nashville became Music City, it was known as Athens of the South , and because of this, we have an exact replica of the ancient Greek Parthenon right here in Nashville.


In the year 1796 Tennessee became the sixteenth state of the Union.
The name "Tennessee" comes from the Cherokee name Tanasai, which was a village in the area.

With the first arrivals of non-Indian settlers, such as Timothy Demontbruen, James Robertson and the Donelson Party, in the early 1790's, Tennessee quickly severed it ties as being known as the western part of North Carolina, and later The State of Franklin, and applied for admission into the Union.

Within the next century, Tennessee found itself transformed from a trading post, frequented by Mountain Men exploring the fur trades from the Mississippi river to the Upper Illinois territories; to a thriving Educational and Commerce center.

In the 1840's educator Philip Lindsay thought that Nashville should encourage the ideals of Classical Greek education, such as Philosophy and Latin and be known as the Athens of the West.
While that nick -name never took hold, decades later Nashville would be given a similar nick-name; Athens of the South, that would became synonymous with Nashville until the title of Music City arrived, with the dawn of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1930's.

In 1895 Tennessee searched for a way to commemorate its 100-year anniversary and decided on a centennial exposition to be staged in its capitol of Nashville and then building an exact replica of the Parthenon of ancient Greece and thus the Parthenon, being the pinnacle of the Grand Exposition, was the first building erected.

The name Parthenon refers to the worship of Athena Parthenos, the 'Virgin Athena' who issued fully grown from the head of her father Zeus. The maiden goddess and patroness of Athens, she represents the highest order of spiritual development and the gifts of intellect and understanding. Pure in body, mind and heart, Athena is the symbol of the universal human aspiration for wisdom

Today, the Parthenon, which functions as an art museum, stands as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, a large public park just west of downtown Nashville.


Photo credit: Wikipedia

The Mighty Oak...

Oak trees come out of acorns, no matter how unlikely that seems.

An acorn is just a tree's way back into the ground.

For another try.

Another trip through.

One life for another.

~ Shirley Ann Grau

Nature's Glory...

Around the garden

Canopy shade

Young visitor

Wooden hearts

Stacked stone wall bordering the creek

Wildflowers

Late Summer Meadows...

The field full of Joe-Pye Weed has attracted butterflies of all varieties.






Monarch Butterfly and Goldenrod Soldier Beetle work harmoniously together, flitting between the Queen Anne's lace and Goldenrod flowers.

I traded the banana bread to my son-in-law.

In exchange I received this HUGE pot of Chrysanthemums......I think I got the better deal !

It's A Good Thing...

Is there anything more delicious than the smell of banana nut bread baking ?
The aroma completely fills the house, and tantalizes the sense of smell.
As "Martha" would say..."It's A Good Thing".

Banana Nut Bread

1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 mashed ripe bananas
1/4 c softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 T buttermilk 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Make the Banana Bread

The best banana bread is made with very ripe bananas that are easily mashed.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour a 9x5" loaf pan.
Sift or whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the bananas, eggs, vanilla and milk to the sugar mixture.
Add pecan pieces.

Gradually stir in the flour mixture.
Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan.
Bake at 350° for about an 45- 55 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

~ Bon Appetit

Flowers and Old Locks..

No significant rainfall in almost three weeks now, makes for dull flower-gazing.
Everything, is showing signs of being in the final blooming stage, the majority are just plain straggly.

The flowers on the porch are still healthy, sheltered and watered everyday makes a difference.

The only flower showing new signs of growth are the Heavenly Blue Morning Glories, I am in awe of their color.

I have a fondness for old locks and keys, they always make me wonder what discarded old homestead they once protected.

In The Night Garden...

The one thing I enjoyed immensely as a child growing up in England, were the television programs.
It was the kind of programming , that not only entertained the school children, but the parents also.
The writers had a unique talent for interacting with the viewer, they made you feel as if you knew the characters personally, or wanted to.

Several months ago, a fellow Brit blogger Winifred, http://stopprocrastinating.blogspot.com/ introduced me to the world of :
In The Night Garden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Night_Garden
A nursery rhyme laden program which keeps young ones spellbound and winds them down before bedtime.

I must confess, I am completely enamored by this delightful children's series, and watch at least one episode each evening before retiring.
I'm saving a fortune on Chamomile tea.



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Video credit: BBC /Youtube/Jordanaous

Season's Changing...

Ode to Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease

For Summer has o'er-brimmed their clammy cell.

~ John Keats