Sun

A lovely sunny day . . . at last. Lots of walkers about in the village. Lots of insects in the garden. 

This morning Gordon was watching Cricket. This afternoon he has gone to Carlisle to watch Football - in his shorts!! How ridiculous. I thought the whole point of going to football was to get cold and wet.

Yesterday's fridge magnets
A few people recognised the Vermeer - it is a lovely little painting in Kenwood House. 

Only those people who have been to Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, would know about the Silver Swan. It is possibly the most famous piece in the collection, although they have lots of equally wonderful things. The swan is an automaton made of pure silver. It dates from 1773 and was made by John Joseph Merlin, a famous inventor of the time. We immediately made the link with his portrait at Kenwood House and some of his inventions, e.g. a wheelchair and a clock with all its workings. He also invented roller skates. 

At 2pm every day the swan is set in motion and for 40 seconds it appears to swim and catch and swallow a fish. We were surprised when we went to Bowes last week and came by chance upon the swan and lots of people sitting, waiting for the performance. Of course we also sat and waited, although the girls were far more interested in dashing about collecting their Lego stickers.