Monday 10 November 2014

The Last Hurrah

Valley’s End
is showing a last burst of colour before the dark days of winter.


Keep up your spirits with healthy exercise:

Leaping is an exercise very commendable and healthful to the body,
especially if you use it in the morning.
Upon a full stomach and to bedward it is very dangerous, and in no wise to be used.




For the young:

Wrestling is a very good exercise in the beginning of youth, so that it be
with someone who is equal in strength or somewhat under,
and that the place be soft,
that in falling their bodies be not bruised.

But

in football is nothing but beastly fury and extreme violence,
whereof proceedeth hurt,
and consequently
rancour and malice do remain with them that be wounded.

Wherefore it is to be put to perpetual silence!


Treat throat complaints betimes:

Take the old nest of a swallow, with all the substance
(as clay, gravel, sticks and feathers),
do nothing but beat it and sift it through a coarse sieve,
and put thereto grease and honey and make a plaster thereof.
Then stroke it upon a cloth and lay it about his neck:
of this wise have I holpen one in three hours.



The advice comes from the Compleat Gentleman of 1634, The Book Named The Governor of 1531 and The Homish Apothecary of 1561. I cannot guarantee its efficacy. But the pictures are Valley’s End's and the garden’s last (probably) hurrah and make be taken to be truthful and up to date.




36 comments:

  1. Such lovely colors in your photos! Great job, Friko.

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  2. You do have a lovely English garden. Just a bit jealous of your lovely climate.

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  3. I was a tad worried as I read about the swallow's nest but then relaxed when I realized it was intended as a topical treatment.

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  4. Love your pics but think I'll pass on the sore throat remedy

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  5. And what a glorious last hurray it is.
    Thank you.

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  6. I enjoyed your last blast of fall color. It is beautiful like that here also and I am taking in all its radiance because it will all be gone very soon.

    I am so glad that I was born in the 20th century.

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  7. The garden is dazzling. I find it hard to believe that anyone has that kind of color in the garden when we are expecting snow tomorrow! Your photos are beautifully artistic -- they say it all so well!

    I think I'm rather glad modern medicine has taken a step forward since the Compleat Gentleman was writing. Have you been leaping yet today?

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  8. Your garden's beauty is still awesome in the fall, Friko. I love the succulent leaves. Valley's End is a scenic landscape. I for one will try the leaping - it might be good for my old bones. No to the throat remedy!

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  9. Such lovely colours in your hydrangea, Friko. It's a plant whose beauty straddles several seasons.
    Leaping might be fun, wrestling not so much and I'm not the least interested in football.

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  10. Lovely autumn colours...but I am not, at my age, taking up leaping...wrestling is confined to giving the dogs their pills and football has never appealed - well, not until Costa Rica did so well in the last World Cup. Birds nests are safe from me...I'll stick the whisky, hot water, honey and lemon.

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  11. Beautiful photos with great colors! They are all very good. I don’t know about the kind Gentleman’s advice though.

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  12. As a dedicated leaper I was delighted to see the antiquity of my "sport"

    Glorious photos too. Always seems special to see you, Friko




    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>

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  13. It's a good thing you gave the source of these ideas as they seemed a little wild.

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  14. So enjoyed your pics, Friko ... deep winter here since 2 days ago ... roads are terrible right now ... everybody is practising their winter driving skills again ... o, well, we got 5 months to practise ... Love, cat.

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  15. Leaping? Does that mean jumping on something, such as a man?

    Love,
    Janie

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  16. Beautiful photos, once again--the first, of your countryside, looks like a painting. And every quotation is priceless. There's a gold mine in them thar books, no question about it.

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  17. Hi Friko - leaping about is long gone! Wrestling on soft earth .. those days of yore ... love the quotes though from your books ...while the pictures are just wonderful ... love seeing the garden and Valley's End ...

    Cheers Hilary

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  18. Valleys End is indeed most beautiful. I am sure these photos could be mistaken as paintings. I love the quotes and had a giggle there. We are just finishing up yard work and have everything nestled away for the winter. I am afraid the cold has taken the life out of all remaining plants and ice has started forming on the pond. Have a wonderful day.

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  19. Fabulous! I love the pictures, and the admonitions for healthy exercise. Your posts are always unique and interesting. :-)

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  20. Your exquisite photos match the words perfectly, Friko - and how interesting that The Compleat Gentlemen of 1634 noted " gootball is nothing but beastly fury and extreme violence, whereof proceedeth hurt, and consequently rancour and malice do remain with them that be wounded" . Sounds like football in the USA.

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  21. When I looked at that first photo, I unaccountably thought of the word "swales." I wasn't sure what a swale was, so I looked it up. Now, I don't think you have swales, but I like the ribbony look of the land anyway, and the thought of swallows flying over swales is nice.

    There's a tendency here in the U.S. to equale autumn with red, orange and gold. And yet, the palette is so much broader. Your colors here are just exquisite.

    I've been putting off your trilogy until I got things caught up a bit, but I haven't caught up, so I'm off to read that now. It's a good time, because I've been driven in from work. The wind just has shifted from south to north. There's some rain coming, and then a thirty degree drop in temperatures! It's a perfect time for some reading and some tea.

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  22. Let's hope the winter's not too dark, it only takes a few rays of sun to show up the colours. I'm amazed at how many summer flowers are still blooming in my little patch, and only one very light frost - so far! Perhaps I'll go out and celebrate with a leap or two!

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  23. My Almanac says get ready to bundle up the garden. Love those fuchsia...so beautiful and truly a last hurrah!

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  24. Beautiful photos. They make more sense to me than the advice. :)

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  25. Your post is very moving because of the placement of the gorgeous garden pictures with the ancient quotes that still carry meaning today.

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  26. leaping? I can just see me leaping across the yard. everything is hunkering down here for winter as well. no such beauties as your garden sports, just a few roses and the last of the confederate rose blooms. I'm hoping the late bud on the yellow butterfly ginger will bloom before we have a frost. bringing my tender tropicals in today.

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  27. Thankyou for the warning ! I'll desist from any further leaping after dinner , immediately .

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  28. Where do you find such wonderful old texts? Such wise advice, not to engage in anything strenuous "to bedward". I'll bear that in mind.

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  29. Wonderful colours and the worlds were rather fun too.

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  30. Oh! The colors!
    The throat remedy: Oh! The stink!

    I'm off to do a little leaping prior to my morning shower.

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  31. Love those bright red leaves and the fuschia is glorious.
    Leaping? Not these days.
    More like shuffling.
    At least until the legs and back realise that they're supposed to be working together.

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  32. I love the red leaved bush and hydrangea, Friko. Your garden plants still have leaves, mine are bare now. The advices are enough clever, especially this one:Upon a full stomach and to bedward it is very dangerous.
    Have a nice weekend!

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  33. Interesting advice from the "Compleat Gentleman", and fantastic pictures, Friko! The fuchsia look almost unreal - I'd no idea they are still flowering at this time of the year.

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  34. Such beautiful pictures! That first one is full of the peace of this time of year.

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  35. Your photos are wonderful. And I do love that old text. A couple of years ago, Ursula, I bought an old almanac because of the things you quoted on this blog. Love it.

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