Macro Monday #macromonday

For more Macro Monday shots, please stop by Lisa's Chaos.

Silent Sunday #silentsunday

Saturday is Caption day #SatCap

Simply post up a photo and ask your readers to come up with a caption for it. Enjoy.

For more Saturday is Caption Day posts, please stop by Mammasaurus's blog.

Floral Friday Foto - Ribes Sanguineum, Flowering Redcurrent

For more Floral Friday Fotos, please click here.

Alphabe Thrusday - W is for Water

This marble memorial was originally erected in 1908 in memory of local benefactor Ada Lewis, and was used as a drinking trough for working horses. In late 2010 the memorial was relocated for a second time and converted into a decorative fountain.


Ada Lewis was born Ada Hannah Davis on 26th June 1844 in Liverpool.  She married Samuel Lewis in Dublin on the 12th August 1867.  Samuel, born in Birmingham was a salesman for steel pens, he opened a jewellers shop before becoming a money lender to the aristocracy.

The 1881 Census shows Ada and Samuel living at 20 Grosvenor Square, St George, London where Samuel is listed as being a Bill Broker.  A step up from wholesale jeweller in 1871.

Upon Samuel's death in January 1901 Ada became the wealthiest widow in England.  She became a benefactor to many charities, she even offered affordable homes to rent for the working classes in London, Hove and Maidenhead.

In 1904 at the age of 60, Ada married William James Montague Hill, a Guards Officer less then half her age.  She adopted the surname Lewis-Hill.  Ada passed away on 13th October 1906 in London.  In her will she expressed her wish to be buried along side Samuel.  They now lay side by side in Golders Green Jewish Cemetery.

For more Alphabe Thursday posts, please visit Jenny Matlock's blog.

The Gallery - Action #thegallery



Look, mummy!  I'm a swinger!

The theme for this week's Gallery is:  Action


There's no greater action when you're six years old than being a swinger.

Of course, when you get older, being a swinger takes on a whole new meaning!


For more Gallery shots, please stop by Sticky Fingers.

Taphophile Tragics - Believeth

Lych gate at St James the Less, Burchetts Green, Maidenhead

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.

Monument of Augusta Silver, Annette Silver and Mary Ann Silver, St James the Less Churchyard, Burchetts Green, Maidenhead.

"In memory of Augusta Silver Born June 15th 1842 Died April 3rd 1860 Also of Annette Silver Born May 24th 1850 Died 13th April 1861

Also of Mary wife of Richard Silver and mother of the above Born March 1st 1818 Died July 15th 1881

~ Who so ever liveth and believeth in me shall never die - St John XI 26 ~"

Augusta Silver was born in 1842 and Annette Silver in 1860 to Richard and Ann Silver nee Kuy.

Richard Silver was born in 1818 in Burghfield Berkshire. On 16th March 1838 in Cookham Berkshire, he married Mary Kuy. They are listed on the 1851 Census living in "Tittle Row" with their children Joseph Love, Augusta (spelt Agusta), Agnes and 11 month old Annette. At that time Richard was a carpenter employing five men. Mary was a dress maker.

In 1849 the foundation stone to St James the Less church in Burchetts Green Maidenhead was laid. The architect Richard Cromwell Carpenter employed Richard Silver and his team to build the church that still stands there to this day. The small round window in the west wall
was given to the Church by Richard Silver.

Sadly in both 1860 and 1861 the family was beset by double tragedy when 18 year old Augusta passed away follwed closely by his 11 year old sister Annette. Maybe this is why Richard threw himself in to politics and the running of his beloved town, Maidenhead.

Richard was elected to Maidenhead Town Council in 1870, becoming Alderman from 1890 and Mayor of Maidenhead in 1872-73 and again in 1877-78. He passed awat at his home The Walnuts, Tittle Row on 17th December 1910. In his obituary his was described as;

"A keen antiquarian. His late residence, Etruria stands on the site of an old Roman villa, where Mr Silver unearthed some valuable pottery & specimens of which are to be seen at the British Museum and at the Maidenhead Museum."

After the death of his wife Mary in 1881 Richard married Jane Stuchbery in Cookham in 1883.

Richard and Jane are listed on the 1901 Census as living at Etruria along with their servants, Elizabeth Gibson and Jane Sealey, my husband's great grandmother.

West wall of st James the Less Church in Burchetts Green Maidenhead, showing the small round window given by Richard Silver

For more Taphophile Tragic posts, please stop by Taphophile Tragics Blog.

Macro Monday - Dead Rose #macromonday

For more Macro Monday shots, please stop by Lisa's Chaos.

Silent Sunday #silentsunday

Jessica's Week - Six Weeks Old

Yesterday Jessica turned six weeks old.  She's has started being a bit more awake and alert.  She now weighs 9lb, up in 7lb 13oz around three weeks ago.  So all that eating and sleeping is doing some good.

She got to meet our GP for thr first time at her six week check.  I am happy to report that she has been deemed 'perfectly normal' despite my concerns about her head.  We have Synistosis in the family, a condition where certain skull sutures fused whilst in the womb.  My brother was affected with Unicoronal Synistosis and had to undergo major plastic surgery at the age of two.  Without the surgery his prognosis wouldn't have been good.

The doctor has assured me that Jessica is not a FLK or 'Funny Looking Kid'.  However he suggested a take weekly phtographs of the top of her head to compare, hopefully enabling us to spot any issues early.

So for now I can get back to simply enjoying my baby.

Floral Friday Foto - Clematis Montana

For more Floral Friday Foto posts, please stop by here.

Alphabe Thursday - V is for Vinnie

Or as some of you may know him, The Husband.

He moans too much, gets on my nerves and generally drives me to distraction. But he loves me and that makes him almost as crazy as I am.

He has always been there when a need him and when I don't and for that I am truly grateful!

For more Alphabe Thursday posts, please visit Jenny Matlock's blog.

Taphophile Tragics - We Shall Not All Sleep

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.

Monument to Louisa Cannon, St James the Less Churchyard, Stubbings, Burchetts Green, Maidenhead Berkshire.

"Sacred to the memory of Louisa Cannon Who died May 14th 1868 in the 17th year of her age.

~ We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be cherished ~"

Louisa was born in 1851 to Henry Cannon, a basket maker and his wife Ann. They lived in an area known as Maidenhead Thicket, once a haunt of highway men and a rumoured stop off point of Dick Turpin.

Sadly Louisa passed away at the age of 17 on 14th May 1868. Her gravestone, covered in algae, rests in a small village churchyard not far from where she and her family used to live. A young life cut tragically short.

For more Taphophile Tragic posts, please stop by Taphophile Tragics Blog.

Macro Monday #macromonday

For more Macro Monday posts, please stop by Lisa's Chaos.

Silent Sunday #SilentSunday

Saturday is Caption Day #SatCap

Simply post up a photo and ask your readers to come up with a caption for it. Enjoy.

For more Saturday is Caption Day posts, please stop by Mammasaurus's blog.

Jessica's Week

Jessica has finally grown out all of her Tiny Baby clothes and moved up into Newborn. Of course this meant a shopping trip, which in true Jessica fashion, she slept right through.

Floral Friday Foto - Rose

For more Floral Friday Foto posts, please stop by here.

Photo Story Friday - Bomber

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

It was an early sunny morning trip to the park to discover some 'street artists' had got there before us.

Also the sudden and startling realisation that your child is the LOUDEST in the whole park.

I could her her dulcet tones drifting on the breeze, like nails across a chalkboard or a squeaky hinge in need of a damned good oiling.

I pretended she wasn't mine.

Alphabe Thursday - U is for Ugly

Amazing what you find lurking under your refrigerator. This ugly looking specimen was once a blueberry, plump and juicy. I guess wrinkles come to us all.

For more Alphabe Thursday posts, please visit Jenny Matlock's blog.

The Gallery - Easter #thegallery

The theme for this week's Gallery Post is: Easter

Baby Jessica wants to know what happened to her chocolate eggs.

For more Gallery Posts, please stop by Sticky Fingers Blog.

Taphophile Tragics - Lady Docker

Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.


Monuments to Lady Nora Docker and Felicity Callingham, St James The Less Churchyard, Stubbings, Pinkney's Green, Maidenhead Berkshire.


The term 'Lady Docker' is also used in a derogatory way in the north of England, to describe a woman who has pretensions to be of high station but who in reality is anything but.


Nora Royce Docker nee Turner was born in Debry, Derbyshire on 23 June 1906 in a flat about a butcher's shop to Sydney and Amy Turner nee James. Sydney, a mechanical engineer was a self made man who after beginning his working life as a shopfitter for ther chemists Boots, eventually invested in motor cars, setting up his own showroom in Birmingham.

Sadly in 1922 when Nora was 16 years old, her father suffered a nervous breakdown and commited suicide by throwing himself from the ferry between Holyhead and Dublin.

- "The Turners had to sell their car showroom and release their servants. Amy Turner invested in a pub – the Three Tuns at Sutton Coldfield – but Norah found it so difficult to adjust to her new life that she could not bring herself to work behind the bar.

She was even more dismayed when her mother decided to leave the thriving business to invest in another pub – this time the Swan Hotel at Tenbury Wells. This business quickly failed and the Turners were forced to return to Birmingham, now in financial difficulties.

This brief flirtation with poverty made Norah determined never to experience it again. Just before his suicide, her father had made her promise that she would take care of the family, should anything untoward happen to him."

In 1924 aged 18 Nora left for London to seek her fortunes and became a dancer at London's fashionable Cafe de Paris. It was here that she meet her first husband Clement Callingham, head of Henekeys wine and spirit merchants. They soon set up home in Maidenhead, despite the fact Clement was waiting for a divorce from his estranged wife. In 1938 when Nora was 32 they married at Chelsea registry Office. In 1939 their son Lance was born and later joined in 1943 by their daughter Felicity.

Tragically Felicity was to pass away at the tender age of nine months old. Her resting place is directly behind that of her mother.

In July of 1945 Clement Callingham became ill and shortly after passed away.

A year after the death of her first husband Nora married his friend Sir William Collins, President of Fortnum & Mason. He too passed away in 1948.

Nora was married a third time in 1949 to Sir Bernard Docker, chairman of Birmingham Small Arms, Daimler and a director of the Midland Bank, Anglo-Argentine Tramways and Thomas Cook and Son.

Unfortunately due to their excesses and as Nora felt, the attentions of the press and paparazzi, the couple were not well liked.

Bernard passed away in 1978 and Nora moved to Majorca, yet she frequently visited England and her beloved son Lance.

In December 1983, Nora was discovered dead in her room at the Great Western Royal Hotel in London. She was 77 years old and she had lived life to it's fullest.

She now rests peacefully in a small Berkshire village churchyard along with her daughter and two of her three husbands. Almost forgotten.

For more Taphophile Tragic posts, please stop by Taphophile Tragics Blog.

Macro Monday #macromonday

For more Macro Monday posts, please stop by Lisa's Chaos.

Silent Sunday #silentsunday