Memorial to the refugees and the war

During the First World War there were lots of Belgian refugees in the Netherlands. In the town of Uden, a refuge called Vluchtoord was created. (“Vluchtoord” loosely translates as “refuge.”) A complete village of temporary housing, schools, a church,  and a hospital was built in a matter of weeks. In total about 10,000 Belgian refugees lived here.

They also took with them their hobbies and made a cycling track, the remnants of which are  still visible in the woods. You can easily walk the total length of the track. and the nearby woods have nice walks. 

On the site there are several informational signs with highlight the history of the site and the refuge. Fun fact: The refuge was the first in the region to have electric power. Which annoyed the residents of Uden, who had to wait a few more years before they got electrical power. 

At the end of the war, the refugees returned and in a few weeks the site was emptied out. No original buildings (except the generator building) were left standing. The generator building is now in use as a theater. And the name Vluchtoord lives on as the name of an industrial zone nearby. 

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([personal profile] susandennis Oct. 26th, 2025 07:42 am)
Apparently, we had a power outage last night. Not for very long, but long enough to reset the coffee maker and the microwave clock. Everything else recovered before I woke up. We did have storms - wind and rain. Not as bad as Seattle and other areas but enough, I guess.

I spent most of the day making snowmen. The first one is nearly the best but it is way too fiddly and I don't like the nose. I fixed the nose issue, but don't like the second - non fiddly - one nearly as much. I want them to be easy to produce a bunch without getting tired of them. And they need to be cute. I have some new ideas for prototype number 3. I'll do it up today.

There is nothing killer on the brunch menu so I think I'll go swim and then come home and make my own brunch. Then I plan to give all the filters on the washing machine, a good scrub and try a small test load.

Julio has two new toys that are, of course, automated. They turn on at intervals. One will start up if he plays with it hard enough. Just now they are both 'asleep' and he is wandering from one to the other looking for some action and not getting any. It's pretty funny.

I think I'll go pop into my suit and get my swim in. They are closing the pool next week to change the sand filters. The scheduler told me I could swim in the morning as long as I was out my 9 and then that is it, probably until Friday or Saturday. It is so wonderful to have such a beautifully maintained pool, it is hard to begrudge them a week so I'm going to be happy that my skin will maybe not be as dry and I can sleep late every single day.

PXL_20251025_200041104

“Study the past if you would divine the future.” These words of Confucius clearly resonate with Roderick Wilde, the owner of the world’s largest collection of antique electric vehicles. Dreaming of creating a museum devoted entirely to EVs, Wilde first displayed part of his collection at the 2014 Route 66 International Festival in Kingman, Arizona. The exhibit was so successful that it became a permanent museum inside Kingman’s historic Powerhouse.

Electric vehicles aren’t a 21st-century innovation, they date back to the 19th century. For a brief time in the early 1900s, they even competed with gasoline cars, before cheap fuel and limited battery technology rendered them impractical. For much of the 20th century, electric power was relegated to small vehicles like golf carts, mobility scooters, and “neighborhood electric vehicles.”

The museum’s collection includes those everyday models alongside celebrity-owned golf carts (including ones belonging to Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson), a 2008 Tesla Roadster, and a record-breaking electric race car.

Though the Powerhouse space currently displays only part of Wilde’s collection, the museum plans to expand into a larger downtown location in the future.

The bar inside the Long Bar

The Long Bar, nestled in the corner of Raffles Hotel, is the birthplace of Singapore’s most iconic drink. The Singapore Sling is a heritage drink that reflects both Singapore’s colonial past and the secret rebellion of women who defied patriarchal expectations in the early 1900s.

Whilst the exact date of the bar’s establishment is unclear, the hotel was originally a privately owned beach house in the 1830s, only to become a hotel in 1878. After the passing of Dr. Charles Emerson, the founding owner, the Raffles Institution acquired the property as a boarding house. Immediately after its first lease expired, famous Armenian hotel tycoons the Sarkies Brothers took over the property. It was their acquisition that transformed Raffles into the iconic hotel it is today. The Raffles Hotel grew from a humble home with fewer than 10 bedrooms into a grand hotel with 75 rooms.

On a hot summer day, watching their husbands play cricket, the women of early 1900s colonial Singapore needed a drink that would quench their thirst. However, due to patriarchal standards, women were not allowed to drink alcohol publicly. Realising there’s a solution to this unnecessary problem, Ngiam Tong Boon, a Hainan man who worked his way to being a bar captain, created the Singapore Sling. A cocktail ingeniously disguised as fruit juice. As gin was his speciality, it naturally became the base of the cocktail. Other ingredients included in this delightful cocktail are pineapple juice, lime juice, curaçao, Bénédictine, grenadine, and cherry liqueur. The drink quickly gained popularity among women, then across Singapore, and ultimately became the international icon it is today.

The Long Bar continues its tradition in serving Singapore Slings, contributing 70% of the bar’s total revenue, earning SGD 15 million (USD 11 million) in annual sales. The staff make nearly 800 - 1200 Singapore Slings daily. Every 27th of June, to honour the cocktail’s legacy, the Long Bar hosts Singapore Sling Day. As a fun nod to the drink’s tropical roots, guests can exchange a pineapple for a free Singapore Sling. With a focus on sustainability, ingredients are delivered in reusable ecoTOTE containers, and biodegradable potato starch straws are used in place of plastic, significantly reducing waste.

Along a quiet roadside stand three towering wooden middle fingers, each mounted on a pole. These defiant sculptures were created by the property’s owner as part of a protest over a zoning dispute with the town.

Though the display sits on private property, there’s a small pull-off area near the end of the driveway where visitors can stop and view the artwork — just be respectful while you do.

oursin: Brush the Wandering Hedgehog by the fire (Default)
([personal profile] oursin Oct. 26th, 2025 11:41 am)
Happy birthday, [personal profile] finisterre, [personal profile] rivka and [personal profile] taelle!
fred_mouse: drawing of mouse settling in for the night in a tin, with a bandana for a blanket (cleaning)
([personal profile] fred_mouse posting in [community profile] unclutter Oct. 26th, 2025 07:14 pm)

How goes the decluttering? Have you shifted anything out of the house? Found something to sort through? Had thoughts on things you can let go of?

Comments open to locals, lurkers, drive by sticky beaks, and anyone I've forgotten to mention.

queenlua: (Default)
([personal profile] queenlua Oct. 26th, 2025 12:16 am)
just a bit of this & that—

Read more... )

also, shoutout and/or critical support to this madman who listened to all the scarlatti sonatas & ranked them. i don't 100% agree with all his takes (at least, on the much smaller subset of the sonatas that i listened to lol), but i DID find some p sweet sonatas i would've otherwise overlooked and the article's vibes are good!
senmut: 3/4 view from the front side of Eliot, Parker, and Hardison (Leverage: OT3 take 2)
([personal profile] senmut Oct. 25th, 2025 07:04 pm)
Their Holidays or read at SquidgeWorld (100 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Leverage (US TV 2008)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Characters: Eliot Spencer (Leverage), Parker (Leverage), Alec Hardison
Additional Tags: Drabble
Summary:

They each have their own.






Eliot paid attention to the veteran holidays. He didn't much care for the complex behind it now, having seen all the ways it was abused, but most of those vets had died believing in an impossible dream worth protecting.

Parker, of course, was all about Santa and Christmas. She got to make up for the shitty holidays she'd seen as a kid.

But Hardison? Hardison went all out for Halloween. Decorations, costumes, and enough candy to kill a dentist was his philosophy. No one who showed up left empty handed, not even the parents. He needed them to be happy.

Te Waha O Rerekohu

The great Pōhutukawa tree, Te Waha O Rerekohu, stands here, in the small town of Te Araroa, as it has for centuries. Its gnarled winding branches strech over 21 metres tall and its seasonally vibrant canopy covers an area 40 metres across at its widest point. Reputed to be the largest and oldest of its species in the world, Te Waha O Rerekohu is sure to leave a lasting impression on any with an interest in history, botany or spirituality as well as those who just love really big trees.

senmut: A lion's face covered by both his paws (General: Double facepaw)
([personal profile] senmut Oct. 25th, 2025 03:07 pm)
oooh let's see what I've wandered over recently in this wondrous world of ours:

Doll's Eyes - I have never seen it in the wild, but I have recognized its use in some creepy movies where the plants seemingly watch people. Honestly, I was glad I stumbled over it in reading things before I ever had a chance to see it in the wild. It's nice and spooky.

The Black Bat Flower is less creepy to me, and more o.O at how it developed. Plants that mimic animal shapes fascinate me. (There's a carrion plant that resembles a sea-star / star fish, for instance).

Bleeding Heart - the first "creepy" flower I ever read about, I think. I think they look fascinating, actually.

and critters:

Dragon Headed Caterpillar - it evolves, as all catties do, but the larval stage is just so CUTE to me.

Flying Snakes - My uncle's worst nightmare, given his deep-seated phobia once led him to sink the boat he was in due to a snake flopping into it with him. I love the idea of these guys just LAUNCHING themselves through the air.

Fossa - the jokes about cats running on dog software (hyena) and dogs running on cat software (foxes), have NOTHING on this critter that is a mongoose-type running on cat software. Very predator, very fierce.

Markhor - but it's just a goat, right? CHECK OUT THOSE HORNS! I had to give my tiefling OC those horns because they are TOO COOL.

Tufted Deer - cute name, right? When's the last time you saw a deer with FANGS?! Seriously, I saw these and started trying to figure out WHY they evolved those.

I hope you enjoyed these!
Tags:

Benny ready to flap as she scans the area

On the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, stands a statue officially known as Beneficence — though everyone simply calls her “Benny.” Over the years, Benny has earned quite the reputation for responding to the thoughts, hopes, and dreams of those who pass by or sit before her — by flapping her wings.

The Ball brothers and their family gifted Ball State the land that would become its campus. The brothers owned a manufacturing business that produced the famous Ball jars used for home canning. They relocated from New York to Muncie in the 1880s in search of a better supply of natural gas, and their business, along with their philanthropic influence, flourished. The Ball Brothers Foundation continues their charitable work to this day.

Beneficence was created as a gesture from the community and the university to honor the Ball family’s generosity. She was sculpted by Daniel Chester French — the same artist behind the Abraham Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial. The statue cost about $50,000 to complete in 1930, though it took another seven years to raise the funds necessary for her installation.

According to Ball State lore, if a couple kisses beneath Benny and she flaps her wings, they are destined to be true lovers. Another tale claims that if a virgin ever crosses her path, Benny will take flight entirely. Myth also suggest that the severed heads of each of the five Ball Brothers rest in individual urns on the top of the respective pillar. These stories, often shared by student guides during freshman orientation, have kept her firmly in the heart of campus folklore.

Today, Beneficence graces the university’s official seal and continues to watch over students — ever vigilant for those in need of guidance in matters of the heart.

The jacaranda trees blooming in the Spring

Founded in 1833 to address the high mortality of a cholera epidemic, the Prazeres Cemetery is located on the western side of the city and was built around a hermitage dedicated to Our Lady of Prazeres. It has a beautiful view over Alcântara Vale, the 25th of April Bridge, and the Tagus river.

In 1838 the Municipality of Lisbon requested the regulations and map of the Père Lachaise Cemetery from the city of Paris and, the following year, started to sell plots of land for the building of family mausoleums in Prazeres. The influence of the Père Lachaise style is evident in the cemetery's design.

Most of Lisbon's aristocratic families of the 19th century bought plots in the cemetery, choosing the best artists and architects of the time to create their family mausoleums, resulting in beautiful works, rich with symbolism and art.

Many important personalities are buried here, such as the poet Fernando Pessoa, the fado singer Amália Rodrigues, the writer Aquilino Ribeiro, the painter Maluda, the Italian writer Antonio Tabucchi, the artist Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, the painter Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, and Portugal's former President Mário Soares. 

Through the glass doors of the mausoleums one can see the funeral decorations, flowers, stained glass windows, altars with photographs of the deceased and images of saints and, also on display, coffins. Made of expensive woods, carved, painted or decorated, with metal handles with funerary symbols, some mausoleums are like time capsules from the past.

In this cemetery one can find the Palmela Mausoleum, considered the largest private mausoleum in Europe, with capacity for 200 remains, designed by the Italian architect Giuseppe Cinatti for Pedro de Sousa Holstein, the 1st Duque of Palmela. Built in 1848 and comprised of a pyramid on top of a cubic underground crypt, this mausoleum rises in a separated plot, with a path flanked by cypress trees and the graves of the Palmela family servants. Inside, sculpted works by Italian neo-classical artist Antonio Canova, French artist Anatole Calmels and the Portuguese artists António Teixeira Lopes and Vitor Bastos, make this mausoleum a must see work in European funerary art.

Outside of the jail seen from the courtyard

Built in the 1880s, this small stone structure was never meant to hold inmates. It originally served as a well house and water tower, its granite base keeping perishables cool before refrigeration.

According to local legend, one particularly rowdy visitor was once locked inside the building, and it had to serve as a temporary prison until the sheriff could arrive.

oursin: A C19th illustration of a hedgehood, with a somewhat worried expression (mopey/worried hedgehog)
([personal profile] oursin Oct. 25th, 2025 05:56 pm)

Just one of those weeks that felt like a strain - lower back flareups and insomnia and long-scheduled commitments that could not be deferred -

Though I did get a few small bits of life admin accomplished, like finally making an appointment for the first session of dental inlay work and chasing up whether journal reviews editor actually got my review.

But at the moment having the blahs.

susandennis: (Default)
([personal profile] susandennis Oct. 25th, 2025 09:04 am)
So apparently, my fancy assed GE combo washer/drier which I really love, needs hand holding by a representative of the mother ship every six months. Yesterday, after 5 hours, the clothes were still wet. Really wet. So I hung them up all over the apartment and logged into my extended warranty and set up an appointment. Tuesday afternoon. I just cleaned all the filters but I'll do it again and then do a test run in hopes that it was just a one time glitch. I really do love the machine but fuck me, I'd love it better if it weren't so needy.

I had just finished watching something Oh the new Boston Blue (I think one episode is enough of that one), when I got a text from my nephew. "What do you think of this?" hmmmmm It was a head scratcher. I try to keep up with the kids these days but I failed... so I responded "What this?"

Turns out he meant the world series game which I had ignored so successfully, I forgot it was even on. I popped over to Fox and OMG. The score was Blue Jays 11 and Dodgers 2 in the 7th. NOT what I expected. I actually watched a little but those broadcasters chased me into mute and then I gave up entirely. I'm glad they won one.

Steve reminded me this morning that it's time to start working on Christmas dolls. He thinks, since the bunnies of last Easter and the pumpkin people/ghosts, that I'll be doing every season. Nope. BUT I might make up a bunch of snow men. I don't have a pattern perfected but I have some ideas. I need some brown pipe cleaner and orange fimo clay. After elbow coffee.

I have this weird patch of dry skin on the palm of my right hand. I've actually had it before and now it's back. I think it's from the pool. While doing laps, I push off the side with the palm of my right hand. I need to not do that and see if the dry patch clears up. It's itchy and uncomfortable.

I need to get dressed and put away all the now dry clothes hanging around before I head out to the elbow.

PXL_20251025_015343177.jpg

On quiet, leafy Gaskell Avenue in Knutsford stand two white houses known today as Heath House. Their calm façades conceal the story of Edward “Squire” Higgins, a man who, according to local history, lived among the Cheshire gentry while secretly robbing them blind.

Parish records show that in 1757, Edward Higgins—described as a yeoman—married Catherine Birtles and settled in Knutsford. To his neighbors, he was every inch the gentleman: he rode with the local hunt, hosted soirées, and kept a fine home. But folklore insists that behind his polished manners, Higgins was a career highwayman whose “rent-collecting trips” were convenient covers for robbery.

Stories tell that he was once sentenced to transportation to the American colonies, escaped, and returned to England under a new guise. His luck, legend says, ran out in 1767 after a bungled burglary in Wales. Captured and condemned to hang, he supposedly forged his own pardon—but the deception failed.

The most enduring tale claims that, ever the schemer, Higgins sold his body to a London surgeon to provide for his family. When the dissection began, the astonished anatomists found him still alive.

Though it’s difficult to separate fact from embellishment, Heath House remains tied to his name—and to a story that Knutsfordians still whisper. On still nights, some say you can hear the faint tread of hooves on the old Chester Road—Squire Higgins, riding once more into the dark.

senmut: an owl that is quite large sitting on a roof (Default)
([personal profile] senmut Oct. 25th, 2025 11:14 am)
[Podfic of] Stake-Out? (38 words) by kbirb pods
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Faith Lehane, Dana Scully, Fox Mulder
Additional Tags: Drabble, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, Audio Format: Download
Series: Part 55 of graveyard smash, Part 72 of vending machine of podfic snacks [under 5 min pods, 2025 edition]
Summary:

Length: 1 minute
Summary:

She knows better than to follow him on the weird cases.

Podfic of Stake-Out? by Merfilly.

.

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