Tiffany in Florida

The first thing most people think when hearing the name Tiffany is "Breakfast at Tiffany's", that wonderful film starring Audrey Hepburn. But that is the Tiffany jewellery shop in New York.

Then come stained glass windows, lampshades and vases.

The Morse Museum in Winter Haven (not far from Orlando) has one of the largest collections Tiffany-ware. The full title of the museum is actually the Charles Mosmer Morse Museum of American Art. In 1942 Hugh and Jeannette McKean opened the museum and added to it for the next 50 years, including the acquisition of a number of Tiffany items.

In 1957 Laurelton Hall on Long Island was destroyed by fire. Laurelton had been the home of Louis Comfort Tiffany and, of course, had a lot of windows and other items created by Tiffany. Or, to be exact, created at the Tiffany works.

After the fire one of his daughters contacted the McKeans to see if they were interested in buying a window, or part thereof. They bought a lot more.

Over the years they and the museum collected more items and some years ago opened the restored Chapel (a work of art in mosaic) at the Museum. In February this year the Laurelton Hall Galleries opened with the restored Daffodil Terrace, windows, parts of windows, vases and many other artefacts on display.

When visiting the Orlando area do go to the Museum, it is wonderful.

If visiting St. Augustine on Florida's north-east coast you can still see Tiffany-ware - at the Flagler College and in the Lightner Museum.

You can read about both the Tiffany Chapel and the Laurelton Hall Galleries on my page of The Travel Editor:  www.thetraveleditor.com/authors/6261/Barbara_Bothwel/

The Fabulous Tiffany Chapel.  Copyright the Morse Museum.



Ironbridge Gorge and Beyond

That was a hectic couple of days, but fun.  It is very difficult when looking at all of the trees and the clean water of the River Severn to believe that this was once the heart of the Victorian Industrial Revolution.  Between heavy industry leaving the area and Mother Nature, the whole area has a new lease of life.

I began my 'tour' in the town of Ironbridge - walking across the famous bridge, of course - and subsequently strolled alongside the river to visit the Jackfield Tile Museum and from there strolled along to a footbridge over the river to go to the Coalport Museum (lots of very lush chinaware on display).  My journey sounds easy, doesn't it?  Had to be two or three miles.  The reason for walking was that I couldn't find a bus going in that direction.  There is a public service bus that goes to most of the museums but it only has a 2-hourly service.

So much for the first day.  The other two areas still to do were Blists Victorian Village at Blists Hill and Coalbrookdale where the Darby Houses and iron museums are.  Unfortunately these areas are at either end of the gorge and very hilly areas.  Yes, I had to rely on that bus.

Advice?  Take a car or go at the weekend when the tourist board has a bus service running between the museums.

This year at Trooping the Colour (June 12) Prince William, now the Duke of Cambridge, will be a part of the parade, riding a horse behind the Queen's carriage and wearing a very big hat.

Since my last blog I have put a couple more articles onto theTravelEditor - one about Paphos in Cyprus and the other about Clarence House, home of the Prince of Wales and former home of the Duke of Cambridge.  I will shortly be putting some articles about my Ironbridge experience onto TravelEditor so keep checking.

The Iron Bridge.......



Original London Underground Tiling....

Quickest way to access my articles is: www.thetraveleditor.com/authors/6261/Barbara_Bothwell/

Busy, busy, busy

As always, I am busy - both with writing articles for TheTravelEditor.com and trying to organise the manuscript of one of my books.  I have decided that as nobody wants to publish my books, I will have to e-publish them.  Unfortunately, I still haven't mastered the rules of Monopoly so you can imagine the problems I am having trying to understand the technical jargon from Smashwords!

Next week I am going to visit the Ironbridge Gorge - the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. This is something I have been promising myself for many years that I would do.  Obviously I am hoping that it won't rain as I would like to get some nice photographs with which to illustrate the articles. 

Watch this space!  Better still, check me out on www.thetraveleditor.com/authors/6261/Barbara_Bothwell/

The picture with this Blog is a lump of blue ice that I saw in Alaska http://www.thetraveleditor.com/article/7485/Feature_Article_Experience_Blue_Ice_of_Alaska.html
and is one of six pix that illustrate the article on TheTravelEditor.

Trooping the Colour

John Ringling's House in Sarasota

Yes, the article is now on traveleditor.com.  Harald Joergens supplied me with the pix which include the colourful soldiers and HM The Queen.  Sticking to the royal theme, yesterday I put an article about Windsor Castle onto that site. 

Life has been somewhat confusing during the past couple of weeks with people supposedly coming to do jobs and not turning up (so what's new!) and other people coming to check something, then actually doing the job (hurrah).  Hopefully on Monday 16th an engineer will come and repair my washer/dryer.  The washer is okay but when you live in a flat/apartment you do need a dryer and mine has been out of action since March! 

Workwise, apart from the recent articles put onto traveleditor - including one about Sarasota - I am working on some more, such as a Western Caribbean cruise (when I kissed a dolphin) and Charleston, SC.

As they say..... watch this space and log onto: www.thetraveleditor.com/authors/6261/Barbara_Bothwell/

A Beautiful Royal Wedding

Last Friday was a wonderful day - sitting watching William and Kate get married and toasting them with a glass of gin and tonic!  Every time I watch pageantry in this country I have to admit that nobody does it like the Brits.

Our next bit of pomp and circumstance will be Trooping the Colour on 11 June.  No seats left for that one either but still plenty of room to stand along the Mall.  Yes, there will be a Balcony Scene and an RAF Fly Past.

I've been quite busy recently - spent a few days in Norwich which is a busy and historical city.  I am working on some articles about the trip which will appear on http://www.thetraveleditor.com/.  At the moment my writing for them seems to sticking to the Regal.  I have an article about the Royal Carriages which are on view to the public at the Royal Mews and am hoping to put on an article about Trooping the Colour within the next day or two.  My problem with that article is that I don't have any photos and am waiting for someone to supply them!

If you want to go directly to my page on thetraveleditor:  www.thetraveleditor.com/authors/6261/Barbara_Bothwell/

Don't Close our Libraries!

One of the worst things that any government could countenance is the closure of our libraries. They are not just a place from where we can borrow books, but an integral part of our education.

Being a war baby, my early education was sadly lacking due to unqualified teachers. Fortunately my mother introduced me to the library and I could read before I went to school. Later through reading books by Georgette Heyer and Jean Plaidy I was introduced to history. My curiosity about the characters and their eras made me curious to learn more – which I did. With books from the library.

Not everyone can afford to buy books, nor do they necessarily have storage space for them so the library is vitally important for the bookworms.

The unemployed can make use of the library, not just for the books, but for the newspapers – checking the sits. vac.

So far as the elderly and disabled are concerned, the local library is a life-line.

Having lived in America, I have seen how their library system works. Qualified librarians run them with the aid of volunteers. And they are even open for a few hours on Sunday afternoon which allows people who work six days a week the chance to browse.

I think it is time that the Government brought in legislation making charitable donations tax free. Then we could have a charity for the libraries and people would happily contribute to the fund. It would also encourage those wealthy people who hide their money away to keep more of it in this country and give it to charity!

On Wings of Time

Oh dear, how time flies! I’ve been so busy I hadn’t realised how long ago it is since I put something onto my blog.

As it is now two years since I returned to England, March was an expensive and complicated month. Plus trying to put plenty of articles onto thetraveleditor.com and time disappeared in the proverbial flash.

The articles include a couple of my “Alaska” experiences; on-shore excursions from a cruise. The latest one is about Glacier Gardens in Juneau where I saw the upside-down trees. The other one is about the New Archangel Dancers of Sitka, a troupe of enthusiastic ladies who perform Russian dances.

At the end of July Buckingham Palace will open its State Rooms to the public so there is also an article about some of them. Best advice – book early via their web site.

Other recent articles include the Lake District, the Pena Palace in Portugal, Mount Dora (Florida), Ghosts in San Diego, Florida’s Keys, Madeira and Monet’s Gardens. And probably some I’ve missed.

To read any of these articles and find useful links click on The TravelEditor link – it now goes directly to my page! Yes, I’m learning new things every day.

           Me at the lookout point in Glacier Gardens at Juneau, Alaska