In November this year [2011], the WhatHouse awards were once again held at Grosvenor House Hotel in London and gave awards in 21 different categories from best small house builder, best renovation to best large house builder. The awards have been held for the last 30 years and are an integral part of the calendar for home builders. 

The awards ceremony was held over a gala dinner and was attended by over a 1000 senior figures in the house building industry. The awards were hosted by the comedian Hugh Dennis and Rupert Bates, the editorial director of What House.co.uk and their managing director Joanne Davies Jones.

There are twenty one categories, each with a gold, silver and bronze award up for grabs. 

Redrow Homes won the award for best large house builder, while the award for best small house builder went to City and Country group, with Stone Homes, taking silver but the most prestigious award of Housebuilder of the Year went to United House Developments. 

Redrow homes currently have several new developments for sale on the WhatHouse property portal. One of the cheapest and an ideal starter home is a development of one and two bed apartments and 2 to 4 bedroom homes in Spinner Mews, near Oldham. These range in price from £72,995 for a new flat for sale in Lancashire to four and five bedroom executive detached new houses for sale in Lancashire as part of their new heritage range, starting at £449,995.

As part of government initiatives to help new home owners get on the housing ladder Redrow homes also offer shared equity schemes and rent to buy schemes. This enables people to buy houses with lower deposits and only need to get a mortgage for a smaller amount, thus making the property more affordable. 

Dont let the stress and emotions that fill ever single day start your morning! Remember to embrace the beauty the world has given us, along with a little coffee in your cup! Take time to enjoy that you are alive, and not stress about the paperwork, family, groceries, bills, etc.

This “How to make your own good day” will not cure your life problems, but it sure will help!

I hope you all take time out to enjoy your day,

AuthorEliza

www.welcometoelizasworld.weebly.com

This is a picture of mist on the River Yare; the River Yare and the River Wensum converge in Norwich.

When Adam (my partner) and I decided to set up home together back in the mid to late 1980s, although we would have loved to have bought a property in a rural location unfortunately we couldn’t afford it.  We live in quite an expensive part of England in the beautiful Norfolk Broads area which is both tranquil and picturesque, a haven for wildlife, and thus the country properties attract top prices. 

Adam, at that time, was a lorry driver for a local brewery and I was a legal secretary working in the city of Norwich so it seemed only practical that we buy a property in the city.  We looked at several Victorian terraced houses but, both of us being country people, we just couldn’t envisage that we’d be happy living in a claustrophobic street overlooked both front and rear and with nothing more than a pocket handkerchief backyard for a garden so we ended up buying a fairly new ground floor flat in a relatively quiet area on the outskirts of Norwich, which had a little piece of garden and was only overlooked by the flat upstairs.

With Adam working for the brewery, he had to be up with the lark (about 5.30) and off to work by 6.30.  The brewery was some 11 miles away so it was obvious he would need to take the car and, like most first time property buyers, we weren’t particularly well off so we couldn’t afford a second car and I had to get a bus to and from.  However, by the mid 1990s I got frustrated with having to struggle onto hot and stuffy buses which, by the time they hit my stop, were packed and this meant I had to stand for the whole journey, so I decided to take the healthy option – a 40 minute walk!  This walk took me along a very old street known as Magdalen Street.

Every morning I’d plug into my Walkman, put on some flat walking shoes and stride out. 

On one particular morning I got as far as a very battered and dilapidated building in Magdalen Street which had been a public house/night club known as The Jacquard Club.  It had recently closed but was, at the time, being refurbished by the local council. The building was surrounded by scaffolding which was partially screened by green plastic netting and, due to the narrowness of the footpath at that point, it was sometimes necessary for one pedestrian to give way to another coming from the opposite direction.  The alternative was to take your life into your hands and walk out into the stream of traffic which, at the time was two-way, although it has since become one-way due it’s narrowness.

As I reached the scaffolding I saw a businessman – smart dark suit, dark hair, fairly full beard – heading towards me. As I was in a position to sidestep into an alleyway, I just moved to one side to allow him to come through. I waited for a few seconds but nobody passed me so I moved back into the centre of the footpath, looked through the scaffolding and discovered there was no-one there.

At the time I thought the guy had crossed the road and I hadn’t realised it so I wasn’t particularly concerned.

Above is a picture of The Jacquard (originally The White Lion) as it is today.  On the left hand side of the building as you look at the photograph, you can see the alleyway that I stepped into.  The scaffolding ran the whole length of the building.  The “apparition” was coming from the right hand side of the picture.

A few months later I was walking along the same route but had gone beyond the Jacquard Club and had almost reached the far end of Magdalen Street where it met with Fye Bridge, a water bridge, and on the junction of a side road known as Fishergate.

There was a café called The King of Hearts on the corner of Magdalen Street where it connected with Fishergate which had huge windows and I had got into the habit of looking through the windows to see if anyone was coming round the corner, in which case I tended to wait some way back so that I didn’t scare the wits out of anyone coming round the corner. 

On this particular morning I looked through the window, saw a businessman walking with a black Labrador dog heading towards the corner so I waited.  At that moment the cassette tape in my Walkman came to an end so I quickly ejected it, flipped it over lo the other side, pressed play and looked up to see where the man and his dog had got to but there was nobody there.  I knew for certain that nobody had walked past me.   I carried on walking towards the junction with Fishergate and assumed that the man’s dog had probably had to stop due to the call of nature, or that he had crossed the road to walk by the river, but when I reached the corner, no-one was there.  I looked along Fishergate, back along Magdalen Street (just in case I’d missed him) and over Fye Bridge but he was nowhere to be seen.

Above is a picture of the café.  You can see the large glass windows.  I was coming from the left and looked through the glass to the junction (on the right).

The above is a picture of Fye Bridge (taken in the 1960s) looking towards The King of Hearts.  You can just see the building - it’s to the right hand side of the photograph; the grey and white “striped” building above the fisherman’s head!

Following my second sighting, I carried on walking to my office and it wasn’t until later in the day that I remembered my previous encounter by The Jacquard Club when it suddenly occurred to me that the gentleman then bore an uncanny resemblance to the gentleman I met coming along Fishergate that morning, the only difference being that with my second encounter he had been accompanied by a black Labrador. 

I assumed that it was all perfectly logical.  Maybe I’d just been so wrapped up in my music and had imagined both encounters, but I didn’t see the “apparition” again as a few months after my second encounter Adam and I were finally able to move out to the country to the house we live in now.  It was natural that I totally forgot about these sightings but a year or so after we moved into our rural idyll in Spixworth I was watching a programme on the TV about haunted buildings and this episode was particularly interesting to me as it was looking at properties in Norwich. 

From that, I discovered that one of the shops in Magdalen Street is said to be the most haunted property in Norwich.  Apparently it had been an inn of ill repute – during its chequered past not only wine and song had been offered as entertainment, but certain ladies of the night had also been on the menu!  Needless to say, due to the history of the establishment, there had been various altercations, brawls, deaths and murders taking place there.

Above is a photograph of the “most haunted building in Norwich“.  Paranormal activity and apparitions have been encountered there and an apparition has been seen at one of the upstairs windows.  The photo was obviously taken some years ago as the property has since been renovated and several occupiers have come and gone.  However, the latest occupant is fascinated by the paranormal and has, thankfully, settled in there quite happily with his spirit sub-tenants!

Bearing in mind the gentleman I saw could well have been wearing Victorian or Edwardian garb and his beard would have fitted in equally well with that period or, at a quick glance, with current times, then who knows, maybe he had some sort of connection with the street.

So, if anyone out there takes a holiday on the Norfolk Broads or at one of our seaside resorts, and decides to take a trip to our wonderful historic city of Norwich make sure you visit Magdalen Street to see if you can spot my Victorian gentleman either with or without his faithful hound.  The street is within a stone’s throw of our magnificent cathedral.  I look forward to hearing from anyone who visits!!!

Since writing the above, I have looked into the history of The Jacquard and, from what I can gather, the pub dates back to the 1700s but whether or not the above photo shows the original building I don’t know.  The club closed in the 1990s and it was converted into flats in 2004.

    Then the press conference came and turns out all the commotion was to drop the university from the medical center’s name. OK big deal we will now call it Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and other local medical center such as Lexington Memorial Hospital will now be called Wake Forest Baptist Health – Lexington Medical Center. Truth be told locals are still going to call the medical center The Baptist or Wake Forest. Also in this unveiling was the new logo that the medical centers are going to share to me another ok big deal.

   However it wasn’t until later in the press conference that what many thought was a big deal came out. This dropping of one word and a new logo was going to cost the hospital $3.5 million dollars over the next two to three years. Change your name ok, but come on can you not spend the money you are going to spend on new business cards, badges, pamphlets, signs, and so forth on something that really needs help.

    Let me give you a few suggestions dear old Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. As a health care provider you are obligated to treat patients and help people. Why not put those millions of dollars into some plans to do that? I know from a personal experience that your Downtown Health Plaza needs some tuning up. How about some more people on the phones so patients do not have to wait 30 to 40 minutes listening to elevator music. How about paying some more doctors so patients do not have to wait months to get an appointment? Or even hire some new nurses and lab workers who don’t smell like smoke and act like they care about their jobs and you as a human being period.

    As a long time patient of the medical center I think the medical center is great and is making amazing advances in the medical field, but come on can you not spend that money on something truly necessary. People are going to call the medical center whatever they want to anyways so why not provide them with more services instead of a new name on a brochure.

You may experiment with the manmade surfaces around you which do not have to be perfectly reflective, such as dirty glass. Even if it is not the prettiest for a passerby, it may provide a gritty noir mood to a photograph. Partial reflections can be very effective so keep a keen look out when you are walking through any urban environment. Having a creative eye is bound to be fruitful.

The beautiful reflection of 42nd Street near Madison Avenue Midtown, New York City

The midtown skyline reflection with the Verizon Tower on the left and The Empire State Building on the right

The reflection of a skyscrapper in Toronto, Canada

This is another great reflection of the Astor Place Greenwich Village, New York City

A picture of Trinity Church reflected on John Hancock Tower in the bustling city of Boston

This is the beautiful reflection of Bryant Park Midtown Manhattan (New York City), capturing some greenery as well

Here’s a reflection of the magnificent Chrysler Building in New York City

This is another great reflection of a building in Midtown, New York City

The reflection of one of the most important landmarks, The First National Building and The Vinton Building in Detriot, Michigan

This is the reflection of a building in Vancouver

Below are a few miscellaneous shots of the reflections of brilliant skyscrappers and buildings:

By Mr Ghaz, December 8, 2010

Image Credit

Mysteries of Ancient Greece: The King and Queen of Heaven

Image Credit

A number of standard epithets for Zeus (Roman Jupiter) exist in epic poetry, such as “the far-seeing Olympian;” others reflect his status (“lord, “king” or his origins as a weather god (“loud-thundering,” “rainy”). However, Zeus is most frequently seen in roles reflecting his concern for human justice, hospitality, and fair treatment for the vulnerable. He was widely worshipped as Zeus Xenios, “of strangers,” and Hikesios, “of suppliants.” As Agoraios (“of the market-place”) he oversaw public gatherings and fair commerce, and as Herkeios (“of enclosures”) and Ktesios (“of property”) he protected individual households. Although he had no major city-center temples, great importance was attached to his main interstate sanctuaries: in the Peloponnese, where the Panhellenic Games were celebrated in his honor at Olympia and Nemea: and the oracular shrine at Dodona in northwestern Greece.

Image Credit

Zeus’s position as strongest of the gods was reflected in his sexual potency, a prolific begetting of offspring earning him the title “father of gods and men.” After establishing his rule on Olympos, he took a succession of goddesses as his wives: Metis (“Mind”); Themis (“Order”), mother of the Seasons and the Fates; the sea-nymph Eurynome, mother of the Graces; his sister Demeter; Mnemosyne “(Memory”), mother of the Muses; and Leto. His sister Hera eventually became his official consort, by whom he had Area (god of war), Eileithyia (goddess of childbirth), and Hebe (“Youth”).

The Vengeful Queen

Image Credit

At Athens and elsewhere there was a ‘wedding month’ when human marriages were celebrated alongside the ‘holy wedding’ of Zeus and Hena. Here, on the eastfrieze of the Parthenon, Hena and Zeusface one another, and Hena holds back her veil to symbolize her status as his wife.

Image Credit

Hera (the Roman Juno) was portrayed from the Iliad onward as constantly ready to cause trouble for her husband’s lovers and their offspring. Notably, she prompted Semele to request that Zeus appear to her in all his divine glory, as a consequence of which Semele was burnt to death. Hera also relentlessly persecuted Alkmene’s son Herakles. Although Hera did not herself have any extra-marital affairs, according to Hesiod she conceived Hephaistos without Zeus’s assistance.

Image Credit

During the Trojan War Hera and Athene sided with the Greeks in revenge against the Trojan prince Paris, who had chosen Aphrodite as the fairest of the goddesses. At one point in the Iliand, Hera enlists the help of Aphrodite and the god Sleep in an elaborate seduction scheme to distract Zeus’s attention from the battlefield while the Greeks gain the upper hand. This anti-Trojan bias continued in Hera’s persecution of Aeneas during his long voyage to Italy, as related in Virgil’s Aeneid.

Image Credit

The second temple of Hena at Paseidonia (Paestum), a Greek colony in southern Italy was built on 470-460BCE. The interior columns of the inner chamber can be clearly seen here, along with an unusually well-preserved upper colonnade.

Image Credit

Despite her rather negative portrayal in myth, Hera was widely worshipped alongside Zeus as a patron of marriage, and in her own right she was the dedicant of some of the oldest and most important temples in Greece. The first of several temples at Hera’s sanctuary on Samos may have been built as early as ca. 800BCE, while the mid-sixth-century one was reputedly the largest if its day. At Perachora (on the gulf of Corinth) Hera was worshipped from the eights century onward in two separate temples, as Akraia (“of the headland”) and Limenia (“of the harbour”).

Image Credit

At Olympia, Hera’s late seventh-century temple is considerably older than that of Zeus, and a quadrennial festival was held in her honor, organized by women and with races for girls. The “Argive Heraion,” between Argos and Mycenae, was established in the eighth century, but in about 420-410BCE it was equipped with a new temple which housed a magnificent gold-and-ivory cult status by the famous Argive sculptor Polycleitus.

Did not all of our tax dollars help build this community center? Or was it a private donor? We were told that this would be for all to use and have fun at. It is right across from the  police station so it should be a well controlled building.

I am just trying to point out that if you say it is for the community the nmake all of the community feel welcome to come and visit the building.

We have lived in this community for over 18 years and we have seen a lot of change for the better however I still think the statue could have been of better taste.

Other Articles that Might Interested You:

10 Most Incredible Things to Do Before You Die
10 Quick Facts about New York City
10 Most Destructive Tornadoes From Around the World
10 Killer Internet Companies That Want To Pay You to Write
Monster Leviathans: The Planet’s Largest Freshwater Fish That You Probably Didn’t Know About

10 Interesting Facts About Random Things
10 Quick Facts About Tea
10 Quick Facts About Bananas
Top 10 Largest Cities in the World
Interesting Facts About Chicago
Green Machine: 10 Cool Cars That You Probably Have Never Seen Before

The contribution China has made to our country is gigantic. Some of their contributions were so vital to our society that we would not have established our country without it. One of those important contributions is government. We have been adapting your forms of government starting from Prince Shotoku. In our country, before we had adapted your system, it was not entirely unified. Our emperor had only loose control. When Prince Shotoku adapted the Chinese system, he set up a series of ranks for government officials. He then issued a guide that stated the emperor was the supreme ruler of the country. Though we cannot entirely copy your systems, for our geography separates our country apart, we have learned from you and our government has been better from then. Thank you China for your contribution to our culture.

The Japanese language was adapted from the Chinese language centuries ago.  The Yamato rulers adapted the Chinese writing language as the writings of the government. The Japanese language was adapted from the Chinese language centuries ago.  The Yamato rulers adapted the Chinese writing language as the writings of the government. The Chinese language had syllables and accents and problems from the language overall itself. Because of those problems, we sought out a way to make your language fit our own environment. By the seventh century, our own scholars were improvising your written language in order to solve these problems. After that, our priests Buddhists created a simplified phonetic system making it easier to write. During the eighth century, the Heian Court women in Kyoto developed another forms of writing for poetry, novels, etc.

Buddhism is a important part of our country that we could not forget. Again, this religion that is widely known to Japan is another influence by China. During the 6th century, the Chinese imperial courts were full of Buddhist monks. They used their power and spread Buddhism as far as they could. First, it went to Korea, then by sea traders it went to Japan. It was actually a Korean king who influenced the Japanese emperor. The Korean king sent a bunch of monks to the imperial court of the Japanese’s with a statue of a Buddha. Then, the Japanese ruler encouraged his subjects to convert as well. Soon, all of our country, from warriors to peasants, converted to Buddhism. Magnificent shrines started to pop up everywhere, and Buddhism became a important religion in Japan, same as Shinto.

Earthquakes are familiar to the people of Japan. School drills in preparation for the next one are a regular feature of life as are also the positive, creative responses of people in all walks of life to an earthquake. Nevertheless, there are times when one arrives at critical moments in the nation’s history. Old-standing attitudes appear at such times and the earthquake is explained in terms of political events or the choices made by leaders. In 1891, Japan, like the rest of the world, knew little about how earthquakes happen. It was prior to the 1991 event that Japan had come through two revolutionary changes: the Meiji Restoration, the restoring of imperial rule and moving the capital from Kyoto to Tokyo and, secondly,the establishment of new strong ties with the Western World. There was a determination to make use of the expertise of countries like the United States and Britain in order to build a modern society and economy.

Students studied modern science and technology in Europe and the United States, while foreign experts were brought in to assist with the construction of factories and educational organizations. Many Japanese suggested that the quake was punishment for bad choices like these. These thoughts about the cause of the 1891 event became evident as the details of damages were publicized. For example, news of what happened in Osaka, Nagoya, and Kobe was known before anyone was aware of the damage to rural areas. In these big cities many buildings were constructed of brick. Two large textile mills, built of brick, had collapsed in Nagoya and Osaka and the supports of a western-style steel railway bridge had given way. One newspaper focused on these details, adding that although Osaka had been severely shaken almost all of its Japanese-style houses survived. The editor concluded that it was because of their wood construction that the Japanese houses had survived. Conversely, other buildings had collapsed because they were made of brick. The newspaper went on to affirm that all the foreign-built factories were more or less destroyed. When the reports from the rural areas came in it was clear that tens of thousands of Japanese wooden homes had collapsed and burned. However, by that time, a picture had emerged of a failed, foreign, type of building, a view that persisted as Japan sought to come to terms with its new relationships with foreigners.