Accordion and A Vowel

If anyone thought I had mined my two day visit to the Tour de France in Yorkshire last year for various ABC Wednesday letters to the maximum here is my last hurrah, possibly.  I had this in mind for the letter A and then forgot, but it is now making a belated appearance for the start of  Round 17 and playing a happy tune - on the Accordion.  I would never have the coordination to play this instrument but here it is being played on the move and sat in a British registered 1939 Citroen 15 Roadster.  The French theme completed by the flag and both driver and passenger wearing berets. The accordion is an instrument loved by radio and film sound editors for indicating "hey folks we are in Paris"  the only other sound I can think of so overused is the kookaburra's 'laugh' for signposting the Australian outback;  unless you can think of some more.

From the joy of music to the drudge of housework

which today with labour saving devices is a breeze compared to when this Victress Vowel Washing Machine was in use.  As can be seen on the side this is -  The Vowel "A" model used in the late 19th and early 20th century and manufactured by Thomas Bradford of Salford.. (They went up in size with different vowel indicators)  The company started out as makers of butter churns and dairy appliances so I suppose the agitation of water to wash clothes would have been a natural development from butter churns. The Vowel "A" machine was one of the cheapest they produced and their advertising said "equal to 12 shirts".  I'm not sure if that means you could get 12 shirts into it or if the cost was equal to buying 12 shirts, whatever, its price was £3 10s 0d.  The auctioneers Christies were selling what is now an antique a few years ago with an estimated price of £400 to £600 and at auction it actually sold for £1,315.  You could buy about five modern ones for that price, but would they last as long? 

If I turn down the colour and the wear marks it could be new!  Its location is the backyard of a recreated Victorian workman's house, in particular a foreman's house who would be earning enough to be able to afford it. Unfortunately I omitted to take a photo of the turning handle on the other side because my butterfly mind was distracted by this

adorable little dog which was scampering in and out of the house.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet this week starting anew again here 

    

Yellow Bikes and Jerseys

When the Tour de France visited Yorkshire with two stages over two days Yorkshire folk got rather excited and painted yellow bicycles popped up all over the towns and countryside.  An appeal went out to knitters for 2,500 little jumpers portraying the famous tour jerseys, yellow for the race leader, polka dot for the best climber, green for the most consistent points finisher  and white for the best young rider.  The knitters went to work with gusto and eventually 23,453 were actually knitted and strung along the streets of towns and villages.

The bicycles appeared decorated and in various stages of repair or

disrepair

Come the day the 'Games Makers' were wearing their yellow t-shirts, here is one directing people traffic from Harrogate railway station.

and of course there was a good spread of spectators sporting Tour yellow t-shirts and French symbols such as French berets (above) blue and white stripped jerseys and even the occasional string of onions.

There was also a good smattering of punning local businesses signs such as this Indian restaurant featuring Bradley Wiggins (nickname Wiggo) the 2012 Yellow Jersey winner.

The banners were out as the race approached and this one says "Bonjour la France et Mémé" which of course is 'Hello France' but also "and Grandma", I wonder where she was?

Eventually all the build up was over and the race was on.  The true yellow jersey (briefly held by Marcel Kittel here) making the starting roll out from York before the proper racing began.  While watching the race where is the best place to leave your bike?

Well possibly chained to church fencing and this particular church is St Clements, not the famous London one whose bells said oranges and lemons but they have however chimed in with lemon yellow flags.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at Y here

Nijntje

Part of the fun for the spectators of the Tour de France is the the long caravan  that precedes the race and whose advertising vehicles are all sorts of shapes and sizes, the vehicle occupants also throw various objects out to the waiting crowds.  I never expected to see Miffy motoring down the road towards me this year when I was standing on the street of York  ready to watch Stage Two of the Tour.

She is riding along with her proper Dutch name of Nijntje ( a diminutive of konijntje meaning "little rabbit"), although the English speaking world knows her best as Miffy.  Being Dutch of course Nijntje rides a bicycle

but I wondered why she was in the Tour, then I found out that next year's start is from Utrecht, the home town of Miffy's creator, Dick Bruna.  The 2015 Stage One (the Grand Depart) on the 4th July will be a individual time trial through the city and Stage two will also start out from Utrecht.  I wonder if they will take in the square named after her Nijntepleintje which in Dutch rhymes, like the verses in Dick Bruna's Nijntje books.  Although he is most well known for the little rabbit (which he famously drew as female because he wanted to draw a dress rather than trousers) he has published many other children's books and produced book covers and illustrations for his family's publishing company, Bruna and Zoon.  Now well into his eighties he announced his retirement this year although I believe he is still riding his bicycle around Utrecht.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet this week sojourning at N here

Rolling Through York

Tour de France, Bishopsgate Street, York

Stage 2 of the Tour de France leisurely starting its day through the streets of York with the colours at the front.  The Maillot Jaune being worn by a smiling Marcel Kittel and the legend who is Jens Voigt is in the spotted King of the Mountains jersey. This will be the 17th and last tour for Voigt, his first being way back in 1998.
 

ABC Wednesday - Y

Y is for Yellow

I had almost decided on my word when I chanced on the above, beside a shed, near to rural railway station on Sunday. The ABC Pixie must have led me there. I leaned as far as I could over the gate and, click. I knew what my post would be.

There are lots of songs with the word yellow. What about some trippy, summer pop and a cartoon.





Nature is full of every shade of yellow; birds, insects, flowers and leaves. There is always a yellow flower open at some time of the year. I think I will just show a few more, one from the month of June
and one from September. This is a Yellow Horned-Poppy which likes to grow in waste places and in sea shingle. This one is covering both habitats by being in a waste place by the sea shore.
Where you may find yellow signs such as this showing the 163 mile walk of the Saxon Coastal Way named after the Roman fortifications on the south coast to counter the Saxon raids. The Saxons did not let that stop them.
Yellow signs denote footpaths, blue are bridleways. You get the lot on this post. I had a choice sign and post, or foxgloves and post. Well I had to go with the foxgloves, which as you see are just coming to the end of their flowering season.
Another yellow footpath sign but this is a Club Vosgien sign in France. This is a voluntary organisation that looks after 10,000 miles of footpaths in the Alsace-Lorraine region. It is only by chance this is a yellow sign. There are all sorts of colour combinations and also circles, stripes and triangles for different routes and paths - marvelous, you are are in footpath heaven.
We might as well stay in France because this is the first week of one of the great sporting events of the year - the Tour de France. There will be excitement, surprises, rows, crashes, teams pulling together, individuals going for glory. The great prize is the maillot jaune, the yellow jersey of the overall winner for the lowest accumulated time. As you see I have got my poster to map the day to day winners. And yes I have the hats and t-shirts as well, but not this year, yet.
At the moment the Yellow Jersey is held by Fabian Cancellara but by only one second, Lance Armstrong in his come back Tour is right behind him. Wednesday's race is a 166 km flat stage from Le Cap d'Adge to Perpignan The first week are the flat stages so everything will change as the mountains are reached next week.

This ivy leaf has only a little bit of yellow round the edges and is mostly green. That's the jersey us Brits are watching as Mark Cavendish from the Isle of Man is holding the Green Jersey, the race within a race for the sprinters. And boy is Cav fast. The question is can he last the three weeks.
We've had sport so what about books. There were the 'Yellow Back' books of the Victorian era which were cheap novels of the sensational kind developed to compete with the 'penny dreadfuls' and sold in railways stations to attract new readers. The reason for the name was the yellow board bindings. I wonder what they considered sensational? Thought I would see how many yellow backed books I had.
What a lot of yellow there is around us. Shop signs, bollards, double yellow lines, Yellow pages, For Sale signs, Supermarket signs and that yellow sun shines down on it all. I think I've got a little obsessed. Time to lie down.

Yes yomp around to ABC Wednesday and see more interpretations of the letter Y