Sybil Bruncheon's "A Few of My Favorite Things”... The World of Mr. Finch!...

Allow me to introduce you to one of the most extraordinary people I've ever encountered here on the internet. He makes, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful art objects I've ever seen from an imagination that belongs in the company of Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and the great illustrators of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The precision and care he takes on his sculptures of magical creatures is mind-boggling.

I'll let him speak for himself here... and please, be sure to check out his website for a journey into the mind, heart, and hands of a living wonder in our time.

"My name is Finch – it’s actually my surname… everyone calls me it and I like it.

I’ve called my business Mister Finch so its clear from the start that I’m a man and one that sews.

We are a bit thin on the ground but we are out there!

I live in Leeds in Yorkshire not too far from the beautiful Yorkshire Dales in the UK.

I have no formal training in anything to do with textiles or sewing and apart from a short art course I did many years ago I’ve learnt all I know myself.

I’ve tried many areas creatively over the years and now I find myself sewing which I adore.

When I’m not making things which isn’t that often I love to read and watch old movies.

Flowers, insects and birds really fascinate me with their amazing life cycles and extraordinary nests and behaviour.

British folklore is also so beautifully rich in fabulous stories and warnings and never ceases to be at the heart of what I make.

Shape shifting witches, moon gazing hares and a smartly dressed devil ready to invite you to stray from the path.

Humanizing animals with shoes and clothes is something I’ve always done and I imagine them to come alive at night. Getting dressed and helping an elderly shoemaker or the tired housewife.

Making things has always been incredibly important to me and is often an amazing release to get it out of my system.

It’s a joy to hunt for things for my work…the lost, found and forgotten all have places in what I make.

Most of my pieces use recycled materials, not only as an ethical statement, but I believe they add more authenticity and charm.

A story sewn in, woven in.

Velvet curtains from an old hotel, a threadbare wedding dress and a vintage apron become birds and beasts, looking for new owners and adventures to have.

Storytelling creatures for people who are also a little lost, found and forgotten…"

Click here: http://www.mister-finch.com/

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Sybil Bruncheon's "A Few of My Favorite Things”... The World of Mr. Finch!...

Allow me to introduce you to one of the most extraordinary people I've ever encountered here on the internet. He makes, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful art objects I've ever seen from an imagination that belongs in the company of Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and the great illustrators of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The precision and care he takes on his sculptures of magical creatures is mind-boggling.

I'll let him speak for himself here... and please, be sure to check out his website for a journey into the mind, heart, and hands of a living wonder in our time.

"My name is Finch – it’s actually my surname… everyone calls me it and I like it.

I’ve called my business Mister Finch so its clear from the start that I’m a man and one that sews.

We are a bit thin on the ground but we are out there!

I live in Leeds in Yorkshire not too far from the beautiful Yorkshire Dales in the UK.

I have no formal training in anything to do with textiles or sewing and apart from a short art course I did many years ago I’ve learnt all I know myself.

I’ve tried many areas creatively over the years and now I find myself sewing which I adore.

When I’m not making things which isn’t that often I love to read and watch old movies.

Flowers, insects and birds really fascinate me with their amazing life cycles and extraordinary nests and behaviour.

British folklore is also so beautifully rich in fabulous stories and warnings and never ceases to be at the heart of what I make.

Shape shifting witches, moon gazing hares and a smartly dressed devil ready to invite you to stray from the path.

Humanizing animals with shoes and clothes is something I’ve always done and I imagine them to come alive at night. Getting dressed and helping an elderly shoemaker or the tired housewife.

Making things has always been incredibly important to me and is often an amazing release to get it out of my system.

It’s a joy to hunt for things for my work…the lost, found and forgotten all have places in what I make.

Most of my pieces use recycled materials, not only as an ethical statement, but I believe they add more authenticity and charm.

A story sewn in, woven in.

Velvet curtains from an old hotel, a threadbare wedding dress and a vintage apron become birds and beasts, looking for new owners and adventures to have.

Storytelling creatures for people who are also a little lost, found and forgotten…"

Click here: http://www.mister-finch.com/

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Sybil Bruncheon's History On This Day… "Exquisite Eats & Treats"... February 11th, 1921....

Former railway engineer and inveterate inventor, Cecil Trombeau from Harwich-on-Crouton decided that transporting people from place to place wasn't fulfilling enough. He had always aspired to become a fine restauranteur, but with the stratified society of the Edwardian age, there was really very little opportunity for a man of his standing to rub elbows with the glamour crowd. And so, on this day in 1921, Cecil began his "Tea-To-Your-Door" service, where he and his specially trained staff of "Butlers-On-The-Run" would deliver an assortment of exotic teas, cucumber and watercress sandwiches, and sweet little cakes and "dainties" to your home.... BY RAIL!!

Within a few weeks, they were being commissioned for lunches, tea parties, even dinner banquets. All the delicious food was prepared by the newly unemployed chefs and cooks from failing estates across the country. They were eager for work and excited by the new innovations that Trombeau was creating....and they did all the cooking on the trains in converted passenger and sleeping cars which were now falling victim to the proliferation of automobiles. His business thrived and spread, his reputation grew, and within a year, he was on his way to becoming a millionaire.

His clientele included the highest echelons of society who found the novelty of delicacies being delivered to their homes without maintaining an entire kitchen staff. And with the new invention of electric refrigeration, some of the dishes could actually be frozen to be eaten later. The one drawback was that there were still reminders of the railway origins in the whole operation. The Dowager Countess of Grantham pointed out that her Baked Alaska’s chocolate shavings turned out to be sprinkles of coal dust!… and that her "serving-person had horribly dirty fingernails!"....

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Sybil Bruncheon's HIT-OR-MISS HISTORIES!... The HUG-ME-NOT!

            During Victorian times, as advanced as the Victorians (and indeed Queen Victoria herself!) considered themselves to be, there were still aspects of their lives that we in the 21st century would consider to be fairly primitive, and even, dare we say, “barbaric”. A case in point was the treatment of children. Above and beyond the fact that they “were to be seen and not heard”, they continued to be accidents, often unhappy ones since birth control was basically unknown, not understood, and certainly not acceptable, at least among “polite society”. Pregnancy (a word itself considered obscene and never spoken of, again, in “polite society”), was a stroke of very bad luck (but never admitted as such). Most women were expected by their families, society at large, and certainly their husbands (if they could afford it!) to be “fecund” (oh, that word!) and married couples with ten or more children were common even allowing for attrition caused by appalling infant mortality. 21st century people marvel that women at that time could even hold up under the crushing physical and emotional strains of pregnancy, child-rearing, and perpetual housekeeping. As to the lives and expectations of children at the time, they were the disposable tools and appliances of the growing Industrial Revolution and its hazards, and the playthings of a society that frequently neither valued nor protected them from dangers, often grotesque dangers. On those very rare occasions when a miscreant was finally pursued, tried, and convicted of crimes against minors, punishments might be whimsically applied or not at all.

           However, the now widely accepted concept of “Good Touches! Bad Touches!” began at that time, specifically on the night of Friday, June 17th, 1887 at approximately 8:19pm. The victim was 6 year old Moncrief Gantt and he was attending the newly opened Little Lord Fauntleroy Petting Zoo for Exotic Animal Friends. One of the janitorial-persons, a Mr. Jeremy Soamesberry, had surreptitiously lured the child away with promises of a banana-pineapple ice and some “Mrs. Marquay’s Marzipan Bisc-ettes”, a promise he did NOT make good on. While alone with the trusting and remarkably pretty little boy behind the Marsupial Maison, he suggested that Moncrief himself was one of the “animal friends” and should allow himself to be “petted”. The child was willing, very willing, according to the authorities and the court later at trial. He played the role with great aplomb, admitting that he had decided to be not only exotic, but perhaps fairly wild…. It wasn’t clear whether he was some sort of Uruguayan capybara or a huge blue-winged shoebill, or perhaps the unlikely offspring of both. At some point, Mr. Soamesberry’s “petting” had become a little too focused, and Moncrief’s fantastical creature decided that a small bite on the hand was in order… followed by a hearty yelp from his petter but more petting, followed then by a terrifying lunge and much gnashing of baby teeth and fingernail scratches from pudgy little 6 year-old hands. Indeed, once the hysterical shrieks and pleadings for rescue and forgiveness by the mangled janitor had been answered, many of little Moncrief’s baby-teeth were found embedded in Jeremy’s wrist, ankles, and forehead. Onlookers were torn between pointing and screaming…and pointing and laughing. Constables asked if they could have posed photographs with both victim and “beast” taken by the press and later autographed by all participants. Interestingly, Master Gantt was quite adept printing out his name in block letters with a fuchsia crayon, his favorite color. As the ambulance carried away the writhing Soamesberry (actually a Shetland pony cart drafted into service for the emergency) he yowled that he intended to sue Mr. and Mrs. Gantt, and Master Moncrief personally for damages, the possible amputation of his left thumb, and his missing eyebrows. The crowd at that point became enraged, and threatened to turn into a seething mob reminiscent of political catastrophes like the French Revolution or the misunderstandings surrounding the colonies about tea. He was hurried away to hospital in the pony cart with much obscenity and neighing. Sadly, the most convenient hospital was the Quadruped Infirmary where he was stitched back together by a bird veterinarian with little or no anesthetics that worked on humans.

           A week later, he and the Gantts were brought to a high court, where little Moncreif was not only exonerated, but made the London Times weekly choice for Our Gracious Queen’s Hero of Tomorrow. He received a small bronze medal of Her Majesty in profile, a certificate of congratulations and thanks “from the Empire”, and one year’s supply of Mrs. Marquay’s Marzipan Bisc-ettes… in all seven flavors… including ginger and celery!

           Mr. Soamesberry, on the other hand was publicly mocked and excoriated, especially because some of the baby-teeth were still in his forehead for the entire courtroom to see. (Physicians had decided that it was too unsafe to remove them without a proper surgeon on hand…or a carpenter.) He was found guilty by a mixed jury of gentlemen, croquet club members, a furrier, a porcelain scholar, a pastry chef, a circus person (possibly a knife thrower), and someone from Ireland… or Cincinnati. The janitor was found guilty on all charges within 47 seconds of the men entering and suddenly exiting the jury room, and sentenced to a new but supposedly humane punishment suggested by the Queen’s own Privy Council On Weights, Measures, and Corporal Penalties. He was to be confined for six months to the newly designed “Hug-Me-Not”; a full-body suit of tolerable flexibility covered with spikes that would discourage uninvited caressing by sexual deviants, “physicality-felons”, and overly-affectionate holiday visitors, specifically “bosomy aunts on Boxing Day”, and politicians’ wives during ribbon cuttings and pie contests. The unfortunate and now publicly humiliated Mr. Soamesberry was forcefully wedged into the suit in front of a throng of hundreds in Trafalgar Square while ices, candies, and small-scale but frighteningly accurate toy facsimiles of the Hug-Me-Not suit were sold to spoiled little girls of society to inflict on their porcelain dolls…often to the sounds of breakage and subsequent weeping and slaps from angered parents…or passers-by.

            Mr. Soamesberry, a fairly robust man from his labors, had apparently gained a few pounds from his brief stay in Gentleman’s Gaol from the cuisine of the Warden’s wife Edna-Marie, particularly her delicious rendition of kidney, quince and quinine pie. The gaolers had to thoroughly lubricate poor but plump Jeremy with duck fat and shoe-polish to get him finally into the Hug-Me-Not, and he was then paraded through the streets and thence to a specially constructed platform in Piccadilly to be the target of eggs (soft-boiled only, please!), spoiled items from greengrocers stalls or pretzel carts, and suggestive limericks yelled in foreign accents. His sentence of six months was interrupted when a local troop of the Battersea Boy Explorers gave chase and hurled him off a bridge into the Thames. He became an instant celebrity and a millionaire when it was discovered that the Hug-Me-Not could double as a perfectly water-proof diving suit! Of course, there was the unpleasantness of lying in thirty-five feet of filthy brown water and mud and not being found for two days…but he made a fortune from the new national craze of exotic seashell, coral, and sponge collecting… and off his Soamesberry’s Soap & Sponge Salons at “all fine ladies’ emporiums”…. The royal family became avid customers and his products were sold “by Appointment to Her Majesty”…

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Sybil Bruncheon's "CHRISTMASES PAST!": Queen Elizabeth's Christmas Address in 1953...

….."Hello, my dear subjects! At this festive time of year, I am pleased to be speaking to you at my first Christmas as your Queen. Just last night, I was brought to a lovely re-enactment of the Nativity at a charming church in Havelock-on-Bunbury. At the end of the little play-lette, I walked up to the stage, and remember so well both the sweetness of that little baby and my SHOCK when I realized that it was being raised in a stable!!… A STABLE!... Can you imagine?! And in a MANGER!!!... with grass clippings! That had been on the GROUND!... and I SAID SO to his parents! Who were dressed very poorly, in what looked like bathrobes! And with no attractive accessories!‎... And WHY were there FARM animals milling about in there?? They are not hygienic!!!... all this milling and lowing!!!!, and NO SANITATION!... And at least have the sense to have EXOTIC animals around the child to stimulate his imagination!! Peacocks, and leopards, and… and....um...oh! A Gryphon!....and, oh what was that animal I shot in Kenya, Phillip??? Oh Yes!!!! A HYRAX!!!!... or was it an Ibex?....whatever! And what is that incessant DRUMMING?!?... have one of my ladies escort that dirty little boy OUT at once! Now Go! GO!!….."

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Sybil Bruncheon’s “Celebrity Birthdays In History”... January 7th, 1846...

... Prudence "Poo-Poo" Charmondeley. Although she seemed to live on the streets of London, no one was ever really able to figure out exactly WHERE! Her great sense of humor and her ability to play five different instruments and sing clever little ditties, romantic ballads, and popular songs kept her constantly busy with a frying pan in front of her filled with coins from her devoted following.

Prudence apparently had perfect pitch and a savant's ability to remember perhaps over 15,000 songs according to musicologists who came under her spell. She was offered contracts at prominent theatres and music halls, but she remained out on the sidewalks with assorted "buskers" and "pearlies" whom she often paired with in impromptu "Musical-Ettes" as she called them.

In addition to all her other talents, she had an uncanny knack for composing both poems and songs on the spot when audience members would provide her with a word or a name to build all her rhymes and meters on... Scientists from Oxford, Cambridge, and the Filbert Academy for Exceptional Ladies & Their Deportment measured her intelligence at a "genius level".....comparable to Dickens, Dante, and Sir Gyrus Quzzizzleton.

She died at a very great age, although it was impossible to determine exactly what at the time. She was buried in Potters' Field in a grave marked by a simple wooden cross. It wasn't until 3 months later when her butler and several of her 34 servants and employees finally discovered her fate and tracked her down. Prudence Charmondeley had in fact been a great lady of noble birth. Her estate lay just a few miles out of the city, and she was known by her staff to go on what she called "little jaunts to friends" for days at a time. They never suspected that she spent her "away time" on the street or in basements, sheds, and abandoned shops... She also had been building her already considerable fortune with weekly bank deposits of hundreds of pounds!!....all made in small change!! Her butler told the press that it had always puzzled him when he would help her carry little paper bags filled with coins....

After all the legal rigamarole, she left vast amounts of money to her loving servants, to various friends of hers on the street, and finally to the building of a luxurious sanctuary for wayward cats and stray dogs who had been her trusted confidantes and dinner companions through the years! The townhouse in Belgravia still stands and has a bronze plaque on it inscribed "The Charmondeley Foundation For Four-Legged Friends Of Humans"....

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Happy Birthday to the Cullinan Diamond!… January 26th, 1905…

Happy Birthday to the Cullinan Diamond.... the largest gem-quality diamond ever found, at 3106.75 carat (621.35 g, 1.37 lb) rough weight. About 10.5 cm (4.1 inches) long in its largest dimension, it was found on 26 January 1905, in the Premier No. 2 mine, near Pretoria, South Africa. 

In 1905 due to the immense value of the Cullinan, the authorities in charge of the transportation were posed with a huge potential security problem. Detectives from London were placed on a steamboat that was rumored to carry the stone, where a parcel was ceremoniously placed in the Captain's safe and guarded throughout the entire journey. However this was a diversionary tactic. The stone on that ship was a fake, meant to attract those who would be interested in stealing it. The actual diamond was sent to England in a plain box via parcel post, albeit registered.

It was cut into three large parts by Asscher Brothers of Amsterdam, and eventually into 9 large gem-quality stones and a number of smaller fragments. At the time, technology had not yet evolved to guarantee quality of the modern standard, and cutting the diamond was considered difficult and risky. To enable Asscher to cleave the diamond in one blow, an incision was made, half an inch deep. Then, a specifically designed knife was placed in the incision and the diamond was split in one heavy blow. The diamond split through a defective spot, which was shared in both halves of the diamond.

The story goes that when the diamond was split, the knife broke during the first attempt. "The tale is told of Joseph Asscher, the greatest cleaver of the day," wrote Matthew Hart in his book Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of an Obsession, "that when he prepared to cleave the largest diamond ever known, the 3,106 carats (621.2 g) Cullinan, he had a doctor and nurse standing by and when he finally struck the diamond and it broke perfectly in two, he fainted dead away." Lord Ian Balfour, in his book "Famous Diamonds" (2000), dispels the fainting story, stating it was more likely Joseph Asscher would have celebrated, opening a bottle of champagne.

The largest polished gem from the stone is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, and at 530.4 carats (106.08 g) was the largest polished diamond in the world until the 1985 discovery of the Golden Jubilee Diamond, 545.67 carats (109.134 g), also from the Premier Mine. Cullinan I is now mounted in the head of the Sceptre with the Cross. The second largest gem from the Cullinan stone, Cullinan II or the Second Star of Africa, at 317.4 carats (63.48 g), is the fourth largest polished diamond in the world. Both gems are in the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The Cullinan was split and cut into 9 major stones and 96 smaller stones. Edward VII had the Cullinan I and Cullinan II set respectively into the Sceptre with the Cross and the Imperial State Crown, while the remainder of the seven larger stones and the 96 smaller brilliants remained in the possession of the Dutch diamond cutting firm of Messrs I. J. Asscher of Amsterdam who had split and cut the Cullinan, until the South African Government bought these stones and the High Commissioner of the Union of South Africa presented them to Queen Mary on 28 June 1910.

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