On Monday the highest temperature around here was recorded on the instruments housed in the fenced-off lawned area in our city's Weston Park and it read 35.7C. Thankfully since then the weather has got a lot cooler and we had rain overnight on Thursday and during that morning. Now we're back to cloudy weather and it's quite humid.
Mr P had an appointment with the physiotherapist at the city's main hospital on Monday and we were very thankful for the air conditioning in the modern building. The appointment was to assess Mr P's chronic back pain and mobility since he finds it difficult to walk far even though his hip replacement operation in 2019 helped somewhat. We're thankful that general mobility around the home and driving the car is not too much of a problem. As well as the assessment he was shown some new exercises to do at home with another appointment booked for September.
Our journey back home took us passed Weston Park and I realised that on this extremely hot day a degree ceremony for finals was about to take place in Firth Court which is one of the science faculty departments for the University of Sheffield. Students and guests were having a good time and I'm sure they didn't mind it being a very sunny day.
Mr P's produce in the vegetable patch is coming along nicely as are the tomatoes in the greenhouse. We have cauliflowers and a quantity of French beans were collected along with ripe tomatoes. Cauliflowers and beans will supplement evening meals and we'll be bottling the tomatoes with many more that will be added into salads.
The first of the figs are also ripe.
Yesterday we went to the place where we bought our second hand car this time last year. Our little Fiat passed the Ministry of Transport test and it's another reason to be thankful.
As I've mentioned before I've been reading quite a few historical novels and some non fiction ones written by academics who specialise in the Tudor period. They've primary source material that they can study. The Tudor nobility were, on the whole, literate or had others in their employ that would read or scribe for them, do accountancy and land management for them. Historical novels are also interesting as authors use their imagination as well as their research to create a sense of the period involved. I've been following some of the real life courtiers during Henry VIII's and Elizabeth I's time. After visiting Kenilworth Castle The Marriage Game by Alison Weir I found interesting. The novel is about the close relationship Elizabeth I had to her favourite courtier, the Earl of Leicester.
The Brandons are another family I've found interesting. A non fiction account by Sarah-Beth Watkins about this family The Tudor Brandons and another, Charles Brandon, Henry VIII's Closest Friend by Steven Gunn, were fascinating reads as was the non fiction book written by David Baldwin, Henry VIII's Last Love: The Extraordinary Life of Katherine Willoughby, Lady-in-Waiting to the Tudors Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, married Mary, one of Henry VIII's sisters and then when he was old by today's standards married his ward, fourteen-year-old Katherine Willoughby 1519-1580 (young by our standards) who was the daughter of a Spanish lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon. Thankfully Katherine Willoughby escaped the attention of Henry VIII. A devout Protestant she remarried after Charles Brandon had died, but she had to flee the country because of her strong religious belief along with her second husband, Richard Bertie, one of her household. (She was still young when she married Richard Bertie). From the account it sounds as if they had a stressful time trying to cross the English Channel and then going from pillar to post as they travelled across several countries where they stayed with contacts sympathetic to Protestantism. In England Queen Mary I who had succeeded her father, Henry VIII, considered devout Protestant believers to be heretics. They were made an example of by being burnt alive tied to a stake - a fate which happened to many of Katherine's associates who stayed in England. I'm sure she was thankful when Protestant Elizabeth I became queen and she could return home. Other stresses that these Tudors went through were the loss of children in infancy as happened to Katherine or childbirth complications. It's amazing that she lived to the age of 61 when the average life span in the 1500s was much less and, of course, she had a comfortable life compared with most people of that time. From the account it sounds as if she was a strong character and indeed was an extraordinary woman of her time.
Staying indoors trying to keep cool as well as accompanying Mr P on his outings this week have been priorities. We hope to relax over the weekend and although I'm slow with my reading (or crafting) I still have plenty of library book loans to get on with at the moment. I, Mona Lisa will be the next and will take me into the world of Leonardo da Vinci's studio. It's written by another author, Natasha Solomons, that I like to read when something new by her is published.
Thank you for your comments on my last blog post. I hope you have a good weekend.
