#(it was nearly 8 years old and only had a few mls left so one day i opened it and it was completely separated and dried out RIP)

[bmpmp3]

these ocs are really developed for ocs who don’t have names KJFLDSJHKDL

my witch woman and her friend from work~ she doesnt have a lot of friends ‘cause she has trouble expressing her emotions but these two ended up in a cubicle together and her coworker doesn’t mind talking about different species of frogs with her so they’re pals

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Thursday 30 July 1835

6 5

11 ¼

No kiss. very fine morning F66° in my study and Celsius 19° at 7 am - wrote all but the 1st 5 lines of yesterday till 7 ¼ - wrote copy of letter for A- to Mr Grey - and then went out till breakfast at 9 in ½ hour - then till 10 had Joseph Mann about getting water to the Stump X Inn  - at Wellroyde before breakfast and Tilley holm bridge and had Mawson there giving him orders about bits of wearing and the bit of proposed new cut - on 1st going out gave Charles H- a talking about the stable and made up my mind to set Mr Husband to look after him - told CH. he had perhaps been long enough about the place - people did not do so well when they had been too long - he is a sadly slow idle, dilatory, tho’ clever headed workman for jobs - the moment I leave home nothing goes on as it should do - Had Mr Harper at 10 - walked with him and his clerk to Mytholm mill examined up wheel and run coal of water and water  in the dam, and then walked down to the end of the tail-goit in the Macauley’s field near Dumb mill - much talk about the wheel Mr Harper thinks there would not be water for a 30ft diameter wheel more than 8 months in the year - better to have a 20ft diameter wheel - 3ft. wide at bottom and 3ft. to the centre of the arch in height [enough] for the tail-goit - Mr. Harper from calculating James Howarths’ measurements of the water passing thro’ the 2 guages, that 7 1/2in. deep and 2ft. broad for one 12 hours and half that quantity for the 12 hours (flowing thro’ 3ft. in length per second) would average 8in. thro’ out the 24 hours - this would be wanted for a 20ft. diameter wheel which might have perhaps 15 horse power - the wheel at Mytholm is of this diameter and 5ft. 6in. broad, but tho’ said to be of 15 horse power they can never put more than 10 horse power on it - cannot work of the dam to within 2ft. of water - Mr. Harper said it would be better to lower the wheel-sill so as to let the water fall on the wheel a foot lower and then losing very little power they would be enabled to work the water lower and longer - George R- said (his engineer told us) that if they could get 6in. more water at the top they could work the wheel an hour longer - now the surface of the dam = 2 roods. 20 perches = 3025 yards .:. 3025/2 =1512 ½ cubic ft. of water required to work the wheel one hour - Mr. Harper mentioned a steam engine - I said it would be too great a nuisance but if he could consume the smoke and sublime it into ivory-black I should be satisfied to have it - told him to consider of this - the ivory black works near the great colliery (that open from the day) near St. Etienne had given me the idea - not settled with Booth about the Lodge - should I object to bring a joiner in from York to settle at H-X and to be a timber merchant - no! I should not object but Greenwood being a timber merchant, thought the joiner in question had better keep clear of timber except for his own use - had better make friends with Greenwood who has not a good life - then had Holt while Mr. Harper had Booth - Holt thinks now that the Spiggs loose is very valuable - it will loose 150 acres upper and ditto lower bed i.e. 300 acres which at whatever bought say £50 or £60 per acre should pay me ½ for the Loose - cannot loose more because there is a throw down in Blake-hill - the 2 endings are 80 yards each sort of crossing the road and loosing Samuel Holdsworth’s coal - it would take their men 6 months to drive if they worked night and day, so that I am sure to stop them - then sent Holt to Mr Harper - then A- off on her pony at 3 and I saw Mr Harper again - he will give me his calculations tomorrow for the wheel and goit and wrote to Mr Leather for his opinion - then he had Booth again about the bridge in the wood - not settled when I went out - sauntered in the walk - saw Joseph Mann again - had him just before Mr Harper came this morning - told him to see Holt and being driving for the Staups water immediately - about an hour talking to Marian - then with them  had Mr J.B. Leyland between 5 and 6 who came as desired by Mr Rawson (Christopher) with a parchment for subscriptions to raise £60 for the purchase of his statue of ‘Kilmany’ that he did during his studies in London which statue is to be placed in the new museum - Mr R-‘s name and Mr George Priestley’s was each down for £10 I said it really was not my intention to put my name down for that sum as I had not the pleasure of knowing anything of Mr JB Leyland and therefore I hoped to see the names of some of his more particular friends down immediately (after) those of Messrs. R- and P- but that I wished him success and had in fact no doubt that the subscriptions would soon be made upon - I would have given £5 but would not give £10 and did not like to be 3rd and give less than the first  2 - but gave no hint of all this

SH:7/ML/E/18/0070

tho’ my manner indicated that I would give a lesser sum after having him the chance of others at £10 - A- did not return till 6 ½ - dinner at 6 50 - the front stable not being ready for the horses Charles not having sent for the halter rings tile [or till?] by George this afternoon who brought them back with him, sent for James H- to put them on - he came about 7 and the 2 ponies and the gray were brought from the back stable and put into the front for the 1st time - coffee - a few minutes with my father and Marian when called to Messrs. Nelson and son and Husband the clerk of the works at 8 ¾  - on Mr N-‘s saying he had brought a letter from Mr Harper and the estimates for Northgate house, I answered at once, I meant Mr Harper to decide as he thought best, but said I would read what he had written - left the people in the little north dining room and ordered them port and came to my study - read Mr Harper’s letter begging me to choose between the 2 parties each equally capable ‘of executing the work and believed each would do it equally well - ‘Brian Helm’s estimate for the whole is

2700.19.6 Helm

2746.5.0 Nelson

the difference is however rather in the value of the old material than in the price of the actual labour -

277.13.5 Helm

2796.5  Nelson

Nelson having only valued the old material at £50 and Helm at £98.13.11

I have explained the matter both to Helm and to Nelson - they know the amount of each other’s estimate and I have explained to both that you will say which is to have it’ - ‘if Nelson is to have it, I should, Mr. H- thinks, allow BH. a fair compensation for  his trouble  ‘and Nelson ought to reduce his estimate so much below Helm’s as to cover what you might allow Helm’ - ...... ‘I will mention 1 circumstance in Nelson’s favour - Messrs. Cravens of York have been over this afternoon and on explaining the matter to them as to their being too late unless I should feel dissatisfied with the states - old Mr. Craven stated that he was sure Nelson would give in a very fair estimate and if he succeeded would answer both my own and my employer’s purpose as well as any man, and in fact so much were Cravens satisfied that they would not be called upon to oppose Nelson, that they said it was no use stopping in H-x to hear the decision and consequently left at 5 o’clock’ - BH- sometime ago owned to Mr. Harper he had never done columns - Nelson has had more experience - I think the bias of Mr. Harper’s mind is for N- so is my own - BH-‘s estimate for the Lodge was high - his estimate for the work at Northgate is higher than N-‘s - I was not 5 minutes in my study reading Mr. Harper’s letter and deciding - I went down instantly - sent for N- senior into the drawing room I said I did not understand his estimating the old materials at only £50 he answered immediately that he had before told Mr. Harper he would give £100 and that he had told his son (N-) so but that he the son had put down £50 - upon this old N- took the estimate and wrote down that ‘it was intended to put down £100 pounds for the ould matearls’ very well said I ‘your estimate for the work is the lower and I therefore think it right to take it - my doing so is no disparagement to Mr. Helm nor any complaint to you - I do not know either party at all - but I think it right to take the lower estimate which is yours’ - begged him to wait a little and I would give him a letter to Mr. Harper - came up immediately and wrote as follows ‘Shibden hall Thursday 30 July 1835. Sir - In consequence of the assurance contained in your letter that you believe each of the 2 parties equally competent to execute the work, and that the one will do it as well as the other, and Mr Nelson senior having said to you and also stated in writing that it was his intention to give £100 for the old materials I feel it right to take the lowest estimate and therefore leave you to make your arrangements to accordingly with Mr Nelson -  It is much to the credit of both parties that the amount of your estimates is so nearly the same -  As I feel myself at  a loss to judge what will be a proper recompense to Mr Helm for his trouble, I hope you will be so good as settle this matter for me. I am sir etc etc  A Lister’     Went downstairs immediately - gave this letter to Mr Nelson and was upstairs again at 9 50 - I had left A- with my father and Marian - I had heard her come upstairs but somehow it had never occurred to me to tell her what I was about - How strange! how unaccountable! all was done, and it was only on seeing her grave countenance on hearing my decision that the strangeness of my never having told her a syllable of it ere it was over, struck me!!! was it absence? I cannot account for it - but my annoyance was deeper than she thought - she fears I shall be talked of for not giving the job to my townsman - it is not this I think of - the decision was right, but that she had no part in it amazes and annoys me - 3 or 4 minutes with my aunt (poorly) till 9 55 - very fine day F70° at 11 1/4 pm  

[misslisterkeepsajournal]

1828 Saturday 17 May

8 1/2 10 1/2

Breakfast about 9 1/2 or rather later - sat talking a little to Mrs. D- [Dalton] their butcher's bills have been £300 a year and £200 a year - vary very much - 11 servants, 8 women and 3 men - 1 hour or 1 1/2 hour packing - at breakfast Marianne and her nonsense calling me nanny she asked how I liked I said the name was certainly quite new to me and surprised but I was otherwise indifferent about it what a goose she is and I now rather dislike her - she told me yesterday she only painted to please her father her own happiness was to lie in bed reading a good novel - Sat a few minutes with Mr. D- [Dalton] in his study - a momentary take leave of Marianne and all the rest of the girls in her painting room - then sat with Mrs. D- [Dalton] she summed up what I said, they said in Paris I ought to buy for visiting next winter to £118 which she said would dress her for 2 years -

Left the party at 1 55/60 - IN- [Isabella Norcliffe] would see me off - we walked about - went into the church yard - off at 2 10/60 in the Telegraph (4 inside coach) for Durham - only one man inside besides myself, and he left us at Darlington, and I was alone the rest of the way - the footman took my liggage [sic] and the butler went to open me the coach door for which each got half a crown I have no intention returning to my friends at Croft or meeting them in July at Hartlepool as they wish me to do for a few days or as long as I can Marianne would teaze and not one of the rest would repay me - incurred a cross just after leaving Rushyford thinking of Pi [Mariana] -

Got to Darlington (and change horses) in 35 minutes, a nice town - neatly kept handsome looking church - a greek cross ∴ looking all of a heap - at the far end of the town, left, the 'Eldon main, Fire coal 7/6 a ton - line coal 6/8 a ton' - change horses at Rushyford, a singley-standing neat-looking splashed Inn 1/2 way between Darlington and Durham - here the road turns off westward to Bp. [Bishop] auckland which being about 10 miles from Durham may probably be about a mile from here? - flat, uninteresting drive from Croft to Rushyford, beyond this the range of limestone hill (right) begins to near a little, the country is more undulating - a little hill or 2 in the road, and patches of wood are to be seen, and the situation of Durham upon the Wear is picturesque - no sight of the city till within about a mile, descend the hill - the cathedral finely placed on a hill, and the city creeping down along its declivity at the foot of which runs the wear with a good bridge over it -

At 5 1/4 alighted at the 1/2 moon, an ale-house nearly opposite the Waterloo Inn or hotel which, the King's or Queen's head (I forget which) are called the best Inns in Durham - the former not good-enough-looking to strike me, or catch my attention in any way - sent off my luggage to another alehouse the hat and feather, close to the marketplace, and ordered my place to be taken for Sunderland (on purpose to see the bridge) at 6 -

Took a prettyish young woman with me from the Inn as guide to the cathedral - close by, the bp's [bishop's] palace built out of, and called the castle, the old tower (square with bevelled corners?) standing close to it, in the garden on grounds on a mound like Clifford's Tower, York - entrance to the palace a castle court by an old castle-gateway - fine-looking cathedral - plain exterior - 2 lowish-looking west towers and latern tower high above its neighbours - the present cathedral, said the woman who shewed it, built about 900 years ago - the 2 doors under the 2 west towers instead of opening outward, open into what is called St. Mary's Chapel, said to be part of the old, original church - a very fine specimen of 3 aisles of circular arches all the groinings of which finished in dog-tooth - here stands a large table tomb, the stone quite plain, said to be the tomb of 'St. Bede - this chapel is just fitted up with reading desk etc. for evening lectures - the deal of the benches, etc., not yet painted - only just done - last week - circular arches along the nave, chancel, and transepts - the most striking thing, all the pairs of columns dissimilar - 1 pair fluted straight - 2 or 3 pairs fluted in different patterns - spirally, and chequered - very odd effect - never saw anything like it before -

Very odd columns in the Durham Cathedral (Image Source) 

Pavement of the nave not good - north door into the nave very bad - cloisters perfect - in - very good repair - behind the altar is the shrine of St. Cuthbert and behind this what they call the nine altars, a spacious chapel which, with its large middle window and 2 side windows finished outside in 3 gables? with 2 turret somehow at each outside gable, forms a singular sort of looking attachment to the main building as one looks at from without - the large stone covering St. Cuthbert's bones just behind the altar was removed the other day - the bones taken up, put into a common deal coffin, and reinterred in the same place as before - no fine monuments - 2 or 3 old ones of the lords Neville, killed in battle against the Scots - the woman said the singing was excellent and the organ one of the finest in England, much finer than that in York -

Dr. Prossers a good looking gothic house - the other building round the close (my guide called it the college) making no great appearance - the close like a long quadrangular court, too confined - the city (brick built) all up hill and down - saw not one good street - small poorish market place (market day) the most striking object in it, the pump, the well being covered over with a little massy round-topped building surmounted by a huge figure of Neptune with his trident-

At 6 5/60 took my seat by the old coachman (tho' I had my place inside) and left the inside to the market people such a coach, such tackling, and 4 such horses I never before saw in England - I wondered how and when we should get to Sunderland - said the coachman 'all where we are going is underminded' - strong symptoms of a coal country - rail-ways raised on the black shale, and here and there the smoke of an engine to be descried - Houghton-le-spring 1/2 way between Durham and Sunderland - a niceish good village - no 'squire - only the rector who has a low but handsome 2 storied gothic house approached by a handsome castle-like gateway - very good-looking church - the people talked of Houghton bank - It was by this, rising steeply from the village, that we crossed the great ridge of lime hill - about 2 years since they cut thro' the hill (3 or 4 hundred yards in length) the present road which is in the deepest part, they say, 15 yards deep - almost all was done by blasting - the sides perpendicular - no complaint of its being filled up with snow last winter - does not look more than 7 yards wide if so much - only just room for 2 carriages to pass comfortably - singular looking cleft as one saw it in the distance on approaching Houghton - no view of the sea till within 2 or 3 miles of Sunderland, tho' perhaps one ought to see it from the top of Houghton bank - brick or limestone buildings all the way - villages pretty good - the coachman pointed out where Wearmouth ended and Sunderland began - fine, broad, handsome long street - nothing like it in Durham -

Alighted at the George Inn at 7 10/60 - hearing that a coach would leave the Golden Lion at 8 1/2 in the morning for N.C. [Newcastle], went and took up my quarters there for the night - best Inn in Sunderland - no great appearance outside, but apparently plenty of room - got into a little sitting room by the door, with a roaring fire in it, hot as flames - tho' a little starved on entering, soon obliged to open the window - had tea immediately - not a muffin nor tea cake in the house, but not having eaten since breakfast at 9 1/2 made a hearty meal on dry toast and butter - market day, too, at Sunderland - the market held in the street, but the butchers stalls, all looked neat and well - went to my room at 9 1/2 - the chambermaid shewed me into a much smaller room than I had seen on entering said it was the undermaid the other was engaged I remonstrated said I was annoyed sent for the mistress she was out when would she up in the morning not till eleven sat up late made the woman change me into the next room which was however the same or no better than the other found the people took me for a nobody and I suspected on seeing the waiter last night and quietly resolved to make the best of it determining to save my money - Do not believe the bed was damp, but slept on my plaid and in my drawers and greatcoat - everything very clean - very fine day -  

Letter this morning (about noon) from Mrs. Duffin, York, to say her nephew Matthew was elected to to Christ Church Oxford - all her father wished - read aloud to Mr. D- [Dalton] the kind messages to him and Mrs. D- [Dalton] to go to the Duffins when they want a bed in York etc. etc. 

Croft to Darlington . 4 D- [Darlington] to Durham . 18 D- [Durham] to Sunderland . 13

Reference: SH:7/ML/E/10/0160 - SH:7/ML/E/10/0161

[anne-lister-adventures]

Thursday, 13 February 1840

8 1/4

12 40/’’

Breakfast at 9 50/’’ – Before and since till now 10 50/’’ wrote all the 1st 18 lines of yesterday – Very fine morning Reaumur 13 1/2º now at 10 50/’’ a.m. tea and coffee excellent – Slices of smoked bologna saussage – Good – Ready the instant called for – Little cakes on the tray as last night – Slept comfortably – 

A servant gone off to Macarief to have the convent open for us – No! The man apparently a sort of under steward, drove off in a Kibitka and pair just before (at the same time with) us, and went about with us everywhere – Reaumur -29º when we set out at 11 25/’’ they call it 5 versts across the river to Macarief – Did not go direct across – But drove along a narrow stream coasting an island for some distance till we turned the point of the island (behind which a little fleet of vessels  frozen up) and had the picturesque monastery full in view – 

The current geography of the Volga between Lyskovo and Makar’yevo (note the islands in the river).

Walked round, and round towers at the corners – Picturesque square tower gateway in the middle between 2 round towers – The front towards us – And 2 churches with each their 5 domes seen behind the gateway, and a tall handsome pointed clocher – The wooden Town, the natural weathered wood – No paint or wash to brighten it up ∴[therefore] looks old, and unfrequented – 

At the monastery in 1/2 hour at 11 55/’’ – A monk in readiness – Shewed us first the winter church – Au 1erpremier (magazines of flour &c. below) low and warm – Shewed us the rich robes de prêtre – And 2 archimandrite caps thick with pearls and a few precious stones – The more valuable worth 20,000/- - then to the summer lofty the walls of the interior entirely covered with fresco painting that wants renewing – 

Enormous pillars round up to the top all covered with painting – 4 different chapels at the bottom of each room with gilt columns and baldaquins rich but done about 40 years ago and too modern for the rest of the church – This church shews one that the principal dome and the 2 little domes at the entrance end light the church – The 2 domes at the other end light the part behind the iconostase which generally goes up to the top close under the edge of the great dome – Then to the chapel of St. Macarief – Light, inside all painted over as usual – Pretty chapel – Several pictures representing the history of this Saint born at Nijeni Novgorod – 

Then looked about – The great gateway mentioned above has a little church or chapel over it – Saw one of the cells of the monks – A small strip of a room with a less one alongside that held his bed – A stove to heat each – The Archimandrite Abbot could only speak Russian ∴[therefore] sent compliments and did not see him – 

The Macarief Convent (image by Alexxx Malev).

An hour there and off at 12 55/’’ A-[Ann] starved drove as near the old site of the Fair as the much snow would let us – A large handsome looking building with the hexastyle or octostyle portico and pediment, and a large pile of other building now made no use of standing in the middle of what used to be surrounded with Q.[Quantum] S.[Satis] of wood erections – The town a mere unpainted village – not a good house to be seen in it – 

Drove right across the magnificent river – 1 verst broad just opposite to Macarief, and 10 v.[versts] when debordé – Several islands covered with salley bushes – In 3/4 hour (at 12 40/’’ alighted at the handsome Church of the Assumption finished a year ago built by the Prince of Georgia – Much handsome gilding of colours and handsome grape-pattern prestole doors all done by the prince’s people here – All done by them except the painting some at Moscow of the faces &c. of the pictures – Very pretty church a tetrastyle portico and pediment at each of the 4 (I think) fronts – 

Then to the Fabrique of Eau de Vie at 2 5/’’ – Makes 500 hogsheads a year – Besides the 14 mills along the ridge of the hill seen from the river there are 30 or 40 more mills on the platform of this high ground – Went down into a little basin-like hollow to the fabrique – They work up 40 sacks of farine de seigle par jour, and a sack at a rough guess judging from what they said would = at least 5 bushels – They said afterwards they made 25 hogsheads a day i.e. 25 Hogsheads from 40 sacks of flour – 

Different qualities of brandi (Vodki) from /60 per bottle to 4/- (about 1 quart bottle – at least 8 of these bottles = 1 vedro and 3 vedros = 1 case (and not less than a case sold here) – I tasted some darkish coloured good mild brandy at 2/50 per bottle and tasted afterwards some of the white hot fiery spirit from the Tuyaux as it ran from the still – 

Such a thick fog in the place, could see nothing – All the sides of the wood walls within and everything covered not with flour,  but with snow – Singular appearance – The heat of the fabrique and Reaumur -30º of cold without produced this fog and snow within – 

Great quantity of  Absinthe (Artemisia) hanging up in bundles from the beams of the roof in one of the places – Use this to make what George called bitter brandy – Omitted to ask how many people employed – But saw 1/2 dozen women washing bottles (1/2 as well as 1 quart bottles) and I should think 20 or 30 men in all – They said the hot stuff I saw in troughs dehors and looking thick and yellowish was given to the cows and horses, very fond of it and became fat upon it – I could not see  what power turned the great wheel that works the farine with the water in the hujus trough into which it is poured from a sort of hopper – I saw them light a large sort oven or furnace – Is it steam that turns the wheel? I saw no horses anywhere – But perhaps probably horses are employed – Difficult to get information thro’ George – 

Then to a machine making shop the Prince bought of Count de Broglie who married a Princess Troubetskoi disagreed with and left her – Returned to France and sold his fabrique – Saw nothing worth going to see there – A few wheels, common turn-wheels – And a large wheel like Jackson’s for turning machinery to make cutlery they said – 

A-[Ann] so cold she began to cry ∴[therefore] hurried home and came in at 3 20/’’ then dinner in 10 minutes or less, and over at 4 – Found Porter, Port and 2 White wines on the table and they brought Madeira tasted none of them – And then they brought a 1/2 bottle Rhine wine excellent Stemberger from Cornill Francfort – Then they brought Bishoff (rather too much of the Seville orange in it) then Malaga (refused) then the Maître d’Hotel filled me a glass (A-[Ann] refused) of excellent Champagne, which, as everyone does in Russia, I let stand till the last, and till its upness was gone down then coffee – We had had soup and pâtés – A joint (what?) of veal with a very thin feuille of ham inserted all under the skin! Good – Then côtelettes de veau – Then a rôti of game gelinottes excellent and apparently small squary pieces of veal – Then a sort of little round Savoy Biscuit 2 with preserved whole white currants between – Then preserved white raspberries and preserved thin slices of lemon, all excellent – 

Then had George and the Courier settling what to do – Determined to stay all night here, and be off at 6 (6 1/2) in the morning after a cup of tea at 6 – The Courier said that in consequence of (something) horses since Nijeni and forwards will be -/6 each per v.[verst] instead of -/5 – How is this? 8v.[verst] out marche route for tomorrow – The one I had and paid 5/- for the P.[Post] O.[Office] not right for winter and going on the river! – 

A[Ann] queer and starved and out of sorts had to get set her right sat some time idle till candles at 6 – And tea at 7 – Before and after wrote note to be left with the Maître d’Hotel tomorrow morning of thanks &c. for ‘À Monsieur le Prince George de Georgie’ and settled accounts and had Domna, and wrote the whole of today till now 11 3/4 p.m. ought to have been in bed – Very fine clear cold day – Reaumur 14º on my table as I sit writing now at 11 3/4 p.m. – 

Our room about 9 x 7 yards 2 stoves and 2 doors, and our window in 3 divisions (about 15 square feet of glass) and room perhaps 9 ft.[feet] high – But being so large, it looks low – Very comfortable here – We have about 6 men servants in attendance – 3 sofas, 10 arm and 5 smaller chairs – 2 tables and one little commode, and one out of a nest of tables, and one looking glass nearly 3 ft.[feet] by 18 in.[inches] of mirror and near it the little pénate (household image) – A brick house of no great pretension outside – we have seen no room but this and our anteroom leading to it – But Grâce au Prince George de Georgie for all our comfort and good doings –

[in the margin of the page:]             Reaumur -29º

[in the margin of the page:]            Macarief

[in the margin of the page:]            horses at -/6 from Nijni.

Page References:  SH:7/ML/E/24/0013 and  SH:7/ML/E/24/0014

[whimsically-ominously-auspice]

My mom worked in a bar, a bartender, weekend nights as she went to school to be a nurse. My dad just wanted to be a musician. So I grew up in the bar.

That's my mom.

So I met Jesse in the bar. He taught me to play poker. I was extremely skilled at it. So i became a hot shot at age one. I would win bets all kinds. Who would think a kid in diapers could win at poker?

They didn't even know i potty trained myself and didn't piss nor shit in my diaper but panties were too small for me.

So i wore a diaper.

My dad was in the military, too. But someone told him he could go with them to get a music career started.

That is how he got kidnapped.

My mom went to look... Followed the same guy into the parking lot and got kidnapped.

She left me in the bar. The guy said my dad was outside all drunk and bottled up. "Oh I'll be right back"

So I tended bar for the rest of the night. Locked up when everyone left. Slept on the floor.

I looked for my mom but it was cold and the air felt strange. Danger like. Still and eerie. Bad.

So i went in, shut the door and locked it. Yelled "mom i locked it but you can come in" just in case she could hear. May be she was in a car talking to my dad. I yelled for 10 minutes. A couple men went to the door but i refused to open it. Cried myself to sleep in the floor. Scared for my parents.

It was two days before anyone noticed it was weird I was making margaritas and serving beer. One and a half year old tending bar. No one thought it was weird . i was a hot shot.

I told every one I couldn't find my mom. They didnt care. Just another beer.

It wasn't till Monday night that any one noticed and that's only cause that's when the new bartender showed up.

So i helped her that night. She was impressed. When i locked the door from the inside and got myself ready to sleep in the same place i cried myself to sleep in before...

The door opened and light spilled in, "mom?"

But it was the late night bartender, "oh you." She closed the door and locked it. "You can't stay here"

"I can. I been here since Friday. I can lock the door. Im safe. I can be, too"

"There's kidnappers outside"

"Yeah since Friday and they took my mom and I serve them beer and they don't pay. Just walk out. I should beat them up"

She took me to Miss Leena's house the next morning. We both slept in the bar floor. In front of the locked door.

"Miss Leena, i don't know what to do" she said.

Miss Leena kept me in the trailer park. Out of foster care. Let me go wherever whenever.

I never saw my parents again.

I saw George a few times. But he wasn't a man. Some monster. Some sick in the head creep. This thing with legs and arms and a head. No heart.

That's when I learned the difference between a me problem and a you problem. Even when it came to families, there was rarely an Us problem.

He's been eradicated. There was no hope of healing him and i being able to tolerate him if he did heal.

My Uncle wasn't the best father. I'll be curt. But thats because he knew I had a dad out there somewhere. But he was the best father i had. He never hit me or sexually abused me. He defended me. Stood up for me. Took care of me and supported me.

He is a real man.

Point is. One day you'll be almost two years old tending bar alone. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

And no one will care. They will think it's neat.

And yeah it is. Its fun doing moms job. And doing it well.

But comes the point that you're an orphan. Locked in the bar with kidnappers outside, crying yourself to sleep on the floor, in front of the door. Hoping you may not be. An Orphan.

Wearing the same clothes. Same diaper. And keeping it so clean that by Monday the late late night bartender doesn't realize you've been in them 4 days.

That photo above was taken the night she disappeared. I was in the bathroom. There's one of me with her, the same night.

The last photo we took together. Before I took one next to her coffin. I was two then.

The person sitting on Jupiter killed and raped her. For no reason other than he was outlaw Jesse James. So he named himself. He was rich. His father a store owner down the street. Sold groceries. Got women's names and addresses off checks. The son Jesse did.

Self-entitled Jack ass.

For no reason im an orphan.

If they were in a car wreck or something that would be tragic and dangerous. But murdered so the criminal wouldn't get in trouble for rape. Kidnapped for ransom the military refused to pay.

Doesn't make sense to me.

They never even bothered to look for my father.

I did. But by the time I found him, he was no longer a man.

"Don't forget i raised you"

I was 3. Half my life i raised myself and more than half the life i had with him he was working.

"I don't even know you -- Do you -- are you saying you want to come home?"

"Not yet im working"

"You want to come home and be my dad?"

"No I've told you time and time again I'm working"

What piece of shit says that. I spent nearly 2 years looking for him to take him home. He was too busy mopping floors?

I saw him again 5 years later... Just gassing people. Anyone he could get in a room. Like a Nazi. Kids. Moms. Didn't matter.

So i sorted out the evil ones for about a year so he wasn't killing innocent people. But then he turned on me. And I left.

He was gonna end up killing me. I called the police. Had him arrested.

Spent 2 years in The penitentiary.

I was 9 when he got out. We moved the year before so he couldn't find me.

I killed Pablo Escobar the year after he got out.

He did have ways to find me, though. Steal my kids and freeze them and put them in car panels.

Never made sense why he would. Just crazy I guess.

He used to be a good man.

But after he did that to me. He had to been eradicated.

He couldn't see past his crazy to ser his own daughter. I can see going nuts and being afraid to leave. But then...

Why attack me? Take my kids.

There was no reason

He took my father away from me.

He had no right to take anything else.

I grew up with a photo of him in our house. I don't know if he was crazy then. Evil.

I know I am. Crazy. But there's a difference between caring and not.

Her name was Deborah Anne. I think she was lucky to die.

My dad became a herion addict. Shooting up with needles 19 pints a day of black tar herion. Which pints is a term like nickel. Dime or quartet in marijuana. It means full 5 cc needle one hour a day sleeping 5 hours a day.

5 mL of black tar herion 19 times a day.

That's 95 mL of herion.

3.212 ounces

A cup is 8 ounces so it's nearly a half cup and you know sometimes he did at least 3/4 of a cup.

Not around me... Because.. One time i told him "why don't you just get a bigger needle? I mean syringe? The tube part?"

"Get away from me. You're not smarter than me"

"Yeah well sure but you're doing it every 15 minutes"

And while pints is a term like nickel or dime... My dad really did 19 liquid pints of herion a day.

So when I was around I made him feel dumb, insecure and selfish. So he did less.

"Who is taking care of you?"

"I work. I have a job. I make more money than you"

"I make none. You could make a penny and its more than what I -- hey you think you could buy me herion off the street? I think it's better than what i got. Or maybe not im told it's pure. Never mind you're a kid. No buy me some. I said buy me some. I didn't mean to grab your arm"

"Like a mad man all crazy? Because you did"

"I didn't mean to. I said i didn't mean to!" Injecting his arm again

"Hey fill these up for me again. Do something useful"

"Talking to you ain't useful?"

"Not if you want me to go home it ain't. I'm the boss"

"Give me the syringe. How come if you're the boss you're only bossing me? Where's everyone else?"

"At work they know what to do"

I start laughing. And laughing. "There is no one! I sent them home! All is left is you!!"

"Then I'll start gassing. If they escape i have to gas who is left and they start over"

"You could just go home like they do"

"You mean escape? I'll start gassing"

"There is no one left but you. Come on I'll show you"

"Nope bring them to me. Ill start gassing the place up let them burn. I like that. Like im a Nazi"

"The who? I'm calling the police" i pick up the phone "911" i dial im not playing. He's fucking crazy. "My dad said he will start gassing. Hes all doped up and" my dad stopped shooting up to stare at me "you don't know what you're saying!!!" He stormed the floor and grabbed the phone and hung up

"Don't you call the police on me again. Im just doing my job"

"You're shooting up" i stood to get the phone

He snatched it "I said do not call the police on me again!" He stood over me not like a threat but as a threat

"I'm gonna puke"

"And she did. You know you ain't gotta say every nasty thing you gotta do to me. Now that's gonna stink. Dad let's go home every two goddam minutes." He snatched the trash can from me and i fell. "Oh my God it's the police! How did they get here so fast?!?! You didn't even give them the address. They're going to think I'm herion dealing. And it's just for me!"

"Dad they're the CIA they're here to help!"

"Oh my God i was in the military. They don't care. Now it's the CIA. They don't care"

"Dad i care. Please"

"You're just a kid"

"I work for the CIA"

"No you don't. You're just a lying." He leans down towards me and whispers "why don't they just Come in?" And he shoved me.

He hit me in the side of the head. Covered my mouth with his hand. I shoved him off. He pulled me by my hair.

"QUIT!!!! IM SO SICK OF YOUR SHIT!!!"

He acted like i beat him.

"I'm opening the door stay calm" i opened the door. "Arrest him. I think he broke my teeth"

I held my face and felt sad

"Sabrina, I've seen you be hurt worse than that. Are you sure you're okay?" Asked Matt Hagan's FBI grandpa.

"Its just my dad. It hurts more because emotionally. Im going to cry. I'll just lay my head on This desk and cry awhile"

Of course my dad was out the next week to gas people and kill them. Of course he was.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

The golden age of streaming sports isn't perfect, but it's still damn good

As the air turns colder and we approach the holidays, we also find ourselves knee-deep in one of the best times of the year for sports: The NBA and NHL are in full swing, college basketball is getting warmed up, college football is barreling toward Bowl Season, and the NFL season is getting hot as teams position for the playoffs. Plus, there's soccer and any number of other winter sports to catch should you be so inclined.

Thankfully, it seems that sports streaming has finally caught up to our needs.

SEE ALSO: Google officially unveils its new Chromecast streaming media device

Yes, we now live in an era when it's possible to keep track of all the important games as you're on the go between shindigs and holiday concerts. The advent of streaming sports has made it possible to never miss a moment instead of languishing in a bubble of, well, NO SPORTS. 

What a time to be alive. 

Out of the stone age

Watching a crystal-clear stream of almost any sporting event I could want on my phone is a far cry from the first — and only — way I encountered watching sports live on the go before the "streaming revolution." 

That would be via the Sony Watchman, a brick-sized device that could tune in TV stations using an antenna to a screen that, in retrospect, seems barely the size of a postage stamp. 

I remember looking over a friend's shoulder and squinting real hard to make out a college football game while on a school trip in the mid-1990s. Besides the small screen, we had to contend with the fickle nature of the antenna signal, which became even more fickle as we traveled miles and miles, going in and out of range. 

Given the size of phone screens and the ability to stream in high definition on said phones, it feels like the Watchman is a relic of a long ago time, as old as the black-and-white television. But the product was around deep into the 1990s, only being discontinued in 2000. 

That shows how quickly things have evolved in the 16 years since Major League Baseball offered their first-ever online stream of a baseball game. What was described as a "too choppy and too fuzzy" experience has given way to high definition streams of every baseball game at your fingertips. 

A screenshot from a recent MLB game I watched on my iPhone 8

Hell, the last two years alone have brought rapid evolution. In December 2016, I wrote about how streaming services still left much to be desired. Now I'm cordless, relying on an over-the-top (OTT) subscription and some league-specific subscriptions to bring me more sports than I could possibly watch to just about every platform I could imagine.

And it's paid off, giving me the chance to stay up to date and in the loop with the most important live sports events, no matter what family gathering or wedding reception I may find myself at. 

Earlier this year, I was at a Major League Baseball game. A few of us split our attention between the live game in front of us and the perfect HD stream of a live NBA playoff game on someone's phone.

What a time to be alive.

The last stand of DVR-proof programming

The leaps in technology and the ease with which one can stream sports are certainly huge factors in why it's exploded. But just as important is the fact that sports remains the last bastion of DVR-proof programming. 

For all the hand-wringing over, say, not being able to watch a Game of Thrones episode live, it's still possible to watch the episode hours after airing. It just takes a little self control to stay off social media and the internet. 

But sports is still that ephemeral entertainment, something very much of the moment. As soon as a game is done, the analysis has started, and the cycle for the next match-up is already underway. Results are, literally, news: No one is going to hedge on sharing an NBA final because of a "spoiler alert."

Besides, experiencing these moments together as they happen is part of what makes sports a worthwhile pastime, even in this new digital age. 

A 2016 study by the The Center for the Digital Future at USC Annenberg found that 90% of fans were willing to pay something for access to sports, while nearly two-thirds would pay for an over-the-top subscription. The study also confirmed that mobile devices were becoming more popular in how sports are watched, especially among younger viewers: "65% of GenZ and younger Millennial fans are consuming sports content on a mobile device."

Ratings site Statista found very similar results, showing 63% of sports viewers ages 18 to 24 watched on "non-TV platforms" while over half of viewers age 25 to 34 did the same. And ESPN saw a healthy uptick in numbers when they started including streaming in their overall ratings measurements.

The bottom line: If you offer it, people will want it. There's no waiting around to watch a ball game later. 

How to enjoy it

The first step, of course, is access. To view anything is going to cost you money. But if you subscribe to either cable or an OTT service like Sling or YouTube TV, you've cleared a big obstacle. While options vary by provider and by each provider's subscription tiers, you'll find most sports channels widely available to watch on your mobile device using your subscriber login. 

All four major sports leagues here in the United States — the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB — have stand-alone apps that offer various subscription levels for following action all year long. For soccer fans, there's also the Premier League Pass and subscription add-ons like Fox Soccer Plus. And new digital streaming platform Stadium is starting to gain a little traction with its own pay platform. 

Plus, ESPN has finally launched its stand-alone ESPN Plus service, which includes access to tons of college sports, MLS and NHL games, and a deep library of documentaries and other programming (though not live streams of the official ESPN channels themselves).

Did You Know? ESPN+ will have nine @NHL games each week this season, plus a nightly highlight show. Complete info on the season long coverage: https://t.co/NmPAwJsf4c pic.twitter.com/9mWVjaHWu6

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 4, 2018

But there are still free options! In an effort to keep audiences engaged and using their platforms, social media companies like Twitch, Facebook, and Twitter have begun adding sports streams. Both Facebook and Twitter have deals with Major League Baseball, and each has its own soccer deal: Facebook streams the Premier League in Asia and the Champions League in Latin America, while Twitter struck a deal with MLS.

And, of course, there's Amazon and their rights to the NFL's Thursday Night game for Prime subscribers, a highly coveted package that the company gained after out-bidding Twitter and YouTube. It's another example of how the NFL, as it battles headlines about declining TV ratings, is shifting its focus to streaming. 

More options exist, far too many to list all of them. But streaming has become such an ubiquitous part of how we consume sports, teams and publishers include "how to stream" as part of their regular promotional efforts. 

Memphis vs UCF: TV, radio, streaming, odds, kickoff information https://t.co/1amRe2ge5w pic.twitter.com/9gRMmsJRMx

— CA Sports (@memphissports) October 8, 2018

In 2018, it's pretty hard to not find a way to stream the sporting event of your choice straight to your mobile device.

The blackout problem

Of course, no system is perfect, and neither is the world of sports streaming. The biggest thing to be aware of is blackouts. While the outdated concept of the television blackout — not airing a team's home game in their local market — is meant to drive fans to actually attend the games, digital blackouts are a different beast. 

If you've got a cable or an OTT subscription, you're probably OK, provided that OTT subscription includes the regional TV channels airing the games. But without those options, it gets a lot tougher.

Stand-alone subscription packages offered by the NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLB all black out in-market teams, leaving local fans in the dark or to find more nefarious means of viewing. 

These digital blackouts are because the local stations paid a boatload of money for rights to your local team's game, and they want to make sure they keep eyeballs on their channels. The leagues don't really mind, because they're pocketing the money anyway. 

Adding insult to injury for some fans is that fact the the leagues, particularly MLB, can make those markets notoriously far-reaching and frustrating. For example, Iowa is considered a blackout zone for six different teams (Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, and St. Louis Cardinals), meaning none of those teams are available via the MLB.TV app; you have to pay for a cable subscription to see the games of any of those teams. 

Shoutout to https://t.co/ixfgFNdyRp . No @whitesox -@Mariners since apparently Des Moines is in the Chicago blackout zone. It’s only 315 miles, 5+ hours away. Or maybe @MLB considers this in Seattle’s market 😂😂👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻 pic.twitter.com/c8Pd7hRtoa

— Mike McKay (@ScoobyMcKay) July 22, 2018

And there are a handful of MLB teams, like the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, that are impossible to find on any streaming service thanks to those regional channels who really, really want to restrict viewers to simply watching on TV.

Tech hurdles also remain

Besides access, the biggest issue with sports streaming is, well, the streaming part. Without decent coverage, you're not going to have the data to actually stream the event, something that might be a particular issue while traveling. It's the Watchman antenna struggle all over again.

If there's good news here, it's that data coverage across the country is increasing, as are ways to grab a wifi signal. That said, even with good connectivity, it's pretty easy to blast through data limits if you don't have an unlimited plan. 

And yet, despite these issues, things are still as good as they've ever been. The quality and cost of services are improving, and availability is more widespread, especially as it becomes clear that streaming everything is our eventual destination.

Meanwhile, old Watchmans rust away in basements across America, a forgotten reminder of a dark time when we didn't have nearly every sporting event available with just a few taps. 

WATCH: This shapeshifting clock turns time into moving art

[365footballorg-blog]

Armchair Analyst: Philly's process, Quakes sink & more from Week 13

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May 27, 201811:23PM EDT

Three months of the MLS season are down. My firm belief is that the soccer we’re seeing is better and more diverse than ever, and that means we’re seeing more and more diverse ways of teams attempting to win the game.

It reveals itself in the possession numbers:

Has possession mattered in MLS in 2018 so far? Maybe not so much as RBNY, LAFC and ATL haven’t relied on it very much. pic.twitter.com/E6pmKNekfS

— Ben Baer (@BenBaer89) May 28, 2018

Atlanta United, the Red Bulls and LAFC are three of the nine (or so) best teams in the league, and while they (and FC Dallas and Houston) haven’t relied upon possession as much, the top four teams are NYCFC (60.5%), Sporting KC (59.3%), Toronto FC (57%) and Columbus Crew SC (53.8%).

In all, 7 of the top 10 teams in the league in total possession percentage are above the playoff line; six I mentioned above, plus Orlando City. TFC – literally the second-best team on the continent when healthy, though it’s now an open question/legit concern as to when/if that will be – make it eight, while Philly and RSL are the other two rounding out the top 10.

Let’s take a look at what’s happening with the Union:

Welcome to Undertown

How much attention have you been paying to the Philadelphia Union? Have you noticed what’s happening? Have you noticed how they’ve pulled themselves out of their early-season funk? Have you noticed how Keegan Rosenberry has grown a beard and rediscovered his 2016 form? Have you noticed how they’ve gone 3-2-1 in their past six games? Have you noticed how the central defense – a pair of 19-year-old academy kids in Auston Trusty and Mark McKenzie – have existed somewhere between “lockdown” and “rock solid” for the past month?

That’s who the Union have become in May of 2018, thanks to reps cohesion and chemistry. They went to Harrison this past weekend and they did what nobody else has done (not Xolos, not Chivas, not Chicago in a 2-1 win for the Fire six weeks ago) in a long time: They outplayed the Red Bulls. They built from the back, they strung passes through their veteran midfield, and they rocked the vaunted RBNY pressure back on its heels with precision and useful, purposeful build-up patterns.

They made the game their own and should have won because they were able to set up in their own attacking third and string passes together in a way that almost nobody does on the Passaic – or, honestly, anywhere else.

#RBNY final-third passing accuracy allowed:

4/14 v MTL: 48%

4/21 v CHI: 36%

4/28 @ LA: 54%

5/5 v NYC: 56%

5/12 @ COL: 52%

5/20 @ ATL: 61%

5/26 v PHI: 68%

That 68-percent passing accuracy in the final third wasn’t a mistake and it wasn’t useless. Philly battered the Red Bulls and probably should have won this one. C.J. Sapong missed a penalty and Ryan Meara had a second straight monster performance in goal, and somehow the visitors turned three points into one. It should’ve finished 1-0 or 2-1, but it ended 0-0.

But still … you can’t have watched that game and not take away a “man, this is progress” feeling from the Union. They were really good, and Jim Curtin is right to like what he sees.

“As a coach, I can’t create that in practice,” Curtin said about facing a team that plays with the week-in, week-out intensity and skill of RBNY. “It’s impossible. Until they go through it, I try my hardest to create it but I can’t. The intensity that they play at, the speed of game, a young player is never going to be used to that and for them to both step up and handle it can confidence, with winning tackles, playing with a yellow card, too, by the way, playing smart — we have asked them now through the weeks to grow and they are growing before our eyes and they are impressing.”

“They are impressing the other staff, as well. Again, happy with where they are at. But it was a total team effort. I don’t want to take away from the rest of the group. I think everybody put a lot into it and again, [and I am] almost disappointed that we didn’t make three points.”

Curtin is no dummy and he’s aware that progress isn’t linear. Sapong has followed up his career-best season in front of net with his career-worst, while from week-to-week the wingers can dominate or disappear. April was miserable for the young backline; May has been stellar. That’s just how this works.

But what’s important right now is that Philly have proved they can go out, keep a zero and get results on the road. It’s a major step for a young team that’s been a long time coming, and while I still don’t think they’re a playoff squad … folks, it’s worth paying attention to the Philadelphia Union. They’re playing good soccer and it’s not an accident.

All You Need is Nothing

I’m taking the opposite tack and feeling the opposite way about a struggling team on the other coast. I’m just not sure, at this point, what the San Jose Earthquakes are all about. They’re 2-7-3 following Friday night’s 1-0 loss at the LA Galaxy, and the song remains entirely the same for this team that was partially reconstructed over the winter:

As I said in the above video, it almost doesn’t matter what formation the Quakes set up in. They’ve tried a 5-4-1, a 3-4-3, a 4-2-2-2, a 4-4-2 and a 4-2-3-1, and regardless they always seem to find a way to concede goals from Zone 14. It’s not inexperience or anything like that – in this game they had Florian Jungwirth, a Bundesliga veteran, and Anibal Godoy, who’s on his way to the World Cup, patrolling in front of the backline. It just didn’t matter. They’ve simply shown no ability to adjust and adapt to/for the weakness that’s been killing their season since first kick.

Head coach Mikael Stahre was sanguine afterward.

“It was quite a good game. It was a game with a lot of intensity and passion. I think we stood up in a good way. We deserved at least a tie in this game,” he said, before addressing areas in which his team need to improve – which, to his credit, he admitted are myriad and sundry.

“I think we need to improve in all parts, actually. Tonight, we weren’t dangerous enough in the last part of the field. I think handled the build up well. I think we handled the defensive part well. I just think we weren’t dangerous enough in the last 30 yards of the field.”

In part he’s right. The Quakes didn’t generate a truly good look all night and while they weren’t sharp when they needed to be defensively, they did only get beat by a Romain Alessandrini banger. It’s not like the Galaxy outright dominated.

But at the same time, it’s not like the Quakes are any better than they were in March. There are lots of worries for teams below the playoff line, but in general it’s worth looking at their improvement curve. Philly can point to theirs and say “see? We’re doing lots of stuff right, just not finishing.” When the Quakes point at theirs … there’s no curve at all.

A few more things to ponder…

11. LA actually took a pair of 1-0 wins this week, with the first coming Monday at the Impact. I’m convinced there are five for sure playoff teams in the West (Sporting, LAFC, Dallas, Portland, Houston) and then a sixth spot that’s up for grabs. And right now, I’m thinking that the Galaxy are likeliest to claim that remaining slot because, so far, they only lose to good teams, and beat the teams they should.

Here are their losses:

@ NYCFC

vs. Sporting

vs. Atlanta

vs. RBNY

@ Houston

@ FC Dallas

It’s a lot of home Ls, but none of those are actually bad. If the Galaxy keep beating the Montreals and San Joses of the world, they probably have the inside track on a Knockout Round appearance.

10. FC Dallas haven’t been awesome, per se, but they’ve been the ruthlessly pragmatic and cohesive team that were the league’s best in 2015 and 2016. They punctuated it with a 1-0 win in Toronto on Friday night, taking advantage of the injured Reds’ lack of speed at the back to counter the defending champs into a loss.

Jesse Gonzalez helped – he’ll be on the Team of the Week. But at the same time it’s pretty clear that TFC have the yips:

It’s time for concern if you’re the Reds. We know they’re literally the best team in MLS history when healthy, but the revolving door of center backs (Eriq Zavaleta played last week, then was injured this week; Chris Mavinga played a half on Friday, then came out with an injury; Nick Hagglund played the second half; what’s in store for him next week?), the lack of left backs, and their disastrous form in front of net has left them foundering after nearly three months.

They’ve got precious little play left in the schedule before they turn this around.

9. There would be no wiggle room for TFC if the Revs had held onto their leads – plural – against the Whitecaps. But they turned a 2-0 lead into a 2-2 stalemate, and then a 3-2 lead into a 3-3 draw. Truth is, they were lucky to get that, and Kei Kamara’s got two looks he wants back.

A point on the road is never a bad result, per se, and the Revs enter June with an eight-point lead in the race for the final playoff spot in the East. But there are 24 games remaining and the Reds have a game in hand. Those two extra points would’ve been nice for New England.

8. Still, that wasn’t as disastrous a result as what Orlando City suffered at home against the Fire. Chicago won 2-1 in central Florida and the Purple Lions, who’d been on a six-game winning streak, have now lost three straight.

Those three are the first three of a 13-game stretch, from mid-May until the end of July, in which I figured Orlando would be outright favorites in just two games. Saturday’s home date against the Fire was one of them, and even if they get healthy – a huge “if” – they’re officially in a brutal stretch. Jason Kreis & Co. need to figure out how to grind out results or this year will slip away from them as fast as last season did.

7. I’ve been down on RSL this year but take a minute to appreciate Bofo Saucedo’s golazo in the Claret-and-Cobalt’s 1-0 win at Seattle:

RSL, like Philly, have invested bigly in their academy program and USL affiliate. The rewards they’ve reaped haven’t been consistent, but are nonetheless bearing fruit from time-to-time. In this one, they played five members of the US Under-20 national team that made the quarterfinals of the 2017 Youth World Cup (Saucedo, Justen Glad, Brooks Lennon, Danny Acosta and Aaron Herrera), as well as sixth Homegrown (Corey Baird), a USL-developed CB (Nick Besler) and a young DP (Jefferson Savarino).

6. The best team you’re not paying enough attention to are the Houston Dynamo. They dominated NYCFC, 3-1, on Friday night, punishing the league’s best possession team for their stubbornness about playing through central midfield. 

Houston are completely rocketized when they win the ball in midfield, and let’s give credit to Wilmer Cabrera for allowing young center back Alejandro Fuenmayor to play through a rough first couple of months. That may have cost them points in March and April, but it will likely give them more stability and options in October and November.

5. Sporting KC’s scoreless home draw against Columbus on Sunday was rife with controversy. Make sure you tune into Instant Replay this week to get the full review from Andrew Wiebe and Bobby Warshaw.

4. Remember what I said about Philly’s finishing?

CJ’s got face of the week on lock. Miserable year in front of net for him thus far. #NYvPHI pic.twitter.com/BkqRnuN4O4

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) May 27, 2018

3. Credit Minnesota United FC’s backline for finally giving Bobby Shuttleworth a relatively easy day in their 2-0 win over visiting Montreal. There were none of the usual errors that have plagued the Loons for the last 18 months, and both Christian Ramirez and Miguel Ibarra were on the mark for the hosts.

The Impact look destined to be one of the worst MLS teams in some time. They’ve lost eight of nine and the schedule doesn’t really get easier.

2. D.C. United put in their second really good performance in a row, this time going up a man and then taking a 1-1 draw out of LA against LAFC. Truth is it could’ve/should’ve been more with better finishing (hear that, Wayne Rooney?)

United spent nearly a third of the game in LAFC’s defensive third – a huge number, and one that shows they’re getting more comfortable using the ball to pin teams back. Obviously part of that has to do with the man advantage, but earlier in the year when D.C. went up 11-v-10 they were still a sit-and-counter team.

I’ll admit, I don’t know if this is an aberration or not. But for two weeks at least, adding Paul Arriola to central midfield has helped.

1. And finally our Pass of the Week goes to Samuel Armenteros for this pass to … himself:

That’s outrageous, and so reminiscent of the 2002 Dennis Bergkamp goal that was recently voted best in the 25-year history of the English Premier League.

Armenteros has been wonderful as the Timbers have rocketed up the standings. Their 3-2 win at Colorado marked their sixth straight, and it’s fair to say their early-season defensive issues have been mostly solved.

As for the Rapids … six straight losses with no end in sight. They’re off to the second-worst start in club history.

Series: 

Topics: 

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Armchair Analyst: Philly's process, Quakes sink & more from Week 13 was originally published on 365 Football

[rebeccahpedersen]

Happy Birthday TRB: Toronto Realty Blog Is 10-Years-Old!

TorontoRealtyBlog

I guess many of you can relate to the thought, “Oh My God, I can’t believe it’s been ten years,” when it comes to your kids who seem to “grow up so fast.”

Well, for the longest time, Toronto Realty Blog was my baby.

And for the life of me, I can’t believe the blog is officially ten years old.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I decided to shake up the real estate industry and start posting (gasp!) opinions on real estate, rather than following the army of robotic salespeople who refused to do anything different.  I was a rough go at first, but after ten years, I think we’re here to stay…

Go ahead and tell me if you’re one of the very few long-time-readers, who can remember reading TRB in 2007, 2008, or 2009.

My very first post was July 1st, 2007, although to be completely honest, I put up the blog on July 14th, and back-dated a bunch of posts to make the site seem like it had already been up a while.

It was somewhat pointless, since nobody was reading anyways.

My, times have changed.

In 2017, my average blog post is 1,927 words.

Back in 2007, I was told that blog posts “should” be about 200-400 words.

And when friends of mine read my first handful of blogs, I remember them saying, “It’s cool and all, but it’s just too damn long.”

I suppose I don’t take constructive criticism easily, since I decided to set out to make them longer, not shorter.

A young agent in my office told me, no word of a lie, that when she started at Bosley last year, she started reading my blog, from the beginning.

That’s well over 2,000 blog posts, and for the love of God, I don’t know where she found the time.

It took her six months, but she literally read every single post I have ever written.

She made four observations, having read an average of over 300 posts per month:

1) Your posts have become MUCH longer. 2) You are far more cynical today. 3) You go on a lot less rants now. 4) You have an insane use of ellipses…

#3 is a bit odd to me, since my entire life is a complete rant, but I digress…

So not having read anything that I wrote ten years ago, in quite some time, I decided to go back and read the very first blog post from July 1st, 2007, and I’ll share it with you guys now:

  Condo BUST?  I Don’t Think So! July 1st, 2007

If ever there were an indication that the condo market isn’t “about to implode” as many media sources and your roommate with absolutely no knowledge of real estate whatsoever, have speculated, it was last week with the launch of 83 Redpath.

The Benvenuto Group’s new 21-storey condominium project east of Yonge/Eglinton sold out in only two days, with about 200 units turning over. Buyers were literally lined up outside, and several buyers even slept over the night before, I kid you not. This is how badly some people wanted to live in 83 Redpath starting in 2010, or, how good an investment some buyers think this condominium project will be.

A few weeks ago, Menkes Developments launched The Four Seasons Private Residences in Yorkville which even at $600 per square foot sold over 70 units the first weekend. Even more impressive, is that over 10 of those units were purchased by Registered Real Estate Salespersons. When the people who know the most about the real estate industry are investing in its future, that is an excellent sign that the condo market is healthy.

People often ask me “don’t you think there are too many condos in Toronto?” The answer to that question is “yes and no.” There are too many crummy condos in Toronto, and not enough good ones.

For example, next time you drive along the Gardiner Expressway near Skydome, and you see all those horrible condos they’ve built—those are the crummy ones. The buildings are all 50-storey monsters with no character, oddly layed-out units, and the worst part is that the view is of….another condo! There is no surrounding infrastructure, unless you count Subway and the drycleaners…just in case you get meatball sub on your new suitcoat.

I just purchased a unit at 230 King Street in a modest 16-storey building. The unit contains a 450 square foot outdoor patio. There are only six of these units in my building. Likewise, I sold my brother and his fiancée a unit at 168 King with a 330 square foot patio. There are only four of those units in his building.

I think buying a generic, cookie-cutter unit on the 38th floor of 12 Yonge Street is a bad investment, and yes, I think there are too many of those condos and perhaps they won’t keep their value. But there aren’t nearly enough good condos in happening areas with character, functionality, and that certain extra quality like a sweet patio.

Take my optimism with a grain of salt perhaps, as I sell real estate for a living. But keep in mind that I have purchased two condos so far this year, and there are still six months left…

    I know what you’re thinking – that’s it?

How entirely unsatisfied would you be if your morning TRB read was only 449 words, like that piece of crap above.

But that’s how things were ten years ago!

And I’m reading this now laughing at the idea that $600/sqft was a lot for a condo at Four Seasons, since the average price per square foot is now around $1,500, give or take.

But a lot changes in ten years, as each of us can attest to, personally and professionally.

And the best part about that blog?  A “plant” comment from one of my friends, who helped me start the site:

I don’t know that it was meant to be serious, but knowing my friend’s sense of humour, I still laugh when reading it.

I posted a long history of TRB when I hit my 1500th blog post over two years ago, so if you’re interested in the blog’s humble beginnings, have a look at that link, and I’ll save the rest of you from reading the story a second time…

And yes, I suppose I do use a lot of ellipses.  But my writing style has always been conversational in nature, as I feel like I’m speaking to an audience.  And so often in life, we get bored of listening to each other, change topics, or don’t finish thoughts, which results in a natural trailing off…

In any event, (a phrase I’m told I also over-use), I figured I’d have some fun with the TRB 10th anniversary, so here’s what I’m proposing:

Starting this Monday, every weekday for ten straight days, I’ll post a question relating to the blog’s history on Facebook and Instagram.

The first person who can successfully answer the question gets a $100 Home Depot Gift Card.

Every weekday, for ten days, starting on Monday, July 17th.

I’ll post the #TRB10 trivia question between 12pm and 1pm when hopefully many of you are sipping Booster Juice’s on a picnic bench, and may the best man or woman win.

In the meantime, I welcome suggestions for new features as we move into Decade #2 here at TRB.

I’d love to revive my “What If The Whole World Worked The Same Way As The Toronto Real Estate Industry,” since that was about the most fun I’ve had in my 13 years in the business.  But oh, the time it takes!  And this 8-month-old child is already killing my golf game, just imagine trying to revive that series???

Some people have asked me to include more active listings on my blog, and while I do feature the house/condo/loft of the week, which are hand-picked from the rubble of what MLS has to offer, others have suggested I install a “widget” for the whole monty – all the listings out there.  But I wonder, isn’t that what MLS is for?  Or if that’s too slow for your liking, then Zolo, Zoocasa, or whatever other better mouse-traps have popped up?

And here I thought the attraction to TRB was my honest, overly-cynical, mildly-right-wing thoughts and opinions on real estate and just about anything else that pops into my insane mind…

Folks, I’m open to suggestion.

But I promise to continue bestowing upon you a 2,000 word essay Mon/Wed/Fri, and 25-minute video every Thursday, until the day I die and/or make it to the Senior PGA Tour.

And what I’d love more than anything, if you guys could please do me one favour, is for the regular readers to post below: what year did you start reading TRB?

I know most of the regular commenters will partake, but what about the rest of you?

Sidebar here for a moment – I ran into somebody at the gym last week who said, “You’re David, right?  I read your blog!”  I asked him what I ask everybody who tells me they read my blog: “Do you comment?”

His eyes widened with a slight tinker of fear and he waved both hands across his chest and said, “Oh no, no, no.  I can’t get into that mix.”

So to all you “regulars” on here – you scare the crap out of people.

But to the whole lot of you, thank you for your readership, comments and interractions with each-other, and continued support on TRB.

I’m looking forward to the #TRB10 trivia next week.

Have a fantastic weekend!

  The post Happy Birthday TRB: Toronto Realty Blog Is 10-Years-Old! appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

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If there’s one thing we all like to do, it’s complain about celebrities. Sometimes, we complain about their behavior; sometimes, we complain about their money; sometimes, we complain about their horrible sense of fashion (and the awful trends they set); or sometimes, we just complain about their fame. One thing that people definitely love to do is complain about the tipping habits of the stars. Hollywood (and Broadway, for that matter) is always rife with gossip about which reality starlet didn’t leave a tip, or which NFL superstar left $5 on a $500 lobster meal. It happens all of the time. I mean, there’s a reason why NBA legend Scottie Pippen, a Hall of Famer, six-time champion, and second fiddle to Michael Jordan (a man who earned almost $110 million in his career) was referred to as “No-Tipping Pippen” during his time in Chicago because he was a truly terrible tipper and no one ever let him forget it — that’s what happens when you’re a celeb. But, fortunately for us all, and for the news services and entertainment magazines that love human interest and uplifting stories just as much as they love dirt, there are also plenty of celebs out there who are great tippers. I’m not talking great tippers in the way you and I might be, leaving a 25% tip on a $100 check at the local steakhouse because we had a really fun even out. No, I’m talking about the way people with real bank can roll when they want to, flashing wads of cash for pizza delivery boys, baristas, and bartenders. Read on to see who in the entertainment world has been a great tipper in the past and just exactly what they gave.

#1 Charlize Theron – $100 for a $4 Smoothie Sometimes, a celebrity becomes known for being a good tipper even if they didn’t necessarily intend to be one. Now, I’m not saying Charlize Theron isn’t a good tipper in general; I’ve never heard any stories that make me think she’s an evil person or anything like that. But check out this story, and you can decide whether she would have done the same if she had her money with her originally. It seems that Charlize had a hankering for a frozen smoothie or something recently, so she popped into a Pinkberry (a place I myself have never popped into and probably never will) in Hollywood and grabbed a $4 cup of frozen goodness. The only problem was that Charlize didn’t have any cash. She promised to be right back if the counter person let her go with her treat, and the employee did. Charlize did come back about 30 minutes later — with a $100 bill in hand for the employee. Now that’s thanking someone!

#2 Bill Murray – The Coolest Guy in Hollywood I suppose it’s no surprise that Bill Murray would be a great tipper. After all, he appears to be one of the coolest guys to ever hit Hollywood. He also appears to be one of the most down-to-earth dudes who have never forgotten what it’s like to toil in obscurity. If you don’t believe me, you should check out the video of Murray hanging out at a Chicago house party last fall while his beloved Cubs made their incredible run to the World Series championship (yeah, that’s fellow Superfan Eddie Vedder there also). So anyway, what does a regular guy who makes it big do when he’s out on the town? He tips big, if not outrageously. He recently left about a $75 tip on a $60 bill at a local bar. The best part is that Murray is known for doing stuff like this all the time, not just once.

#3 Taylor Swift – $500 Tip Plus Concert Tickets for a Meal On the other hand, it came as a great surprise to me that T-Swift would be such an awesome tipper. Who knew? She completely seems like the type who, if given bad or even mediocre service, would rip the waiter or waitress publicly and maybe even write a song about what a jerk they were to her. Alright, I exaggerate, but “America’s Sweetheart” has developed a reputation as being somewhat of a ‘B,’ so you just never know. It turns out, though, that Tay Tay can be a real queen when she wants to. After a meal at a Philadelphia restaurant a few years back, she left a $500 tip. $500 is a very decent chunk of change. Not only that, but when she found out that the chef’s kid was a huge fan of hers, she gave him two tickets to her concert in town. Wow — that sounds like something Bill Murray would do!

#4 Brad Pitt – $800 for Sushi…in Berlin It just doesn’t seem like a surprise to hear that Brad Pitt is a good tipper. Notice I didn’t say anything about his old flame Angelina Jolie — she seems like the type who might stick you with the butter knife if you didn’t provide perfect service. OK, I jest. But Brad, for all of his well-documented marital issues over the years, really does seem like a plainspoken, normal, genuinely friendly star. There have been varied reports as to his generosity as a tipper over the years but none more remarkable than one from just a few years ago. It seems Brad and Angie really enjoyed a Japanese sushi meal they had in Berlin (yes — sushi in Berlin; we live in a small world these days). In fact, Brad was so pleased, he left an $800 tip and thanked the staff for their service. No word has come out on whether Angie approved.

#5 Ellen DeGeneres – Tipped The Pizza Guy $1000 At The 2014 Oscars Ellen sure seems like someone who enjoys giving a good tip. Am I right or am I right? After all, everyone knows how generous she can be on her hit daytime TV show The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Not only did she come up with the Christmas-themed “Twelve Days of Giveaways,” where everyone in her audience gets tons of really pricey freebies, but she even expanded that initiative to a spring giveaway as well. So sure, we all know Ellen is pretty cool. But how cool is she for real, I ask you? Well, apparently, she is all that all the time, too. A case in point occurred during her bit at the 2014 Oscars when Ellen tipped a pizza delivery guy $1,000 for bringing her and the other stars a few slices. No, I don’t know how many pizzas he actually delivered, but it would have to be like $7,000 to justify a tip that size — that’s hundreds of pizzas. Somehow, I think Ellen’s tip was based on generosity, not quantity… Well, and a bit of publicity, too.

#6 David Beckham – 1000 Percent of $100 Equals? Good old Becks has all the money in the world, all the fame in the world, every major soccer championship that matters, a movie named after him (Bend It Like Beckham) and a hot wife who was once a Spice Girl. So it’s really no wonder that he supposedly enjoys being a good guy when he’s out on the town. Hard work, talent, and a little bit of luck gave him a life many people would envy — why not share? That’s exactly what he did a few seasons ago when he was still playing for the LA Galaxy of MLS. Beckham brought a few teammates into a restaurant called Joxer Daily’s Pub for a few beers and apps. The bill came to $100. I bet you can guess how much of a tip Becks left the astounded waitress. That’s right — he added one more zero to the total for the tip and left an amazing 1,000% tip of… $1,000.

#7 Jessica Simpson – Leaves Big Tip, Plus Handwritten Notes. Jessica has been in the public eye for a long time now and has always been someone that pretty much nobody has any problem making fun of, regardless of how hot she is. However, nobody has ever accused her of being mean or uncool, as far as I know. In fact, Jessica seems pretty nice as a person, something that’s supported by her tipping actions. Way back in 2011, Simpson was dining at New York City’s Lavo restaurant and was obviously moved to excess by her meal. She left a $300 tip. Her check was $500, which means Jess gave her waitress a staggering 60% tip. Not only that — she also left a cool note that said, “You were amazing and make this world a better place. Love, Jess.” Hmm, it’s known that she had a dinner of veal parm, fried Oreos, and Macallan. I wonder if the scotch had anything to do with the tip???

#8 Russell Crowe – $800 and a Guitar Solo This one is probably going to come as a shocker to most of you readers out there. I know it did to me — not because Russell isn’t an awesome actor — he’s been in a ton of seminal movies like L.A. Confidential, A Beautiful Mind, Gladiator (for which he won a Best Actor Oscar), and The Insider (for which he should have won a Best Actor Oscar), to name just a few. The man has serious talent. He also seems to have a serious knack for getting into trouble publicly, especially with the paparazzi. Perhaps that’s the key right there — he gets into trouble when he’s hounded. When he’s left alone except for good service, as apparently happened at The Carew Inn in Wales in 2009 while he was filming Robin Hood, Russell can be quite a charmer. Not only did the superstar leave a tip of nearly $800 to his servers there, but he also pulled out a guitar and sang for the wait staff. Now that’s service with a smile.

#9 Amy Schumer – $1000 on a $77 Bill Her tips might not be the absolute largest on this list, but there’s a reason Amy Schumer is pretty high up this list: because she keeps on giving great tips. It’s not a one-time deal with her. Some celebrities never forget their roots, which makes it easier for them to remember the little guy. Back when she was a struggling New York City actress, Amy bartended and waited tables to make ends meet, so she knows firsthand what the life is all about. Maybe that’s why she once left an $80 tip on a tiny bill with a handwritten note that said, “I’ve been there; I get it. You guys are great.” Not only that, but just last year, while attending everyone’s favorite musical Hamilton, she left a $1,000 tip for the bartenders working the lobby during intermission. That’s right — $1,000. Her total bill you ask? $77. Now that’s classy.

#10 Dr. Dre – Shocker of the Year Some guys work hard to make their bones and never seem to forget their own origin story, rewarding the “little guy” later in their lives. Three years ago, thanks to his massive Beats by Dr. Dre empire and his success as a producer, the infamous Dr. Dre became a billionaire, joining the ranks of some very exclusive celebrities indeed. For perspective, Taylor Swift and Adele combined don’t make one billionaire — at least not yet. So what do you do when you become a billionaire? Well, in June 2014, Dre first bought Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen’s old mansion for $40 million. Then, I assume, to celebrate his new status, the hip-hop mogul went out to party at the Hollywood watering hole Skybar. He must have had himself a damn good evening because at the end of it, rather than dropping the mic, he dropped a $5,000 tip on the unsuspecting wait staff. Now that, my friends, is what’s called in his business as fronting!

#11 Johnny Depp – $4000 for Wine! Everyone knows that Johnny Depp is one of the coolest celebrities out there (well, everyone except for Amber Heard, it turns out). I mean, the guy makes both monster franchise hit movies and cool offbeat ones, he plays in a band called “Hollywood Vampires” with Joe Perry and Alice Cooper, and he has all of the coolest tattoos money can buy. Apparently, money can buy some other things, too — things like absolute notoriety for being an awesome tipper. It seems that Johnny has long been known to be an excellent tipper, but one incident in Chicago takes the cake (or wine, as the case may be). Johnny was there filming the movie Public Enemies and spent many an evening at the Chicago steakhouse institution Gibson’s. On one of his last nights there, he and friends consumed a ton of $500 bottles of wine and left in a good mood. He left his server in an even better mood since he tipped the lucky guy $4,000! Yup, that’s three zeroes.

#12 Charles Barkley – $25K for Blackjack Dealer If there’s one thing you can count on with Charles Barkley, it’s that he’s not shy at all about speaking his mind whether you agree with him or not. So we have this next tipping story on good authority — Sir Charles himself. In 2014, during an appearance on The Conan O’Brien Show, Charles told Conan that he thought it was important for stars and celebs to tip well. Basically, he said, if you’re in that position, use it for good. To prove his point, he brought up a $25,000 tip he once left to a blackjack dealer after he had won $700,000. The best part of his story, however, is that Charles felt a little bit guilty about not tipping more. I’m not sure he needs to though. In fact, I’m pretty sure that blackjack dealer would let him shoot at his table again any old time. Nothing but net, Charles — nothing but net!

#13 Paris Hilton – $47K Tip at Nightclub Here’s another celebrity whom everyone likes to gang up on, whether it be for her awful sex tape, her terrible reality show excesses, her weird choice of “career” as a DJ, or her actual excesses of wealth. If you’ve ever seen the pictures of the dog house she “built” her $13,000 Pomeranian, then you know just how wasteful and decadent Paris seems to the real world. But get this: in 2014, Paris decided to party with some friends at New York City nightclub Marquee. And oh, what a party it was, as they bought $100,000 worth of champagne (Cristal, mostly) and spent almost another $100,000 on many, many bottles of Grey Goose and Patron. I’m assuming that they shared it out — Grey Goose isn’t that expensive. Anyway, when it came time to pay the bar bill, Paris surprised everyone by putting down a massive $47,000 tip. It seems an evening with Paris might be worth it after all!

#14 Jay Z – 50K on $250,000 Bill Here’s the deal with rappers, producers, DJs, MCs and the whole hip-hop community in general: not only do they usually really like to party, but they also really like their bling, and they really, really like to show how flush with cash they are. It should be zero surprise then to note that Jay Z, who is pretty much the most successful guy in that industry ever, would like to throw his money around. I mean, just check out any one of his videos for proof! In real life, Jay Z was once partying with his crew in a Miami nightclub. When I say “partying,” please remember that the very rich are very different from you and me. Jay Z dropped over $250,000 on champagne at this nightclub. So what do you do when you run up a quarter-of-a-million-dollar bar tab? Well, you tip the bartenders $50,000, of course. Yup, you read that right — $50,000 on a freaking bar tip.

#15 Nicolas Cage (Sort Of…) Alright, alright… maybe I lied just a little bit here. Nic Cage himself wasn’t actually the one delivered the largest tip to a waitress that anyone has ever heard about. All he did was play the guy in the movie based on this real-life story. I mean, I’m willing to bet that there are some crazy tipping stories out there about the man who played Ghost Rider, both good and bad, but this one is just a case of him and Bridget Fonda making a true story more famous than it ever would have been otherwise. What really happened is that Yonkers cop Robert Cunningham, a regular at a joint called South Pizzeria, offered to split any winnings from a lottery ticket with his usual waitress, Phyllis Penzo. Each of them chose three numbers and forgot about it for a few days. That is, until their Pick-Six turned into a $6-million winner. And yes, Bob did the right thing without even thinking about it, splitting the ticket with Phyllis. She walked away with a $3 million tip, the largest in history.

Source: TheRichest

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Tuesday 24 July 1838

4 ¾

9

Charles called us – fine morning – ready in ¾ hour – I had ordered breakfast (café au lait) for A- only .:. I merely took a mouthful or 2 of bread and drank a little water meaning to breakfast on the mountain chez le beau frère de Charles – thankful afterwards that A- had breakfasted odd at 6 10 all clear – the views of this valleys and mountains charming – but in about ½ hour some little clouds passing before us that we should probably come into by and by – in the skirts of them for ¼ hour or 20 minutes and no view till they began to clear off just on our reaching the Plateau de [Marborisa] at 7 33 where we found the man from Gèdre who is to be my guide to the Vignemale waiting for us – a gentleman a few years ago employed him to find the way to the top of this mountain inaccessible on this (the French) side – whether the gentleman was killed in the revolution or what has become of him, the man does not know but he paid him 125fr. on his having discovered the way in doing which the man and his companion who crossed a glacier in the ascent were very nearly lost in a crevasse – the man shewed a little mark or 2 on his hand of hurts then received – but the way he discovered is easy – no glacier to cross, and very little snow to cross – not more difficult than the ascent of Mt. Perdu – 8 hours walking from the last cabane but on Charles’ telling him I was a good walker the man said it would take 6 hours from the last cabane which cabane is 4 hours ride from Gavarnie in the vallée d’Ossonne – the descent upon Boucheron 6 hours – and 6 hours de marche from Boucheron to Penticouse – the descent upon Penticouse 6 hours – For taking us (myself and Charles) to the top of the pic the man asked 30fr. – I said I had been thinking of 20/. to which the man agreed at once I being to find his nourriture  (not much) and give him something on reaching the top, to drink my health with – agreed – (said nothing but mean to give him 5fr. piece) – the man to meet us at Gavarnie this evening and all 3 to sleep at the Cabane leaving A- to sleep at Gavarnie and meet me and Charles at Bouchero at 3pm tomorrow – all settling took about 10 minutes or more .:. it was about 7 ¾ when we were off again – had had a steepish ascent so far ‘une montée rude’ said Charles – 2 hours more of ascent before we reached the cabane at [Poyerabie] at 9 ¾ but it had been clear since leaving the Plateau de Marborisa, and sunny, and the morning delightful – en passant, had had a moments’ peep at the Chapelle de Héas – but we left the cascade de Gloriette at a little distance (left) saw nothing of it – or the pretty wooded slope down into the valley de Héas and this upper part of the valley d’Estaubé, after reading of M. Chausenques’ preferring the valley d’ Estaubé to every other valley of the Pyrenees to pass 2 or 3 weeks in disappoints me? I observed to A- that the meadows looked like English grass plots – the hay just what would come off an English grass plot after 2 or 3 weeks from the last mowing – several peasants mowing and busy in their hay – but very few granges – 2 fine large flocks of sheep on the opposite side the valley farther on – the pasturage let to strangers to people from near Tarbes – Thankful again and again that A- had breakfasted – I began to feel the want of mine – the cabane here (at [Poyerabie]) in the style of that at [Golles]  (on the ascent to Mt. Perdu) – but instead of being roofed by impending rock, all built up with stone and roofed with wooded spars and sods – about 4ft. high within, and long enough and broad enough for the five bergers to sit and churn in (shake their sheep-skin-bags with the milk in them till the butter forms) and to lie down in – perhaps 9 or 10 ft. long and 6ft. bread within § - Charles asked if I would have pâte – yes! would taste it – a little of dead dried grass gathered from the mountain side served to light the little fire of jumper roots and branches which smelt quite fragrant while burning – a largeish pan full of crème (it seemed like one butter milk) with [Q.S.] of Indian corn flour and a little salt was set to boil slowly, and in an hour the pâte was ready – a thick porridge – I should have thought they had put some grease (as in the Gollis soup) in it, if they had not assured me to the contrary – it tasted strong – but really very tolerable – A-liked it – I cautioned her not to eat much saying it was strong – Charles thought it could not hurt anybody – the bergers have no meat – but bread and milk for breakfast and supper and pâte at noon – I did not take much but more as I found afterwards than my stomach would bear – had before eaten some bread (which had luckily been put into A-‘s basket at home to fill up with) and drunk a little old milk (skimmed – petit lait) and I now ate up the bread with butter just fresh churned from the sheep-skin bag, and had also some of the shepherd s’ bread (wheat ½ rue) and made a good breakfast at 11 – having had plenty of time to look about me – the entrance

§ to the cabane about 3ft. high and 2ft. or not so much wide the little fire-place close to it in the south end of the place towards les murailles d’Estaubé

SH:7/ML/E/21/0151

opposite the little fireplace at the south end a little open hole in the north end wall perhaps about a foot square or not so much for the light let in by it and by the door hole or rather entrance hole for no door not enough to shew the countenances of the 2 bergers sitting at a. and b. churning – the middle part the hollow between the 2 bancs was covered with the capes of the bergers and so dark I could distinguish nothing even after I had sat a minute or 2 in the cabin shewing the men my clasp knife which interested them much – but the smoke affected my eyes and sent me out to A- sitting on the sunny walled up (stones and mud) banc at the south outside end of the cabane in which the present 5 bergers had lived 3 seasons – but would be away on the mont de Bergons on the 1st of next month the pacage ici being let aux étrangers from that day – Mt. Perdu from here like a little mammelon [mamelon] on the top of the Marboré – can go by the valley de Cambiel to the vale d’Aure on horseback (Charles’s beau frère, married his wifes’ sister, would be our guide with Charles) but not by the pont de Canaa could only go on foot by the Pont de Canaa – cannot see this port from here – it is at the extremity of the valley de Héas, and hid from here by the mass of mountain parting the 2 valleys (of Héas and Estaubé) could go from here on horseback by the Pont de Pinède, but could not get the horses down on the Spanish side – From the P. de Pinède, Port Vieux, and P. de la Canaa one descends upon Notre dame de Pinède (chapel) – sitting on the outside banc of the cabane, en face des murailles d’Estaubé, le cylindre forms the right end of the cirque; about 1/3 from that a brêche laisse voir la neige sur le versant Septentrionale du Mt. P- and a glacier reaching down to the bottom of the brêche § (i.e. about midway the whole height of the cirque or murailles and about the level of the Pont de Pinède) and Mt. Perdu itself does not appear from here higher than the rest of the cirque, or murailles – glittering cone of snow a mere filling up the end of the brêche – at 1/3 farther the Pont de Pinède, a brêche seeming about twice the breadth of the other brêche – and at 1/3 farther the cirque or murailles terminates in a 2 pointed (rather obtuse-pointed) conical mass of rock and another brêche seeming about ½ the depth of the other brêches, wider than the 1st and less wide than the 2nd, and this last forms the Port Vieux – the left side of this last brêche being formed by the rocky mountain (not lower than the right side 2 pointed mass) that in a long line of mountain which almost immediately from the Port Vieux becomes more or less striped with lines of green – separates our valley of Estaubé from that of the Héas -                       §Ramond escaladé (got up) this glacier steep as it is, but his trouble in vain, Mt. P- being quite inaccessible de ce côté – Spanish smugglers have come along the foot Mt. P- and have descended this glacier –

sometime before arriving at the cabane (from the plateau de Marborisa) perhaps about ½ way Charles pointed out the place near the gave where the man was shot by a Spaniard during the 1st French revolution in the evening of the same day, and with a ball in the forehead in the same place respectfully in which he the man had shot a ball into the forehead of the virgin Notre dame at Héas, in the morning! –

Delighted with our view from the cabane of the murailles (or cirque) d’Estaubé – off from the cabane at 11 50 – our views of Mt. P- now clear, now tipped or streaked with cloud, very fine – to me very interesting, as we climbed up from the cabane higher and higher over l’herbe glissante, or rough slippery rock on which my own feet were scarcely much more those of my little horse (mare) but Charles would make me ride as well as A- who said nothing but went on very quietly – for said Charles you will have plenty to do yet – it was always agreed to take Charles’ beau frère as guide from the cabane but Charles had luckily taken also another of the bergers who, as he said at 1st, had merely gone because he chose to walk a little of the way with us – but a la suite, I know not what we should have done without him – at 12 ¾ stopped 10 minutes for the 2 guides and our 2 bergers to sit down, and wet their lips – (no wonder – la montée était bien rude) – and here the Marboré just in sight – several specimens of contorted rock here – and on the side of the Piméné up to the green just under the Pic – after a desperately hard [?] of it for the horses, alighted at 1 – my horse turned loose and A-‘s and the baggage given in charge of the berger and Charles’s beau frère mounting with us to carry A-‘s basket and cloak and my light tartan ditto and the 2 guides, one on each side of A-, got her on very nicely, I following – we had walked or climbed about 10 minutes or ¼ before and were halting on a little bit of level when my horse cam frisking up to us having scrambled up somehow – the opportunity too good to be lost – A- was mounted – the bridle had been taken off to let the animal graze but the halter was round its neck – and A- literally rode to within a very short distance of the Petite Pic – for we arrived there at 1 48 and out of the 48 minutes from the time of alighting at 1 she had only walked 18 minutes a few stone rudely piled together to mark the Petit to which we had had about ¼ hour of scramble up the bare, scaly (argillo [argile] schisteuse) rock with here and there little while saxifrage and a very pretty little pink flower and pencil geranium etc. growing on the little hedges – very fine, magnificent view from the petite pic of the Marboré, the cirque de Gavarnie and all the sea snow-spotted of mountain tops around, and here we sat down -   I saw that A-‘s head would not, even if her legs would, carry her much higher; for the crête was indeed a crête a giddy narrow ridge along which I felt that my own head in its then aching state would not be trop forte – my breakfast had disagreed with me and I had had more or less of bilious head-ache for the last couple of hours – advised A-‘s not going higher and she willingly took my advice, and we left Pierre with her, and in seven minutes at 1 58 had reached the smutty – it was a glorious sight to look upon – a noble congregation of mountain tops – Vignemale and its glacier the largest in the Pyrenees – the Marboré and its cirque, and its cascade – but the pic d’Astazou hid the glacier-vallon of its source, and thus shut out 1/3 (400ft.) of its fall – Mt. Perdu shewed his head quite clear and towering Spanish mountains formed a fine background on each side the Marboré – the Pont de Bouchero seemed easy – snow lying near the top; but Charles said it did reach the road and A- would get on well tomorrow – the higher valley of Las Espessières seemed parallel with the valley of the P. de Bouchero – Charles pointed out the spot where lay the Cabane at which we were to sleep

SH:7/ML/E/21/0152

tonight, and the 2 pointed hill or lower mountain at the foot of which we were gain the Spanish side of the Vignemale evidently inaccessible from the French side – the 2 men lost 2 years, were lost near the foot of the Glacier (on their way from Cautertz [Cauterets]) – Poor Charles he seems not particularly anxious for the montée – sure we shall have plenty to do – and not sure of the weather – began to doubt what the Gèdre said about the facility of getting up – would like to consult the other man – thought we could hardly get to the cabane tonight– I merely said nous verrons – clouds were already in the distance over Tarbes and the mountains beyond Argeles [Argèles] – the fine clear on the summit had rather relived my head, so that I got down again in 7 minutes better than I had got up – not difficult climbing but so precipitous my head would scarcely carry me – Charles walked down and bade me to do the same which I did in fact he taking hold of my hand saying n’ayez pas peur – marches hardiement [hardiment] – as we stopt cautiously from ledge to ledge – but on getting back to A-, and looking up again, I felt as if I could not tell how we had managed to get up – the crête is so narrow one cannot go along it without seeing down the precipice on each side – poor A- turned her head away and could not bear to see us come down – the grand pic seems a cone with just one ridgy line 4 or 5 ft. or less broad so ledgy that one get up – the area at the top is very small indeed rather oval – perhaps 6 or 7 yards the smaller diameter and 10 or 11 the larger – if so much – the whole of the cone or pic quite bare –

on the Piméné up to the little pic

Thrift

pencil geranium

Daisies

Gentinella

centaury? or a little saxifrage?

little pink flowers the whole plant not growing on the little narrow ledges of the grand pic

Azalea procumbus Wednesday 12 September (vide 4 September)

on the [Coumélie]

lis Martagon

Iris

jumper

rhododendron ferrugineum

aconite

garance sauvage? the root good for toothache

anisette in the wood  close above the road from Gèdre to St. Sauveur  

Left the high pic at 2 25 Friday 27 July back again to A- at 2 32 she had the yolk of a hardboiled egg and we sat looking about us till 3 – the princess! de la Moscowa had been got up to the grand pic – but A-‘s head could hardly bear the petit pic – and indeed the little ridge or crête we sat upon was not more than a few feet (5 or 6ft.) board but the grand pic above the mass of mountain we had ascended below, and the 3 men standing on one side a lower ledge towards the cirque de Gavarnie (west) and on the other the precipice being rather less perpendicular, we sat comfortably – off on our way down again at 3 A- between the 2 guides and getting on very slowly, her head evidently not stronger than the occasion required – at 3 18 reached the place where A- had dismounted we had sent one of the bergers round with the horses to meet us down below on the montagne d’allanz and we had a steep, rough, shingly rocky, untracked scramble down A- getting on slowly till about 3 ¾ when after a scramble down an arête of rock (a wall) we were obliged to cross a piece of steep slippery snow which took us 10 minutes or ¼ hour A- still between her 2 guides and apparently hardly able, from fright or fatigue or both, to drag one foot after the other, or I think we should have passed this only bit of snow in 5 or 6 minutes – dragged on poor A- about ¼ hour farther to warm her feet till 4 20 and she then sat down on a piece of rock, and had a couple of little humps of sugar steeped in brandy which seemed to refresh her – we sat down again at 4 40 but here we had l’herbe glissante – my sick headache which had latterly been very bad here relived itself and as I lay down at a yard or 2 distance from A- my stomach rid itself of the pâte without anybodys’ knowing anything about it till I told A- I felt relived – it was 5 10 before we got to the horses and then a good deal of cloudiness striped (in striped) across the pic d’Astazou and towards the cirque de Gavarnie – we were only just up in time – A- mounted but got off two or 3 times afterwards and walked very well – I walked all the way back till about 10 minutes from the Inn at Gavarnie where we arrived at 7 I more tired from sickness and headache than anything else – the Inn full – but on my saying we must go to Gèdre, the people seemed determined to exert themselves – we dined as I proposed in the garret, and I proposed sleeping there but A- thought it would be close, and some country people turned out of the 4 bedded room over the kitchen and I was comfortable enough tho’ there was about a board-floor between the kitchen and us and every sound was heard – dinner about 7 ½ - A- had a veal cutlet and bread and butter and cheese – I a little weak brandy and water and then a basin of boiled milk and dry bread with a little butter – Charles came at 7 ¼ to say the Vignemale guide was come – Charles afraid of the cloudiness and advised waiting for moonlight – so did A- too late at any rate to go to the cabin tonight and without sleeping there could not possibly reach the summit of the Vignemale in time -  .:. sent word by Charles that I should probably go to the Vignemale a few days hence, 10 days or a week, sooner or later and would let the man know – considering the terms and all that to be fixed – but that if it should happen that I did not go at all, I would give the man a 5fr. piece for the trouble he had already had – this last part of the story Charles thought very handsome, and seemed pleased saying that by this means I was sure of always being attended to – came to our room at 8 ½ - very fine day

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CNN: AFCON 2017: Burkina Faso seal third place, Ghanaian misery endures

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will lead host nation Gabon’s bid to win the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. Scroll through the gallery to see some of the tournament’s key players …

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Wilfried Bony, Ivory Coast: The forward played a key role in Les Éléphants’ triumph in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, with two headers in a quarterfinal win over Algeria. With the international retirement of Yaya Toure, the 28-year-old Manchester City striker — on loan to Stoke City — assumes the role of team leader for the tournament’s favorite.

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Cheikhou Kouyate, Senegal: The 27-year-old rock of West Ham’s midfield can score goals when called upon — including the Hammers’ first-ever goal at the Olympic Stadium this season. Senegal’s towering 6-foot 4-inch team captain played in the 2015 Cup of Nations as well as the 2012 Olympics.

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabon: Borussia Dortmund’s striker is famous for his Usain Bolt-like bursts of speed — as well as his superhero goal celebrations — and is one of the bona fide global stars of the tournament. The French-born 27-year-old is averaging nearly a goal per game in the Bundesliga this season, but he will have to match that pace if the hosts are to advance deep into the tournament.

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Karim El Ahmadi, Morocco: Thirty-one-year-old defensive midfielder El Ahmadi is one of a few veteran players on a young Moroccan team. The Dutch-born player is now in his second spell with Feyenoord after two years in the Premier League with Aston Villa, and will be called to anchor the spine of the Atlas Lions.

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Adama Traore, Mali: The 21-year-old Monaco midfielder has very little experience at club and senior international level. However, he was named player of the tournament at the 2015 Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand behind his four goals and three assists. Should he be given a chance, Traore could prove a surprise in Gabon.

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Franck Kessie, Ivory Coast: The 20-year-old midfielder might return from AFCON having swapped current Italian club side Atalanta for a European heavyweight, with Chelsea having reportedly had a big bid rejected for him, according to the player’s agent. Kessie has six goals in 16 games for Atalanta so far this season and his all-action style has drawn comparisons with compatriot Yaya Toure, who has now retired from international football.

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Aymen Abdennour, Tunisia: Although central defender Abdennour (left, with teammate Anis Ben Hatira) is the most experienced outfield player for the Eagles, at the age of 27 he’s still in his footballing prime. The former Monaco player signed with Valencia last season as a replacement for Manchester City-bound Nicolás Otamendi.

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Bertrand Traore, Burkina Faso: Chelsea forward Traore — on loan at Ajax — made his senior debut for Burkina Faso as a 15-year-old, and will be playing in his third Africa Cup of Nations. Despite limited club appearances, Traore is known for his deft ball skills and has attracted a cult following in Amsterdam.

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Michael Azira, Uganda: The Colorado Rapids defender (#42) is one of only a few MLS players participating in Gabon. Azira moved to the US as a 20-year-old college player before signing with the Seattle Sounders and has since moved to the Colorado Rapids. Azira, whose family still lives in Uganda, will be participating in his first tournament for his birth country.

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Alaixys Romao, Togo: Before his recent move to Olympiacos, French-born Romao was the lynchpin of Marseille’s midfield. Should current free agent Emmanuel Adebayor not find the net regularly to lift the the Sparrow Hawks in Gabon, Togo will rely heavily on an organized defense led by Romao.

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

Fourteen players to watch in Gabon

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Friday 29 April 1836: SH:7/ML/E/19/0034

8 50

2 25

- Ready in 35 minutes - fine morning - frosty - very hard frost in the night - the sun out and F (in the sun) 50° at 9 25 am - had Mr. Husband - wanted to buy a few roods of parpoints of Mark Hepworth (from yew trees quarry) for the meer clow - then had Mr. Washington - he shewed me Mrs. Sutherland’s letter signed by Captain S- in June 1833 giving their and A-‘s leave to Illingworth to get the coal - he said John Sunderland of the Beer shop (old Dumb mill) had applied for the Travellers Inn - thought he would give the rent (£20 a year) - gave SW- my address at Hammersleys in case he should want to write to A- and had no other orders from her - gave him (very handsomely) his congé from my stewardship - said if there was an honest man, I believed him to be one - had no fault to find (said thought not of the levelling business and valuation of Hill top) it was  [mere] matter of convenience that I should have Mr. Parker to receive and pay all - Poor SW- said ‘it will make no difference’ - I then talked about his lithographed plan of the township of Southowram - he said it would cost 40 guineas for a hundred copies - the sale of 60 guineas - copies would repay him - bade him write a little prospectus - set about a subscription and I would put my name down for 2 copies and would put A-‘s down for one and would venture on Mrs. S-‘s name for one - this last however I had best tell W- to let off from - he went away at 10 20 - then breakfast and with Marian till 11 ½ - she mending my gloves - then out - with Robert Mann + 3 draining and levelling behind the farmyard - he said SW- had just told him Husband and Oates had moved and set SW-‘s peg 18in. higher in the walk which accounted for the difference in their levelling and his - and I should only be able to draw off 2ft. 6in. of water instead of 5ft. - Holt not satisfied about all this - kept Robert near an hour from his dinner giving directions about Lodge drift and pulling up the stuff and laying in along the road wall - off to John Oates at 1 for about an hour - had all the levelling business over - he surprised that SW- should continue mentioning it - his (W-‘s) peg about a ft. too low, so that W-‘s line was by so much an inclined plane instead of a level line - should be able to draw off 4ft. of water as always proposed - if I could draw off a ft. more the water must come lower on to the wheel, and I should thus loose far more than I gained - much coal-talk - he said I should get £200 per acre for the coal - could not well get 3 acres a year at one pit -said I thought of another near the highroad (in Wellroyde land) - JO- very much for this - talked as if coals might rise in price asked him to give me on my return a sketch of the manner (ground plan) in which the colliery should be worked - should not get all in one square, but in a narrow line or strip upwards so as to keep the coal as nearly of the same value (1st and last) as I could on account of the sameness of distance from the pit - then with R- went with JO- into his tenterfield - said the old pit hill (about 15 yards square) might be levelled down and newly soiled over - then with Robert Mann + 3 and Mosey setting gate from Allen car into Little field and with Mark helping him in the intervals of levelling after the Northgate carts - about 5 ½ took Robert and his men to get largeish holly up out of the walk (the last remaining) and spruce and silvre firs and 2 arbores vitae and 1 yew from near the 2 large Scotch firs in the wood and saw them all planted in the çidevant paddock - then had William Green - said if he left his present house to go back to the one I bought of him, I should turn his daughter out - I would have nothing to do with her - William said she did not behave well to him, and he thought of leaving her to be quiet - said he was to draw his money (purchase money of cottages) out of Mr. Parker’s hands as he (WG-) liked till he had done it all, and then I would take care of him tho’ I would do nothing for his daughter - then had Barstow - told him to get more explicit note from Bray of consent and ditto from Mr. Wainhouse about the foundry - and then A- would agree - Rent £120 per annum for 7 years from 1 April 1837. this year to be £50 except after the rate of £40 per annum for engine and foundry from the time of their being workable - B- to keep all in repair and pay all taxes and pay insurance to be raised in proportion to rise of rent, or otherwise as might seem fair - read him the written directions A- gave me - Letter from A- this evening - pretty good account - pretty fair spirits - kept Oddy standing by me with the open letter bag in her hand while I wrote 3 pages in 5 or 10 minutes and set them off to A- 28 Blake street York saying I thought she would rather have this scrawl than no letter - then went down to Barstow again (for he had waited) and gave him a note to Mr. Bray saying A- would agree with Barstow and c° if he (Bray) would inform A- by note that he had no objections - dinner at 8 ½ and coffee and Marian with me all the time till went to my aunt at 9 ¾ to 10 ½ - from then to 1 making out Agenda and writing out the journal of today -

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Saturday 28 April 1838: SH:7/ML/E/21/0085

7 ¾

2 40

fine but dull morning F42° at 9 and breakfast in about ¾ hour and then had William Mallinson and paid him for spouts at Little marsh, and had Mr. Bollard a civil young man (Ironmonger) about his bill from last midsummer to xmas – told him to make it out again in 3 – for Northgate Shibden hall and Little marsh – all this took me till 10 5 – then off with A- to Landymere – she rode and I walked by her side as far as the Lodge, she then road forwards and I stood a few minutes with Mr. Gray and Robert Mann who had proposed making the 3 large oblong sandstones do the draw-wall – Mr. Gray sketched and Roberts’ idea, and we were all satisfied – ordered to be done – at Landymere by the old Northowram road in ½ hour – found A- and SW. and Mr. Bentley – SW set out 1200 yards 30 yards along the hollow at 27ft. from the fence x 40 up the hill (including the present quarry hole) at 4ft. from the fence

SH:7/ML/E/21/0086

between the Sutherlands’ and Mesdames Lancashire and Brook – Bentley to come on Monday at 4pm to sign the rough draft of the agreement – terms explained to him and SW. 1200 yards as above named at 8d. per ft. of good stone – 8ft. thick? or 9ft. at present? – but no matter if thicker or thinner paid for at 9d. – the whole to be paid for in 3 years by equal ½ yearly payments – or rather 400 yards per annum to be paid for – and 4 years allowed to get it in – Road to the new road to be £5 per annum whether in one place or other – SW. to come on Tuesday and the site of the road to be settled – SW. did not think the little hole Joseph Mann is sinking, too high up in the field – 8 yards deep at present and only got down to the Crooked stone – the same beds (there will be 2) as Mrs. Aspinalls’ and Mr. Listers’ – not Bentley’s bed – A- then rode off to Holcans wood, and I walked by Wester croft and David Booths’ and Hipperholme to Hove edge to Messrs. Naylor Heap and Goodyears’ Day-quarry – mined underground like coal coming out to the Day – Mr. Luke Goodyear there ready to receive me – very civil went with me into the 3 places the 7 men (4 + 2 + 1) were working in a tram-road made of a plank deal cut into 6 and an iron edge laid on it, that the fall of a stone might not break the iron – an ass in the tram road and where one of the mines met it at a right angles an ingenious sort of platform moving on a pivot that would turn the load round into the tram road without trouble – this quarry in working 7 or 8 years – some good stone, but had not paid yet – In Mr. Macaulay’s land – Aspinall had it before at 2/6 per yard – gave it up – 8 yards of baring – the present firm took the whole field allowance being made for a ruttle (12? or 15? yards wide) – bed of stone from 2 to 6ft. thick – now about 6ft. – would not pay if not worked in this way – costs £20 a year in timber to support the roof – noticed a curious sort of white arbores cent moult-like moss or mould ramifying in places on the dark raggy or hard scaly roof – would be better for underground working if more baring – the bed of stone here is 4 yards I think he said above my bed in yew trees wood quarry – he walked with me across the Hove edge road into McAulays’ wood looking down up Southolme and at the style at the bottom of the steep past of the footpath shewed me my own bed at the bottom of a quarry hole there (close on the left going down) and his bed at the top of this hole – some talk about Mr. Richard Pollards’ stone – he had offered it to Messrs. Naylor and c° - they ought to have 500 yards at 1/. per yard, and then 2/. per yard as much as it was worth – thought of baring might be taken to A-‘s Hipperholme Lane ends quarry – would look again – I said I knew other people were thinking of the stone – mentioned my plan of laying a baring so as to make a road from A-‘s quarry mentioned also its being said in Hardcastles’ presence and mine that a road thro’ the wood would be worth more than £5 a year – (alluding in my own mind to SW’s valuation on pay Hardcastle for the damages done to his field in walling) – I had been perhaps ½ hour or nearly at the quarry – gave the 1st 4 men 2/. as a footing and the 2nd pair 1/. and of the last took no notice – arrived at the quarry about one or a little after and it was about 2 when I parted with Mr. Goodyear in Mr. Macaulays’ wood just above Mr. Sowdens’ when I saw my way clearly before me – then to Southolme – found Abraham Hemingway in his barn – went with him to see the piece (close up to Mr. Thomsons’ land) of ground proposed being given by Mr. Naylor for the bit to be taken at the bottom of his wood and top of my field to [found] his bur wall upon – Abraham thought 2 yards x 30 would be wanted – Mr. Naylor soon came to us – a very civil well mannered neat tidy looking middle aged man who was so civil and apparently anxious to do what was right and liberal that we agreed at once – but Abraham set a corner = 15x15 yards = 225 yards – the ground to be given very much more valuable certainly than that to be taken – Mr. N- agreed to give 60 yards of his against 60 yards of mine – if more wanted, I agreed to pay a [on?] consideration – SW. to measure and value and anyone else Mr. N- chose – then viewed the place where ground was wanted – told Mr. N- he should have what he wanted to make a good job – of course he would take as little as he could for his own sake as well as mine – but if he had occasion to take 2 good ash trees standing in my fence, these must be valued and placed to the account of the superior value of his land to that of mine – N- said he could give no writing – but there would be no trouble – all parties agreeable – the trustee Mr. Brook and all – and on the death of their wives, the estate must come into the market, and I should have no trouble – I said I had no fear about that – for Mr. SW. would measure and lay all down on the estate plan, and if Mr. N-‘s party should claim back from me, I should do the same from them and they might be glad to be quiet – or equity would settle the matter for us – Mr. N- expressed himself very much obliged – repeated it several times – said nobody could have behaved more handsomely – I merely said he might sometime have some opportunity of obliging me – sure he should not be slow to do it – he then mentioned Mr. Richard Pollards’ stone – Repeated the substance of all I had said to Mr. Goodyear N- thought the stone not worth more than 2/. a yard – said I had thrown a new light upon it – not aware anybody else was after the stone – mentioned no names but said other people had named it to me – mentioned also (which I had not named to Mr. Goodyear) my paying Mr. Pollard 1/. per yard for 40 yards and Simeon Shaw the tenant also 1/. per yard to keep me safe from the entrance in Mr. Pollards’ note that he must make the hole into the ground again – N- said RP. could give more title beyond his own life – but said I, his brother might sign also – it would be or might be made his interest to do so, and then all would be safe – mentioned also that I should like to have some of the ground after it was quarried and had named offering 2d. per yard to Mr. Goodyear – Mr. N- and I parted the best possible friends – he would see me again about the quarry – said I should be glad to see him at SH. then with Abraham Hemingway – mentioned Gill that I had seen this morning in the road [?] on this side of David Booths’ driving out of Goodyear’s cart – the man said he was cousin to Abraham H- and had married his daughter and wanted to take the Godley paddock – no! that impossible – could not do without it myself – he stood talking thought of setting up cart and horse of his own, and wanted a field – said I would think about it – that is, remember him if anything likely fell out – as he was so connected,

SH:7/ML/E/21/0087

I would mention to him to Miss Walker – but if he heard no more of it, he must conclude that we had neither of us anything to suit him – Inquired his character of Abraham H- it seems A- had nothing against him – a very good husband and respectable man, but 14 or 15 years older than his wife, and had as it were stolen her away, her parents being against the match – took her away in the night time – and it was clear Abraham had not forgiven this – said it was well to let them do for themselves – would not do much for them – the ash tree Abraham cut down a very good one – gave him all but about 6 or 8 ft. long of the thick part – this would cut into 4 capital axels – 2 for a large cart 2 for a smaller one said Abraham must keep this piece for me for about a year to season, and then I should not forget it, but perhaps get him to get it cut up for me and I should then bring it away – then stood talking to Abraham about the expense and profit of keeping horses – Abraham said they paid very little or sometimes not at all – for if he lost a horse or any accident happened it was long before this was recovered – Luke Goodyear said he had lost £40 last year – lost a horse worth £30 – Abraham owned he bought in his horses at under £30 on the average – but a good horse worth £30 now - £5 out of £30 down now than they would be 3 or 4 months hence – Abraham Haighs’ light bay that I have thought of worth £30 – 4 off – will grow – 15 ½ hands now – I said well! but he (Abraham) got his farming in (that ishis farm work done) into the bargain – yes! he said this was his profit – he gets his corn (3ds. [?] meal and oats) of Mr. Brook of Brighouse – calculates a horse to eat of this 8/. per week and 1 ½ st. of hay a day 1/. = 7/. per week – would not pay at all if he (Abraham) himself did not go with his horse to the delf – has seven horses – said I inquired because I thought of carting my own coal, or it would not pay –

calculates Abrahams’ horses at each 8/. + 7/. = 15/. per week and per pair 30/. + mans’ wages 15/. + wear and tear and blacksmiths bills etc. 5/. = total £2.10.0 per pair [co.]! I can manage it I think – sauntered home along the brook all the way by pinnel bridge and Dumb mill ditto to Mitham mill and home by Listerwick (the trenching in progress in Jonathan Mallinsons’ field) about 4 ½ - found A- dressing – ¼ hour with her – and she rode off to Cliff hill at 4 ¾ - had told Oddy of going with us to London – O- much pleased – promised to keep the secret till Monday – I not to go to church tomorrow but stay at home and get ready – wrote the whole of the above of today till now 6 ¼ - having just paid (per Robert Norton) George Naylors’ sawyers bill for larch rails and boards sawing – and now going down to pay Stephen Scholefield – wrote letters – had George Naylor (wright) and the 2 Manns and the gardener and paid Mr. Harper of the Stump X Inn the supper bill of 16th ultimo for Booths’ men all who had worked here – 21 of them – Paid Robert Mann, and gave Joseph £50 in a/c – had not time to settle with him and still had not done till after 8 – dinner at 8 10 – and had coffee with Mr. Gray in the dining and came upstairs at 10 pm paid Oddy her little bill she had paid for bran – at accounts and memoranda till 1 25 tonight fine but dull day or very little sun – much warmer than yesterday – not so much cold east wind – calm – F35° at 11 pm it was 7pm or after before I had despatched Sam booth with the letter bag containing my letter to ‘Messrs. Hammersley and c° Bankers London post paid’ asking them to get my passport visaed, it being my intention to embark in London for Antwerp tomorrow week and proceed thence by Brussels to Paris taking with me my niece Miss Walker and 2 servants (Susan Oddy and George Wood) – letter also to ‘Messrs. Pearce and Baxter coach-makers Longacre London Post paid’ expect being in London on Thursday evening next and immediately on arriving will send them the carriage to be examined and made ready for embarking on the following Sunday – shall be much obliged if they can provide me a neat clean chariot and good horses to do about town on Friday and Saturday’ – letter also to ‘Mrs. Hawkins 26 Dover street London Post paid’ expect being in London on Thursday evening to dinner – shall be glad if Mrs. Hawkins can take me in for 2 or 3 days – if not, much obliged to her to take me an apartment in the nearest comfortable family hotel – (myself Miss Walker and 2 servants as usual)

[anne-lister-adventures]

Tuesday, 23 April 1839

8 5/’’

12 55/’’

Rainy morning – Had Mr. Shackleton (A-[Ann] had him first) at 8 3/4 she for 1/4 hour and I for rather longer – Dressed – Breakfast 9 3/4 in 35 minutes then had Mr. Harper – Before settling with him about windows &c. wrote and sent by George note as follows:

“Mr. Gray junior Petergate

Mrs. Lister and Miss Walker would be glad to see Mr. Gray at 12 at noon today, if that hour will not be inconvenient to him –

George Inn. Tuesday morning 23 April 1839”

 Note in answer would come at 11 1/2 having an engagement soon after 12 – Settled with Mr. Harper about windows and a long list of items to be done in our absence so that we might find all comfortable on our return – (Vide rough book entry of all directions) –

Mr. Gray came at 11 1/2 and staid till 12 20/’’ – Old G-‘s[Gray’s] money when paid in to be invested in the funds – So that there will be no difficulty about A-‘s[Ann’s] paying it in a little sooner or later – By the way sooner was not hinted at – My estate safe from the mortgage till some one should come into possession who could cut off the entail, and pay off the mortgage – The money not likely to be wanted during Miss Jane Preston’s life – And if wanted Mr. G-[Gray] will transfer the mortgage without giving me any trouble whether I may be in England or abroad desired him to prepare a little codicil to my will giving A-[Ann] and him as executors and trustees the discretion to sell all or part of my property in H-x[Halifax] to pay off the mortgage – He gave me a sheet form of agreement for letting the colliery from year to year – To see him again on our return from North Cave – He will be at home all the day on Thursday – But not after 10 tomorrow morning –

An agreement to take requires only a 20/- stamp – An agreement to let requires a stamp according to the amount of rent; but if the amount is altogether uncertain, vide Kearsley’s Tax Tables what the stamp will be – Something considerable –

Mr. G-[Gray] went at 12 20/’’ and then seeing that we could not get off till Thursday wrote and sent as followed (on 1/2 sheet of note paper) to Mrs. Oddy, Shibden Hall, near H-x[Halifax] to be delivered immediately:

“York – Tuesday morning 23 April 1839.

Mrs. Oddy.

We shall not be at home at home till Thursday, but expect to be there on that day in the course of the evening – You need not sit up later than eleven o’clock at night – We shall not want dinner –

A Lister”

Kind note this morning from Miss Henrietta Crompton enclosing the card of ‘the Miss Cromptons’ for A-[Ann] regretting that the rainy morning prevented her calling – Had just written so far at 12 50/’’ – Then did up our imperials &c. and got all ready for being off to North Cave, to see Marian –

Had ordered up luncheon (our cold loin of roast mutton of yesterday and bread and butter) at 2 and had nearly done when I[Isabella] N-[Norcliffe] came soon after 2 and staid above an hour – Determined to go abroad this summer but unfixed when and where – will be away the Winter –

Off at 3 48/’’ to return to dinner tomorrow – But took all with us – Changed horses at Bamby[Barmby] Moor at 5 10/’’ – Passed the Inn (Devonshire Arms) at Market Weighton at 6 1/4 – 6 miles from there to Mill Cottage N.[North] Cave but they charged using (at Bamby[Barmby] Moor i.e. 6 miles B.[Barmby] Moor to Market W-[Weighton] and 8 from there to N.[North] C.[Cave]) and it was 7 22/’’ before we alighted at Marian’s door – 

I had not written – She had no notice of our going – She was upstairs – Lucky – Mrs. Button dangerously ill; and she had only left her and returned home yesterday – The girl woman servant did not know me – I gave no name –

Marian soon came down looking thin, and pale, and nervous – I soon set all parties at ease – I had done right to give no notice – Marian owned if I had written she should not have known what to do – Should have feared she could not make us comfortable – Should have sent to Hull for things the bed had been slept in last night – 

No trouble to re-sheet it and light the fire – We had perfumed Russian tea, and good coffee and bread and butter and toast &c. and reindeer’s tongue and all very comfortable in a few minutes and I believe poor Marian was very glad to see us – We never stirred till A-[Ann] went upstairs to bed at 10 20/’’ and I followed at 11 50/’’ –

Talked over everything – It seem she did not expect A-[Ann] to give £600 for Lee Lane – Thought it was only £500 she had bid before – Marian would have taken £550 as Mr. Parker knew – Mitchell had valued the place (coal and all) at £500 – all parties behaved very handsomely Marian in telling this and A-[Ann] in rejoicing that she had the £600 to give as she thought the place worth it –

Marian had had some trouble in determining but had at last made up her mind to sell High Royds – Mitchell’s valuation of it = £2268, odd – Had told Mr. Parker to offer it to me first – And then to Holt at £2300 he having to pay for Copperas House which Marian bought and for which a title is now about to be made – But she would take £2,000 of me – No! No! Sorry I could not give her the valuation – Sorry I could not buy it – She wants £2400 for immediate use – But not necessitated to sell High Royds at the moment as the £600 for Lee Lane will pay the bank debt – Had this money towards the end of last month – Knows that borrowing at a bank (a new and said to be liberal bank at North Cave) costs one way or another 6 p.[per] c.[cent] – Has £200 of Mrs. Button who cannot continue long, and Marian would like to be prepared to pay this off – Expects a legacy but only of one hundred – The debts on Highroyds = £1600 – These 3 sums = £2400. Skelfler is at the same rent as in my father’s time – Not quite £600 a year? Or not more than £600 her present income net from £200 to £300 per annum – And yet she every year lays out money in [marling] &c. to say nothing of accidents –

The great wind (7 January last) blew down the barn at the Grange – Butterworth End cost above £120 - £10 of damage done by the great wind at High Roydes (chimney blown down) – And she gives £20 a year to Mr. Edwards of Market W-[Weighton] for looking over the Skelfler Estate seeing that the drains are kept open &c. for she herself receives the rents which she says are now paid at the day –

I remonstrated on this over payment to Mr. E-[Edwards] for doing nothing – Yes! He would look after the barn building up again – He said it was more than he expected but Marian herself offered it because Mr. Robinson the attorney employed by my father had had this sum (independent of law expense) for receiving rents and doing everything –

Poor Marian – The thought of all this makes my heart ache – But what can I do – She will not hear of giving Mr. Edwards less – I said a professional land agent would go over the estate and note its state of management and repair – (its condition and value) 2 days per annum at 2 guineas a day and expense which could not exceed 3 guineas a day –

I advised the letting the tenants farm in a proper husbandlike manner without her laying out one sixpence more especially as she says the rents are very low – And in the case of Skelfler she is so persuaded of the hundreds that the tenant has in the land that when she made her will on going to Market W-[Weighton] on my fathers death (the summer of 1836) she willed that the tenant had the farm for ten years from that time at the rent he then paid –

She said however that tho’ she had consulted Mr. Robinson about this (and she did not say he had made any objection) that the tenant himself knew nothing about it – I advised her to sell – The Estate nets under £600 (I should think from my remembrance of the outgoing drainage &c. &c. above £30 per annum that the net income is about £560) she says (in spite of this hampering about the tenant right) she would not take less than £20,000 for it!

How can I help her – Advising is quite in vain – I urged her selling – Said she might in the course of a few years (which I believe) make her income a clear £500 a year on which, with her knife and fork at Shibden, she might live without being buried alive –

Her cottage here is damp, and too near the mill-dam – (Originally a paper mill, now a corn-mill) But pretty enough – The house is sufficient 4 rooms on a floor – 2 sitting rooms below with bedrooms over them and at the back good kitchen and pantries and rooms over them – A small cellar – A little sheltered nice bit of garden ground about 25 or more? x 15 yards and a little island (perhaps 60 to 70 square yards) in the midst of the water on which island she grows her potatoes – Good ones –

The man who does her garden, finds her all seeds and sets, and does all, for £5 a year – He might suit me – He is to speak to me tomorrow – Clerk, too, of the parish church – Ivy-covered and very picturesque – Close to here, and to the entrance gate to Hotham (Mr. Burton’s) – Marian pays £20 a year and has all taxes paid for her –

I congratulated her on her escape from her thought of marriage – I thought she had been much mistaken in her judgment in this matter – Mr Abbot not a gentleman mentioned his having called here          she did not explain how the thing was off             I conclude he let it die a natural death         she shewed neither pain nor pleasure on the subject – but said it was all off –

Light gentle rain in the morning fair the greater part of the afternoon – Poor A[Ann] had thought me long but behaved very well about it she got in to bed soon after my getting upstairs –

[symbols in the left margin:] ✓       N       N       ✓       L         N         ✓c

[in the margin:]          Mr. Harper

[in the margin:]          Mr. Gray

[in the margin:]          stamp for uncertain rent

[in the margin:]          Mill Cottage North Cave

[in the margin:]          Highroyds

Page References:  SH:7/ML/E/23/0026 and SH:7/ML/E/23/0027

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Saturday 30 April 1836: SH:7/ML/E/19/0034

8 55

2 am

- fine frosty morning - downstairs in ½ hour - Mawson had been waiting ½ hour - gave him check for £100 (Messrs. Illingworth and his partner Spencer) - mentioned having seen Mrs. Sutherland’s letter of June 1833 - thought Captain S- would therefore make no claim of acreage of A-‘s name being included (she not knowing enough about it) should advise not to claim anything for the coal already got but A- had written down and I myself thought £20 per acre a fair thing for what remained to be got of Charnock’s coal - I- said about 6 acres in the whole and about 2 or more got - he talked of expense - I said well! then I would ask if A- would take £15 - with respect to the 2nd pit I had advised A- only to claim for the 5 years = £250 since she and her sister came into possession - let the administra lux of the late Mr. Walker claim the rest if she liked - smiled and said Illingworth might tell her if he liked - a good deal of talk - J. and S- much pleased - said I might send for I- myself only hoped he would do his best for me if I did send for him - ‘yes! that I will promise you that’ said he - then had Husband and Barstow - the latter came to say Mr. Wainhouse objected to the Foundry - I thought he would object - said Mr. Husband had best ask him quietly - if W- would not consent there was only one way for it - (meaning a notice to quit) - but the engine might be put up - B- had heard of a 2nd hand one -he

  SH:7/ML/E/19/0035

 had best bestir himself and inquire and if it was worth anything take Mr. Husband and view it the 1st thing on Monday let me have an answer before I went away - had Charles Howarth and paid him (under Mr. Husband) for store-room and larder - then had Joseph Mann who brought his notes =£68.6.6 ½ - to get the money at the bank and pay him in the afternoon - then had Ingham about the upper Hagstocks walling - all these people kept me till 11 50 - breakfast at 12 and Marian came and sat with me the whole time - read me the prospectus of the Messrs. Briggs etc from the Halifax Guardian - fair straightforward prospectus - well done - appearing to great advantage after the humbug of the Messrs. Rawson - saw a carriage at the door (did not know till evening it was Mrs. Henry Priestleys’) - Marian said I was gone to H-x - off down the old bank at 1 ½ - long while at the office of Messrs. P- and A- they had heard I had turned them off and got a new attorney had heard of the letter from Messrs. Gray to Mr. Rawson - explained - did A-‘s business as well as my own - explained about Illingworth (they approved) but Adam said A- had a right to the whole £250; for the additional £50 a year for the 2nd pit went in part of payment of the sum total for the coal SW- had valued the coal after this price fixed upon it - A- had bought at this price and was therefore entitled to the £250 as a part and parcel of the whole - very true - said I would explain this to her - they seemed amused and pleased at the proposed letter reminding Capitan S- A- had taken a colliery for better and worse, and if he shared the bet, he ought to risk the worst - explained about Wainhouse’s objections to the Foundry - said I thought Mr. Parker had better see him on the subject - Gave A-‘s order on Messrs. Briggs for £400, and said I would on Monday morning give an order on the Yorkshire District Bank for the remainder of the £925 for the purchase from Patchett - for Bland and c° ready to pay the £90 deposit on the Bouldshaw coal, and this money if paid had best go towards A-‘s purchase - then explained my own business - appoint Mr. P- steward to receive and pay all indoors and out and call to see my aunt about once a month – Mr. Wainhouse’s £4000 ready anytine but at 4 ¼ p.c. on bond - 4p.c. landed security - asked P- and A-‘s advice - to go on to the end at the bank or take the money of W- P- advised the latter - very well, said I, then I will take the £4000 or £5,000 let it be - and I will come over for a few hours next week (probably Thursday or Friday thought to leave A- at Tadcaster or Leeds) and sign the bond and put the money into the bank - signed a notice to quit to George Robinson as usual - Desired Messrs. P- and A- to consult the magistrates and about the Northgate hotel - whether they would wait patiently till it was finished, or oblige me to open the [tavern] and sell ale in the meantime - said with respect to going abroad A- wished it I had told her the expense and said if we did go she must pay - had I not best advise her to order SW- to pay a certain sum to Messrs. P- and A- and then instruct them to pay the same to Hammersleys to be placed to my account - yes! this the most regular and best plan - from P- and A-‘s to the bank - got £200 of which fifty in Bank of England the rest in their notes - asked for letter of credit for £2000 to remain in force one year and be renewed if necessary - not a word against it - said I would send them a regular order to honour Mr. Parker’s checks on my account to the amount of £2000 - then to Whitley’s - paid my bill from 1 January up to today inclusive - then to Greenwood’s - mentioned about the garden and damage whatever was reasonable for Walker pit stead etc Mr. P- to pay G- for the licence and settle whether any ale to be sold or not at present - would be best to avoid it if possible - then to the Northgate hotel, looking about - gets on very well - then had Husband - he shew his plan for the new Dispensary - very fair indeed - Mr. Harper had told him he had just as good a chance of getting the job as Harper himself had - in which I agreed - returned up the new bank and by the Lodge - saw Booth - with fine weather he will nearly complete his job in a fortnight - Mark Hepworth in the stable - come to bid for Ruthin - offered £10 - no! could see the horse for £12 but would give him 10/. back and for the scare crow of a new gin horse he brought this morning price 6 guineas would give him 10/. for his trouble of buying - at last agreed but said if he did not take the horse home with him tonight I would be off the bargain in the morning - (our hay is all but done - shall have to buy in a few days) - then had Joseph Mann - paid him - kept his bills to enter tomorrow in his book and mine - it seems he has already received £3.17.0 for coal at 8d a load or corve - this to be regularly placed to my credit by Mr. Parker - then wrote 3 pp. and ends (hurried) to A- York in answer to her 2 ½ pp. I got at the post office this afternoon together with Briggs’s prospectus directed to A- sent my letter to A- and a note to ‘A. Jubb Esquire Lord Street’ saying I should be glad to see him before I went and should if he could come in the course of tomorrow - dinner at 8 and coffee and Marian sat with me the whole time and till 9 ¾ when went to my aunt for ½ hour -had John Booth in the drawing room - settled with him and gave him orders - and read the newspaper (my aunt went at 10 ¼) till 11 55 then came upstairs and till 11 55 wrote all the above of today - Had William Green yesterday just before dinner and Joseph Smith’s wife about 7 this evening - mentioned about the possibility of William G-‘s wanting the cottage she lived in, but said if he left his daughter, the daughter should not stay where she is - Smiths’ wife very quietly told the tale of her husband’s being still poorly and not well off - had sold something (a bobbin frame or something of no great use to them) to help to pay ½ year’s rent due she laid next Sunday week - so I gave it her and said she would hear from Mr. Parker when to pay it the next time - several showers morning and afternoon but I escaped them all - F35 ½° and dampish now at midnight - had Mrs. Hutchinson the schoolmistress between 6 and 7 this evening - she wants more flannel - told her always to advise with Mrs. Ann Lee about these matters, and said I would tell A- of her wanting 11 yards more - hoped all would go on well - they have 10 boys and 6 girls (2 of the latter ill) - particularly charged to bring forward Ann Booth and her brother John to go to them by and by.

  SH:7/ML/E/19/0036

 then wrote as follows to ‘Mrs. Walker Cliff Hill’ to go by little John Booth in the morning - ‘Shibden Hall - Saturday evening 30 April 1836 - my dear madam - I arrived very early on Thursday morning and promised myself the pleasure of seeing you before my return to York on Monday morning - I begin to fear this will not be in my power, I have been, and am likely to be so incessantly engaged - I do assure you, I regret seeing you - we hope to get off from York before the end of next week, and shall reach Paris as soon as we can, from which place Miss Walker will write immediately on our arrival - we shall make some little excursions from there but where is quite unfixed - our absence must depend entirely upon circumstances, but we shall be glad to be able to amuse ourselves during the summer months - my aunt is surprisingly well, and my having Mrs. James Briggs to keep house for her, will, I feel assured, make her very comfortable - we all unite in kind regards to yourself - Believe me, my dear madam, very truly yours A. Lister’ - wrote note to ‘Mr. S. Washington, Crownest’ with the plan of yew trees quarry to have the last measurement added to it, and be sent back by early on Monday morning and with the account of what I may be indebted to Mr. SW- and what he has paid Ingham in a/c of Hagstocks walling and if has thought it right to pay the last ½ years Water Lane rate for the poor - and send him copy of A-‘s directions about the stockings to be knitted - 12 ½ when I had written all the above.

[365footballorg-blog]

Armchair Analyst: Your complete guide to the Week 13 MLS slate

May 25, 201812:17PM EDT

The final weekend of May does not mark the final collection of games this month. There’s a quartet scheduled for Wednesday – two East, two West – so between that, injury and certain players headed off to World Cup camps, expect a decent amount of squad rotation this weekend.

Should we expect goals, though? A month ago the league was averaging nearly 3.3 goals per match and just about everybody was lighting up the scoreboard. Now we’re down to 2.8, and my gut feeling is a bunch of the bottom-dwellers looked at the top teams and said “wow we’d better just bunker against that because if we try to come out and play we’re going to get killed.”

It’s part of the ongoing stratification of the league. Parity is still at the heart of MLS, but certain teams have been better at acquiring top talent, or developing young talent, or integrating all their talent (or all three), so there’s starting to be haves and have-nots.

We know what happens in those situations because we see it all over the world: The have-nots play for the 0-0, or the smash-and-grab. Thus the onus is on the haves to crack ’em open early, control the game state and force them to come out and play.

Of late that’s been easier said than done.

Let’s take a look at Week 13:

Friday Forecast

Toronto FC vs. FC Dallas

8 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

Have you seen the Sebastian Giovinco to Tigres reports? You should look at them, and then think about the fact that Giovinco is 1) 31 years old, 2) not the player he was two years ago, 3) injury prone, and 4) on $ 7 million per year. Then look at this:

Re: Giovinco-Toronto FC GM Tim Bezbatchenko tells me that, despite speculation and rumours, the club has received no offer from Tigres UANL. #TFCLive

— Joshua Kloke (@joshuakloke) May 23, 2018

That is not a real denial, is it? The question isn’t “have you received an offer from Tigres?” it’s “would you listen to offers from Tigres?”

I’d wager they would. Giovinco is still arguably the best player in MLS, but he’s on the downslope and almost certainly won’t be the best player in the league when his current contract ends after next season. But he’s clamoring for a new contract already and, from afar, things seem to be at more than just a gentle simmer.

If Giovinco plays angry it’s usually good, provided he can avoid getting carded for abusive language or simple dissent. Nonetheless the Reds have to deal with all of that as they re-integrate a bunch of newly healthy players, and as they try to climb out of the early-season hole they dug for themselves. It feels slightly dangerous and combustible.

Dallas will be waiting, happily, to try to throw a wrench into the works. They have just one loss all season but just one win in their last four, and tossed away two points last weekend.

Houston vs. NYCFC

8:55 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

Way back in Week 1 the Dynamo blitzed Atlanta United 4-0 in Houston. Atlanta came into that game attempting to play the way that NYCFC play just about every game: four at the back, build with the ball on the ground, push the fullbacks up in order to create overloads and turn possession into both width and penetration.

Houston knew it was coming and just battered the Five Stripes by drawing their line of confrontation at the midfield stripe and turning every 50/50 ball into a breakaway opportunity. If Atlanta were going to play so much on the front foot, and bring their defenders so high upfield, then Alberth Elis was going to run into space all day.

And so he did. That, plus set-piece dominance, made for what is still one of the most resounding wins of the year, for anybody.

Obviously there should be some warning sirens going off for the Pigeons. Patrick Vieira has been adamant that he doesn’t want to change the way his team plays – under him they value the ball and always will – but he’s been a touch pragmatic about where they build, what formation they play (it was a 3-5-2 last week) and how high they’ll push their fullbacks. In other words, don’t expect Ben Sweat to get too far upfield on the left since that’s where Elis lurks.

Do, however, expect Alex Ring to be under heavy pressure from the Houston attackers. If he handles that well, NYCFC will give themselves a much better shot than Atlanta did two months back.

LA Galaxy vs. San Jose Earthquakes

11 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

My colleague Bobby Warshaw has been working on the assumption, since he arrived, that the Galaxy would be better with Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench. The idea is that with him out of the lineup the entire team would end up playing with a more egalitarian bent, working for and with each other in order to carve out chances rather than playing through their fulcrum of a superstar No. 9.

This point of view is not without merit (though to be clear: he is wrong. You can build a scheme for a heavy-usage Zlatan and be successful if you’re smart about it).

The real problem for the Galaxy isn’t Zlatan, or the attack at all, really. It’s… elsewhere:

I literally groaned out loud several times making this cut up. Check out the LA Galaxy *trying* to play out of the back against the Montreal Impact today. pic.twitter.com/dwuwV4DgEl

— Joseph Lowery (@joeInCleats) May 21, 2018

That clip’s made the rounds this week, as it should’ve. It’s never clear how LA intend to shuttle the ball from back to front, and so there tend to be a lot of aimless long-balls. With or without the big Swede, that’s not a great plan.

Of course it might be good enough against a Quakes team that, week to week, looks like it has no idea how to defend, and no idea of how to play as a unit. They almost certainly lead the league in hospital balls and are probably second only to Montreal in blown offside traps.

Saturday Slate

Seattle Sounders vs. Real Salt Lake

5 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

How many healthy starters do the Sounders have left? It’s not a ton, but honestly they might still be OK because RSL are just shocking when trying to defend on the road.

Borek Dockal is not, and never has been particularly fast. And yet:

It’s becoming more and more apparent by the week that Kyle Beckerman and Damir Kreilach can not play together without getting carved up because neither has any kind of footspeed. If this was circa 2013 RSL – a team that kept the game small and tight, that constantly used the ball to create angles and meaningful possession – they could probably pull it off.

But that’s not how they play. They’re a “spread the field and run at ’em” team when they have the ball, which means any turnover is an existential crisis. And while it’s undeniably true that RSL aren’t 2013 RSL, it’s undeniably-er true that MLS isn’t 2013 MLS. Teams are better and smarter and even the bottom of the barrel can go HAM if you don’t track through the midfield.

So I’m thinking keep an eye on Magnus Wolff Eikrem or Cristian Roldan bursting out of midfield and into space for Seattle.

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. New England Revolution

5:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

Columbus did a very clever job last weekend of playing over the Revs high press and turning it into a game of second balls in midfield off of Gyasi Zardes knockdowns:

This is pretty much the default setting for Vancouver, a team who hit more long-balls than anybody else in the league. The key will be for them to be measured long-balls rather than the rushed, aimless types they often resort to. And the other key will obviously be to understand their own midfield shape – the ‘Caps play with multiple d-mids, and while that can gum up opposing attacks there’s also often a bit of “you take him, no I’ve got him”-type uncertainty when it comes to closing down lanes and making zonal reads.

Which is to say that you can get in between the lines against a Vancouver team that’s not as defensively sound as they were last year. The Revs weren’t able to do that at all against Crew SC last week, but Columbus are made of sterner, more organized stuff. Watch for Teal Bunbury to release into space as Diego Fagundez drifts into pockets between the ‘Caps midfield and defense.

New York Red Bulls vs. Philadelphia Union

7 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

The Union have won two in a row in commanding fashion. Their “Trust the Process” central defense of Auston Trusty and Mark McKenzie has largely been very good, and it’s nice to see a coach give his young players time to improve. Jim Curtin deserves some dap.

It’s been a feel-good two weeks for Philly. And now they head to Harrison to take on the Red Bulls.

Updated top 10 of G+A/90 (no PKs), 500 min+

1) BWP – 1.86 2) Kaku – 1.33 3) Villa – 1.06 4) Lamah – 1.06 5) Elis – 1.06 6) Piatti – 1.02 7) Valot – 1.01 8) Quioto – 1.00 9) Vela – 1.00 10) Diaz – 0.99

BWP is on track for a 25 goal, 16 assist season if he plays 2000 minutes

— Tutul Rahman (@tutulismyname) May 21, 2018

Good luck.

Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire

7:30 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

A few weeks back I looked at Orlando City’s schedule and said that they were entering a brutal stretch in which they’d be outright favored in just two of the next 13 games. This, the third game in that stretch (they’re 0-2-0 so far, though they’ve played well), is one of them.

The Lions have been much more structurally sound over the past three halves of defensive soccer, having mostly cut out allowing the breakaways that had caused them so much worry through the season’s first two months. The fact that it hasn’t paid off with a point is a type of cruel irony.

Regardless, here’s the simple truth: At home against a slow, injured and fading Chicago team, they can’t afford anything but the full three points. And that means the central midfield has to be better at tracking runners than they’ve shown:

Minnesota United vs. Montreal Impact

8 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

MNUFC – go ahead and @ them if you want to – have taken just seven points from their last nine games as they’ve struggled mightily to defend in the box. Bobby Shuttleworth is putting in damn near man of the match performances on the regular, which has kept more than a few of these games respectable.

By the eye test I’d say that the Loons actually have a better front-to-back defensive structure than they did for much of last year, and recent acquisition Eric Miller has helped noticeably at fullback. But they are sloppy and epically prone to mental lapses in central defense, and if you’re sporting that particular flaw you’re going to lose a lot of games.

Montreal have all those same flaws plus a few more. They’re comfortably ahead of MNUFC’s all-time-worst-defense pace the Loons set last year and have lost seven of eight. FiveThirtyEight puts their chances of claiming a playoff spot at just 8% (which IMO feels high).

They should trade Ignacio Piatti, sell whatever other veterans they can part with, and go into full rebuild mode. Piatti’s not the problem – he never has been – but the timeline Montreal are looking at, he’s too old to be part of the solution. Montreal have largely ignored the draft, have been slow to develop their Homegrown talent, and have been far too in love recently with importing injury-prone, 30-something defenders. They are years away from competing, and Piatti doesn’t have that kind of time left.

Chicago? Columbus? Seattle? Somebody out there will give up all their TAM and a young talent for the guy.

Colorado Rapids vs. Portland Timbers

9 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

The Timbers have been a counterattacking machine over the last few years. That kind of disappeared in March, but it’s come back with a vengeance since then as they’ve ripped off five straight wins. Here ya go:

The question against the Rapids is always “will they give you room to counter?” Colorado are still very much a sit-deep-and-break group (they love a good, direct long-ball over the top to Dominique Badji) and that kind of reactive approach obviously has its benefits in the modern game – if you’re not trying to play with the ball in your own defensive third, you’re not going to have as many potentially fatal turnovers.

But the truth is that somebody’s going to need to be on the ball in this one. Given Colorado’s miserable start, their ever-present 5,280 feet of home-field advantage and the existential nature of their upcoming stretch (four of five at home, and I’d say they need nine points to keep their playoff hopes at all realistic), it’s perhaps time to throw caution to the wind spend time playing on the front foot.

Is that a switch they can just flip without exposing themselves in transition? I doubt it. But nothing else has worked.

LAFC vs. D.C. United

10 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

D.C. got themselves a nice-looking win at San Jose last week. They scored two goals off of high pressure and one on a lovely long-ball over the top that caught the Quakes backline predictably flat-footed and out of alignment. It was good stuff from D.C.

It was also a rarity this season. United have spent less time in the attacking third than anyone else in MLS, and despite a very nice collection of committed, skilled, two-way attackers they just haven’t really been able to figure out how to move forward with intent more than every so often.

The numbers back that up:

Team Passes Into Final Third Sporting Kansas City 924 New England Revolution 818 Columbus Crew SC 776 Minnesota United FC 760 New York City FC 758 New York Red Bulls 755 Philadelphia Union 694 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 669 Orlando City SC 664 Los Angeles Football Club 650 LA Galaxy 646 Atlanta United FC 631 Houston Dynamo 622 FC Dallas 618 Real Salt Lake 617 Montreal Impact 610 Chicago Fire 590 Toronto FC 588 Seattle Sounders FC 572 San Jose Earthquakes 556 Portland Timbers 541 Colorado Rapids 531 D.C. United 398

If you can’t even figure out how to get into the most dangerous spots on the field, maybe your best bet is to just defend there? That’s why there’s promise in the high pressure they used to undress San Jose.

LAFC are obviously a level or three above the Quakes, but they’ve been susceptible to the high press themselves at times this season. Of course they’ve also annihilated a few teams that have attempted to press them badly, and their whole ethos is “we will pass right through you.”

They’ve done so with less effectiveness since Marco Ureña went down injured last month, but what you’re hearing is Adama Diomande’s music. The Norwegian was superb in a midweek friendly vs. Borussia Dortmund, and Bob Bradley – who coached Diomande at Stabæk a few years ago – went out and got him for a reason.

Bright start for #LAFC, possessing confidently and taking the game to #BVB. Adama Diomande showing early signs of good hold-up play as the #9, exactly what Bob Bradley wanted him for. #LAFCvBVB #LAFCBVB #MLS pic.twitter.com/qrqdJ4w1UE

— Jason Foster (@JogaBonito_USA) May 23, 2018

Sunday’s Finale

Sporting KC vs. Columbus Crew SC

6 pm ET | Match Preview | TV & Streaming Info

Two of the best teams in the league right now, but both have obvious shortfalls at the moment. For Crew SC it’s still their inability to generate goals from the wing – an ongoing concern that my I’m guessing Gregg Berhalter is prepared to wait out (Niko Hansen has loads of promise as a goalscoring winger, but his decision-making needs lots of refinement).

For Sporting it’s been a lack of any sort of creativity from central midfield in the absence of Felipe Gutierrez. And it’s not just “hey see if you can ping the ball around and open up the defense” creativity, but the sort of goal-hunting, dangerous-movement-off-the-ball creativity that the Chilean brought to the table back in March.

DP signing Yohan Croizet has, uh, not been up to the task:

Kind of amazed by this from Croizet. #MINvSKC pic.twitter.com/3utemwkvJe

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) May 20, 2018

So yeah, still work to be done. But this should be a good one nonetheless.

One more thing to ponder…

Happy weekending, everybody.

Series: 

Topics: 

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Armchair Analyst: Your complete guide to the Week 13 MLS slate was originally published on 365 Football