Author: Chris Jefferies

I live in the west of England, worked in IT, and previously in biological science.

Image of the day – 34

With its protection, it’s been possible to nurture not just some tropical and semi-tropical plants, but entire biomes.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Welsh National Botanic Garden

We enjoyed a holiday in Ireland from 28th July to 12th August and I’ll share some photos from our trip. I’ll return to more Roman villa photos later.

This first photo is from our journey out from Cirencester where we live. We took the M5 down to the Second Severn Crossing and then the M4 to its end in South Wales, stopping later at the National Botanic Garden of Wales for a light lunch and a break from driving.

The photo shows a view inside their amazing ‘Great Glasshouse’, the world’s largest single-span glasshouse. With its protection, it’s been possible to nurture not just some tropical and semi-tropical plants, but entire biomes. The exprience reminded us of Cornwall’s Eden Project. Although the Great Glasshouse is smaller, it is still very, very impressive.

If you had a greenhouse this big, what would you like to grow in it?


Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

28th Jul – Welsh Botanic Garden, Robin, Fishguard
29th Jul – Wicklow Mts, Glendalough, Powerscourt, Rose, Greystones
30th Jul – Liffey, Temple Bar, St Patrick’s Cathedral
31st Jul – Newgrange, Battle of the Boyne
1st Aug – Monasterboice, Mourne, Thrift, Window
2nd Aug – Spelga Dam, Hydrangea, Pipework, Lough Neagh
3rd Aug – Coagh, Springhill, Portrush
4th Aug – Beach at Portrush
5th Aug – Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede, Portrush

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!

Image of the day – 33

There would have been the sounds of birds and fragrance from the garden, but no distant traffic sounds or planes passing overhead.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

At the back of the villa was a garden area. In the reconstruction it’s been planted with both decorative plants as well as dual purpose plants like rosemary with value in the kitchen as well as looking and smelling good in the garden.

The villa was built in a position where it is surrounded by hilly ground with a longer view in one direction. A great choice then as now. And on a clear night, with none of the light pollution we’re used to these days, the sky would have been a glorious sight, sprinkled liberally with stars and a stunning vista of the Milky Way spread out across it.

Imagine, if you will, a sunny day with the slaves tending the garden and the cook hunting for the right combination of herbs for the evening dining in the villa. There would have been the sounds of birds and fragrance from the garden, but no distant traffic sounds or planes passing overhead. This would have been a beautiful and peaceful place for the wealthy, but a place of daily duties and hard work for the ever-present slaves who kept the place clean, tidy, and working well.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

< Previous | Index | Next >

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!

Image of the day – 32

There was no TV to watch, but conversations would have covered all sorts of topics, no doubt – from household issues, to travel plans.

< Previous | Index | Next >

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

A room for relaxed conversation

We’re back inside the villa now. A comfortable space, a nice place to sit, a small table to put down a cup. Notice how Roman walls were painted to simulate architectural features; there’s less structure here than at first appears, plain flat walls are made to look like carved pillars, a border at the top and elaborate skirting boards. Instead of hanging pictures, these were usually painted directly onto the wall plaster as well.

After nightfall, the only light available would have been small lamps burning oil, normally olive oil. A stand for two pendant lamps stands conveniently between the ‘sofa’ and the little table. There are two more lampstands in the dining room.

There was no TV to watch, but conversations would have covered all sorts of topics, no doubt – from household issues, to travel plans, how best to manage a difficult child, the weather, the state of farm crops, planning for an expected guest’s arrival, or the coming journey back to Corinium or Londinium.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

< Previous | Index | Next >

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!

Paul Young, three videos

The videos are by turn funny, gripping, informative, and very, very useful.

Paul Young (sometimes William P Young) wrote The Shack for his children and it unexpectedly became a very famous best-seller and much later a movie.

Here he speaks to a House2House (H2H) conference in 2008, explaining how our traditions can trip us up and mislead us, how he came to write the book, and how Father’s grace can take any one of us and make the impossible possible.

Paul Young, speaking on the topic ‘Grace’

I’ve put the three YouTube videos into a playlist. The video is low quality as it was recorded in 2008 using the standards available at the time, but the sound is clear enough. Copyright for all three videos is with House2House and I have their permission to share the videos here.

Click the playlist link and watch away. These videos have, I suspect, changed many people’s lives – in a good way. They open up truths that have been hidden for some, for others they will confirm what they already thought. The videos are by turn funny, gripping, informative, and very, very useful today just as much as in 2008. Truth doesn’t change.

So for you, and your friends, it may be transformational or it may be confirming. Either way, my prayer for you is that you will be blessed and encouraged by listening.

Some background

The conference was over three days, the first day was for leaders; Paul spoke on Grace and covers how and why The Shack came to be written. In his opening remarks he notes that he’s in an environment that he’s not familiar with. However, he was very well received.

The second topic, Tradition, was presented to the full conference. In it, Paul discusses the fall and the interactions between Yawheh, Ish, Isha, and Lucifer. (We often think of Ish as ‘Adam’ and Ishah as ‘Eve’, Paul explains the distinction.)

The third topic, Soul, was again to the full conference. This time Paul explains his background and life story very frankly.

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!

Image of the day – 31

it’s easy to imagine activities going on, a ploughman with oxen turning over the soil for planting a new crop, a household slave emerging from the house.

< Previous | Index | Next >

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

The villa and its surroundings

This is an external view of the Villa at The Newt with its agricultural outbuildings, some of the cultivated land, and woodland in the background. The remains of the original, Roman villa have been covered over for protection and are slightly beyond and to the right of this view.

There are no fireplaces inside the villa and no chimneys externally. A furnace slightly below floor level and fed with timber from outside the building generated hot smoke and air that circulated under the floors and up through channels in the walls, exiting below the eaves of the roof.

Looking at this view, it’s easy to imagine activities going on, a ploughman with oxen turning over the soil for planting a new crop, a household slave emerging from the house to shake out crumbs from the dining room couch covers, a dog barking somewhere, the family chatting as they come back from a walk, or the sound of the children playing outside in the sunshine.

Roman Britain, beginning half way through the 1st century CE and finally petering out in the early to mid 5th century, involved a built infrastructure that would have seemed quite familiar to us in some ways. The Saxon times that followed involved structures quite similar to those of the pre-Roman Iron Age and particularly the rectangular structures of the Bronze Age. Most buildings had wooden frameworks with the use of wattle and daub infill and thatch, though the Saxons built in stone for important structures like churches. A good place to see these varying styles is Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire.

See the previous Image of the day for an interior view of the dining room.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

< Previous | Index | Next >

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!