Friday Mumbling

In June this year the nation commemorated the signing of the 'Magna Carta,' the 'Great Charter of the Liberties.'  This great charter was sponsored by the Archbishop of Canterbury in an effort to ease the situation between King John and his rather irked nobles.  Johns demands for money for his French wars, which he kept losing, and his somewhat tyrannical approach upset the nobles, especially those based in Essex.  The peoples of this region have always been first whenever a cause of trouble was to arise.  During the Peasants Revolt in 1381 an the non conformist religious strife of the post Reformation years Essex folks led the way in rebelling.  This I need not remind you is an attitude that has not yet diminished! 
The museum would have preferred to have this exhibit earlier in the year but other events came first and this exhibition has been touring the land and during this week the hard working staff (without me obviously) have been erecting the exhibit for show next week.  Such a shame I was not available to erect a castle or two...
The Charter John signed less than willingly allowed for much protection for the individual (as long as he was a noble that is.  Serfs, villeins, slaves and anyone else who was not noble, rich or well to do just had to lump it.).  Peace there was not however and a short nasty war erupted and the brave Essex nobles moved themselves into fortified London (which was on their side) while John ran about Essex destroying their lands and taking their castles (which were either poor defensively or the folks inside just gave up), the nobels leaving their people to fend for themselves, how noble!
Luckily after this John not only lost most of his treasury in a place called 'The Wash' when the baggage train got stuck in the mud but he himself did the decent thing and died.  This left his son Henry III as king but being only nine years of age he was more interested in his electric train set, Lego and smartphone to actually work at being king.  This meant a wiser noble who supported the King had to become regent and he quickly issued a for of the Charter in an effort to ease the troubles.  By 1217 a form of peace and a renewed 'Magna Carta' was issued along with the Charter of the Forest (a much needed document as Forest covered much of the land and had specific laws) and a form of peace ensued. 
As time passed the Charter formed a base for laws, often reissued according to later Kings requirements and while totally useless in today's world (some try to use this in an effort to avoid paying parking tickets and other minor legal problems without success) the Charter is claimed by many as the basis of legal rights in many nations.  Whether that is true is debatable, certainly serfs and villeins worldwide may disagree, and a lot of other happenings go into making a nations laws.
Next Tuesday I will see the results of the lassies work, if they force me to work hard I will appeal to the Magna Carta for relief!

 
I was made aware summer had not yet left the premises by the thunder that rang out as I attempted to make a stew from the leftovers.  The noise of the clouds banging together was added to by the hissing of the hailstones that followed shortly afterwards.  While this did not last long the rain that accompanied this lot managed to eke out a decent length of time for what the weatherman calls 'showers!'  The sight of a nine year old in the distance who had managed to leave school in time to walk through it with no appropriate apparel either makes you feel sympathy or just grin like I did.  Poor mite, but we have all been there and he will be greeted by a caring mother who will belt him for not finding shelter somewhere, isn't mum grand?
As I speak the gray sky has darkened somewhat and the rain is again teeming down.  This is the time I stand at the window, coffee cup in hand, waving to anyone who looks up.  I usually get a wave back...  One of life's delights is to sit indoors, warm and cosy, while outside the rain hammers down.  This is an enjoyable experience, one of creations delights, although for many this weather will be doing their patios and back doors no good at all if it continues like this.  Down the bottom of the big hills the richer citizens will be unhappy as this often causes the drains to overflow with sad results.  Leaves from trees tend to block drains and no-one cares until it is too late.  
As long and thunder & lightning stay away I am happy enough in here.  Mind you I burnt the dinner again....

Oh and I've just discovered I had the window wide open through in the west wing!  TSK!

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