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jay_of_lasgalen's journal
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Nursery Crimes
The twins settled at Erestor’s feet as he opened the book of old tales he had found in the library. He began to recite:
“Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet …”
“What’s a tuffet?” Elrohir interrupted.
“A tuffet is a little grassy mound. See?” He turned the book to show the illustration, and the twins nodded sagely. Erestor started again.
“Little Miss Muffet …”
Elrohir interrupted once more. “Why are there so many humps and mounds in the grass?” he asked, pointing to the picture again.
“It is a meadow,” Erestor explained. "Do you see all the pretty flowers growing amongst the long grass?"
“A meadow?”
“Like where cows graze?”
“Yes!” Erestor snapped. “A meadow. With cows. Not a nice, smooth lawn like in your parent’s garden.”
“Oh.” There was a pause, and Erestor blinked, finding his place again. He opened his mouth just as Elladan piped up, “I hope she didn’t sit in cow sh ...”
“She sat on a tuffet!” Erestor said through gritted teeth.
“Oh.”
Erestor began again, each word bitten off sharply; and tried very hard to ignore the whispered conversation in front of him.
“Little. Miss. Muffet.”
(“But there’s cow muck all over the meadow down by the river.”)
“Sat on a tuffet,”
(“I know there is. You have to be careful where you walk.”)
(“Or sit down!”)
“Eating her curds and whey.” That, finally, regained their attention.
“What’s curds?” Elladan wanted to know.
“What’s whey?” Elrohir asked.
He told them. Their expressions registered their disgust. “Yuk,” Elladan said in succinct disapproval.
“EATING HER CURDS AND WHEY,” Erestor repeated loudly. “Along came a spider …”
“A spider?” Elrohir’s expression brightened. “What sort of spider? Glorfindel says there are giant spiders in Lasgalen! As big as a dog!”
“Big as a cow!” Elladan added, not to be outdone. "Glorfindel says ..."
"Will you pay attention? It was a spider. Just a spider. Not a giant one."
"Oh," said Elrohir, crestfallen.
"That's boring," Elladan muttered.
Erestor suppressed a sigh. It was going to be a long, long day.
~~*~~
(Part 1 is here)
When I left the Tower of London, I didn't have set plans for the afternoon. Which as it turns out, was just as well ...
I decided to take a riverboat to Westminster, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, so I could see London from the Thames (and in the dry); explore that area, then walk along the Embankment. The only problem with that plan was that the boat reached the stop before Westminster, then turned around and headed back down river. It turns out that that particular boat didn't stop at Westminster - only no-one told me when I bought the ticket or boarded the boat!
The unexpected trip down river was pleasant (amd it had stopped raining by then) so I got off by the Globe Theatre and found a nice little Greek restaurant for lunch. It was quite near the Millennium Bridge, so I crossed the river and went to St Paul's Cathedral.
I bought the 'Access all Areas' ticket, with a guided audio tour in the language of your choice. Sadly no photograghy is allowed in the Cathedral, but the interior and ceiling moasaics are stunning. I climbed hundreds of steps to the Whispering Gallery (supposedly, you can hear someone whisper from the opposite side. The only whispers I heard sounded like Harry Potter speaking Parseltongue!) There were more steep, winding, narrow steps to the Stone Gallery, with stunning views across London, and even more (steeper, more winding, narrower) to the Golden Gallery near the apex of the dome. It was worth it. It was cold and windy up there, but the views were wonderful.
This is looking down at the walkway were I took the previous picture:
In the evening I saw War Horse. It was stunning - very simple staging, but a wonderful sung narration and amazing life-sized horse puppets. You could really belive they were alive as they snorted and reared and flicked their ears.
On Friday I went to Greenwich, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich Meridian and Planetarium. It was fascinating for a science geek like me to see the telescopes, star charts, early clocks and the line of 0° longitude.
The Cutty Sark - a lucky discovery, as I spotted the masts down a side street as I left the tube station:
A giant ship in a bottle at the Maritime Museum:
Me at the Greenwich Meridian:
Sadly, after that it was time to get the tube back to my hotel, collect my case, then head back home. It was all over far too quickly!
heartofoshun. I hope you have a wonderful, indulgent day. 
The Apple Tree
From the top of the hill they could look down into the valley. They stopped beneath an ancient apple tree, its limbs gnarled and twisted but still laden with apples. Imladris lay below them, the house slumbering comfortably in the afternoon sunlight.
Elrohir leaned back against the trunk, his eyes half-closed. It was peaceful here, the only sounds the pure trill of a skylark somewhere far above and a faint, distant clang of the smith's hammer. He scratched at an old, faded scar on his shoulder absently, then looked up as he felt Elladan watching him.
“Do you remember when we came here once before?” Ancient guilt clouded his brother’s face.
“How could I forget? It was rather … memorable.”
Elladan only grunted. He picked up a windfall apple and bit into it, then regarded it thoughtfully. “This tree was not there then. Do you think it grew from that apple?”
Squinting against the sun, Elrohir looked up at the branches spread above him. “It’s possible. I was not really paying much attention at the time to notice what happened to it afterwards.”
Elladan flushed. “No, but …”
Elrohir sat up straighter. “El, forget it,” he insisted. “It does not matter. It was a long time ago, and is over and done with. And it was just as much my fault – I let you do it!”
“We lied to father. I still feel bad about that,” Elladan admitted.
“We were not wholly honest. There’s a difference.” Nonetheless, Elrohir fidgeted uncomfortably at the memory. "He assumed at first that I must have fallen against a sharp branch. We just … said nothing to contradict that."
“But you know he didn’t believe us!”
Elrohir regarded his brother with exasperation. “Well, what were we supposed to tell him? That we were drunk on Glorfindel’s brandy? That we decided to re-enact that old folk tale he told us about the dwarf who was forced to slice through an apple balanced on his son’s head using a throwing axe? That we did not have an axe to hand, so we decided to use a bow and arrow instead? That you shot me?"
“Glorfindel guessed.”
“Well, of course he did. He always seemed to know what we were up to; and anyway, he told us the story in the first place! But as I recall, he was more concerned about the disappearance of his brandy,” Elrohir retorted.
“He was furious with me.” Elladan shook his head at the memory of Glorfindel’s incandescent fury and his blistering reprimand. “You were safely in the infirmary, but he said that I was a disgrace to my training and to his teaching.”
“Why? Because we stole the brandy, or because you nearly killed me?”
“Neither. Because I missed my shot!”
~ The End ~
Author’s Notes: I have no idea how it happened, but somehow William Tell appeared from nowhere and hijacked this story!
Unquiet Slumbers
"Where are you sleeping tonight, Aragorn?" Elladan demanded. "In the stable with the horses?"
"No!" Elrohir protested. "That would be a torture for the poor beasts. Besides, Bree has a law against animal cruelty."
"Well, he is not sharing with us again!"
Aragorn ignored both his brothers with the tolerance of long practice, and continued with his meal.
"The boiled beef is not so bad," Elladan continued, "It is those things." He jabbed his knife at some soggy green lumps on the plate.
"They're sprouts," Aragorn said indistinctly, his mouth full. He swallowed. "Barliman grows them himself."
"Well, in that case, you can sleep in his room tonight," Elrohir told him. "They have a most unfortunate effect on you, little brother. They make you windy!"
~*~*~
