Violators will be shot

Play along here.

Early morning in mid-April three years ago I traipsed The Costwolds (west-central England) and entered a shop with this sign over its doorpost:

A few minutes in I found out that this sign was for sale. A few steps back this is the narrow entrance to the shop:

You must have noticed that the sign is old with rusty edges that invite tetanus. Who in his right mind would buy it? Maybe someone actually would. You see this sign is the antique version of the one sold at Taylor Gifts online. And as long as the world does not run out of sentimentalists, there is always a possibility for this sign to end up in someone's collection.

Comments

Ebie said…

Good morning Ms Hazel. I thought this sign is funny and your commentaries are even funnier, such as the tetanus shot! No wonder it is considered antique in its literal sense. Welcome aboard TWTW!

30 July 2009 at 07:40

Anonymous said…

Thats way too funny. I might have bought it if I were there :)

30 July 2009 at 07:58

Tink *~*~* said…

don't shoot, I'm innocent - I swear!

;p

Tink *~*~*

30 July 2009 at 08:09

Hazel said…

Hi Ate Ebie, it does look like a tetanus risk, doesn't it? =)

Hi ewok, i also wanted to buy it but it won't be easy if you're mistaken for a terrorist at the immigration lol

Hi Tink, an ad at Taylor Gifts says the darn sign is a thoughtful gift for territorial friends :-)

30 July 2009 at 09:49

Zeee said…

Errrr that is one scary sign! I'd like to buy one tho... despite the tetanus risk... hehehehe :)

30 July 2009 at 22:30

Martha@SeasideSimplicity said…

I probably would have been afraid to go in the shop! LOL!

1 August 2009 at 00:00

Unknown said…

Wow, welcome to twtw Hazel and your first entry is very funny. Shot as in tetanus shot would be effective if you buy this one old sign. :) Salamat kaayo!

2 August 2009 at 12:07

Thirteen 13-word Quotes

1. I may be wrong , but I have never found deserting friends conciliates enemies.
Margot Asquith, British Political Hostess (1864-1945)
2. Man's love is of man's life a thing apart; Girls aren't like that
Kingsley Amis, English novelist and poet (1922-1995) "A Book Idyll"
~ see possible origin, also a 13-word quote: Man's love is of man's life a thing apart, 'Tis woman's whole existence
Lord Byron (1788-1824)
3. An autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last instalment missing. Quentin Crisp, English writer The Naked Civil Servant (1968)
4. Happy the hare at morning for she cannot read the hunter's waking thoughts. W.H. Auden, English poet (1907-73) Dog Beneath the Skin
5. Kissenger brought peace to Vietnam the same way Napoleon brought peace to Europe. (by losing)
Joseph Heller, American novelist (1923- )
6. Guns aren't lawful; Nooses give; Gas smells awful; You might as well live.
Dorothy Parker, American critic and humorist (1893…

Sense and Sensibility: 200th anniversary

In 1811 Thomas Egerton of Whitehall, London published Sense and Sensibility. Quick math shows it has been two centuries since Jane Austen became a full-fledged author.

Quite an anniversary, indeed. A celebration, I declare.

Blogs regarding the publication anniversary of this romance novel picture Jane Austen's engagements whilst making the final touches of her manuscript from Sloane Street. In letters to her sister Cassandra, Jane gave accounts of her shopping for muslin, the party that their brother Henry and SIL Eliza gave; mentioned several acquaintances, and referred to her book as S and S.

As a fan I wonder which between sense and sensibility did JA deem more important since she portrayed both attributes equally well. I'm obliged to enthuse over my S & S reading experience. Alas, I only managed fourteen chapters before getting sidetracked by another novel, the very first that JA wrote. I will resume and complete my affair with the celebrant before 2011 ends.

This post i…

Rumford

The Rumford is a much more efficient way to heat a room than earlier fireplaces....(Wikipedia on Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, designer of tall, shallow fireplaces which are now known as the Rumford, was an Anglo-American physicist known for his investigations of heat)Living in the tropics, I have been in close proximity with only three fireplaces in my life. There was an unused one in the home of my college professor in the Philippines. The other one from which I could feel the heat and see the fire dancing was in a hotel lobby in the Yorkshire Moors. Picture taking was quick. Two old ladies were having tea by it, but that was my first ever real fireplace experience, and I loved it. The latest I have touched is the one in Jane Austen's imaginary Northanger Abbey.
The fireplace, where she had expected the ample width and ponderous carvings of former times, was contracted to a Rumford, with slabs of plain though handsome marbles, and ornament over it of the prettiest English ch…

Delineating Des

Search This Blog