Day 11 Lockdown - Smelly Stuff!

Groom of the Stool

Again I welcome you to a new episode of lockdown stories. Today you will see how some of the most disgusting jobs can be honourable. Let's go!

The "groom of the stool" was a job handed out to trustworthy men around the Tudor era. It may not sound too bad but trust me, it was! It involved the same disgusting process up to 12 times a day (usually 6) but it was an honour to do so. Just what made it so bad?

The groom of the stool was tasked with carefully watching the king eat his food until he felt the urge to go to the loo. He would then address the king and wait for him to do his business. The king would then stand up while the groom cleaned his 'hindquarters' with cotton and a bowl of water. He would then dry it with a towel.

The excrements - poo!- were then taken away to be examined by doctors for any sign of disease or disorders. The mealtimes of the king would be recorded as well as approximately how much the king ate per meal. King Henry 8th was a one for going to the loo far too often meaning the groom would have to clean after him far too often in a day. However, King Henry 8th incited the role to be a privilege and it was only to be handed out to people close to the king along with rich people's sons who were looking for a job. This was because the Privy Chamber, the team that does the toilet work,  was part of the government so the people acquiring the role had to be good at keeping secrets.

How disgusting this job was, is made up in wages. Grooms of the stools were high-status and well-paid individuals, who had direct access to the king. The groom would also be in charge of some of the royal finances having immense power.

Lockdown Survival

Once again, viewers, I have been cooking. Today, it was butter-free cookies that were easy enough for a baby to make. Maybe you should try substituting ingredients - vegetable oil for butter - and seeing how it tastes? Bye!

#onesockdays

Day 10 Lockdown - Crumble and Coding

Crumble and Coding

Welcome again all! Today, I will be warmly welcoming you to a tasty and confusing blog where you will be discovering what activities I myself have been doing. Hope you enjoy!

To start off, I will tell you about a certain apple crumble that me and my dad made. I will tell you how to make a delicious dessert for you and your family. We had a great time making it and I assume that you will too!

How to Make

Apple Crumble

1: Begin with finding 3 medium sized, green cooking apples. If small, 4. If large, 2.

2: Peel, core and chop the apples into 1 cm cubes.

3: Gather the following,

*2 tbsp golden caster sugar

*175g plain flour

*110g golden caster sugar

*110g cold butter

*1 tbsp cinnamon

* small amount of salt

Optional toppings:

*1 tbsp rolled oats

*1 tbsp sugar 

*ice cream

*custard

4: Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius or 170 for fan oven

5: Put 575g apple into a square dish at least 5 cm deep and 20 cm in perimeter

6: Put 110g golden caster sugar and 175g plain flour (additional cinnamon if wanted) in a bowl together with a good pinch of salt

7: Slice 110g cold butter and rub in the mixture until it looks like moistened breadcrumbs. All the big parts must be broken apart until small. Repeat process until the mixture is like thick sand.

8: Pour the mixture over the apples and even out. If wanted, rolled oats and sugar as well as cinnamon can be added on top.

9: Put the dish in the preheated oven for 35-40 mins. Once cooked leave out to cool for 10 mins

10: Enjoy your dessert!

Coding

Today, my mum and dad put me on a cyber course. That day's lesson was about how spies send secret messages. It was tricky stuff! It was extremely enjoyable and I think you should check out their youtube channel called 'Cyber School'. I learnt multiple ways to code and decode ciphers (secret types of code) which was awesome. My dad and I are trying to work out the homework they set and blimey it's hard! https://cyberschool.ac/

#onesockdays 

 

Day 9 Lockdown - Sticky Business

Jam Sandwhich!

Today, viewers, I will bring you all something new. An article from a test I wrote and my tutor loved it. I hope you all enjoy it too!

Two days ago in the very center of the M25, an orange lorry containing jam, from a company that cannot be spoken about in this paper, crashed via a sudden standstill stop. The driver fell unconscious after smashing his bald head on the steering wheel when the lorry hit the first car at the back of the traffic. The stop was due to a number of broken-down cars causing only a single lane to be left open. The lorry meanwhile, had flipped over multiple times in the air before crash-landing on top of a variety of cars."I fled me car after I heard screeching tyres!" Spoke a witness who received no injuries. All the jam infiltrated cars before being washed away by fire-engines. Some seriously sticky business!

Lockdown survival

It's Sunday! Being in lockdown might seem a bit hectic. All you need is a schedule to plan things out and keep everything under control. Put aside a day or two for relaxing and in the others, work hard!

#onesockdays

Day 8 Lockdown - Gurkhas

Gurkhas

WWII (1939-1945)

Welcome again for all of you who are new and all of you who are old. I make interesting history content and tips and facts about what lockdown is like. Hope you all enjoy!

Possibly the toughest and most brutal soldiers in history, Gurkhas will give no mercy. Being allied with Britain for almost 200 years, Gurkhas fought for the British during world war 2 (1939-1945) giving a huge advantage over the axis powers all over the world. They are distinctive against any other troops in our world and are extremely experienced. Over 250,000 Gurkhas signed up to fight for the allies, many from countries bordering Nepal - as well as Nepal itself. Just what were they like?

After the Anglo - Nepal war (1814-1816), the British were stunned by how amazingly well the Gurkhas fought. The British asked the Gurkhas to form an alliance and they accepted the offer, pleased with themselves and the British. When war broke out the second time in the 20th century, the Gurkhas were happy to join the army to help Britain fight against Germany.

Gurkhas were issued the standard Indian army uniform (the Indian army was under British control) which included a beige uniform with 'bombay bloomers' - trousers that could be buttoned up to be shorts. Instead of a standard helmet, a traditional hat was worn that was made from 2 hats sewn together to make it more sturdy.  A fabric called puggaree was wrapped around too. It was placed on heads, slanted to the right-hand side. A traditional blade is still carried today called a Kukri. It is rumoured that if you take it out of it's holder, blood has to be shed. The Gurkhas' motto is: 'It is better to die than be a coward' which boosts even more brutality. How fierce!

Lockdown Survival

It's the weekend, yay! Today I played a chess game with my Grandad to keep us entertained, to get better and keep our minds fresh. He won but I beat him yesterday. We both played very smart moves. Maybe you could get in contact with your relatives?!    

Day 7 Lockdown - Hat Making

Hat Making

Welcome again everyone! Today I will bring you another amazing and true history tale and also how lockdown is and what you can do to tackle it. Let's start with our usual: HISTORY!

Being a hat maker around the Tudor era was debatably the most dangerous job before the 21st century. It was discovered that moistening material and fur with mercuric-nitrate created a far superior material to before; as well as being quicker to produce. By the 19th century, it was common practice to use the mercury compound called keratin in manufacturing. It involved the process of washing fur in an orange coloured liquid with mercury or nitrate inside. This made it simple for matting and removing fur from the pelt much easier. However, exposure to the vapour of the solution could form into a terrible health condition called Aerithism or Erathism.

Mercury attacks the nervous system. The symptoms of Erathism are psychological and physical in nature. Basically, it causes the patient to struggle with their emotions, high levels of social anxiety and an inability to think or speak clearly. In the worst cases, hallucinations drive the poor victim into hunger and starvation. The body would begin to break-down and the mouth will drool deceiving an observer's mind into thinking they were drunk and in that time, drunks would be killed.

The terms: 'mad hatter' and 'mad as a hatter' were used to describe crazy people. Even today we use that!

Lockdown Survival

Thank you guys and girls for reading today's blog! Yesterday, me and my father retrieved an old keyboard from our attic so I could learn the piano. Last evening, I learnt the main part of a simple song called 'Scientist' by Coldplay. Today I learnt the intro and main part to John Legend's legendary song called 'All of me'. It is a brilliant song and I recommend it to all music lovers. Maybe you could learn the piano as an activity during this time? Thank you again. Bye!

#onesockdays  

   

Day 6 Lockdown - Drip Rifle

The Drip Rifle

WWI (1914-1918)

Welcome again viewers! Today I have something new to introduce to you. A daily upload on what life is like in lockdown. In the title to my last blog - Day 1 Lockdown/Teddy Tales-, I mentioned lockdown but I never actually talked about it in the text. For future (and today!) I will be telling you about what is inside and behind surviving lockdown. But first...


During the evacuation of Gallipoli (Turkey), an Australian pair invented an ingenious invention to play mind games with the opposing Ottoman Empire. It was named the drip rifle or pop off rifle. It's uses were to trick the Ottomans into thinking a large force was still engaging in a conflicted stalemate of the trenches against them while the actual troops would escape the trench by waters behind.


It worked using 2 rationed water cans, one empty and the other still full, tied together with string. The can with the water would be at the top of the mini structure and the empty one at the bottom. The trigger to the rifle would be tied with string that connected to the bottom can. A hole would be punched in the bottom of the top can. The rifle would be loaded ready and fixed in place with sandbags. The hole in the can would drip water into the bottom can over and over until the bottom can had reached a certain weight causing pressure on the trigger. It would then fire at the enemy    
trenches. In almost every water can, the holes were different sizes meaning more or less water could come out at once. This meant that the rifles would fire at random moments. This was by accident and it made it even better since the allies would fire at random times. How lucky! Mannequins were also constructed to deceive the Ottomans into seeing the allies there.

By the end of  the evacuation, over 2000 allied men had escaped! WOW!

 Lockdown Survival

To survive lockdown, you must stay entertained. In our household, we played table tennis 8 times per person in the first 2 days! We've also been baking and doing art for relatives that I once started but never finished. If you have a garden, you should go outside in it everyday to get fresh air; especially if you have a pet and a trampoline like me! You must also knuckle down and do some work, child or adult, like you would do on a school/work day. I hope you have enjoyed this blog and I hope to see you again! Bye!

#onesockdays    

Day 5 Lockdown -Teddy Tales

The Soldier Bear

WWII(1939-1945)

Welcome all, to my brand new blog where every day I will bring you all wacky, strange, horrifying but true tales from history. Enjoy!

  

In 1942, British orders were given for an army of escaped Polish soldiers to be set up and staged in Egypt where a small Iranian boy offered to sell the troop a bear cub that had been an orphan after it's mother had been shot by hunters. The Polish troop, also known as the 2nd Transport Company - later changed to the 22nd Artillery Supply Company - thought that the poor cub was cute so they purchased it. They gave it the Polish name: Wojtek. The commanding officer thought the bear was great since it boosted morale like a mascot would.

Wojtek was fed:

*- milk from a vodka bottle

*- rationed meat

*- meat he had hunted

*- the occasional beer when he was good

He was also rather fond of cigarettes which he would smoke then eat. Wojtek liked to wrestle the other men for enjoyment and beer; boy he was good! He was extremely obedient and he could even salute on command!

In 1943, the company was to leave the camp in Egypt to move to Italy when officials told them that Wojtek couldn't come. The commanding officer off the 22nd Artillery Supply Company didn't want to leave Wojtek behind so he simply just drafted as a private; he was given his own pay book and serial number. WOW!

The Battle of

Monte Cassino (1944-1945)

During the battle, Wojtek supported his fellow artillery men by carrying heavy crates of ammunition to them. This came about when one of the carers of the bear had to leave to scout the enemy. Wojtek was chained near other soldiers carrying ammo and firing cannons at the enemy. He began to copy what the men were doing. Amazing!

After the battle, the 22nd Artillery Supply Company altered their logo to a bear holding a bomb shell on a green background.

After the war

Once WWII was officially over (1945), the 22nd Artillery Supply Company were moved to Scotland. Many soldiers had to say a sad goodbye to Wojtek since their military service was required in other places of the world. Due to de-mobilization, Wojtek was to live the next years of his life in Edinburgh zoo where he was very popular with the local children. He was often visited by journalists and his old army crew.

Wojtek sadly passed away in 1963 at the age of 21.

Wow! What a cub. just imagine a bear as a soldier. Come back again for more!
         #onesockdays