Albert Einstein Or Marilyn Monroe: Who Will You See?

Do you see Albert Einstein or Marilyn Monroe in the photo above?

If you see Einstein you have normal vision but if you are short-sighted you'll see Marilyn.

If you can only see Einstein try moving further away from the screen - eventually Marilyn should come into view. That's the theory anyway.

Other Strange Stuff:
The Man Sitting On An Invisible Chair
Illusions Of Life

A Walk In North Devon From Mortehoe

While away in North Devon we did quite a few walks. This one was from the village of Morthoe via Bull Point, Rockham Beach and Morte Point and back to the village again.

The weather wasn't as nice and sunny as we had hoped but it was dry so we put on our walking shoes and headed across country first to the lighthouse. I'd only seen it previously marked on a map so was a bit disappointed when we finally reached the building - not quite as I had imagined.

But the scenery was great, overlooking Bull Point, and we were quite high up.

We walked on along the coastal path in a westward direction, mostly with just a few sheep to keep us company.

These two sheep I discovered under a gorse bush, a mother and lamb I presume.

It was hazy but the open cliffs and hills appeared to go on forever with ...

... many wild flowers clinging to the cliffs.

The footpath stretched on for miles with lots of ups and downs.

You can still see the path in the distance continuing to the top left of the photo below.

After much puffing and panting we finally made it to Morte Point ...

... and this in turn led us back to Morthoe village ...

and the inevitable church.

Other Posts About Our North Devon Break:
The Photo Of The Ghost Of Broomfield Cottage Tawstock
The Red Sky And The Invasion Of The Scarecrows
The Strange Orbs And Mysterious Coincidences Of Tawstock
Verity The Pregnant Nude Woman Of Ilfracombe

67 Not Out Readers Coincidence Stories

Three 67 Not Out readers' stories follow, the first two wish to remain anonymous.

"My grown daughter and I were texting in the morning. She called me during the texts because she said I sounded weird and asked why. She said if I needed her to be my wingman she needed to be in the drivers seat. It made me laugh and I decided to go to visit her as she lives in the next town over.

"I picked her up and I needed to run in the store so she waited in the car. While checking out in the grocery store I was standing behind a man with a tattoo down the back if his arm that said in all caps 'WINGMAN' it was so odd. I came out immediately and we laughed about how weird it was."

"After I met my now husband we were getting to know each other and he noted that I have the same birth-date as the grandmother who had cared for him. Later I found out she and I also had the same maiden name."

"My sister died earlier this year with lung cancer. It was a traumatic time for the family, her husband was very distressed but he came across a notebook my sister kept in her dressing table drawer.

"She knew she didn't have very long to live and in the notebook she wrote about this and at the end had written that she would somehow let us all know that she was all right after her death.

"At her funeral a white feather somehow landed on her casket as it was being taken up the aisle of the church. It was big and fluffy. It stayed there throughout the ceremony and was still there at her graveside. As the casket was about to be lowered into the ground the feather got caught in a breeze and landed at her husband's feet.

"He smiled through his tears and said to me, 'She's letting us know she is okay.'

"Since then we have both found feathers in our homes and garden. I'm certain this is more than a simple coincidence."

~ Rosemary S.

More Coincidence & Synchronicity Stories:
The 20 Year Old Postcard Coincidence Story
Top 10 Coincidence And Synchronicity Stories
The Amazing Church Choir Coincidence

Verity The Pregnant Nude Woman Of Ilfracombe

While away in North Devon we drove to the coastal town of Ilfracombe where controversy rages about the bronze statue which dominates the small harbour.

Verity, as the statue is called, is the work of Damien Hirst and towers 67 feet high. It's been described by some critics as outrageous, immoral, bizarre, offensive and disgusting. What seems to be upsetting people is that Verity is a nude, pregnant woman - but one half of her body has been peeled back to show the baby within the womb and her muscular structure.

Of course, others describe the statue as beautiful and unique.

Verity holds a sword in one hand, raised high above her and scales in her other hand, held firmly behind her back. She is standing on law books. How do we interpret this? The obvious is a link between the sword of truth and the scales of justice.

The official line is that it is 'a modern-day allegory for truth and justice.'

Damien Hirst has commented that, "Without the perfect equilibrium enacted by the scales, the sword becomes a dangerous instrument of power, rather than justice" Not sure if I fully grasp what he's on about, but it's probably not that important as ultimately it's good for the tourist trade. And Mr Hirst just happens to own a restaurant in the town.

The photo above and at the top of the post were taken from St Nicholas Chapel - the chapel on a hill, that's the building below, proudly flying the Union Flag.

There is quite a contrast between Hirst's statue and the chapel. Verity was placed in position in 2012 but the chapel has been around since 1321. In the middle ages it maintained a light to guide shipping into Ilfracombe harbour - and still acts as a lighthouse today, said to be the oldest in England.

Inside St Nicholas Chapel Ilfracombe

Verity the Nude Pregnant Woman Statue With the Chapel in the Background

Personally I liked both Verity and the chapel, and also the fresh air and cliffs of Ilfracombe even if it wasn't the sunny day I'd hoped for.

Other recent Devon posts:
The Photo Of The Ghost Of Broomfield Cottage Tawstock
The Red Sky And The Invasion Of The Scarecrows
The Strange Orbs And Mysterious Coincidences Of Tawstock

The Photo Of The Ghost Of Broomfield Cottage Tawstock

I'm still on about Tawstock and the thatched cottage we stayed in last week.

While at the cottage - even though it dates back to the 15th century - I always felt comfortable. It had a good vibe - for want of a better description.

One night, however, Karin had gone up to bed and I was sitting on a settee looking out at the living room. For some reason I felt I should take a photo - the one above - and then a second one as below. These were taken within seconds of each other.

Maybe it's a reflection or something, or just my imagination but in the second photo there is a blur or something by the door leading to a hallway. Not a ghost surely!

I cropped the section of the photo - which can be seen below. The 'ghost' doesn't appear to have any specific shape but why would this show up within seconds of the previous clear photo?

I'm not claiming it is something ghostly but it's definitely 'strange' and there were a lot of strange things at Tawstock.

There also appears to be several orbs in the photo below, some of which I have circled - click on photos to make them bigger.

Other Devon / Tawstock Posts:
The Strange Orbs And Mysterious Coincidences Of Tawstock
The Red Sky And The Invasion Of The Scarecrows

The Red Sky And The Invasion Of The Scarecrows

Red Sky In Tawstock

Following on from yesterday's post about my stay in a thatched cottage at Tawstock in Devon.

The village was like a different world, people we saw actually smiled and would pass the time of day. The gentleman in the house next to our cottage we discovered had a German partner - my wife was born in Germany too.

As we walked in the drizzle we couldn't help but notice an invasion - of scarecrows!

The first scarecrow we saw was keeping himself dry with an umbrella as he rested on the wooden gate. Someone had written a note to tell passers by this is 'the only gay in the village'.

The following day, in the evening, Dr Who had arrived - scarecrow style with the old fashioned red phone box adapted as the Tardis.

The sign simply read: "Dr Who?"

When we got back to the cottage one of the first things I noticed was a set of Dr Who books on a shelf.

The next evening there were two scarecrows in the porch of the house next to our cottage. The sign puzzled me: "Art and Ruby before the 5 pigeons get home."

And so the scarecrows multiplied.

The same evening as we saw 'Art and Ruby' we watched the sunset as it turned to red - one of the reddest skies I have seen in the UK.

As we sat in the back garden of the cottage the sun gradually dropped from the sky.

Some places are magical and Tawstock is such a place - it even has its own Holy Well. The first record of this is in the 14th century, some say it goes back to Saxon times.

And right next to the Holy Well is the village Primary School - it must be magical to start your education somewhere like this.

Oh, and when we first discovered the scarecrow invasion we also noticed local dog statues were now wearing ribbons.

See also:
The Strange Orbs And Mysterious Coincidences Of Tawstock
The Photo Of The Ghost Of Broomfield Cottage Tawstock

The Strange Orbs And Mysterious Coincidences Of Tawstock

We've just come back from a short holiday in the small atmospheric Devon village of Tawstock, where we stayed in a 15th century thatched cottage.

When we arrived it was dull and overcast but the cottage was cosy and quaint. It seems that in the late 1400s it was used as a lodging house for visitors to the gentry at what was then the imposing nearby Tawstock Court.

The cottage obviously had a dislike for new fangled technology. When I tried to use my mobile phone a message came up saying words to the effect that I couldn't make a call as I was in 'flight mode'. But whatever I did I couldn't overcome this - so no immediate communication seemed possible.

I wanted to phone my son to say we had arrived safely so I tried again later. This time my phone battery was flat - despite the fact that I had fully charged it before leaving home that morning - strange!

We looked round the cottage. The upstairs landing to the two bedrooms (above) was low with sloping beams and a creaky floor. One of the bedrooms had been furnished for children and I spotted a PG Tips monkey on a shelf. I thought this strange as I had previously written a blog about the monkey on this blog called The Monkey Proves That We See What We Need To See. But it got stranger!

On the windowsill in the living room was a folder of loose photos. I took a look and the top picture was of Tintagel Post Office - which I had also written a post about just before I went away on this holiday.

And amazingly the second photo was of the Eden Project, which is near to where I live and, again, I've written several posts about this.

Then I noticed that the cottage owner's phone number ended in 0076 (meaningful numbers in my life).

All very odd, so we decided to go for a walk around the village to clear our heads. It was, by now, about 4.30pm.

We walked towards the church, which is in a beautiful setting and, as the door was slightly open, we went inside. We didn't see or hear anyone so we started to look round.

Lots of very old stuff to look at, going back to the 1500s, and also a reference to the Knights Templar.

We got quite engrossed and then a voice shouted out to us. It was a friendly lady with a big, excited black labrador. We asked her if she was going to lock the church. She said she was, but she would give us the keys if we wanted and could drop them off to her later.

Again this appeared strange as she didn't know us - we must have looked honest or something. We didn't take up her offer of the church keys, it didn't feel right, so we walked on.

The next photo I took was of the original gatehouse to Tawstock Court (below), which I mentioned earlier.

The Tawstock Court of the late 1400s is no longer there - all that remains is this gatehouse. It has been replaced by St Michael's School (Michael being my first name, of course).

As it was getting dark we made our way back to Broomfield Cottage.

The next day I was in the front garden of the cottage - which just happens to be on the opposite side of the road - and took a quick photo. I noticed later that there was a blue orb on the thatch in the picture - and have just realised there is also a blue orb on the very first photo of this post.

Note: the photos haven't been altered - they are exactly the same as when they were downloaded from the camera - other than the bottom thatch pic was cropped to make the orb more visible. Click on any photo to make them bigger,

All in all a mysterious start to our holiday but ...

... more to follow tomorrow, including The Red Sky And The Invasion Of The Scarecrows ...

The village of Tawstock was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 - see details on Open Domesday. In 1086 there were 72 villagers, 18 slaves and 7 other population.

Other Devon Posts:
The Photo Of The Ghost Of Broomfield Cottage Tawstock
The Red Sky And The Invasion Of The Scarecrows