Coffee, Circles and a Historical Event.

Hi everybody!

The weather here was changeable today, but I am happy to say I still managed to get out for my walks and to do my errands.

At Mix it Monthly the theme is 'Coffee', and at AJJ, 'Circles'.

I have combined them both here, as I have a lot of circle stamps with coffee themes in my stash - and the big miracle is, that I actually found them!

I used a sheet of designer paper 12x12" for the background, and stenciled the ple of cups with blue metallic paint using a foam pouncer. The paint is just very difficult to photograph, and the colours change from image to image - sorry!

The round stamps were stamped onto some hand-painted paper and punched or cut out. I used my white gel-pen for the white circles, outlining and the text. The poem is one I wrote back in 2011, and for those of you who got a crick in their necks trying to read my round writing last time, here it is as NORMAL text - I am so good to you all!

Give me coffee, but no tea- Tea is not the drink for me!

Coffee, frothy, brown and hot . I can always drink a lot.

Coffee topped with whipped-up cream,

This with joy will make me scream.

Café au lait with chocolate sprinkles,

Makes me happy, stops my wrinkles.

And if the point you have not seen,

A day without COFFEE makes me mean!

And now to more serious matters!

Today I want to show some pictures of a place I pass by everyday, the Spee Epitaph by the Düsseldorfer artist Bert Gerresheim. It is a bronze relief on the East side of the Church, made in 1991 to celebrate the 400th birthday of  Friedrich Spee, who was born here in Kaiserswerth.  He was a Jesuit and a Catholic theologian, and wrote several books, the most famous of which was the *Cautio Criminalis* (Precautions for Prosecutors) against the persecution and torture of witches. He argued that one cannot obtain truth by torture.

He is shown here supporting one of the persecuted women with his right arm, and is holding a copy of his book in the left hand. He was a man who tried to end the awful treatment of those women who were suspected of being witches, and deserves to be remembered for this at a time when it was quite 'normal' to burn those who for some reason seemed to be suspicious. He died in 1635 while caring for soldiers who had plague.

Last year two women from Düsseldorf-Gerresheim,  Helena Kurtens and Agnes Olemanns, who were burnt as witches in 1738, were officially rehabilitated. The process was instigated by a citizen of the town, who wanted their names cleared. This couldn't change what happened, but it was a sign to give them back their good names.

I love the clarity of the faces, and the buildings, which can still be seen today.

Have a great day, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by!