Happiness Kit

This little collection of items came to me as a small, thoughtful gift from a friend in my green group. I would like to forward a virtual happiness kit on to anyone who is kind enough to drop by and read my witterings from time to time.

It consists of the following:
An eraser so you make your mistakes disappear.
A coin so you can never say "I'm broke"
A marble in case someone says, "you've lost yours"
A rubber band to stretch yourself beyond limits
A piece of string to tie things together when they fall apart
A kiss to remind you that somebody cares about you

Good health and cheer I hope to everyone for 2017.

Arilx

Why I'm Giving Up Frugality.

Thud...it's ok you can pick yourself up off the floor....it's only a sensational blog title. Fear not...I have no intention of becoming a scattergood! I am simply giving up the word. For a long time I've used the word frugal and thrift interchangeably, but I have noticed that the nuances of the two words make me feel very different.

 "Frugal" I have to come to associate with austerity, spartan, having to go without....it seems bleak and negative. "Thrift" meanwhile gives me a buzz....an ability to mend things, reuse things creatively, think out of the box and come up with original solutions. Lateral thinking is something I greatly enjoy.

As for many of us, I have lots of leftovers to use up. I've loved the process of tracking them all down and working out what I'm going to do with it. Usually, I menu plan like a demon and lurkers get incorporated that way, but I've had a couple of days off and I've been able to wing it a bit more. It's been liberating and not without its moments of humour.....the teenogre has brought home some free perishables recently which his company has been giving to staff at the close of business. Having been out for ahem a "few" celebratory drinks for a mate's birthday, he proudly announced he'd brought a spring onion home for me only to triumphantly pull a rather large leek from his bag...cue one big vat of leek and onion soup the next day!

Out of interest I looked up the definition of the two words...they are very similar. "Frugal" is from the Latin "frugi" meaning economical. "Thrift" originally meant savings and prosperity...the idea of the accumulating savings from being careful with your money came later. Although now seemingly a contradiction in terms, a spendthrift in the first sense would simply have been one who spent their savings. I was pleased to note that it is also derived from "thriven" from which we get our word "thrive". It would seem that my gut instinct was right on this occasion.

Well seeing as this is quite a long blog post for me please allow me to finish with a rather touching quote from the late Carrie Fisher speaking about  the late Debbie Reynolds:

"If anything my Mother taught me how to sur-thrive."

Arilx

Gone Missing?

I would strongly suggest that the current holder of the Strictly Come Dancing Glitter Ball check his trophy cabinet for I fear it may be missing. I am quite sure I caught a glimpse of it hanging from this tree earlier in the week!

Big trees need equally scaled up decorations it would seem....

I, meanwhile, am more in the scaled down camp....twelfth scale to be precise. The tree is about 5" tall.

More miniature treasures have just been gratefully received from Mr GBT.  In homage to my trip to the Pitt-Rivers collection earlier this year, I now have my very own shrunken head for the Victorian study as you do. My teenogre simply said " You are so weird Mum" as I showed him said item. He was not impressed. Photo to follow!!

Arilx

Keeping The Old Traditions Alive.

Hello! Hope you all had a splendiferous Chrimble. Much feasting and drinking here in the halls of GBT [well a bit anyway!] so it was good to get out and stretch the old limbs with a spot of that ye oldeMorris Dancing yesterday at a local hostelry. The new mask had its first outing and I danced out a new-to-me dance called Labyrinth. It has a lot of spinning on the spot and changing direction...my aching rib cage is telling me so in no uncertain terms today! I've put up a little film of how it should be done [unfortunately yesterday I was the one who went wrong so it didn't quite look like this!]

Arilx

Merry Chrimble

Festive greetings from all of us here at GBT. Humphrey is wrapped up in my woollen cloak because I felt guilty that I had to move him off the clothes I'd laid out to wear today.....I know, I know!! 

Arilx, Mr GBT & the teenogre.

xxx

Mari Lwyd

The Mari Lwyd [meaning grey mare, although this translation is disputed in some quarters] might just come knocking on your door at this time of year if you live in South Wales. This is one of a number of styles of hobby horses which are seen around different regions in Britain at various points during the year. I saw this particular example earlier in the year during my visit to the Horniman museum with Lovely Grey.

Unlike the wooden hoodening horses, this one is a slightly more macabre version. Normally made from an actual equine skull, it is bedecked with ribbons and bells, mounted on a pole with a white sheet hanging down to allow it to be operated. Many have the jaws articulated so that it can snap open and shut unexpectedly startling and frightening the audience by turn. Taking the beast from door to door along with the ostler, Punch and Judy, the sergeant and the Merrymen, it is traditional to sing a verse of a song to try and gain entry. By turn the local homeowner refuses entry by way of a witty sung riposte [known as pwnco] and this continues until finally they are allowed over the threshold for cakes and ale. 

The custom was first recorded in the early 19th century, but I like to think it goes back much further than that. Knowing how old the Uffington White Horse it doesn't take a huge leap of imagination to think that the horse has been an important part of our folkloric and magical traditions for a great deal of time.

Arilx

Alban Arthan

Winter Solstice blessings. Despite the steel wool clouds out there today at least we can celebrate that the daylight will lengthen every day. I had the privilege of dancing in Stonehenge at the weekend to celebrate this festival. It was, as ever, a magical experience.

Arilx

The Stealth Elf Strikes Again!

So I snuck out for a jolly and the Stealth Elf snuck out on a secret mission. Not only has he morphed into a Ninja decorator this Christmas but, now I find he has paid real GBT groats for some new ones.

Yes the Stealth Elf now has a Stealth Shelf with his very own Elf....not easy to say after you've glugged down a Snowball or three I find! He has made me smile these past few days!

Arilx

Dropped Cake Tip

Now I've heard of a drop scone, but until yesterday I'd never heard of dropping your Victoria sandwich in the tin as soon as it's come out of the oven. This apparently stops the middle from sinking as it breaks the walls of the bubbles and allows the air to get back in. The outer edge of the cake gets to a hotter temperature and therefore is cooked more than the centre. I have certainly dropped cakes in my time....on the floor. Now I get to drop them intentionally on the work surface!

So now you know- there was a fuller explanation on Nigel Slater's Icing on the Cake programme.

Arilx

Dressing Up and Dressing Down

The teenogre was telling me how he'd spent last Saturday dressed up as an elf at work. We have good friends coming over for the SCD final tomorrow and this has reminded me of a fancy dress story which happened to D back in the day when we were both Bright Young Things.

When I still lived at home with my parents [in a time before Mr GBT] D would quite often pop round for a cuppa and a catchup [due to a tricky homelife he sort of adopted our whole family and would drop in whenever he felt the need]. On one occasion he came in sporting a mighty fine pair of blue tights dressed as one of these:

[image from Pixabay]
He and a couple of mates were heading out to a fancy dress evening at a night club. All togged up, he arrived to find that only the three of them were wearing costumes. Shortly after his "mates" disappeared to use the facilities only to reappear minutes later in mufti....wicked monkeys had spun him a complete yarn. Fortunately he saw the funny side and forgave them.....he certainly stood out that night as the only smurf on the dancefloor, but not perhaps for quite the reasons he'd have liked!!

Arilx

If you're feeling deprived

I like this time of year...the bonhomie, the lights, people helping out others. What I can't stand is the greed and pointless commercialism which fuels a whole host of negative fears and emotions. If you feel in need of a bit of balance this website might just give you what you need http://www.globalrichlist.net/

Arilx

How many shades of grey?

Not 50 according to the programme QI. No, there are apparently 104....after this week though I would beg to differ. There's one and one only for I have seen it day after day this week. It doesn't trouble me unduly for it makes the blood red skies of the sunsets and sunrises of this time of year all the more spectacular. I stopped the car to take a photo of this on Sunday....so magnificent was it. I do hereby solemnly swear that I may have cropped out the passing car, but I have not tinkered with the colours in any way.

Until recently I never understood the science behind why we see the colours we do at this time of day. All fascinating stuff. Rather than regurgitate the article and brown off the author into the bargain there's a link here for anyone who's interested http://news.wisc.edu/curiosities-what-determines-the-colors-of-the-sky-at-sunrise-and-sunset/ These natural wonders keep me going when it's grim out there.

Arilx

Advertising Space

There is little more for me to add about my jolly to the Geffrye museum on Saturday because my blogging chum Lovely Grey has already covered all the bases rather marvellously here http://lovelygreyday.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/days-out-in-london-geffrye-museum.html

However, I did take a couple of shots of things which caught my eye as I made my way there. Having had a son visit Pompeii earlier this year and talk about the Roman wall paintings advertising various services [including ahem the ones at the brothel] it struck me that here we are more than a couple of thousand years later still doing exactly the same thing!

This example is next to the museum. I really feel we should be listing these nowadays as they become rarer rather than just letting them disappear.

Then this one which I guess is its modern equivalent. This is the signage for a garage near Hoxton station. Certainly eyecatching!

Arilx

"A Mad Wall"

" A Mad Wall"....a phrase made famous by Lovely Grey when showing us pictures of her home. Only this time it wasn't at her house, but seen at the Geffrye Museum in London....thankfully she was with me to fully appreciate it!

This is the handiwork of Jonathan Early and at first glance, it looks to be a fairly sensible depiction of a typical 18th century landscaped garden. Closer inspection proves it is anything but....instead it's a rather marvellous flight of fancy. Think Beatrix Potter meets Punch with wonderful detailing.... why there are even ants for those who take the time to look closely. Just fab!

Arilx

D.I.Y Nativity

As an alternative to a shop bought Nativity with a carefully constructed setting and coordinating figures, I was rather taken with this home made affair which I saw in a Sussex church at the beginning of the year. I rather like the fact the maker has gone off piste with the inclusion of all different types of ornaments to set the scene. I had some of those whimsies made by Wade as a child and although, I don't recall there being any mention of an owl being present, but the Bible doesn't say there wasn't one either!

I had a smashing day with Lovely Grey yesterday, but I need to sort out photos and thoughts before I blog and frankly, I can't remember where I put the jar with my brain in so no chance of that happening today!

Arilx

A Quick Quote

Arilx

A Frosty Reception

I can honestly say that until yesterday, I had never been greeted by a snowman doffing his hat. This rather fabulous automata was built by the amazing volunteers at the local museum. Apologies for the less than fabulous photos....they were taken on my phone.

I shall make the next post a non festive one...I don't want to be suffering from Christmas overload too early in the month!

Arilx

The Stealth Elf

Following on from a recent conversation about buying strings of non fairy lights to keep up in the lounge during the long winter months, Mr GBT and I went mad in the town recently and not only topped up our light supplies, but also invested in some new festive decorations. A fair few have got broken over the years and the tinsel looked decidely threadbare.....never fear the height of our retail extravaganza was to step over the threshold in in Wilkos, but most came via our usual preloved route of the charity shop.

Now this has given us a tidy little pile of new, shiny things. Normally I'm a right old harridan about the whole Christmas decorating malarky....nowt up until Yule except this year we seem to have acquired a stealth elf  here at GBT who is challenging my bah humbug ways by sneaking one decoration up a day. I didn't even notice them appearing for the first couple of days. Mr GBT just smiled at me benignly when I commented on it and continued along his merry little way. They are still popping up and it's become quite an amusing game to try and spot them!!

The pretty glass baubles are one of our recycled thrifty purchases.

Arilx

Where did you get that hat? Where did you get that style?

Huzzah an amazing day of dancing yesterday taking part in the tree dressing event at the Weald and Downland museum. I was able to debut my new mask and we all performed a new dance for the first time. It was so good to get out and jingle my bells in the sunshine after being poorly!

No photos...been there, done that on this 'ere bloglet of mine. What did take my fancy though was this fabulous hat that one of the ladies in Rabble was wearing. It was difficult to get a shot because she was dancing and she soon got too hot and took it off. That's what I love about being part of the Morris world....all its eccentricity in all its glory!

Arilx

Watches

I was in a local jewellers recently [not a place I'm usually found it has to be said] when a young chap wandered in. Cheerily he greeted all the staff and then told them excitedly about the latest watches he'd bought. It was evident from the exchange that they all know him well.

Once he'd gone I asked the lady helping me if he collected watches because I was sure I'd seen him a few months ago in a charity shop asking if they'd had any new ones in. She smiled and said he comes in every morning at the same time to see them all. He buys all his batteries from them and always likes to show them his latest acquisitions. He often gets them a little gift too. She said that they always enjoy his visits, but it can be awkward sometimes because some customers show their disapproval at the brief interruption. I just quietly explained that I recognised the behaviour immediately from my own son as a child with the all consuming hobbies, rigid routines and lack of social awareness. This will never change for this young man, but I am glad that he has found a place where he is treated with kindness and understanding. I've met many people in life who I can't abide [and vice versa], but I guess this reminded me that it doesn't mean that I don't have a choice whether to behave badly towards them or not....a little bit of kindness can go a long way.

Arilx

Baby's First Christmas

Wicked Mother....look what I made the teenogre wear that first Christmas he was on the planet...we cackled gleefully as he wore his Snowman hat and it wobbled away everytime he moved his head. The following year there was to be no tomfoolery at his expense....any type of naff Chrimble gimick/ adornment was removed from about his person swiftly and accompanied by a very stout, no nonsense "no!". Oh well it was fun while it lasted!!
Arilx