Mesmerizing

This short little film has a slightly trippy, kaleidoscopic feel to it. Who knew there was such beauty to be had simply viewing wood being sawn up. Hope everyone has a good weekend...I am going to be working along side Mr GBT, so had best behave!

Arilx

Dogs on the Grog

Sometimes I see something and my brain just screams "What?!" This was in the hotel foyer last weekend. It would appear that there may be a problem with the local hounds imbibing too much of the old jungle juice🐶 I rather liked finding this bit of light humour in an unexpected place!

Arilx

Under my snout.

Going on one of the historical walks organised by our town's Society a few weeks ago brought new hitherto unknown little gems to my attention. Mr GBT, as ever, has been a little star and kindly photographed all them for me.

Surely the biggest fountain pen in the town. It forms one of the supports for the notice board slap bang in the centre of the town. I, of course, have never clapped eyes on it!

This unusual shaped window sits quietly unnoticed above a local shop. Opened in 1911, it was once The Electric Theatre and is the very place one Michael Caine made his professional debut. It closed in 1956.

Nowadays these aren't on a church. Badly effected by the building of a dual carriage, St Mark's became isolated and congregation numbers plummeted. Made redundant in 1988, it was a local political hot potato when the decision was taken to pull it down to make way for offices. With the likes of the Victorian Society wading in a compromise was reached and the spire was left intact. Part of the decision was based upon the fact that the it had been dedicated to Mary, the only daughter of Canon A H Bridges in 1870. A replacement church with the same dedication has been built on the far side of the town.

New dragons. Horsham has a long folkloric association with these beasts and this is the second panel I've found this year. These two are subtly different.

As for this last one...well what can I say. Who knew there was a rather moth eaten looking stuffed owl hidden away high up in the rafters in our parish church. I have the verger to thank for this one. You'd never see it unless you knew it was there. I must admit that I was expecting to see a carved one....certainly not this! It's a bit of a mystery why it's doing...possibly to scare the bats. Seeing as the church has a thriving colony of Pipistrelles one can only assume it's not fit for purpose! Not my loveliest find ever I have to be honest, but then I should have learnt to expect the unexpected by now!

Arilx

Jolly green man.

What's a Mummy to do when she's publically putting a brave face on it without letting the stiff upper lip wobble...Mr GBT distracts her with a 20 min spin round the city [sorry can't be specific as need to protect our son's privacy] and allows her to do a spot of green man hunting before we hop back in the metal box and travel the five hours home.....

Mission accomplished and an all round successful weekend. TYM has been safely delivered to his halls and is already embracing the social life if the text message at 2am telling us he was completely trolleyed is anything to go by! After three months in Bangladesh his Father and I are getting quite good at this "seeing your offspring" off now! Right..you know what they say about when the cat's away...think it's a golden opportunity for his parents to get up to a spot of mischief in his absence😈

Arilx

Sun

This rather beautiful quote sits at the base of our equally beautiful sundial in the sensory garden in the park. John Skelton was a Tudor poet. It was years before I realised that the block of stone in the centre was a face!

Arilx

For Those of us in Cat Servitude.

I can tick off more boxes on this form than I care to admit😸 If you've got a feline I'm sure you'll be able to relate!

Have a good weekend....we're heading up North to drop TYM off at uni.
Arilx

Basil's Bus?

The name on this school bus made me smile....here's hoping the driver isn't one Mr Basil Fawlty eh!

Arilx

"Look Mummy...the walls, they're falling down!"

Aged two, those were the words my son uttered to express his amazement at the huge ruins of Corfe Castle towering above him. I must admit that I had a similar thought on Saturday when out walking with my friend E.  West Sussex is, by and large, a fairly wealthy county and when you potter about in the countryside you generally [not always granted] see beautiful old houses which cost a pretty penny and are well maintained. It's the living choice of many famous souls who want to claw back some privacy and escape the spotlight of London.

It came as rather a surprise [not in a bad way I hasten to add] to find the polar opposite around the small village of Shermanbury. Once the grounds of Shermanbury Place the area has been left to be reclaimed by nature.  I found there to be a gentle beauty  in the tumbledown and faded elegance of the abandoned sites we found.

Delving deeper into the woods we came by a rectangular pit with steps. Both of us thought it most probably been an outdoor swimming pool originally [I now know it was a pool built by the Canadian forces], but now standing empty it's home to the zesty coloured Orange Balsam.

Further on we came to the church. Again it's seen better days. It doesn't hold regular services and is kept locked due to repeated vandalism. The churchyard gave me my first view of a metal grave marker.

Yet more in the same vein next door. The cars may have been there some time I feel! The property has been empty for years according to E, but there were signs of rejuvenation as scaffolding has recently been put up and there's building materials in view. This is the stable block, as the house itself is hidden from the road.

It was rather appealing to end our walk with the realisation that we were being observed in the far off distance. Conversations about what the herd were only became clear when we noticed the long necks...alpacas I do believe!

Arilx

Nag Champa

Incense is one of my small treats and my number one favourite is Nag Champa. My stockpile ran out a few months ago and I can't get it locally any more. Making do with other stuff I've already got a Mythago friend sent out a link yesterday for what, to me, seems a very good deal on Ebay. There's no postage and I can promise that I'm not the seller! I've only ever done the "Buy now" option on Fleabay very occasionally! For fellow fans the info is here https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=142163047263&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=0&_udlo=&_udhi=&_ftrt=901&_ftrv=1&_sabdlo=&_sabdhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sargn=-1%26saslc%3D1&_salic=3&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=50

Arilx

Wacky Races

This is my new favourite early Sunday evening viewing. I have developed a serious addiction to the Red Bull Soap Box Races on Dave. The sight of people doing hilarious madcap things and enjoying every minute of it is such a tonic. If you haven't encountered it here's a little taster from this year's London Race

Mr GBT is another convert. It puts me in mind of the Birdmen of Bognor who dress up and then fling themselves off the end of the pier....think I might have just added these two items onto the wishlist of things to see!

Arilx

A daft one for Friday!

Please feel free to groan! Have a lovely weekend.

Arilx

Fontastic

It's been a while since I shared any bonkers creatures here on my little blog so, without further ado, please allow me to remedy this state of affairs. The font from St Mary's, Rye. Although actually a Victorian repro, the original being in Newenden, 'tis better than nowt imho!

Arilx

Cute as a button

A few button related gleanings from t'internet.

Button is derived from the French "bouton" meaning bud or knob. They've been with us a long time with shell examples found 5000 years ago from the Indus Valley Civilisation. It's thought that they were used for ornamentation rather than for fixing garments in position. The theory goes that the buttonhole is down to the Crusaders bringing the idea back to Europe from the Middle East in the 13th century.

Buttons are measured in lignes which is abbreviated to L. 40 lignes is equivalent to 1 inch.

Not everyone is keen on the humble old button. It will come as no great surprise to learn that the Puritans condemned them as sinful. They are regarded as an outward sign of pride by the Amish so their use of them is sparing and they tend to favour pins over them. Those who are phobic about them are suffers of koumpounophobia.

Men's clothes traditionally button down the left side as men were expected to dress themselves whereas women of means were dressed by servants facing them which is why they are on the right side. Button down collars were worn to stop them flapping up in the face when horse riding.

As for the button necklace...well that might just have come home with me after my weekend charity shop trawl. A little lovely for £2.

Arilx

Wry Rye?

Never let it be said that some of the erstwhile occupants of the properties along Mermaid Street in Rye, East Sussex suffered from overactive imaginations when giving their houses names....without any hint of irony, these are possibly one of the most literal sets I have ever encountered...

Allow me to introduce...."The House With Two Front Doors" [if you have a care you can double click it to see this highly original name above, yes you've guessed it, the two front doors!]

Then we have "The House Opposite"

It is actually opposite the Mermaid Inn which was once the haunt of the Hawkhurst Gang....a particularly nasty set of brigands with the blood of many of their foes on their hands

Finally, further up the street we have the "House With The Seat"...I am afraid that I am unable to provide any evidence of said seat as we were hauling all our clobber up the hill over the cobbles to get to our next dance stand.

Rye is a very picturesque place and popular with the tourists, but somehow I found it slightly lacking, almost sterile. Perhaps a return visit when I've got more time to explore will bring about a sea change. However, the dancing was, as ever, the most fab fun!

Arilx

Sharing a chuckle.

One has been rootling around the charity shops in one's home town one has to admit. I was actually looking for a coat [no luck this time], but what I found instead was a selection of blank cards which will do for birthdays over the coming year. They had very unusual close ups of crystals and other natural images...a win on all fronts...for me price wise and for our local hospice. Ahem...and then there's this one which is in a class all of its own...it made me and the lady on the till greatly titter. I shall have to be a little more discerning when choosing who to send this one to methinks!

Might as well leave you with a very silly joke I heard from a Morris person yesterday to make your Monday go with a swing....


What do you call a three footed aardvark?


A yardvark...


Boom boom! Right I shall leave all you poor souls in peace for a bit!

Arilx

Airing your laundry in public!

It's perfectly fine I am not about to change the whole style of this blog into a bare all, confessional type so beloved of the modern day celebrity culture. I do, however, need to show my laundry in public...fear not it's clean. A light shower sent Mr GBT hurtling into the garden to bring in the washing...half an hour later I amused myself hanging it all on indoor airer...that was until something buzzed and I nearly took off......well wouldn't you if you pulled this out unexpectedly!!

 

I am pleased to be able to report that said dragonfly survived its adventure and has been safely released back into the wild down by the river.

Arilx

The Power To Shock

Sometimes it is the most seemingly innocuous of objects which has the power to shock me. Two examples have come to my attention recently.

St Laurence's in Lurgashall has a huge slab of stone sitting in its porch beneath a broken fragment of an ancient font. It is unremarkable and I thought not worth photographing. Since then I've discovered that this stone could be hired. Why you might wonder. It was used to cover newly dug graves to stop the bodysnatchers from taking the freshly interred corpse and is one of the few surviving Resurrection Stones. How terrifying that must have been for our ancestors having to face not only a bereavement, but equally the very real prospect that callous individuals would attempt to steal the remains of your loved one.

Or how about this one? A damaged comb which I saw a fortnight ago in our local museum.

This everyday item belonged to one John Haigh who is better known as the notorious Acid Bath Murderer.  A serial killer, he murdered and dissolved the bodies of his six victims in sulphuric acid. Although he was convicted in Lewes, he was arrested and charged in Horsham.

Without the historical context both objects would have passed me by unnoticed.

Arilx

It's the small things....

I've mused over the weekend's doings and reached the same conclusion that, with me, it always comes down to the easily dismissed and seemingly insignificant moments which mean so much to me and add to my quality of life.

The shared laughter over discovering that there really is a consumer for every product....prompted by this photo I now know that Purple Emperor butterflies are equally keen on doggie doo-doo.

Sitting on the bench looking over the millpond with a jointly prepared picnic whilst watching the red dragonflies [or maybe damselflies...I know not] managing amazing aeronautical feats worthy of any Red Arrow display and catching up on my friend's news. Growing up offspring's results to celebrate and TYM's recent flying visit to Calais to help out at the Refugee Charity's Warehouse.

Stopping to admire the vista of the beautiful South Downs laid out before us and enjoying the shared experience of spotting and then trying to identify our various finds....sometimes more successful than others!

And this to wind up my visit to Woods Mill.....a moment as we crossed over Steve's Bridge to pause and agree what a fitting memorial this was to a chap who was apparently a very special individual.

The moments spent with those family and friends who bring joy and warmth to my life is time never wasted.

Arilx

The Green Knight

Dappled sunlight filtering through the woodland canopy above transports you back to a time and place of ancient mystery and  magic....The Green Knight is waiting silently for the return of King Arthur....

Well actually that's a load of old codswallop isn't it....just me spinning a web of words! However, The Green Knight is not a figment of my imagination. Now I've come across a few eerie ruins in the woods in my time....decaying chapels, remaining walls of old cottages, but without a doubt this was a first. He, along with broken ecclesiastical stones, lies scattered around one of the woods in the Woods Mill nature reserve.

I'd gone for a jolly with chum E on Saturday and together we came up with all sorts of fanciful theories as to how they got there. As far as I can tell they were brought in by the then owner Arthur Peake. His intention had been to build an Italianate garden, but his plans never came to fruition. There is no doubt that the stones are genuinely old, but he took the secret of where they came from to his grave. He was executed in 1936 for supposedly murdering his chauffeur, Arthur Noyce. All rather surreal and definitely not what was on the agenda before my visit!

Arilx

"Bog" Standard?

No definitely nothing "bog" standard about these stunning nature themed murals which have been painted by an artist called Jane Mutiny. They are new this year and turn, what was an unremarkable toilet block, into a building of beauty.

This is at Woods Mill in West Sussex. I shall fill you in with a bit more detail in subsequent posts.

Arilx