Eccentric Amblings and Ramblings From Gnat Bottomed Towers

We met our friends last night for a drink and to catch up with tales of their recent two week jaunt abroad. At some point P picked up a bug and had to stay confined to barracks whilst she recovered. As soon as she said it had been a couple of days before she stopped feeling "under the weather" TWANG went the nosey bone as I suddenly thought why do we all say that and where has it come from? Now I had always assumed that these three little words simply referenced the effect bad weather can have upon our emotions, but this apparently is not so. The full phrase is "under the weather bow" and originates from when people were travelling by sea and were on the weather bow side of the ship...this is the side which receives the full force of any bad weather. Makes a little more sense now. More useless trivia for all ye good folks! Arilx

When we were working at the Kensington Dollshouse Show a couple of weeks ago this rather large cabinet was standing in the foyer. It's the one which starred in the BBC's adaptation of Jessie Burton's "The Miniaturist". For anyone who wants to see it in all its true splendour I've popped up a short clip which features it below. If anyone fancies owning it it's now for sale, but I'm afraid I didn't see a price.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05rlz2j I myself was marvellously disciplined and only spend a tenner on these very realistic fungi [my photo does not do them justice]. They're for my housekeeper [if I had yet bought her that is!] who comes from a long line of cunning women and leads a double life. She has a trunk fulled of all sorts to do with the magical arts hidden away in her attic room! Perhaps in the name of honesty I should admit that many other weeny treasures came home with me....Mr GBT went off and bought me variou

At long last we've been able to start making our garden more wild life friendly. Having done a spot of research I narrowed down a few good bee friendly plants for our small patch, so very early yesterday morning we hotfooted it into a couple of local garden centres. Apart from one ahem spontaneous purchase I did manage to stay on track, but the credit card is now weeping....😊 So despite the fact that I am not a keen gardener I've been a busy bee today weeding and have fallen in love with my hoe....a much better experience rather than trying to pull the wretched things out by hand which have probably regrown in the time that I've turned my back and cleared the next area. At one point I got the fright of my life when something jumped out in front of me....when I further investigated I discovered a rather disgruntled frog hunkered down....needless to say I left it in peace. Mr GBT kindly dug appropriate holes and these beauties below are now in the borders.

"Photography is [a means by which we]...learn to see the ordinary." David Bailey We enjoyed a fabulous day of dance in Winchester last weekend. A programme of stands kept us busy and on the move, but with a few minutes to spare before the next one started, this combination of signs kept us naughty Mythago peeps amused as we came up with increasingly ridiculous and smutty ideas of how we could commit a nuisance in Hammond's Passage. For my own amusement and a with a personal liking for old signs I snapped the photo. As you well know I am no David Bailey, but had I not picked up my idiot proof press and point camera then I would never have spotted the ugly mug above it peering down at us.  Nobody else had noticed it either until I pointed it out. Having my camera gives me a chance to spot extra things and details which would otherwise pass me by. Often I don't appreciate the extent of what I might have otherwise missed until I edit them. The decision

[Image from Pixabay] Way back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth this dame learnt how to use commas. Now I am very aware that I quite often miss them out here [my proofreading skills are rather slap dash and a little lacking at times these days], but technically I do know how to use them correctly and for many years, I taught others how to do so. Surely rule number one was always Never use a comma after the word "and" in a sentence. However, I have just been told of a thing called an Oxford comma which apparently turns this rule on its head. You can use a comma after the word "and" after all and still be correct. Generally it's not used, but it derives its name from the printers, readers and editors of the Oxford University Press who traditionally used it. Seeing as I'm a bit of an old fossil who's rather stuck in her ways I shall be studiously ignoring it. Arilx

If you'd like to hop on I'll give you a quick tour of Arundel in the sunshine. Just on your left is the remains of the Dominican Priory and in the distance you can just glimpse the turrets of Arundel Castle. Our driver has danced in these ruins....lovely acoustics and a crowd materialising out of nowhere as they heard the insistent beat of the drums. Up the hill here we have the epitome of quaint Britishness tea and biscuits. I will make a stop on the way down for anyone who cares to look further. At the summit on our right we have the 14th century parish church of St Nicholas. Most unusually the far end is separated by a metal grille and denotes the Roman Catholic Fitzalan Chapel belonging the the Duke of Norfolk which can only be viewed by those who have paid to see the castle. The CofE end holds many surprises. Exotic bench ends with a rhino and a hippo, carved hexfoils described by some as demon traps, the purpose is not documented, but the likelihood is tha

Actually no this one doesn't. What it does have is several pairs of false teeth, a cannonball, a padlock, shoe lasts and yes that's the base of an iron you can see. Don't ask me....I have absolutely no idea either and an online search has left me none the wiser. It's to be found in the charming Sussex town of Arundel....I was meant to be going with W after I'd finished work, but due to family matters she had to pull out. I quite enjoy an outing on my tod sometimes...I behave quite differently when I'm alone and can please myself! Here's the photographic evidence of this very different piece of brickwork. I should point out in all honesty that I already knew of its existence and had quite deliberately gone to seek it out. It certainly is a novel way of reusing all those old bits we've all got hanging around in our homes which we don't really know what to do with eh! Arilx

Chum E and I not only managed to get our wires completely crossed last week....they were that tangled we could have knitted a garment with them!! We knew we had made an arrangement to have a jolly and it was agreed that it involved sculptures. However, she thought we were going to Surrey and I thought we were going stay in West Sussex. That's the problem when you're both keen sticky beaks...so many places so little time😊 No problemo....sorted. West Sussex sculptures next time.... This time we spent a gloriously sunny afternoon at the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden which is set within a beautiful woodland glade. The works of art are exhibited within this setting and there is something to suit a myriad of tastes. I enjoyed seeing E's reaction to the stained glass sculptures and her explanations of how the quality of light affects the medium so differently. Each piece is for sale, but being short of space and funds [they are unsurprisingly in the thousands] none came home

....geese. By juggling my work hours on Thursday I managed to fit in a jolly with E in the afternoon. We spotted the proud parents herding up their fluffy bundles of joy beneath a gunnera. The gander hissed at us as soon as we got too close, but then they swam past us proudly all in a rather pleasing line. The black circle you can just make out underneath the front bird was a mass of tadpoles. I love this time of year with all the babies. Arilx

"Don't give in" by Snow Patrol. Aside from loving the track it carries a powerful message. Arilx

Our regular squabble of starlings brought their fledglings with them yesterday morning for their first mealworm breakfast. Despite them being the same size as their parents there was still a lot of wing fluttering and opening of beaks going on so they've got a way to go yet before they fend for themselves fully. It was a joy to watch their antics. Arilx

With Saturday spent working in The Big Smoke it was good to get out and stretch out the little hobbit legs on Sunday. We didn't venture far...just up the road from GBT, but it's been yonks since we last followed this route. Only three miles, but far enough for tired souls to be revived and sufficient time for me to winkle out the goodies I like😊 Warnham is a pretty little Sussex village with lots of classic Wealden houses. There were lots I could have chosen, but this one with the tiny window and the vase full of green alkanet won me over. This rather huge pottery chap hangs high up on a wall. Although I work here every week and drive through I've never noticed it before. At first glance I had high hopes that it might be a greenman, but I think the crab and seaweed locks rather points more towards a Poseidon type chap. Being generally of the long pockets and short armed disposition I made sure I closed the bleeding gate for I had not forty shillings about m