Left to my own devices.

The time had come....by Saturday I could put it off no longer....a trip into town to pay in my wages and top up on a few items we were running low on had to be done. It might have been a tad on the grey and damp side, but I really couldn't have given a fiddler's flute as it allowed me to potter around in comfort whilst unearthing new treasures. That's what Arils like best!! Despite all my photos of Horsham this is all new stuff so hang on to your hats....here's my latest offering.

We are lucky to have a couple of fantastic independent delis in the town centre. This one is run by an Italian family and they always have innovative window displays. Even their hand sanitising station is done with humour and panache.

Meanwhile next door our local branch of Ask has decided to illustrate the 2m rule using lemons. It beats the boring old decal stickers most of the businesses have used.

This rather charming hand painted picture is on one of the glass panes in one of the front doors.

Even with it beginning to drizzle this little corner tucked round the side of the church managed to look very cheery....thank goodness for editing as there's a black wheelie bin just out of sight!!

The road that runs up near here is now called Middle Street, but the sign says that it was once called Butchers Row. This butcher's hook remains high up on one of the buildings as evidence of its past.

The upper storey of another relatively new business. This is one of those places where you take your children to paint pottery.

However, this would not be a typical Aril post without a bit of darkness thrown in to balance it all out. Recently I've developed a bit of an interest in Memento Mori on gravestones. There are some magnificently exuberant examples in Northern England and Scotland, but it doesn't seem to be such a thing down here in the South or maybe the gravestones have simply not survived as well. I was curious to see if there was anything in our oldest churchyard and was pleasantly surprised. Most 18th century stones are too badly eroded to be legible, but some still showed lovely naively carved winged angels. However, this one was the star find....deep within the evergreen coverage this one has escaped the ravages of time and weather. The skull is a very common motif and would have been familiar at the time. They are known as deathheads and I was delighted to find one on my home patch.

Arilx