Eccentric Amblings and Ramblings From Gnat Bottomed Towers

 This local pub is more of a gastro affair these days [that's Sussex for you!], but back in the 1970s it was a traditional watering hole and a place apparently where people indulged in a spot of "dwile flunking".  You know when you see something written down and you have absolutely nothing to hang your hat on for a possible explanation. Well that was me...I literally had no idea what people were referring to. Now I know it to be a harmless bit of fun in which those who had [most probably supped a few pints of ale] participated. Rules- one team would hold hands in a circle [k/a girting] and go round a member from the opposition [the flonker] who was stood in the centre with a long stick [k/a driveller] which had a beer soaked cloth on the end [the dwile]. This person would go round in an anti clockwise direction whilst trying to flonk all present with his dwile. If it missed it was a 'swadger'. The team who got the most points was declared the winner, but would hav

Having barely been inside a pub for months I seem to have gone a bit mad this past week. Visiting two before 8am on a Saturday morning has to be a record even for me, but their doors were firmly shut at that hour. On a whim on my way back from shoppping I decided to take a detour to check out something I'd spotted earlier in the week....it's certainly not every day that you encounter a flying bride! I would love to speak to the creator to find out the thought process that went into this. This is one of the entrants in a month long scarecrow trail that is finishing soon. Whilst there I snapped the pilot too. He's standing in front of a lifesize model of a spitfire which I blogged about here  https://gnatbottomedtowers.blogspot.com/2021/04/on-a272.html Think of me later on today as I'm out performing at another inn with Mythago. It will be the first time in 18 months [we've only been back practising a month] so the nerves are jangling a bit. Tomorrow evening we are ou

 Some of my friends are/were teachers and one in particular often regales me with the exploits of her young charges. Most recently one of the little boys managed to get himself locked in the office. He didn't seem fazed by the situation, but eventually they managed to extricate him. As he strolled towards her my friend asked him if he had eaten any of the sweets that were in there. "No" he assured her with great confidence and chocolate all round his mouth. "That's one box of choccies that the staff won't have to share!" she commented wryly🍫😋 Hope you have a great weekend. Arilx

 Mr GBT has been a busy bee designing and making a new piece for when we attend the shows we're booked in to do in the autumn. Being a lucky lady I get to choose the design and put the first one in my dollshouse. This time I reckoned I needed a washstand💙💚💛💜 and my lovely husband has obliged. Arilx

[Image from Pixabay] You know how much I love my ancient history. This short film shows how some of our forebears may have built their homes from mammoth bones.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNP8ZjZ_cRU&t=183s Arilx

 Oops did you spot my blunder yesterday....I got my dates muddled and managed to accidentally schedule two posts for Monday instead of one. As a result this is a little extra one I'm popping up. Well it's one thing to do when you find yourself with a load of shells in your craft cupboard. Surely this has to be the least scary lion in the world🦁 I thought he was rather hilarious, but I think that many people might miss him. This little 18th century Scottish one lives at the bottom of a glass cabinet at the back and facing away from the way most people walk. It's one of the many treasures to be seen at Parham. On a related shell trivia note the company of that name was so called because its founder, Marcus Samuel, started out selling painted shells as part of his first business.🐚 Arilx

[Image from Pixabay] Back in mid March 2020 we had one of my closest friends and her partner over for lunch. It's a standing joke that we always buy a ready made pud [she's the sort of friend who doesn't stand on ceremony] and on that occasion we tucked into a Tesco Jaffa Cake Mousse. It went down a storm and so for old times sake I unashamedly repeated the exercise this time round. J and I were room mates at college and further on down the line she was one of my bridesmaids. This year has been very tough for her, but she's not one to wear her heart on her sleeve. She much prefers to roll her sleeves up and just faces head on whatever is thrown at her. My role has been to quietly keep in touch with her and offer support without making a fuss. That's the way our friendship has always worked.   Nowadays she has a very responsible job, but when you've known somebody that long there is always a good fund of stories to be had. On one occasion when we were first year

 Last Friday afternoon was cool and overcast, but we were going out come hell or high water. Mr GBT had worked his little socks off all of the previous weekend so I managed to persuade him to play hooky with me and we made our way over to a privately owned stately home a few miles from here. I last went when I was a child and usually resist because I think it better to use our NT cards, but the experience of this past year has left me hungry to explore what's on our doorstep.  Well what can I say?! The gardens were just incredible....now I'm well known for my love of strong colours and they've featured many a time on here. However, this took my breath away. I have never seen such brightness on this scale before. There are many photos, but I wanted to be able to share the experience with you in full technicolour!! These are from Parham House. Arilx

 I like dresses. For reasons unknown I hardly ever wear dresses. If I ever venture onto Ebay it's always full of suggestions as to what might tickle my fancy. Occasionally it hits the bullseye and one of the dresses it showed me I really loved. However, I rarely buy new and I didn't need it so I politely ignored its advertising and that was that. Now I need a dress for a wedding and....well you know where I'm going with all this! I already have a natty pair of long turquoise boots which will go with it. The wedding is going to be a steampunk/pagan affair so conventional wedding attire wouldn't be appropriate...just as well really! Have a lovely weekend. Arilx

William Corder was not a pleasant chap as his lover and mother of his child, Maria Marten, was to find out to her cost. He took her life and then buried her in the so called red barn [due to its colour at dusk] where they had met up for their trysts. He'd lured her there on the promise that they'd travel together to Ipswich where he would marry her and thus stop her from being arrested for having children out of wedlock [she had already been abandoned by previous lovers when pregnant with their children] as the law stood in the early decades of the 19th century. She laid undiscovered for a year whilst Corder lied to explain her absence before his crime finally caught up with him. Without an alibi he was sent to the gallows in Bury St Edmunds and then onto the anatomist, Dr George Creed's table within the hour. In 1828 this was the standard treatment of a felon's cadaver, yet demand far outstripped supply and people had to face the very real fear that the bodysnatchers m

The trouble with library books I find is that they send me down all sorts of rabbit holes....all it needed was one comment about a unicorn to get me out of my front door and into the sunshine. Perhaps you'd like to grab an icecream and join me on my quest.  Whilst Banksy might have been busy paintings all sorts of thought provoking art work on his holidays in East Anglia this has appeared near here....perhaps not quite on the same level. More of a "room for improvement"! The borders running by the side of one of the town's surgeries have been planted up with wild flower seeds. It's caught my eye several times and finally managed to have my camera with me to capture its transitory beauty. The Victorian Provender Mill. At one time it ground corn and was powered by water. It sits tucked away behind foliage in a corner and I haven't really looked at it properly before. It's now been converted into flats and has the first of today's sundials on its front. R

Sorry I've run out of time and energy this evening to write a proper post, so I'll leave you with the latest window display in the rather fabulous independently run deli we have in the town centre. They always come up with something imaginative and this one rather made me smile. Arilx

After a busy week where TYM has started working in London and had his first driving lesson a quietish weekend where I've been able to catch my breath has been very much welcomed. I've got up to date with lots of jobs and poor Mr GBT has had the dubious delight of spending hours fixing his workshop where the wood has gone rotten. Thankfully it's stayed dry and not got too warm. We did head out to friends for an evening in their garden [along with another couple] to catch up over a few drinks and shared nibbles as we watched the bats and satellites going overhead. Their resident hedgehog also put in an appearance which delighted me. Seeing as I've been home based so much I snapped a few shots of the latest doings in the garden....after a month of unsuitable weather we finally put the moth trap out again. To ensure that they don't all escape as the sun rises and become a bird's breakfast I always go down early to cover it over [we keep them indoors and release them