Eccentric Amblings and Ramblings From Gnat Bottomed Towers

 We've only put the trap out twice this month so this is our new one. Called Maiden's Blush I'm guessing because of the rosy coloured stripe across its wings. Arilx

 Alexander Neckham [the then abbot] claimed in the 13th century that way back in the 6th century  due to wars between the Saxons and Britons the city of Cirencester was besieged for six years, but the Saxons couldn't break it. That is until one day when their leader noticed the many sparrows who spent their days feeding in the fields and their nights roosting in the thatch rooves. Apparently [this is now beginning to sound less and less plausible] the Saxons managed to catch all the spadgers and tie burning straw to their tails so that their return to the city dwellings would set everything ablaze and force the Britons to flee. It makes for a dramatic story🔥🔥 irrespective of whether this medieval account is true or not. Our visit to Cirencester thankfully went off without a hitch and not a hint of drama. We were staying a few minutes outside the city centre so we able to leave the car at the hotel and just walk. It is by far and away my favourite way to travel with much better op

 You might remember a few months ago that we found a very small baby hedgehog out during the day in our garden  https://gnatbottomedtowers.blogspot.com/2021/11/hogging-limelight.html  I'm delighted to say that my hedgehog caring friend went to pick Celia up from Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital where she's been since then. Now she weighs a goodly 800g and will be released into L's lovely wildlife friendly garden out in the countryside in two weeks time. Let's hope she finds a mate and then has her own hoglets this year. So glad she has made it💗 After a much needed trip to the local recycling centre to drop off several bags of deitrus on Sunday [and a fab evening at the folkclub too I should hasten to add] I decided that perhaps I could at least salvage a little of Monday with a quick evening stroll. As ever I wait and see if anything interesting shows up on the way round.....for reasons I can't explain there's always an ever changing and curious array of vehicles

 Wow well that was some weekend💀❤....a very Mythago based weekend and a real blast from the past. For the first time it felt like it had the zing of the pre-Covid days. Many Morris sides folded during the period of lockdown and I think even the sides that did survive intact lost members through retirement and people deciding to stop. We're a reduced sized team and it's taken a bit of adjusting to, but we seem to be getting there and the creative energy has begun to flow again...we've choreographed a new dance, different musical arrangements, new tunes, improved how we perform parts of old dances and new bits of kit are being made. They take hours as I well know particularly when you are being ably assisted by a "helper"....who frankly is doing anything but helping by sitting on the bits of fabric you are trying to cut and pin😆 However, despite his lordship's hindrance I managed to meet my personal target of finishing the Earth Mother kit by the end of the we

 Poking around Abbey Grounds in Cirencester we happened across a rather delicious wall of mosaic loveliness made up of all sorts of bits and pieces. It was designed by young people from various local schools to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the abbey founding back in 2018. I've picked out a few of our favourite panels.  Hope you have a great weekend. We are off dancing our Sussex dragon story tomorrow at a local pub....yay at last a proper Morris dancing season unlike the washout of the last two years! Arilx

 Has anyone been watching "The Pilgrimage" on BBC2? I dipped into the first episode yesterday and have to say I did enjoy it [it's not very highbrow!] and hearing the participants discussing their different views about faith from their personal perspectives and experiences. I have no problem with what people believe [or not] provided they're tolerant, not dogmatic and it doesn't harm anyone. In this household alone we've got an agnostic, an atheist and a Druid, but we're quite happy to accept the differences and get on with our lives. This programme follows seven pilgrims following in the path of St Columba across Ireland and over into Scotland. As ever I'm particularly enjoying seeing all the Neolithic standing stones which would have once have been sites of worship for our Pagan ancestors [and still are for modern day Pagans] and are now venerated by Christians. I saw another example of the crossover of religious beliefs recently at the Chedworth Rom

 [Image from Pixabay] I'm always on the lookout for meat alternatives to add in to my menu plan and further increase our plant based days. Whilst my two chaps are committed omnivores, they're happy to eat meat-free meals provided that they're tasty. A couple of months ago I bought a bag of frozen Quorn pieces which I've been moving around the freezer drawers ever since, but last week I finally had a look to see if I could find a recipe that I liked the sound of. This is the one I chose  https://www.quorn.co.uk/recipes/chicken-lemon-chilli-linguine  and it's a keeper. Absolutely delicious. I didn't use cream, but a bit of cream cheese loosened with milk and basic spaghetti rather than linguine.  It's not the cheapest of recipes, but as it's the lemon and chilli which give it the big hit of flavour I'm sure that you could achieve very similar with vegetable oil and a dollop of pesto. Definitely a good one for a weekday evening after work. Arilx  

Hope everyone has had a good Easter break. We've spent most of the time here wielding paintbrushes and catching up on a plethora of other jobs. However, it's not all been work....we treated ourselves to some foodie treats so that we wouldn't have to cook much and ventured out yesterday for a break in the sunshine. Not being a lover of crowds and not wanting to use the car we took advantage of the town museum being specially open for the holiday weekend and took in its newest exhibition of botanical prints. Although I visit every few months, it's a dynamic place and the contents of the display cases change regularly. This time I was finally able to find out what this strange shaped instrument is called. I've glimpsed one being played in one of the Morris sides and think its name of a "serpent" suits it well. Many were played in church bands from the 18th century onwards and were the forerunner of the tuba.  The wearer of this late Victorian gown must have b

 Those that create magic with their needles have been out and leaving seasonally appropriate offerings on the top of some of the town's postboxes once again. Hope you all have a great Easter! Arilx