Eccentric Amblings and Ramblings From Gnat Bottomed Towers

Muslin moth Garden Carpet Common Marbled Carpet Morning-Glory Plume Arilx  

 How gorgeous is this silver tabby💕 He sauntered out to meet and greet my friend and I when we were out yesterday and then led the way on a short tour. You had to pause for regular cuddle breaks otherwise he'd just stop and wait. Going by the width of his tail you can see how thick his fur coat was! Naturally being a feline he didn't man his post for long....why would you when there were many other humans awaiting your undivided attention😀 Photos to follow of where we were. Arilx

 May has been a bit of a month for slightly left of field chairs....I love the look of all of them, but being the world's worst fidget at the best of times, I'm not sure long I could sit still on any of them!  The Zigzag chair designed by Gerrit Rietveld in 1932 [Design Museum]. All those lovely sharp yet unforgiving Modernist lines and corners..... The Wiggleside chair designed by Frank Gehra in 1972 [Design Museum]. It's made of layers of corrugated cardboard glued in different directions to give it strength. Knowing me the first thing I'd probably do is spill a glass of red vino over it.....now I'm wondering if that would make it dissolve into a lumpen pile of papier mache?! The Witches chair dating from the 1700s. My parents recently spent the weekend staying at the Mermaid Inn in Rye. Very obligingly they took a photo for me of the "goat's head chair" as I called it. However, it's not a goat's head, but Old Nick himself. It's said that

 For once my friend A's birthday fell on a Saturday and even better I was free [usually I'm away dancing]. When we met for our Beltane bash at the beginning of the month I floated the idea of getting together for a few hours in St Leonard's Forest which is on the far side of town because I know that for A, being in the woods, is his absolute favourite place in the world to be....chuck in a cup of tea, a bacon roll, some cake and some quiet spiritual music and he's a happy bunny. The weather played ball....it was glorious all day and we found a secluded glade off the main track where we could relax [his wife who is my very dear friend S was there too I should hasten to add] without being disturbed gave us the makings of a perfect afternoon. Here's one of the birthday boy himself and I swear that I have done nothing to brighten or tone down the verdant greens which surrounded us. Glorious isn't it.  It comes as no surprise that we weren't the only ones who lov

My friend J and I have been trying to organise a walk together for a few weeks now, but Murphy's Law dictated that if one was free the other had a prior engagement and so it continued back and forth. Finally we managed it last Friday after I'd finished work and despite showers throughout the day the skies had cleared by the time we'd met. Boots on and off for an early evening saunter.... We kept our jaunt fairly short and sweet to make the most of the light levels. It was a new route for both of us just on the outskirts of a village called Pulborough around an area called Wiggonholt Heath. It sits next door to an RSPB reserve hence the huge bird's foot below in the first shot. After a potter through the woods and winding our way up round the hill we were treated to some rather stunning open vistas once we'd scrambled up the final slope....... Now our ancestors knew a thing or two about making an impression and it came as no great surprise to me to find that they'

 [Image from Pixabay] When my son was a small toddler and I was at home we used to go to a nature centre over in the next town. Often I met my friend H there with her young son too and together we'd amble round with the boys looking at the animals. Over in one part were a series of large aviaries which housed a variety of birds which had needed to be hand reared and couldn't be released back into the wild. We always headed to our favourite...the shared enclosure with Merlin the crow who laughed like a small child and Terry the Raven. Now Terry was something else. He'd look at you silently with those wise eyes and if you were lucky he might surprise you with a "hello Terry" or a "c'mon Terry"...a perfect imitation of the male warden who had brought him to the centre originally. It was quite a surprise the first time we heard it and it was sometime before my child could understand that not all birds can talk! I hadn't thought about Terry in a very

 All the moths we see are stunning, but occasionally one comes along in the trap that is even more special. I think that this Light Emerald moth deserves a post all of its own. Hand on heart I have done nothing bar sharpen the image slightly and crop it. That colour and shading....opening the trap the morning after it's set is like opening a box of jewels. You never know what gems will be in there [or sometimes it's completely empty]. We struck gold yesterday! Arilx

This view just made me smile. Seen in London on a warm sunny day. Have a great weekend everyone. Arilx

An obsession with cheap clothes which are only worn for a nanosecond before being discarded without thought has led to the modern phenomenon of "fast fashion" and it literally is costing the earth. Thankfully not everyone is willing to let this non sustainable situation continue and some are already taking positive steps forward to show that there are other ways to make garments which don't come at such a price. One such fashion designer is Bethany Williams who graduated in 2017. She has set out to prove that things can be done differently and works in collaboration with different marginalised sectors of society to design and create clothes that use recycled materials. This works on so many levels as it brings about change via environmental and social development. Her work is bright, sassy and uses a fabulous range of techniques including weaving, knitting, patchwork, embroidery and patchwork. Everything is handmade right down to the buttons. During the pandemic she turne

 [Image from Pixabay] "Contraceptives should be used on every conceivable occasion." Spike Milligan. He always had such a way with words that man! It made me inwardly titter when I read that quote. Arilx

 Sometimes when I go poking about I draw people's attention and curiosity gets the better of them. I can vouch that the volunteers who give their time to St Michael's in Cirencester are exceptionally friendly and most helpful. Having established that I was merely looking out for any unusual gravestones rather than one in particular a couple of chaps kindly pointed me in the direction of several stonkers. I had already found this one for myself. As gravestones go it's nothing out of the ordinary, but it's the epitaph which makes it stand out. Sacred to the memory of Sarah Avery Midwife who died April 8th 1833 Aged 80 years. Never before have I encountered a non modern example which refers to a woman's vocation. Whilst the ones for men laud their achievements and trumpet loudly about the professions and positions they held all I ever see for women is mention of their roles as Mother, wife, daughter, sister etc. I know that this is very much down to the class of women

 Roundabout art....lousy photos, but we were travelling round the roundabouts at the time so 'twas to be expected!  The Shoreham Sheep. These were put there in 2011 to promote the South Downs National Park. Now you would think that half a dozen green plastic sheep wouldn't trouble anyone, but concerned drivers kept reporting that there were escaped sheep in the middle of the roundabout. In a bid to put people's minds at ease the council placed yellow plastic barriers round them, but it didn't work. In the end they were removed for a few weeks and then reappeared alongside a new obviously metal shepherd designed by Danny McBride and there they stay much admired as we all fly past. The next two are from our drive home from London yesterday. The two cyclists is the work of Heather Burrell and was done to mark the British Olympic cyclists using the road as one of the Olympic routes back in 2012. The legacy is that the routes remain hugely popular with anyone donning lycra a

 While we were waiting for TYM's grad we whiled away the morning at the recently opened "Sick to Death" museum in Chester. It was right up my street, but not sure Mr GBT was quite so keen as some of the displays were fairly gruesome. It was to be expected really as it is covering the history of medicine. It's housed in a redundant church so you get some good effects with the sun streaming in through the windows. Hope you all have a great weekend....we shall be working. I might have hatched an escape plan though for a couple of hours....watch this space😉 Arilx

 Thistle.  Beauty in nature. Arilx

May is a very busy time for me birthday wise.....I've got two family members plus a friend with birthdays who I like to buy a small something for and friends getting married....add in the big upcoming London show and with the Morris season now in full swing it was all starting to feel slightly manic. I shouldn't have been, but I'll freely admit that I was quite relieved that yesterday's house sparkling client has gone on holiday which left me with a day off work. All of a sudden I could see my way through to catching up and getting everything done on time. Mission accomplished. Of course in between searching out some locally made goodies I wove in a little bit of adventuring to keep me amused😀 My first stop of the day was to drop off some bits with my friend E and whilst there I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to drop into the nearby microbrewery. It's rather charmingly called the Kissingate Brewery and does a good range of ales....I have a Dad and a so

 Rather lovely isn't it. I can relate. Arilx

 It was never going to go down as an average Saturday morning in town when you encounter this huge yellow being..... I am reliably informed that it is a transformer which made a great deal more sense when I later found out that there was a Comic con event being held. The weirdest thing was that it kept bopping away to Rick Astley's  "Never gonna give you up"! Mind you whom am I to talk as I spent most of the day wandering around with this jammed on my face...😆 At long last the Horsham Day of Dance has returned after three years. It was sooo good to catch up with many dancing friends from the Morris world....we all retired to a local watering hole afterwards and had an impromptu couple of hours of beers, chats and each side taking a turn. I met some lovely new people and forged new connections with other sides which we intend to turn into shared events further down the line. Please allow me the liberty of sharing a couple of snaps of other teams we shared our stands with.

  On Monday I joined my friends for a belated Beltaine jaunt up to the woods for a spot of magic and making merry. Walking home I admired the freshness of the sharp green Spring growth and then noticed these....the chartreuse [I can't tell you how many years I've been waiting to use that word on this blog😁] flowers of the English Oak. In all my born years I've never seen them before. So the old adage that every day's a school day certainly did ring true! Anyway with whatever you're up to this weekend I hope you have a splendid time. I shall be jangling the old Morris bells in the sunshine and there might be a bit of ale supping going on at some point during the proceedings! Thankfully it's in the town so we'll be on foot. Arilx