If Mr GBT has cooked then I and TYM [if he's staying here] will do the washing and drying up. Whilst we're clearing up we'll just be chatting about this and that. One evening I was getting my bloomers in a right old tangle about something trivial which made him laugh at me and call me a "silly old goose". It sounded such an unlikely thing for a 24 year old lad to say that I thought I'd misheard him and when he repeated it he told me that apparently I say it all the time. Who knew eh😆 A few days ago one of those daft meme things came up on my FB feed which said you shouldn't hide your "weird" and you should celebrate your inner silly goose....now it's abundantly clear from this blog that I'm more than a bit left of field so no great revelations here, but I will happily admit that my silly goose has had a good airing this past couple of months.....
During the colder part of the year being in the library on a miserable day is my happy place. Ever since I can remember there's been a whole rack of bound back copies of the "Sussex County Magazine" dating from the 1920s through to the 1950s when it ceased. I reckoned that they'd be dull as ditch water and thus have never so much as opened one, but something made me take a peek recently and lo and behold proved wrong again...turns out you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but by its content! Several things of personal interest to me and because they are reference only I can't take them out. It's become my favourite way to have a bit of time out....pen, notebook and glasses sitting quietly and just pottering which is my absolute favourite thing to do.
So many new gleanings....in my latest session I have learnt that there's a holy well close to here that I didn't know about and I've learnt about the mandrake man. For me it's fascinating to hear about how people would go searching for mandrake roots in the ditches and hedgerows that they could then sell on as a purported cure for indigestion and malaria. They had no head above ground so were fiendishly difficult to find. Only the male roots would do, but if you dug up the female plants then the male ones would die apparently or so the sellers claimed. It was said that you could make love potions from them and that it was the only herb mentioned in the Bible. It gives a real window into the past.
Arilx
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And that plant is mandrake? F had read something about them screaming when you dig them up (and no, it wasn't in Harry Potter). Xxx Mr T
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the HP ones! It used to be believed that if you heard the mandrake scream when you pulled it out you'd either go mad or die. Arilx
DeleteHaving read somewhat about the mandrake I think I'd really prefer to be a silly old goose than ever attempt to glean some of the plants roots and risk all manner of things happening to me and others. x
ReplyDeleteIt's a plant with a lot of folklore and magical beliefs attached to it. Arilx
DeleteWell, now, once again, you've sent me off to Mr. Google, to learn all I can about mandrakes. TBH, I thought they were a mythical plant. I did not realize there was such a thing in real life. Once again, you have taught this old dog a new trick!
ReplyDeleteIt was believed to have special properties. Arilx
ReplyDeleteOh that mandrake takes me back to O Level English Literature and studying Webster's The Duchess of Malfi - "I have this night digg'd up a mandrake!" and the one in one of my favourite films - Pan's Labyrinth! xxx
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of them until I read HP. Have now seen several examples in magic themed displays. Arilx
DeleteOOh, I didn't know Mandrakes were real! How exciting! My Mum has 2 crocheted HP ones sitting in the front of her car.
ReplyDeleteI like the phrase, "Silly Goose!"
I would love to have a crocheted mandrake! Arilx
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