Eccentric Amblings and Ramblings From Gnat Bottomed Towers

When it was time for a new fence a couple of years ago we decided that we'd have a hedgehog hole put in as part of it. We hadn't had any hogs in the garden for a few years [as far as we knew], but we were in luck and our prickly visitors came and had babies. One called Celia was a late arrival and ended up being cared for by a wildlife hospital and was then released last year into my friend L's wildlife friendly garden in the countryside. Unfortunately we didn't have a repeat performance last summer. The two things may not have been connected in any way, but our neighbours [who are very pleasant I hasten to add] had blocked up the hole because they had a small puppy...said hound is now fully grown and the hedgehog hole is open once more. I noticed some probable hog poo on our path early last week and when I inspected the back garden more closely it was with delight that I noticed that there were several little black messages left for me advertising our spiny friends'

 This amused me as I walked past the other day. It's not my car I hasten to add. Have a fabulous weekend. Arilx

When we were downing a spot of lunch we were rather surprised to look out of the garden window to see this Sparrowhawk doing exactly the same. I've never seen one at such close quarters.  Arilx

 In my head I planned to do a tour type post of our recent visit to Gloucester with photos of curios and accompanying details. There was a wealth of images to choose from yet as I scrolled through the images this is what leapt out at me....this set of modern stained glass windows in the cathedral completely took my breath away. They are the work of Thomas Denny and were made in 2014. The shards incorporated at the top are medieval. I've included the information boards for anyone who wants to read more about them. I can't top them so this is now my offering about this fabulous city which I believe is rather overlooked by many. Arilx

'Tis only the start of the new dancing season today....the Morris Cat reliably informs me that he's ready and raring to go.....I have my doubts somehow! So in typical Mythago fashion it might be St George's Day, but we're going rogue and dancing our Sussex Knucker Dragon story instead. We have nursed our original dragon through the last few seasons, but it's now in retirement and this is its fiery new replacement. Several members of the side [not me I hasten to add] collaborated and have created this fabulous beast to join us for the shenanigans. Arilx  

 Sometimes I've seen that people have had fake windows painted into the gaps left behind by those wanting to avoid the infamous window tax. This example looked to be the same except it comes with that lovely little added detail of a moggie 😻. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. Arilx

The legend goes that two giants called Vincent and Goram created the Avon Gorge, whilst the ancient king Brennius founded Bristol. On this occasion the reality is rather more mundane, but it started out life as a small Saxon settlement and has now grown into the biggest city in the South West. I've shamelessly pinched Aardman Animation's film title as they and of course Banksy are two of its more modern exports. I've enclosed the one original Banksy [called well hung lover] we came across in situ as we didn't have enough time to go deliberately hunting them out and a rather, shall we say, curious depiction of Wallace and Gromit. This is just one lone example of the street art which is round every corner. I could do a week's worth of posts on them alone, but I'll spare you! In our few hours there we managed to explore the cathedral, St Mary's in Redcliffe, the docklands and the M Shed museum. However, I'm not good at doing a sensible chronological descrip

Gloucester Cathedral does a cracking line in original donation boxes...at best usually you get a rather earnest model of the cathedral or at worst a perspex box near the entrance. These ones are imaginative and dare I say it rather fun. The 'Harry P' font is no coincidence....it's referencing the use of the stunning cloisters in the first Harry Potter film where they were used as the corridors in Hogwarts [the location was also used in the second film]. As for this gruesome twosome....did I feed them. Well of course I did....I couldn't let the gargoyles starve now could I!! Arilx

 I stumbled across this purely by a chance off a side road near the town. The simple fishy detail pleases me greatly. Hope you have a fabulous weekend. Arilx

The artist who created this very moving piece of sculpture in Bristol wished to remain anonymous. I feel it's important to share along with the link from Mind  https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/crisis-services/helplines-listening-services/ Arilx PS The piece is called "Bear with me" and is by Getting Up To Stuff

 This is classic me. Mr GBT and I were tossing ideas back and forth as to where we might stop for a cuppa on our outward journey for our recent trip away. I suggested Chippenham as we'd been before and liked it when we'd popped in years ago. "What's there?" himself asked [not too unreasonably] to which I listed several 'things of interest'. Turns out there were a couple of holes in my plan....for starters it was Chipping Campden we'd been before and some of my things to see were in Chippenham, but not the one in Wiltshire, but in Cambs😆 Ah well I was never one to let a couple of minor glitches get in the way of exploring and it did mean we ended up going somewhere completely new even if it wasn't quite what we had intended!! As ever just a random series of shots from our wander around. It was a bit showery, but we managed to turn up some stuff. Barber related topiary.... note I have resisted the temptation to use that combination of the words &quo