Natural wonder

Another wonderful thing that I was blessed to see a few days ago. Orange peel fungus...not only the perfect colour🟠, but it also has the slightly waxy texture you get with citrus peel🧡

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend. We will be staying here as David has his latest biopsy being done today. He's usually back to his normal busy self within a couple of days.

Arilx

 

Third Time Lucky

 I have been trying to visit Chawton House in Hampshire since June 2020. With the original date and a subsequent one cancelled, we finally met my friend Jane there this year. Persistence really does pay and perhaps, seeing that it's the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth this year, it was more apt this time around.

Jane never lived here, but she, her unmarried sisters and widowed mother, were settled in the old baliff's cottage nearby from 1809 which gave her a period of stability in her life which she hadn't experienced for many years. Hers was an itinerant existence following the death of her father as the ladies were shuttled between different houses and very much reliant upon the good will of family members to keep them. During these settled times she was very productive and produced many of the novels which would see her star rise and her place secured on the all time classics list.

The connection between this large and desirable property is that it was inherited by Edward Knight in 1794 along with several other houses in the county and Gomersham Park in Kent. He was born as Edward Austen in 1767 and was indeed Jane's brother. However, he was adopted by the childless Knight family who were distant relatives of his father's and they made him their heir. Part of the agreement was that he would alter his surname upon his adoptive father's death and to this very day the house remains within the ownership of the Knight family. Here we have the lucky chap and the back view of the house. I had the very best of intentions of taking a photo of the front too, but I was too busy gassing with my pal and the thought wandered out of my head....I had one job to do😀

Despite her never having lived here it's clear from Jane's correspondence that she spent a great deal of time here especially with her eldest niece Fanny.

One of its main draws both for her and for me was the library. It holds the largest collection of books written by women [about 4500] on wide ranging topics anywhere in the world. Amongst its tomes are ones that rare or even unique. In total the library has 16000 books with many of them written by men about women's lives and issues. The room steward pointed out one such volume written by a male about how old maids should conduct themselves. Apparently there are a series of increasingly acerbic handwritten notes written on the pages by Jane herself. I take it that she wasn't best pleased by the content. Due to the fragility of the shelf contents there are no photos allowed, but the house does permit two or three academic fellowships per year. Applicants put in a bid outlining which books they need access to for their research and then the lucky ones are chosen.

It's always worth taking a second look at any painting.....this one is stuffed full of extra details that could be easily missed!

Hopefully some of my photos have conveyed what a delight this place is and the Jane Austen museum is literally just round the corner. If you have a BBC Gardener's World 2 for 1 voucher this covers the entry for both inside and out. I am gradually catching up with my backlog ...in the next post we're off to Brighton!

Arilx

Samhain 2025

The people round the corner who do their own rather fabulous Halloween decs in their front garden have smashed it again❤👻💀 

My Halloween shot is rather gentler as the old boy cuddles up with his black cat cushion that TYM bought me last year. Of course, being a typical feline, Humphrey was having none of it. He was actually rather grumpy at me having disturbed his 19 hour nap and plonking the dratted thing in his way!! Looks cute though and as the only resident black cat here it's the single day of the year when I expect him to pose to earn his keep😂

We're performing with Mythago tonight at our All Hallows event. Here's hoping that it stays dry. Have a good weekend folks.

Arilx

Labour of Love

Apart from the Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool I don't make a habit of visiting RC churches. I find the interiors too brash and not to my taste and by rights this rather ugly 1970s one in Goring-by-sea shouldn't have been any different. However, stop we did and it was a deliberate choice for we had travelled across specially. Within its four walls it hides a secret.

Back in 1986 one of the parishioners, Gary Bevans, went on a pilgrimage to Rome and returned a changed man. Inspired by the Sistine Chapel ceiling he sought permission to recreate it here. Paid for by the other parishioners he started this project in 1987. This chap is a sign writer and not a professionally trained artist yet look at what he achieved....the only reproduction in the world and on a 2/3 scale. He had to board the entire ceiling himself and work out all the dimensions and when he completed this in 1993 he had 1.5inches to spare. He was sponsored by Dulux and spent many pounds and many hours poring over books to get the colours true to the original which were now concealed under many layers of dirt in the original [Michelangelo's work was cleaned four years ago]. What an achievement...he painted on any work free days he had and in the evenings after he'd put his small children to bed. Quite astounding. The figure in pink and yellow is believed to have been a depiction of Michelangelo. Mr Bevan's artistic endeavours haven't stopped there though because he's gone on to create lots of faux marble paint effects around the church and the 'Last Supper' with a cheeky extra...the pet dog belonging to the priest has somehow snuck in🐶

David and I have been talking about going for years, but have never quite got around to it. Even now we had intended to go the day before, but the weather was so foul that we postponed it. Thank goodness we did for the following day was fabulous sunshine and as it turned out also the last day of the season for viewing. What I hadn't appreciated was that the church has such fabulous jewel coloured windows. They came into their own with the light beaming through. 

What a fabulous little gem. Since I shared a few photos elsewhere local friends and family have mentioned that they've driven past many times, but without a clue of what treasure lies within. It seems that they might have a few more visitors heading their way next year when the new season starts again in April.

Arilx

 

Fungi Forays

Retirement is suiting me. Nowadays I have time to indulge all my weird and wonderful obsessions and at this time of year fungi forays are high up there on the list. May I totally confess that I am very shallow when it comes to fungi...I want colour, glitz, whacky forms or at the very least something which does something like produce an ink/milk/blood ooze when you draw your nail across it or a dramatic explosions of spores. I am enjoy seeing fungi in all its forms, but it's things such as this one which I'm in the market for. The Devil's Fingers...most appropriate for the upcoming All Hallows season. Perhaps one year I might get to see the Dead Man's Fingers variety too [here's hoping eh!]

Quite extraordinary isn't it. We've been on two free fungi walks this past week and seen many wonders, but this is one of the ones we all brag about😂 I wish I could claim I found it, but alas I would be fibbing. We were taken off the beaten track to an area of land where there is no public access and shown it by the organiser. There are many on my list that I would love to see, but I had made my peace with the fact that I was only ever destined to drool over other people's photos of it. What a fabulous surprise to end our foray.

Arilx

Holiday Highlights

 A few final favourites of mine and then it's time to pack it all away.

1. Southwell

The Bramley apple was discovered here in 1856 and it has the absolutely fabulous Minster. TYM mentioned that it's now a cathedral which I hadn't realised, but I should know by now that he's usually right with his facts and indeed it has been since 1884. There's so much to see both within and without, but it's particularly famous for all the different types of carved leaves in its 13th century chapter house. I did chuckle when one of the stewards sneaked over to me and said 'I see that you've found our Donald Trump....😂. It's a rather shifty looking character and I shall say no more🙊

2. Vindolanda 

This museum is absolutely incredible. Due to the layer upon layer of earth that built up over time as the Romans rebuilt the fort nine times an accidental, but perfect set of anerobic conditions were created which has preserved all sorts. The small selection here show Lepidina's Slipper which is a very expensive sandal made by Lucius Aebutius Thales in Gaul. Yes it has the maker's mark on it! Many of the shoes on display show signs of repair, but not this one...when the toe thong broke it got chucked out. The horse mask is made of cow hide with a soft leather lining and is called a chamfon. The boxing gloves are a very rare find. One glove is larger and is stuffed with grass and bracken whilst the other one hides a nasty surprise for contained within is a coil of leather designed to inflict injury along with a hard leather edge which acted a bit like a blade. A most brutal sport. Now we've all had things arrive which have got broken in the post, but this is not a new phenomenon. This Samian dinner service arrived smashed from France. It got thrown into the rubbish pit, but the new owners must have been very disappointed. The final shot is of a hair piece made from the local hair moss. It has properties which repelled insects.

3. Hexham

You can't go to Hexham and not talk about the abbey. It started out life as a cathedral from 678-821 and the Frith stone stool may very well be the original Bishop's Cathedra [seat] which Wilfred could have brought with him in 674 when he first established the abbey. 'Frith' is an Anglo Saxon term and meant 'peace, security and freedom from molestation' and would have originally stood near the high altar. Those attempting to escape from danger would have sought sanctuary and safety there, The church is awash with several 15th century paintings which, when considering how much damage was done during the destructive times of the Commonwealth, are in themselves a fabulous survival. Annoyingly I now find that I managed to miss the danse macabre set, but it always happens that way. Indeed I also failed to spot that the central figure on Rowland Leschman's famous tomb [he was the prior from 1480-91] is tricephalic and actually has a skull hidden on one side. I must instead console myself that I saw many other wonders that day!

4. Beamish Museum

Well what can I say. The initial outlay seems quite steep, but if you're local it does give you access all year round and it's just amazing. We allowed one day...how naive were we! Last time I went I was 8 months pregnant and that had been enough time, but it has expanded hugely since then, so this time round we actually went back the next day as we'd have never got round it otherwise. I was a little startled to see that the dinner service my Nana had [I have got the teapot and my parents are still using the rest of it] was on display in one of the 1950s houses. I felt even more on an old codger when I overheard that there are plans to bring in stuff from the 1980s. Talk about 'Living' History😂

5. Harrogate

This was our final stop off on the way home and we spent the last night just across the road opposite this rather amazing modern pyramid. To be honest I had expected to fall in love with the town and in the end it didn't really float my boat. Don't get me wrong it's a charming place, full of high end shops, but after a couple of hours of endless Victorian architecture I'd had my fill. We did enjoy our flying visit though. Those two shifty characters in the pub made me smile and I was far more pleased that I should have been to discover Trotter's Bar up a side street which has been gently lowering the tone for more than 30 years. It made the perfect end to our trip away and who am I to grumble when you get to have a Spoons breakfast in the Winter Gardens😋

Next time there will ramblings about more recent amblings. Thanks for bearing with me.

Arilx