January is traditionally the month for having the blues and I was intrigued to read recently that the phrase originated from 'the blue devils'. It can be a hard month for many with the shorter days and the challenging weather. I have gone ever so slightly rogue this year and left all the fairy lights up and it cheers me up no end to be able to switch them on if it's grey and drab outside. I try to get out of the house even when it doesn't seem very inviting and without fail I return home feeling lighter of spirit. During treatment cycles we live a five day week because David must stay home the first day and he needs a second day to recover. I'm quite good at coming up with places for us to visit on a Wednesday that don't involve travelling far. On our most recent foray I even managed to line up some blue sky to ensure that any lurking blues were firmly banished.
It's been at least twenty years since I last stepped foot into Tilgate Park and I have no idea why I haven't been back since. Thank goodness I have now made amends. These days the area is publicly owned, but the lakes and walled garden once belonged to a large Victorian house. The owners' fortunes were ravaged by the two world wars and it was eventually demolished. This is what we have left today to explore. It is the venue for the weekly Park Run and in the summer there are lots of different water sports you can try your hand at on the lake. When the weather is more clement and it's drier under foot we'll come back and tackle some of the walking trails round the woods. At the moment a lot of it is under a sea of mud and I could really understand why all the dog owners might want to avail themselves of this dog bath before transporting their pooches home.
Within the walled garden there are a couple of rather nice bits of artwork. There was a big old fanfare back in November when the sculpture with the boy and the sturgeon [known locally as the boy and the dolphin] reappeared after many years in storage. Back in the early 1950s it had pride of place in Queen Square in Crawley which was the jewel in the crown of the new town development, but tastes change and it's much more suited to being here I think. The bird bath is another piece called 'The Vessel' by one of my favourite local artists, Janine Creaye, although I wasn't aware of it at the time. I did my usual and gave it a proper check over and found all manner of things to please me😊
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