Supermoon.

So tonight is the supermoon and it is gloriously covered in cloud. Apparently if you carry a hazel twig and eat a fern seed collected tomorrow night ie the first night after the full moon you will become invisible. Or so the Medieval folklore story goes......

Arilx

The image is one of ours of the full moon...obviously not today's though!

Blue Peter Cooking

Anyone who grew up watching Blue Peter will recall the various cooking spots over the years. Due to a lack of love of time spent in the kitchen my cooking has remained at that kind of level. If Mr GBT cooks you'll get a fine dining experience if it's me then it's more Scout Camp in style. Tasty, straightforward and lacking in the looks department.

Due to the inclement weather yesterday we scotched our plans for a walk along the Devil's Dyke [part of the South Downs], so chum H came for lunch and an afternoon of catching up. Having fed her Monday Pie and apple crumble I had also baked some of these to go with a cuppa later.

"Care for a sticky blob?" I asked her. Raising one eyebrow rather quizzically, she asked me why they were called that. "No idea" I said "it's just the name of them in the Be-Ro recipe book". They tasted rather good and this was all that was left later. The original recipe is here http://www.be-ro.co.uk/recipe/showrec140.html?rec=140 You will be relieved to hear she's still standing this morning ;-)

Arilx

The weather outside is frightful.....

With the leaden skies outside I am taking on the task of brightening up this little corner of blogland today with a big old hit of colour....street art from our recent trip to Belfast. Many are on the hoardings of old buildings which I think will be demolished as they continue to regenerate and titivate the city. I can't profess to "understand" the paintings, but it's precisely that quality and the discovery of them hidden away up side streets, which is part of their appeal.

Arilx

Wordless

Arilx

A Day of Loss and Celebrity

Before I start....there is going to not be one word about the events across The Pond. I'll keep this as a breathing space for silliness and light relief for people today methinks.

Yesterday the bunting was out and the flag was hoisted high for I had a day off.  Huzzah! This fellow meanwhile was just off.

Humphrey had got wind of the fact that it was the day of the Annual Visit to the Vet for his jabs. Thankfully we had blocked off all his escape routes [it 's amazing how such a portly soul can squeeze into such a tiny space!] so his stout little legs didn't get him far before we caught up with him and incarcerated him in the Box Of Doom. I literally live two minutes away from the vet, yet he wailed like a banshee the whole time. Such a big girl's blouse.

Now I'm not a great fan of these little trips really. I mentally prepared myself for another gentle ticking off about him having gained yet more weight. I had my script and defence prepared.."yes he only has the recommended dose of the diet food twice a day, but he also regularly indulges in an overnight snack of petit-furs which I can't monitor." I don't mention that he's on occasion he's been fed twice...he always scarfes down his food immediately and is happy to tell you that he's not been fed a single morsel an hour later. I only knew he'd eaten on Saturday when I came in because the teenogre had left a note saying "fed" next to his bowl! Amazingly though he has lost weight....he has been frantically searching for it since we got home!

I meanwhile have been moving in the upper echelons of society....I met the Queen yesterday....she was working outside a local cafe. Times must be hard!

'Tis a thing of great beauty I'm sure you'll agree. Made me smile though and crikey we need it more now than ever!

Arilx

Hooked on books.

"Books may well be the only true magic."
Alice Hoffman

Hands up....books are one of my greatest pleasures in life. I actually get quite twitchy if I finish one and haven't already got the next tome lined up. Not that that's a problem at the moment for I have the fastest Amazon finger in the nation....the second hand market place could easily become my second home. Oh those treasures to behold and all for one small shiny penny.....

GBT is a small castle without much in the way of storage space. Not being a lover of clutter either I am fairly disciplined about my book buying. All fiction flies out of the door again as soon as it is read and non fiction by and large is borrowed from the library. There is much joy in the sharing and lending of books to friends and family though I find. Despite all this I am delighted to report though that books continue to find me.....

These are the latest ones. The greenman one was a present from an online forum friend who I've never met, chum E gave me the middle one as a late birthday pressie and the Trollope Aga Saga came via my chum FourPooch S when we had supper with her at the weekend. So obviously I have nothing to read.....that doesn't explain then why I was to be found snouting around the library on Saturday morning then when I found the above quote on one of the shelves. Predictably I couldn't resist bringing another two books home with me....I know, I know!!

Arilx

The Prayer of the Tree

On a cold winter's night

I am the heat of your hearth. 

I am the friendly shape

That screens you from the summer sun.

My fruits are refreshing draughts

Quenching your thirst as you journey on.

I am the beam that holds your house

The board for your table

The timber that builds your boats.

I am the handle of your hoe

The door of your homestead

The wood of your cradle

The shelf of your last resting place.

I am the gift of God

And the friend of Man.

You who pass by listen to my prayer.

Harm me not.

Harm me not.

Anon

Arilx