The Magic of the Arts

How this manifests will be fantastically different for every one of us...isn't it precisely this which makes it magical?

This quote is in Leith Hill Place- once the home of Ralph Vaughan Williams, it is now in the ownership of the National Trust.

Arilx

The Spirit of Christmas

My lovely Mother-in-law died from Alzheimers in 2013. Our son decided to set up a monthly donation to the charity in the memory of his Nanny earlier this year. Much as I've enjoyed the sparkle of the clever Christmas ads any readers will know I'm not a fan of greed and rampant consumerism. This I found very moving.

Arilx

Not Beige.

In the teenogre's estimation Gnat Bottomed Towers is full of some "weird sh*t"...personally I prefer the term "unusual", but hey I'm not a hip 18 year old lad am I. I did have to laugh when he said that he bans any of his mates from touching either the dollshouse, that "weird goblin thing"....weird goblin thing? What!! You mean that beautiful gargoyle your Mother knitted with her own fair hands....the one where she put issued expletives in combinations that even you hadn't heard as she grappled with the indecipherable instructions [knitting patterns completely fox me]

Or this....

Now I absolutely love this and always have done since the first time I clapped eyes on it at a folk festival years ago. Mr GBT had exactly the same reaction and back in the day when we were flush we bought it on the spot. Its familiarity means I don't even really "see" it anymore...it's just there. Guaranteed though its presence is brought back into sharp relief when somebody new crosses the threshold. Invariably they comment upon it and there's no holding back...people tell me immediately whether they love it or loathe it. It's not an item which provokes a beige reaction...no definitely black or white. Others, I have discovered, hold very strong opinions on all matters arachnid!

Arilx

Go on say it.....

Beyond the houses I clean [on the days I did work] I haven't been anywhere this week...all plans were cancelled. It was a welcome change of scene to make it to the supermarket first thing today for the weekly shop....blimey I never thought I would say that about a shopping trip! Mr GBT kindly came with me as I'm still feeling fairly ugh.

Bending down to pick something up from one of the lower shelves, I noticed that the lady next to me was wearing a really unusual and eyecatching coat. For a moment I hesitated, but then I decided to tell her how much I admired her jacket. Looking a little startled, [it's not very British to either give or receive a compliment from a complete stranger is it!] she beamed at me and confessed that it wasn't expensive. When she had seen it she had fallen in love with it and her son had offered to buy it for her. She decided that she was too old for it and had told him not to bother....thankfully he ignored her. I told her it really suited her at which point she thanked me and said I had completely made her day. Such a small thing...so glad I managed to overcome my natural reserve and bothered to say something.

Arilx

Rummaging

In a bid to declutter even more I have spent a couple of hugely thrilling sessions up in the loft identifying old paperwork which can be shredded and recycled. All these rummagings have produced other things which I had forgotten about.....

My son's first pair of shoes. I remember my Mum suggesting that I keep them because "one day you will never believe he was so small." She was quite right of course......

I can only apologise for the state of the teenogre's current pair. I did suggest he might like to polish them before he next wears them to work...."yes Mum" he replied in that kind of "yes Mum, no Mum, three bags full Mum" way they adopt when they're planning to do nothing of the sort....any parent of this age group will be familiar with it!! It has been known for him to crack open the tin of wax once in a while so you never know....stranger things have happened!

Arilx

Under the weather.

Last night through the fug of vapour rub fumes, bunged up and restless, my brain hopscotched from one thing to another as I tossed and turned during the long hours of sleeplessness. One question that popped into my mind was why we describe ourselves as feeling "under the weather" when we're not A1.

Having taken today off from my self employed house sparkling I now have answers....

The phrase is nautical in origin and refers to when unwell sailors were sent down below the deck and away from the weather conditions to recover.

"A1" was the mark of a first class wooden ship in Lloyds register. A was the quality of her hull and 1 the quality of her equipment.

This has vaguely stirred memories of reading an article once about maritime sayings and I have turned up a few additional jottings of the reasons behind some of our everyday idioms.

"Between the devil and deep blue sea" - in wooden ships the devil was a seam between the hull timbers near the keel. To be working so near the sea made it very precarious.

"To be at loggerheads"- a loggerhead was an instrument used to heat the pitch for the seams of the boat. It was made up of two large iron balls mounted on each end of a metal bar. One ball would be heated and the plunged into the bucket of pitch to melt it.

So there you have it....

Arilx

Trompe L'Oeil

From time to time I have put examples up of Trompe L'Oeil which I have encountered on my travels. I think this one is possibly my favourite so far. It's in Lewes and is referencing the Priory...the remains of which can still be seen today.

Arilx