In the id parade

I know, I know I said I wasn't going to post today, but I'm in a rainbow sort of mood having had a smashing afternoon off and out with my friend Ice Badger. With her full permission she's happy for me to pop up a photo of her here. Over the years I've known her she's had her hair all sorts of splendid colours, but she's gone for the whole shebang this time and was even matching her leggings. I had to laugh....she'd best not rob a bank because she wouldn't be difficult to track down and she'd never get past the id parade! We'd actually met up because unusually she's got a week off so we took the opportunity to have a nose around [she likes the same sort of weird stuff as me] and eat cake as she'd got a new job we needed to celebrate!

Arilx

Anyone fancy a brew?

 I've nowt much in the way of stuff to blog about as have been busy with mundane doings and a walk featuring more Sussex trees. Rather than burble on I shall hang fire until I feel I've got something worth writing about a bit later on in the week. In the meantime please feel free to stick the kettle on and make yourself a cuppa in my new-to-me £2 teapot from the local charity shop.

Arilx

Body Art

 

Hope you enjoy this short video. Have a great weekend.

Arilx

Wonders in the woodland.

 A new-to-me wood this time full of wonders and delights.

There was a whole carpet of these teeny oak saplings breaking forth from their red acorns. I asked a friend about the unusual colour of them. She didn't know for sure, but thought it might something to do with the levels of tannin in them. These ones are apparently more bitter that their white counterparts and so tend not to get eaten as quickly.

Further into the woods we stumbled upon these sculptures [there were many more] scattered around. I don't know who made them, but there was all sorts. Whoever is the creator of them has a rather lovely open air workshop of dreams. 

The Nan and Grandad names on this handmade bench were Jane and William Knapman. Jane donated this small piece of woodland to the Woodland Trust in 1993 and they are managing it very carefully. William was her husband and we were in "William's Wood". What a beautiful and fitting memorial to make to a loved one.

Arilx

Bubbly

 Beltane [1st May] is one of my favourite of all the festivals to celebrate. It's big in the Morris world and usually I'd have been dancing and then celebrating with my close friends. As with last year all the dancing events have been cancelled and my friends and I suddenly twigged that meeting inside wasn't possible. We went back to the drawing board and I suggested that perhaps a picnic in a quiet spot of the local woods weather permitting might be a viable alternative. Usually I have to drive, but with this alternative location we could all meet at a central point and walk. I watched the forecast like a hawk all week half expecting that rain might stop play, but woohoo the sun graced us with its presence.

This rather lovely fence and wall [I liked that bottle green glass lamp!] sit alongside the old stagecoach road that used to go all the way over to Worthing. Nowadays we have the A24 with all the traffic zooming along and this little private road is blissfully quiet.

This rather fabulous tree with all its roots showing is in what some of the locals call "the gully" or "the hollow". It has a rather fine face on one side, which I singularly failed to photograph. It's amazing how it continues to cling on to the side like that. However, I expect it has done so for many years and will hopefully continue to do so for many more.

Either side of this hump in the middle of the woods are adjacent ponds known as the "cup and saucer" ponds. I'm not sure whether they are manmade , but perhaps the mound has been created by the earth being removed to create them

By this point we had reached the top of Denne Hill which is popular with the locals. You get a cracking view out across the town if it's clear.

Phew made it. Now not having family that goes back generations in the town means that there are many historical details of which I am unaware. A is, meanwhile, a local lad who grew up around these parts and he was finally able to explain to me why the field across from us is called Barrack Field [I only knew of it, not where it was located]. There have been troops stationed here since the early 1800s, but during WWII it became a training camp for a Canadian division. During their time here the old union workhouse was converted into a general hospital designed to take 600 Canadian casualties from the D Day landings. Prior to this though the building was damaged and the windows got blown out. It was the young men from this camp that repaired them. There is little left to see now, but that's a base from one of the old army buildings that S and I are standing on.

Now you might wonder what I'm holding in my hand.....that's my drinking horn that S & A bought me for Christmas and this was its first outing. You might imagine that it was filled with ale or mead, but no perhaps rather more unusually Prosecco! It's not a drink I usually imbibe [I like it, but forget about it], but I happen to know it is S's favourite. You know once the bottle's opened it doesn't keep😈 so without too much difficulty we managed to tidy it away and then spent a splendid couple of hours slightly tipsy catching up. It was fabulous to be able to just laugh and relax in good company...much needed and long overdue.

Arilx

The Sea

 

The Sea

The sea is a hungry dog,

Giant and grey.

He rolls on the beach all day.

With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws

Hour upon hour he gnaws

The rumbling, tumbling stones,

And 'Bones, bones, bones, bones!'

The giant sea-dog moans,

Licking his greasy paws.

And when the night wind roars

And the moon rocks in the stormy cloud,

He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs,

Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs,

And howls and hollos long and loud.

But on quiet days in May or June,

When even the grasses on the dune

Play no more their reedy tune,

With his head between his paws

He lies on the sandy shores,

So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores.

James Reeve

Arilx

You had one job to do!

"Why don't you choose a new statue for the garden" Mr GBT said. Now I've looked and looked over the past few weeks, but really have struggled to find anything that I really like. I work very much on gut reaction and nothing spiked any interest. I sort of half heartedly narrowed it down to a dragon I found on Etsy, but then decided to see what else the maker was selling. Big mistake😆....apparently one group of statues is not the same as one singular. Too late I'd found my perfect ones....thank goodness for pocket money [having completely smashed the budget we'd set] and that Mr GBT is very easy going about such matters. It helps that he rather likes them too. Numbers never were my strong point.

I'm sure many will recognise these as being based on the famous Lewis chess pieces. Discovered on Lewis in 1831, most of the original pieces are now on display in the British Museum and the National Museum of Scotland [the original find was split up and sold and some pieces have not come back onto the market]. Most probably they were made in Trondheim [Norway] and most are made from walrus ivory with a few being out of whales teeth. It's recognised that they come from several different chess sets and some had remains of red paint on them [no longer visible] when they were first found. Although the Queen looks like she's thoroughly cheesed off her expression was intended to convey contemplation and wisdom. The one chomping down on his shield is a Viking Beserker. They were an elite fighting force known for their lack of fear on the battlefield. However, they trod a fine line between brilliance and madness and sometimes their refusal to fight according to the battle rules laid down could lead to fatal consequences for those fighting with them. The bearded fellow next to the knight on the horse is the warder. In July 2019 an original warder was sold by Sothebys for £735,000 to a private buyer. It had been bought by an Edinburgh antiques dealer in 1964 for a fiver and then passed down to his daughter. It was treasured by the family, but kept in a drawer for safekeeping. No one had any idea of its true origin!

I'm delighted to have been able to support an independent UK business in this way and more importantly they make me smile every time I catch a glimpse of them in passing.

Arilx