Wellcoming

After 18 long months and many WhatsApp video calls Lovely Grey and I finally were able to meet up in London again. We revisited the Wellcome Collection to take in their current exhibitions on Joy and Tranquility and left with much to ponder on. Unashamedly I am hanging on the coat-tails of her blog post here as I think she's summed it up beautifully https://lovelygreyday.com/days-out-in-london-the-wellcome-collection/#comments

What I will do though is share a photo of us reuniting over a couple of pints of ale....I don't think we've ever not finished our time together by not spending time in a pub....it's a vital component in our time together and that space for us to put the world to rights whilst sharing lots of laughter. 

Cheers!!

Arilx

Hogging the limelight.

It's been a bit of a prickly week here at GBT. Last Wednesday afternoon we spotted a small hedgehog snuffling about eating bits of leftover birdfood. We were initially unsure what to do, but I understand it's never good to see these nocturnal mammals out in the daylight as it means something is wrong. We're coming up to hibernation season and they need to reach 600g to survive. Hedgehogs are terrors for having another batch of babies in the late autumn then evicting them once they've been weaned. I guess its Nature's way of survival of the fittest and some getting through if we have a mild winter. After a chat to our local vet they said to catch it and bring it in. They would then check it over and pass it onto the local wildlife rescue place they use. 

By chance Wednesday night we had Mythago and I was chatting to one of my dancing friends about our hog as I know she has hedgehog houses and a lovely wildlife garden out in the country near here. What I didn't know was that she's a registered hedgehog carer and a wildlife release site for another local rescue hospital. She's very experienced and said to contact her if it happened again. 

Friday afternoon and Mr GBT rang me to say we had an even smaller baby in our garden. It was only 180g and would never make it without intervention. This time we knew exactly what to do....within half an hour L had got her hedgehog hutch ready and we rolled up with our little spiny charge in a shoe box. I was worried that it might not still be alive, but she peeked in and it was still very much with us. After we left she took it along to her local vet to have a tick removed and since then it's been very lively. As soon as it got back it stuck its nose in its food and has been pretty much stuffing its face ever since. Honestly I'm like a first time parent again, but am pleased to report that it's now sleeping during the day and then waking up for its tea at nighttime. We can but keep our fingers crossed for young Cecil as L's named him [or maybe Cecilia!]

Arilx

PS Since I wrote the post I have learnt that we have a little girl so she's now called Celia. L has checked with the wildlife hospital and because she's too little to keep herself warm she's now been transferred to them to be kept in an incubator for now. She's doing well and L has requested that she have her back again so that she can release her back into the wild next year when she's ready. I have used L's picture with her permission.

 

5th November

[Pixabay]

There will, no doubt, be lots of people enjoying the whizz bangs tonight celebrating Bonfire Night. However, if you happen to be in the Devon village of Shebbear your choice of entertainment might be very different.

At 5.30 a number of strong chaps will be turning the Devil's Stone after the bellringers have let loose with as discordant a peal of bells as they can manage. Hopefully the cacophony of noise will be enough to keep the devil away, but if you want the next year to be lucky then the 6' long stone needs turning. It's rumoured to weigh a ton so it's quite a job....just as well there's a pub nearby to restore the flagging spirits afterwards eh😏

It's not clear how long this folkloric tradition has been going or how it started. The legend is that the stone was dropped by Old Scratch when St Michael booted him out of heaven. It is more likely to be a possible former standing stone and is referred to an erratic. The type of quartz is not found in the local geology so has either been brought here by humans [rather like some of the Stonehenge menhirs] or deposited here during one of the periods of glaciation.

Have a good weekend one and all. 

Arilx

Wordy

Arilx

 

Killing time

 Mr GBT and I are pretty punctual, so this left us with a few minutes to kill before the wedding at the nearby registry office last week. Having parked opposite the parish church of SS Mary and Nicholas in Leatherhead, I was never going to miss an opportunity to poke about....even dressed in wedding attire and heels didn't slow me down😈 Even with the church locked and only 10 minutes an Aril can locate something to unearth......

More of those devil deflecting marks around the porch door that I like so much....you will have seen similar on previous posts here.

Plus two 18th century gravestones side by side in remarkably good condition. The carvings have been done by the same hand, but are subtly different. I haven't often come across such good and unusual examples of Memento Mori in my part of the South East so I was delighted. 

It was only when I got home and edited the close up of the Eye of God which features on both that I noticed that it is enclosed by a snake eating its own tail. The official name for this is an ouroborus

and it is apparently one of the most ancient alchemy symbols. It represents the circle of life and infinity and has been with us since the time of the ancient Egyptians.

Arilx

"Found U some blog content"

 That was the message on my phone on Sunday morning with a series of photos taken by TYM on his way back from the pub on Saturday night. What might you imagine would a fairly typical 23 year old lad be taking pictures of for his dear old Mother.....this!

One of those decorated post box toppers I am so fond of....clearly I have trained the boy well😆 As this is close to home, but I had completely managed to miss it I went back to have a look in the daylight yesterday on my way home from work.

Much to my glee there was this one just round the corner too.

The attached label was addressed to the world leaders at the current COP26 in Glasgow and calls for real action to be taken. It's good to see the WI using craftivism to get its point across and it's got local people talking about it.

I don't think that TYM will be making a regular contribution to the blog content somehow, but he was quite chuffed that he had managed to spot something before me!!

Arilx

Halloween Nuptials

 After an 18 month Covid induced delay, we were finally able to go to our friends' wedding on Friday....as you can see it was far removed from the more traditional wedding and they had reinterpreted every aspect of their day to match their taste. For us it was a fabulous day and their friends were all so sociable...I'm not generally a great lover of such events, but I'll make an exception for this one. Lots of us stayed overnight and all reconvened for a leisurely late breakfast....just what was needed after an evening of purple dragon's blood cocktails!! I think the selection of photos will give you a good idea of what we experienced❤❤

Arilx

PS The skeleton is called Boney Tony and he normally lives in their dining room💀