I wasn’t sure how everything would pan out – the day started with an argument between spouse and I as soon as we jumped out of bed, followed by another argument but it ended with pizza for dinner so that, in my opinion, makes it somewhat a success.

After we spent most of the morning in heated disagreements over where we should visit we didn’t have a great deal of time to go anywhere.  Luckily for us we don’t live too far away from some pretty cool stuff.  Like Old Sarum in Wiltshire.

There’s not much left of Old Sarum.  It’s an iron age hill fort which over time has been home to Romans, Saxons, and medieval kings.  The castle, which remains you can see, was built for King Henry I.

You can see the mount in the distance.  I took this photo at the site of the Norman cathedral which was built below the castle.  It was consecrated then burnt down 5 days later after it got hit by lightening (I admit – that made me laugh).

The last time we visited Old Sarum was back in May when we went to check out the first crop circle of 2010.  I was curious to see if there would be any marking left at all from the crop circle now it’s September and harvest is almost over.

Here’s the crop circle back in May:

And here it is now:

You can just make out the shape in the harvested crop. I’m not sure what that means – damaged crop, damaged soil or something else.  Any ideas?

Now moving on to Gizmo.  It’s my son’s birthday today – he’s 12!  OMG that makes me feel old.  He’s with his Dad this year so I made his birthday cake for him yesterday.  He’s loved his Gizmo for years and wanted a Gizmo cake.  Here he is with his Gizmo and my version of a Gizmo cake:

Here’s a close up of my marshmellow mozaic creation:

So I clicked on over to Engrish.com (I love this site) to see what stuff has already been written.

Like this menu…

And this cartoon…

Even this sign:

And this one:

Oh, and you probably wouldn’t want to try one of these:

You might be better off (or not) going to:

Words of warning:

An excellent community service:

Some spiritual advice:

And finally:

Grotesque at York Minster

Although gargoyles have been around since Egyptian times, the French have a long standing relationship with gargoyles. The word ‘gargoyle’ originates from the French word gargouille which means throat or gullet. We’ve borrowed the word and modified it too – we gargle and gurgle in English!!

It’s said that St. Romain, the bishop of Rouen, encountered the colossal monster ‘Gargouille’ or ‘Garguiem’ in the Seine around 631 A.D. This water serpent, with a long neck and eyes gleaming like moonstones, was happily saturating the land with water through it’s slender snout and terrorising passing boats. St. Romain only had one volunteer to help him capture the monster and this was a prisoner awaiting execution.  So the bishop used the prisoner as bait to lure the monster towards him and then, at the crucial moment (at least for the prisoner) he made the sign of the cross.  This immediately tamed the Garguiem who was led back to Rouen and burned to death.

The prisoner luckily didn’t share the same fate as the Garguiem. He was freed from his sentence and in honour of his bravery the Archbishops of Rouen were allowed to set a prisoner free each year on the anniversary of the slaying of the monster.

Little stone chaps at York Minster

It wasn’t long before stone images of Garguiem started to appear on buildings spouting water. Although gargoyles started off as grotesque creatures they have morphed into various animals, demons and even monks!  There is a church near to where I live which actually has a grotesque witch, called Kit Knox, on it.  Some of the most elaborate gargoyles can be seen today at Notre Dame in Paris.

It’s widely thought that gargoyles were used from the middle ages onwards to ward off any evil spirits lurking around churches, cathedrals and other important buildings as well as provide plumbing. But there are other theories as to why these monsters sprung up. They could possibly be:

• A reminder to parishioners that evil is on the outside and the good stuff is inside.
• Pagan symbols to attract local, non-Christians into coming to church.
• An insurance policy to stop the building collapsing because only evil things make buildings crumble and that can’t possibly happen if you’ve got a gargoyle on watch.
• A cunning advertising bluff to let demons know not to bother calling because demonic work is already being done inside.

If you have the opportunity to go gargoyle spotting on old buildings look out for the less conventional gargoyles. You might be able to spot nose picking gargoyles, gargoyles with glasses, mooning gargoyles and there’s even the odd defecating gargoyle or two!!

For more ‘G’s – go to ABC Wednesday!

The hill in question was St. Catherine’s Hill in Winchester.

And it’s not just any old hill either.  At the top are the remains of an Iron Age fort, a copse of trees where a Norman church once stood and a mismaze.

Oh, and there are steps to make the climbing easier.  A lot of them.

Placing Tabitha on the starting line...

The hill was inhabited some 3000 years ago but the only tell tale signs are the ditch around the top of the hill.

Tabitha pretending to sway in the non existent breeze

The mismaze was, supposedly, first cut in the 17th century but no one really knows why.

#2son running the mismaze

It was worth the walk as the views are stunning and to reach the hill you have to walk along the river Itchen. We’re going to go back again -there seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding St. Catherine’s Hill.  Probably, though, not with the boys.

Nydia from Bringing Up Salamanders.

Well done, Nydia!

The last time I was in London I was 8 months pregnant with Tabitha and wandering around on an evening ghost walk.  I miss the city sometimes but I think of my most favourite spot along the Thames and I can feel the life force of the town.

It was the one place in London where I had to take Paul on his visit to the UK before he moved here with me.  It’s also the place where my mother used to push me along in a pram as a baby.  Strangely enough my connection place in London isn’t very English at all.  It’s Cleopatra’s Needle on the Victoria Embankment.

And yet to me is the most magical part of London and the place where the spirit is most present.  I could stand next to the Needle for hours; watching the boats go up and down the Thames, listening to the roar of the traffic and  seeing tourists hustle along the streets in an attempt to cram their day impossibly full with sightseeing.  And while all this goes on I feel connected to the past and present of the city – like having an old friend by my side watching with me.

This is how I want to feel about the rest of England.

I love the history and the countryside but I haven’t found the Genius Loci.  So far she’s escaped me, only allowing me to see her fleetingly then hiding again.  I’m English.  I want to get to know the Spirit of England.  So rather than complaining, I’m seeking her out.

Where do you know the Genius Loci?  Do you feel it just in your home or are there cities or countries which you ‘know’?  Do you feel the spirit of the country in which you were born or are you seeking like me?  I’d love to know your thoughts.

Hot boys are now not so hot middle aged men

If the last time you went ice skating was about 20 years ago and, at the time, you went mainly to look at all the hot boys on skates you will be disappointed.  You are now old enough to be the current ‘hot boys’ mother.  The ‘hotties’ from yesteryear are now sporting bald patches, beer bellies and showing their own teenagers how skating was done back in ‘their days’.

Never take #1son skating ever again

He didn’t even manage to get a skate on his foot before declaring he hated skating and it was too dangerous.  He lasted, as expected, less than 5 minutes on the ice.

Take #2son skating again

He loved it.  Only fell over once and did a whole lap without holding on.

I love spinning dizzily around

This I was unaware of until I read my husband’s blog yesterday where I learnt something I didn’t know about myself.  And I quote:

I went along to support Lyn’s love for spinning dizzily around

So there you go.  I’m a dizzy spinner.

I’m still afraid of ice fingers

I have never fallen over on the ice.  Truthfully.  This is because my mother told me if you fell over someone would skate over your hand and sever your fingers.  I didn’t want to prove her right.

It’s like riding a bicycle

Yes! I can still ice skate.  I loved ever minute of it and can’t wait to go back.

#1son cannot take photos

See above

I fancy men who have a deep booming voice,
So it’s no surprise to learn Snape is my Hogwarts Professor of choice.

I fancy cheese sandwiches on a daily rate,
This is a handy fact to know as I make a cheap dinner date.

I fancy hexing my ex most of the time,
I’d really like to turn him into a mouldy toad or a pool of slime.

I fancy my husband yet I don’t tell him very often,
This I must rectify so he doesn’t feel neglected or forgotten.

I fancy being a better Mum and I strive for this each day,
It’s the hardest job in the world regardless of what anyone might say.

I fancy living in a rural country house without a neighbour in sight,
You’d find me, if you dare, naked in the garden on a warm, moonlit night.

BTW This is SO not me....

Go on over to ABC Wednesday to see if anything catches your fancy.

These are my full moon dreams for the forthcoming lunar month (and longer).  These, I hope, will help me shine

See more dream boards at Jamie Ridler Studios.

I’ve been nagging wanting to go for ages because it’s the home of the Mary Rose; Henry VIII’s flagship which sunk a mile from Portsmouth and was recovered in the 80s.  I didn’t get to see the Mary Rose (she’s being moved/treated until 2012) but I got to see some original Tudor artifacts brought up from the bottom of the sea.  There was no flash photography in the museum and most of my photos are decidedly dodgy.  This one’s not too bad – these are leather bound book covers:

And some plates:

Anyway, not to be deterred by the lack of Tudor ships we took the harbour boat tour (and, no, this isn’t the weird part).

#1son complained the whole time.  Granted it was blowy and drizzling with rain from time to time but it wasn’t that bad.  Tabitha loved it.  She pointed out ship after ship after ship.

Then we went to explore HMS Victory.

This is the ship on which Admiral Nelson died at the Battle of Trafalgar and his body was stored in a barrel of brandy until it was brought to England.  At the start of the tour #1son escaped with Paul so I was left with #2son and Tabitha.

#2son had recently been to the see the warship with his school.  So he took the opportunity to give me a tour of the ship, pointing out the facts and details he learnt from his class.

He went into great detail in places.  Especially with the cannons, re-enacting scenes and lifting mini-cannon balls.  He also took great pride in showing me the hammocks:

My son’s show and tell tour must have lasted close to an hour (or perhaps it just felt that long lol).  I didn’t want to ruin his excitement even though I prefer to read the information posts and potter around with my camera.  I was proud of him for retaining so much.

Afterwards we went to see the other warship, HMS Warrior.  This is the navy’s first iron ship and made wooden ships obsolete.:

And it was then #2son realised this was the ship he’d visited when he came with the school and he’d never actually been on the Victory before.

I’d just spent the last hour listening to him tell me about a ship he knew nothing about!