Eureka moment

 

My hamlet has existed for a minimum of 1000 years.  It is mentioned in the Norman Conquerors' Doomsday Book as having numerous farms, villeins, mills, mines, oxen and slaves etc and so I know for sure that it was thriving long before it was listed for taxation purposes.  What a sad thought - that people living here have been paying tax for a thousand years and we still have no drains or sewage other than that we provide for ourselves <sigh>

 

My 4 acre paddock which is the other side of my garden fence runs up to within 100 yards of the 13thC Church and buts onto the road leading to the Church, the parish Pound (where stray animals were impounded in olden times) and the parish pond and pump.  I think that's a pretty good reason for believing that people have walked and worked my land for centuries.

 

Yesterday afternoon found myself waving a metal detector, the hub toting a spade, the dog carrying her stick and 4 impertinently nosy ponies quartering the corner of the paddock nearest the Church.

We stomped up and down through horseshit until the air was a brown and distinctly pongy miasma.  Every so often I would go rigid with excitement as my skull was blasted by a piercing tone from the headphones and the hub would gird his loins and set to digging.  The very first hole went down, and down, and down some more until the spoil heap looked like he was digging a grave.  Yup, an old lead water pipe.  Followed as the afternoon went on by an old billhook, gate fittings, metal caps off probably poisonous agricultural cans and then one after another absolutely humungous shire horse shoes, the largest 11" across.

 

Then the battery went and I traipsed back to engage in a fruitless search for a replacement while hub and dog returned to the field of victory with a bin bag for the spoils.  Of course if the battery hadn't gone we'd have found buried Norman treasures, possibly Saxon brooches too, doubtless Elizabethan cape clasps, definitely something hugely valuable and historically exciting.

In fact, if it didn't look like there might be a spot or two of drizzle today I'd be out there right now.  There'd be no stopping me. 

 

Indiana Jones?  Ha, not a spot on me mate.

Don't look, no nix!

On Monday I took Constance to Lake Vyrnwy for the day and we walked into the hills alongside a river which runs into the lake, Connie whinging 'are we there yet' all the way.  Once we arrived at some falls I sat to get her drink and fruit bar picnic out and took this pic in which she's wearing her full complement of warm dry clothing:

 

 

Within 2 minutes she'd decided to cross the river by leaping from stone to stone; as she later explained she thought if Gyp could do it so could she given that she's 6 months older than the dog. 

Gyp could, Constance couldn't.  One very wet Constance had to strip off to her tee shirt - every other stitch of clothing was sodden with icy mountain water, and she mooched back to the car wearing only her tee shirt, wet wellies and her coat this time whinging that she had no knickers on and that Gyp was a mean dog for leaving her in the water.

 

 

10 minutes later she was going full pelt on the assault course without a care in the world.  Being 5 is fantastic.

Eye eye, who's a div then?

Just before lunchtime the weather was looking increasingly dodgy and so I remarked to my hub that I would go into town on a cosmetics buying spree and asked if he wanted to come.  He said he'd rather poke his eye with a sharp stick and went back out to mulch the beech hedge.  10 minutes later he called me out.

Yes.  He'd poked his eye with a sharp stick.  Into town we went, me to the cosmetics counters, himself to the opticians.  10 minutes later we were off to the hospital as an Acute Referral.  He sat there and unblushingly told the consultant that yes, he'd poked his eye with a sharp stick. He's 'dented' his retina apparently.

He's made more fuss about having one eye drop every 4 hours than he made when he did the injury.  <sigh>

Once we got home he said that he'd not been able to buy my Easter Egg as we'd had to rush to the hospital.  I said in that case he'd have to go into town again tomorrow.

Guess what he replied?

Yup.  I'm married to a div  :O)

Bishops and pawns

 

In medieval times it became Church law that anyone who owned land which had in former times belonged to the parish Church (called 'Rectorial' land) should henceforth be responsible for repair of the church chancel.  In return they were entitled to collect a 10% tithe tax from all parishioners.  Most rectorial land was of course still owned by the church itself anyway and in that case the church took the tithes.  As the centuries passed much rectorial land was broken up into smaller and smaller plots as hamlets and villages and towns expanded and the tax collecting aspect of the deal was abolished by parliament.

 

The chancel repair quid pro quo obligation was never repealed however and now the Church of England has resuscitated its claims and has had a test case upheld in the High court with the result that a farm in Warwickshire has been made virtually worthless and unsellable and the owners financially ruined. 

Any property owner whose house, patio, garden or garage is built on land which centuries ago belonged to a parish church is likely to find themselves liable for the unrestricted costs of church repairs no matter how miniscule a piece of land it might be.

 

This sort of behaviour which is so obviously massively unfair turns people away from the Church and imo it's high time that all Church law was declared invalid in British courts.

No Piscean!

The female side of my family have an intuitive artistic flair.  We take to the arts like ducks to water - expressing our creativity in beautiful ways comes naturally to us.

We are also sensitive and caring of each other's feelings and would never say or do anything hurtful to each other.  It's in the genes.

 

This published piece of work was painted by a changeling.

 

 

Mind, she got her Mum's hair right   

Joie de la vie

 

They do say that an hour's exercise and/or and hour outside in daylight is better than any medication for relieving the doldrums.  On a day like today, with the sun shining and the wind calm, it's easy to believe it.

I've just had a trundle around the lanes and through my little hamlet with my pooch; cocks crowing, buzzards wheeling, a thrush singing his heart out at the top of a beech tree, celandines, violets, tall spears of bluebells showing and alongside me the pounding of hooves as stud stallions tear up the hillside gallop.  Fantastic. 

Go on, get out into the lanes and see if the world doesn't look a much better place and you'll realise that no matter what's going on in the world chaffinches will still sing pink pink and celandines will still turn their little faces to the sun. 

 

PS Having weighed myself for the first time this morning since the start of Lent and finding that I've lost 8lbs has really put a spring in my step to match the weather

Blooming great

I've just spent a few exciting days considering making some purchases.  I've had a long look at last year's photos, carefully studied my new crop of catalogues, considered whether some things would look better next to others, sizes, colour ranges, effort of upkeep, thought about the overall effect and worried that I was being too self-indulgent. 

I've just sent off my seed and plant order for this year - cost £75.  I've already had more pleasure from that £75 than I'd get buying anything else and from here on in it's all reward.. 

Sometimes money can buy happiness!