Wasp marbles

These are Oak Marble Galls. They aren't naturally occurring. They are actually chemically induced to form by the Gall Wasp for the rearing of a single wasp larva. Eventually the young wasp wakes up, breakfasts on the inner lining (very nutritious), chews a hole in the gall and emerges. If you look very closely at the bottom gall in the picture below you can just about see the exit hole.
They used to make inks and dyes from Tannic Acid which can be extracted from the galls. Also it is said that ground up galls mixed with hog's lard is a great cure for piles. I'll leave the testing of this remedy to someone else.

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Face of the week.

Harry is looking a bit pensive here. He also likes to snuggle up for some strokes. When you stop he will poke you with his paw as if to say, "More."

The Canterville Ghost

No tour through the literary landscape of The Ghost Story would be complete without Oscar Wilde's clever little tale The Canterville Ghost. He turns the whole concept on its head with the ancient titular ghost, who has spent several centuries not paying for the sins of his life by blithely terrifying the old house's residents and visitors to death and insanity, being driven to his own wits end by the American family who bring their own blithe modernity to bear in dealing with him. The results are very funny; Wilde is justly famous for his wit and his command of satire. It's not just a comedy though. There are more serious themes at work, not least the chance for redemption. Wilde also can find time between the fun to show he can use lyricism to evoke pathos with equal mastery. This is one you can read more than once, because like good poetry it doesn't always give everything up with the first reading.

The Moon Rabbit

Camera Critters

It is said that if you look at the dark shadows on the moon you can see the shape of a large rabbit. Many legends have sprung up over the ages as people have gazed up at the moon and spotted him. Chinese legends abound but he also appears in Japanese legends, Korean, Aztek and in the Buddhist Jataka tales. In one of my favourite books, Watership Down, he is known as the Black Rabbit of Inlé. According to the book Inlé is the Lapine word for Moon and the Black Rabbit of Inlé is a Rabbit who only appears when it is time for a rabbit to die. Most of the rabbits who live on the hill above my house are the usual grey brown colour but not this chap.

Pigeons from Hell

First published in 1938 not long after R.E.Howard's suicide, Pigeons from Hell is a Gothic Horror tale set in the deep south of the USA. Two friends decide to spend the night in an abandoned old plantation house. The story eschews the more traditional slow build of atmosphere and tension, choosing instead to scare the pants off you in the first few pages. It certainly succeeds. The rest of the story's fear is generated by apprehension about returning to the old deserted house that has already demonstrated its terrors. It is superbly told and very creepy. It also features one of Howard's recurring characters - Kirby Buckner. If I was assembling a reading list to use for developing a horror writing style I'd certainly think about including this one.

Mr Timothy

Louis Bayard's Mr Timothy rejoins Dickens's Tiny Tim when he is an adult. Timothy is something of a lost soul, drifting through the days waiting for the happy part of 'happily ever after' to kick in. Dickens didn't conclude 'A Christmas Carol' with that phrase but it was certainly implied. In this book the majority of the Cratchits are either dead or scattered, no longer a family but instead a remnant of one. Scrooge goes on though, locked forever in his embodiment of the spirit of Christmas generosity. It is this continuing generosity that has so stagnated Mr Timothy's attempts to rise above supporting character status and make a life worthy of a leading character. Bayard never really comes close to emulating Dickens's style further than populating the first person narrative with a host of very Dickensian eccentric caricatures; the cat-haunted crusty sailor, the brothel madame, the scatological licorice proffering detective, the philosophical cab driver and the singing adventurous street urchin. It's a pretty enjoyable read with a very dark mystery at its core and if Bayard doesn't quite nail-on the Victorian setting it is still a very admirable effort.

There's always one

Face of the Week

Someone commented on my last post that the geese should have looked up for a second to smile at the camera. Well, one did at least. Geese aren't subscribers to the notion that you shouldn't smile when your mouth is full.