Green man

Outside my back door, a twenty year old wall plaque from Yorkshire still resides. Held in place by a nail through its forehead. Brown oak leaves surround his face. Sometimes these ancient masks have leaves or vines growing out of their mouths. They are symbolic of life and death, new growth, or fertility? They are found in connection with old religions like Wikka? They are certainly pre Christian.

If you are interested in these ancient symbols then take a look at corn dollies too. These are made of tightly plaited straw with the heads of wheat left in place. There is a lot more information avaliable online.

Reindeer

Yesterday in Newcastle under Lyme for the Christmas lights opening. A large reindeer puppet strolled round the town centre. It’s movements steered by three puppeteers, directing it’s head downwards so that young children could stroke it’s nose. The head was lit up and you could see it’s eyes blink.

It was a lovely and beautiful sight. I think it was made by BArts.

Treats don’t last

Yummy chocolate cherry treats don’t last long and if I keep buying them, then they are no longer treats!

Only eight in the box, everyone tasty and sweet. With that sharp cherry tang.

I’d buy them every week, but they are not good for me. I swore not to eat as much sugar, but I think I’m addicted to it!

Only savoury treats now? I don’t know, the temptation is too great. Definitely wrapped in red for danger.

If you get to have a treat, enjoy.

A sweet treat

I decided to make myself a treat. Take a glass, add one shot of Irish coffee liqueur and add a mini dark chocolate and vanilla ice-cream on a stick. Plus a teaspoon.

Let the ice-cream melt so the centre is soft but the dark chocolate is still crunchy. Break off into the Irish coffee liqueur…..remove the stick.. Spoon out the tasty treat to enjoy.

Cherry cheescake

And a chocolate dot

When I promised to cut down

On sugary foods

I didn’t notice this cheese cake

Lingering just

Out of sight

The chocolate dot

Sat on the counter

Looking for a companion

To contrast with the cherry swirls

Give me strength

Never to return

To this cafe

On pain

Of chilli sauce

Poured on my dessert!

Misleading astronomy

I do hate it when people hype astronomical events. If you’ve ever watched a meteor shower you know it doesn’t look like this! It’s cloudy here so I’m unlikely to see anything..

Some showers have a lot of meteors or meteorites (the ones that land).

I’ve commented on the post:

It won’t look like this. The Leonids radiate from the constellation Leo (the direction they come from, not the actual stars). They won’t look like blue fireballs, just thin fast streaks of light shooting through the night sky. Unless a large chunk of material falls through the atmosphere. But it’s worth looking up, usually after local midnight. You can really see some great shows if the weather is clear.

For info go to spaceweather.com or look up details at the BBC’s The sky at night TV programme.