CATTLE CHARM -- NO. 7 -- ARTEFACT SERIES

There is a descriptive tag at the very top of the chain but it ruins the picture. It says: "CHARM. For protection of cattle; a ball of rock crystal hooped in silver and with a silver chain. 1892 Exhibition." That would have been the Great Exhibition in Glasgow. I think it is rather a lot older than that. This is its real size.

It was the very devil to photograph because it reflects everything in the room. I presume it also reflected away evil, disease and rustlers. I had to wait until night and keep the room lights off. Even so, it looks like gold and not silver. The background is mottled paper.

The thing is -- prepare yourself for a tale of wet and woe -- we have a lot of work to do. Our house is built smack into the hill. The pantry and another small room are dark and windowless. The pantry is stuffed but so is the other dark room. It is a storeroom and contains things not unpacked since we moved here plus a lot of other stuff. It won't hold any more so we never go in there. We had blotted its existence from our minds.

After almost four months of rain it is small wonder I began to sniff mould. We unlocked the door and lo, the source was discovered. Everything was wet. Anything made of wood was covered in black mould, Leather things were being eaten by little white worms. Yeuk! Baskets were grey and fluffy. I don't mind when nature reclaims its own but this was our stuff.

Our work this weekend is cut out. We have to clean everything and clear out the room so that the builder can come on Monday and do something useful to dry it out. No more larking about the countryside for a few days.

I did find some things for which I'd been looking, including this crystal ball. There are more things for the artefact series but this is the prettiest of them.

For the record: + 13 C and sunny. Sunrise 7:31; sunset 5:34.