A difficult one at this time of year. All the trees in my back garden are gloriously gold and red, but not exactly growing. So moss it is …
Deep in the overgrown woodland recesses of my unkempt garden/nature reserve, down near the place where the bats and hedgehogs live, lurks one of Helen's weirder sculptures.
Surrounded by the detritus of autumn, but with early primulas coming up behind him around the base of a laburnum, the deranged donkey has become home to moss and ivy. A monstrous growth, but a growth nonetheless. I'll clean him up in the spring … Promise.
Apropos of nothing, while Peahen and myself cavorted around Kett's Hill on thursday, we came across this alarming evidence of canine alcoholism …
Say "Hi" to Drinky Dog.
He tried to panhandle us for small change for his "bus fare and a cup of tea", but we had him sussed.
7 comments:
I love the wild donkey--puts me in mind of Pinocchio--oh, those bad boys.
And the dog is a great photo. Poor Drinky Dog. Is it possible he was once a gambling, smoking, drinky punk boy like Pinocchio's pals before being turned into a pooch?
And, what does "sussed" mean?
Another one for our growing transatlantic dictionary:
Sussed (v. to Suss):
During the Thatcher regime, our police had a nasty right to stop and search people on "suspicion" of wrongdoing …
This became known as the "Suss law", and its widespread abuse by racist officers stopping people because they were non-white led to its condemnation.
"Sussed" or "sussed out" has come to mean "Aha! I know what YOU're up to!"
Also "Twigged" (v. to Twig) …
The donkey is a copy of a thirteenth century gargoyle on Rhiems Cathedral.
It's an education here on the planet, isn't it Robyn? I could've used 'sussed' in a sentence, but didn't know its roots.
Dive, you're creating essential reading for anyone who wants to pre-empt the glorious day that the Britishness test comes into being!
Anyone who's interested in that story (or bigotry generally) ought to find a transcript of the great Constable Savage sketch by the 'Not the Nine O'Clock News' boys. Here's a great transcript complete with annotations and a cartoon! (Though it looses something without Rowan Atkinson's pronunciation of 'Cudoogo'!).
I'm sitting here trying to think of American colloquialism, but nothing comes to mind.
Oh, except "read up." I live in a valley that sometimes seems isolated from the outside world. It's not remote or isolated, but words have been developed that aren't said outside the valley. To "read up" you house means to get it ready for company. Also, green peppers are called mangoes. It can be confusing when you're at a yocal pizza place and trying order a pizza with green pepper topping.
Read up.
Love that one.
And mangoes for green peppers?
That's okay if I'm making a mango curry, but I wouldn't really want to make green pepper ice cream …
(though I DO make chili ice cream).
And Pea, that's a classic sketch. Good to read the script again.
Wow. Even the dogs get sloshed in England.
I love the sculpture.
Like Peahen I've used sussed for years and never knew, I thought it would of been older but what do I know?
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