Period Apotropaios

[FamilyWiggs]

Well, as it is Friday 13th and we are now putting in the course of stonework over the upper windows, it seemed the right day to do this:





It is one of my old work boots, so has the shape of me (and thus my spirit!) in it. I also put in the boot a piece of paper with the names and ages of all of us in the house, the names, ages and trades of the mason and joiners, and a little missive to ward off evil spirits today and henceforth. I also put in for good measure a penny and a teaspoon, as well as the frontpage from today's Times (and Guardian for balance!).

Strangely the cat is eyeing me very suspiciously!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Wonderful! I and my familiars approve. But there are at least another 6 years of wear in that boot.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Wonderful! I and my familiars approve. But there are at least another 6 years of wear in that boot.

I quite agree - that boot is fine. However, its pair had parted company from its solemate. :wink:

 

[skier-hughes]

and with all that you've put inside it, it's got to be a size 22?

 

[Carol]

Lovely idea, please put a date as well for future historians! So pleased you didn't choose to entomb a favourite feline. Don't forget to make some intriguing scratches in any available woodwork too. We have the letters AVM entwined in several places, where there were doorways and we have never had any witches or devils so it must work.

 

[Penners]

Ah - hand-tooled, brogue workboots, in the finest leather. What style!

Generations as yet unborn will discover it, shake their heads in wonder and sigh, "This house must have belonged to a mighty nobleman."

We, on the other hand, know him to be a somewhat eccentric fellow with seaweed for hair, who dresses up in questionable clothes at weekends and drinks any kind of dodgy hooch that he can get his hands on.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[AMc]

In tribute to a comedian on the telly I was sorely tempted to write "I will kill again" under the lining paper I hung a while back.
I didn't because the idea of Norfolk CSI ripping the house apart due to a practical joke was too hard to bear.

Before we laid the massive oversite bed for the underfloor heating I buried a biscuit tin with some pictures, plans, letters about who lived here now and what we knew about the previous owners. I wrapped that in an M&S bag then a John Lewis one (we wouldn't want anyone to think we weren't middle class ) and then replaced the hard core over the top. I hope it will be a very long time before that tin is opened again.

 

[Flyfisher]

Lovely idea FW. I haven't gone as far as entombing any footwear though I have left plenty of names and dates scrawled on the new woodwork within our roof. I like the idea though and have lodged it in my mental 'to do list.

However, I do think you should also include a reference to PPUK and perhaps even this thread inside that boot.That will give future historians something to search for. :lol:

 

[Penners]

In tribute to a comedian on the telly I was sorely tempted to write "I will kill again" under the lining paper I hung a while back.
I didn't because the idea of Norfolk CSI ripping the house apart due to a practical joke was too hard to bear.

A lovely idea, but I can understand your reasons for not seeing it through.

Perhaps you could tone it down a bit. Just scrawl, "I didn't do it, but I know who did." That should cause some head-scratching!

 

[Jellyfire]

Its not quite the same, as I think it was more to fill a hole than to ward off evil spirits or serve as a time capsule, but I just found remnants of an East Anglian Daily Times from 1968 stuffed into a hole in one of our Daub walls...

 

[Zebra]

That newspaper looks in remarkably good condition. The oldest bit of newspaper I ever found, behind a light switch in a wall in a block of flats in Fulham, was from 1914.

 

[Jellyfire]

That newspaper looks in remarkably good condition. The oldest bit of newspaper I ever found, behind a light switch in a wall in a block of flats in Fulham, was from 1914.

It's a bit brittle but otherwise in very good condition, I'm taking that as a good sign, despite the concrete render which i guess was applied in 1968, I'm presuming the wall it was in has remained pretty dry during that time

 

[Penners]

That newspaper looks in remarkably good condition.

Of course! It's the East Anglian Daily Times - top quality in every respect.

 

[Jellyfire]

One of the stories is about how there are proposed plans to increase freight on the railways to ease HGVs on the roads, in today's EADT 44 years later there was pretty much the same story. I know things move slowly around here, but that's pretty impressive

 

[FamilyWiggs]

but I just found remnants of an East Anglian Daily Times from 1968 stuffed into a hole in one of our Daub walls...

So, on the basis that East Angular is about as contemporary as North Wales, I reckon that newspaper was put there about 5 years ago... :wink:

 

[Penners]

East Angular is about as contemporary as North Wales

And all the better for it.

 

[Zebra]

 

[Ebenezer]

When we moved into our cottage last year I put a nice shiny £1 coin into a split in one of the beams. So far so good. No devils or witches, especially as one is reputed to be buried just a few yards away outside the church grounds.

 

[88v8]

hoofpic

Ahh, ye famous floor.