S e c r e t s

A number of cats have taken up residence in the bureau of Mrs. Bloomsbury Barton (the Lady of the Manor on the British TV program Worzel Gummidge). The bureau was recently acquired at auction, and evidently the cats come as a bonus. An assembly of mice are attempting to bell the cat. In addition to the cats, there are various artifacts on and in the dresser that indicate the previous owner’s tastes and pastimes. A box of Pandora’s remains as yet unopened – which is a good thing – and a Taunton Deane Morris Men handkerchief peeps out. The fancy old mirror bears the word ‘Lil’ – the kind of thing David’s old Welsh Granny would have owned. The inscription “440” (cycles per second) symbolizes the note “A” to which an orchestra tunes. The interior shows items from a typical Saturday night and Sunday morning. A bottle of Otter Ale (a local tasty brew in the Otter valley) can be seen. First thing Sunday is represented by the packet of HobNobs: sitting in bed, reading Rupert stories to Katie and eating biscuits is one of the luxuries of David’s life. The curiously ugly turnip head in the corner is Worzel Gummidge, a character unknown outside England, who has numerous adventures with a couple of children around an English village.