Category: Rural Idyll
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Family togetherness . . .
We had a full house over the weekend: blow-up mattress, camping cushions in the living room, and three sets of familiars to accommodate in separate quarters. Kali cat lived in the conservatory from whence she could escape to the great outdoors; growing-up kittens Maui and Leo roamed from lounge to bedroom, enjoying their sequestered eating…
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Family stories . . .
Images can capture a lifetime of memories in s single frame. My mother loved her family’s ‘sugar bush’ and she conveyed, onto a canvas, her childhood experience of maple sap collection and its semi-magical rendering into syrup. I think she used a postcard of a late winter scene from a farm near Toronto as her…
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Soft clean lines . . .
The soft lines of our hedgerows echo the undulations of the fellsides across the valley. This sight is such a joy, especially with the straggly hawthorns trimmed into a presentable state. This was work that was beyond my capacity, so we inveigled a local handyman to work throughout yesterday, to finish today, and to charm…
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Blackberry season
With any luck, if the sun shines this afternoon, after we’re diligent with a bit of house cleaning chores, and locally-contributive with a visit to a Producers’ Market, we’ll take a little amble into the New Galloway edge of the Ken-Dee Marshes on a blackberry forage. We’ve been promising ourselves, for some time, that we’d…
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A little hopping joy
We used to see so many frogs hopping around the place, when I was growing up. Indeed, drying stream beds and helpless, wriggling tadpoles were a feature of note. How many survived into adulthood and how many dessicated we children never knew, or cared, for that matter. There were always plenty of croakers about. As…
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Family fun and frolics
Families are arriving for a big celebration today here in Sparty. We’ve got the lawns mowed (some rather better than others!), hot tub fired up, food gathered in, and the Elf Hole is stocked and ready for a series of prolonged chats. The bartender has his best convivial manner in play, and expects to listen,…
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Joys of a quiet valley
Early in the morning, in the peaceful quietude of the valley where the Eastern Allen runs, it’s so good to be able to appreciate the softness. Not that life is easy, up here on the high fellsides. There are plenty of rigours that keep families scratching, and more to come as the cost of heating…
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The soft twilight . . .
I awakened early this morning with a persistent toothache. And it’s weeks before I can see a dentist. I felt a bit sorry for myself, until I looked up and saw the softness of the early morning light. Outside, it was soft, so soft, in the cool glow of morning twilight. The full moon (or…
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Good morning, blue sky
It’s no wonder that the seeresses of old used a crystal ball to peer into the future. The reflection of the blue sky beyond the clouds in our glass conservatory table this morning seems to offer a new perspective to the dawn. New perspectives seem to be an incredible stimulus. I know one writer who…
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Clearing joys
It was a hard job, but somebody had to do it! Over the years I’ve been accumulating defunct items in a corner of the field. The weeds have overgrown the small heap so it was as if there was nothing there. But I knew the day of reckoning would arrive, and yesterday morning it did.…
Roads to Joy 