fordingbridge fantasia of march hares...

I was hoping to upload a blog post in February... as my mum would say, the way to hell is paved with good intentions... It may be that I'm trotting happily along that particular yellow brick road (as if indeed I believe in the concept of hell, which I don't - though the jury's out on the yellow brick road...)
or maybe I'm allowed to be more forgiving of my 'non-achieving'; think of it instead as travelling towards a completed first novel draft - this time last year I had about 3,000 words, & now I have over 31,000. Another 9,000 and I'm around half-way...
It's tortuously slow - but the tortoise still beat the hare....

My solitary life does have distinct disadvantages. You miss decent conversation, for a start... but I've been blessed with several house guests recently, and last weekend I was a houseguest myself, for my friend Fiona's 60th birthday bash. She filled the Granary at Fordingbridge with friends and family (link to check it out: http://www.newforestcottages.com/granary_barn.htm - a real home-from-home for me, being a giant version of where I'm living). Four Pisceans celebrated birthdays over the course of a fantasic weekend... an abundance of excellent food, fine wine...
and wonderful conversation.
Now, work calls - invoices to prepare for services, MOT repairs, oil changes...
A very different world to my (temporary) weekend one!

belated catch up on the christmas break

Byron’s lines ‘All who joy would win/must share it, -/Happiness was born a Twin’ express a motivation as good as any for seeking the company of others, from soulmates to passing souls.

After a dark, depressed December, my break at the cusp of the year restored my resilience in spades. (At least until after the first few days back at work!)

from my journal 23rd December 2008:
I’m on the road, and a grin spreads. The day is dull, a dull December day, threatening drizzle most of the way up the M6 (which doesn’t actually kick in until the Lakes – and even then only very half-heartedly).
I feel free. Free and definitely up to this journey. In spite of a month of no exercise or fresh air, no resources for self-care – and ever diminishing spirits. I feared getting ill after my last day at work - schoolteacher syndrome - but I’m OK.

OK, and enjoying the drive. Four to five hours is manageable - just.
The day before Christmas Eve, and I’m heading via Cumbria to my metaphorical ‘home’, my birthplace, yet again. Drawing close to Keswick, The Beautiful South sing Rotterdam on Radio 2, and I agree with Aled - it doesn’t get much better than this.
Half an hour on, I catch sight of the red sun sliding through cloud towards the Solway Firth. Just when you think it won’t get better than this… It does.

Christmas Day. Mum and I drove to North Berwick to walk along the bay. Once the link of love and blood is made, it can never be fully broken.

29th December, Sheena & I went up Harlaw.

These pictures remind me of what a spectacular place the Pentlands can be....

I didn't fully appreciate the wondrous scenery when I lived there!

3rd January 2009, I had my annual New Year coast pilgrimage – a meander along the Solway Firth, snapping happily at a sunwashed Criffel (above) – & I just missed a perfect photo of the flock’s mirror image in the sea… (below)

Lots of playing with arty beach photos... but I'll limit to these!

This trip home, I meet another two people who have just been diagnosed hep C positive. And only one cleared of those I'd already met. Our numbers grow… and grow, unfortunately.

I came across Raymond Carver’s lines from ‘What the Doctor Said’, where the doctor asks ‘are you a religious man...’ delighting in natural joys and wisdom. Like Carver, I’m not quite living that – yet. But I, too, intend to start today.

5th January 2009, my return to the world of work, & I have a prang in the car. I drive 500 plus miles – and crash within walking distance of my work. At least nobody bled!

December Days...

Seeds in the sun (the same day as the ice sculptures in the puddles) & the Malverns in the mist...
Just wanted to get the pix up... more to follow.