As my Nana used to say, ‘a watched pot never boils’. It comes to mind as that is precisely what I am doing this morning; boiling up the bones of a chicken for stock. Not long after I had it in the pot and bubbling, I had the urge to go out. ‘Turn it off,’ … Continue reading Patience
Often it is life’s little victories that can carry one through when the doldrums descend. Mundane days when the small wins (as opposed to winds) lift you lightly like a kite. When you are on an errand in the car, maybe cutting it fine to get where you need to be for a certain time, … Continue reading Life’s Little Victories
I caught myself doing that thing I do when I’m on trains. Couldn't help myself - watching and imagining. Profiling according to what people are reading, or doing. The man in front was reading a history of the Korean War; he was ex-Australian Navy. Not that I gleaned that by the cut of his jib, … Continue reading Meddle
Three months into my self-imposed ban on clothes shopping and I’m sticking to it fairly well. I’ve slipped only once; last week when I bought four pairs of socks, but other than that, no temptations, inclinations or straying from the path of non-consumption. Yes, all was well, until my visit to London at the weekend … Continue reading Old Clothes
The clocks have changed. We have well and truly tipped into a different time of year. Nature is slow to catch up with us this year, but it will, it will. The stretch in the day heralds a time for a change of schedule, more daylight allows us to rise out of our winter confinement, … Continue reading Clocks Change
I’m down south in the big city, staying with M. I didn't sleep well on my first night here. Last night was different, who knows why. A change of place usually doesn't bother me, but I lay sleepless, aware of the night noises, quite different to those back at home. “You might hear the urban … Continue reading Night Noises
A drunk man befriended me yesterday as I was taking in the Landscape Photographer of the Year Exhibition at Waverley Station. I was examining a close up of frost on fallen leaves, moss and tufts of grasses, taken by a talented soul from Hebden Bridge with a good camera and a better eye. Displayed next … Continue reading Drunk and Orderly
I’m off to London this morning – to the cultural melting pot where every nation of the world is represented. Eight and half million people getting on with it in a city where anything goes, where it’s hard to stick out or to provoke a raised eyebrow. At least, that is my notion of it, … Continue reading Dare To Be Different
It is World Poetry Day. Its purpose: to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world. Designated by UNESCO in order to, "give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements". A ‘poetry movement’. Now there’s a strange idea. One I rail against, probably from a blinkered, naive, … Continue reading What Poetry Is
The Shipping Forecast, which celebrated 150 years in 2017, is a radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of Ireland and the UK. I suspect that thousands of us lie awake in the early hours listening to the somniferous tones of the late-night reader’s rolling cadences break gently like … Continue reading Sailing By
