A tidy room with the sun shining through. Yes I miss it, especially when cards come through the post telling me of the happenings of the village. There is a clash of curtains here, the large ugly curtains from the old house on the front window, and the ones overlooking the grave yard a softer green. This one made beautifully by someone over the road in Normanby because Matilda was scared of being by all those dead people ;)
A green uncontrolled wild space in the Mendips. Here I came across a wild bellflower, fittingly called campanula within the rocky spaces of the narrow footpath through the gorge.
This church has two symbolic paths for me. Notice it has a round tower, one of a handful in Essex. The church door to the right leads to Christianity, there is a medieval wall painting inside of a dragon to scare the life out of you. But the left handed path leads you to three of the largest Roman tumuli in Europe, Bartlow Barrows. We visited several times marvelling at the height of the barrows, inner sanctums of Roman life. As always, the untouched land of the barrows was covered in wild flowers.
Lucy. Plump, knows her own mind, and what is good for her. Which is of course sleep in the most comfortable places and no walks. She loved her home too much. She has a bloody paw, not sure if she had to have an operation for something, I remember Moss tore his dew claw off. An appendage that is useless.
Teasels. When the seed is produced the teasel heads will be the food of gods for goldfinch. But I came across an interesting fact today, written in 'The Country Diary' of the Guardian. Apparently it was seen as a special healing kind of bird in the medieval period and can be found occasionally in paintings. Why? because the little goldfinches' red face came about because it plucked the thorns out of Christ's thorn crown.
What other nonsense have I picked up today. Well apparently Mark Carney, the current prime minister of Canada, is in a slight bother for using 's' instead of 'z' in writing his documents. I know exactly how he feels. I refuse to drop my 'u' in colour...
And the real reason for recording these memories is that it is Paul's birth date today, as also my daughter remembers. And as he always said " I never know what you are thinking till have I read your blog";)
the Salt Path: 'confession letter' and thefts that broke a family
What a nice family photo.
ReplyDeleteI remember something about teasels and weaving wool on huge and complicated looms.
I missed that about Carney. I will always use Australian/English spelling, which is closest to UK spellings. If the opportunity arises, I set my language to UK English if Australian is not an option. It is closest to our spelling.
Yes Andrew they seem to have had a teasel machine for one stage. I have never thought that Australian English is so different from the 'mother' country;)
DeleteThat is a nice family picture. Cool church. I would like to take the path on the left and explore the Bartlow Barrows. Have a good day! Cali
ReplyDeleteHello Calli, the Roman barrows are one of those wonders but really are hidden in the backwoods of Cambridge, I doubt they have many visitors. But well worth a visit.
DeleteIt's fun to look through old photos and celebrate the happy memories of those adventures. How quickly your sweet family has grown up!
ReplyDeleteYes they have grown quickly Ellen but it is nice to look back on old times,
DeleteThat IS a nice, spacious, sunny room. I've almost forgotten what direct sun looks like coming in a window!
ReplyDeleteWe always grow teasels in the garden but weirdly, the goldfinches prefer to pluck the new buds off our Tamarix tree. They ignore the teasels completely!
London bred goldfinches obviously have more sophisticated tastes Steve. I had forgotten how spacious that room was for it went on to a dining area looking out onto the back garden.
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