The murder of Anne Widdecombe, former Conservative MP is a shock to everyone. You may disagree with many of her views but she did her job thoroughly. I sense that to use the word murder is tentative but given that she was found with serious injuries that must be the conclusion. So I hope she rests in peace after such an unfortunate end.
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Back to Richard Jeffries. 1848 to 1887. I listened to a lecture about him and his background and the lecturer mentioned that Jeffries was seen as a mystic, folding himself into the world around him with a certain ecstatic feeling of being part of the Universe. He had a rather complex upbringing. His mother found it hard to be a mother to him and he lived a lot of the time with an aunt and uncle. His mother had lost a daughter at five years old and could not face looking after another child.
Apparently Edward Thomas wrote his biography and I see that Abebooks has plenty of choice at a reasonable price of this book. You can almost see where Thomas's writing sprang from, especially his 'Lob' poem. This was an England, now lost to time and those terrible two wars, that was graced by a verdant landscape. Full of wild flowers, birds and insects. A world which we have lost. If you have watched the video on 'Pilgrimage' by Story Crow, you will see the landscape that Jeffries grew up in. The chalk downs rolling into the distance. Tiny villages at the foot of the downs. Rich farming land.
More photos found whilst reading about Jeffries. Question can you miss flowers more than people? Pink cupped roses, slightly dishevelled but loving that old church brick wall.
leaves of every shape and size goodness knows what that little yellow flower was.
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| Luscious red peonies |
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| A beautiful unusual coloured mallow |
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| White buddleia with half a dozen butterflies. Buddleia equals butterflies |
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| Green Eyes a feral kitten who also loved butterflies! |
In my ignorance, I had never heard of Richard Jeffries before. Lovely images from your old life in Normanby and I especially liked the stance of the feral cat. The tragic death of Ann Widdecombe at 78 sounds like a mystery that only her "Dancing Detective" could solve. My bet is that she confronted a burglar who panicked and lashed out - but no doubt time will tell.
ReplyDeleteThe photos of the flowers are lovely - a nice variety. I have a red canna lily blooming so wonderfully this summer. I'm so impressed with it! I'm wondering if I can keep it all year long but I think it's too big to bring inside.
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