Monday the 7th December

Jo's pony in the far field, wandering out into the sunshine yesterday

Well the weather has done its worst in Cumbria and scotland, flooding towns and one's heart aches for all those people that have had their homes ruined.  The rivers ran furiously overtopping the new defences, and there is disbelief that such flooding could have happened again from the last time a few years ago. Perhaps all that rain should have been snow, perhaps we will wake up to the fact that climate change is indeed happening in the world but it will not help these people at this moment in time.  Even now as I write someone has broken down on the radio, such a bitter blow before Xmas.

We have escaped those terrible rain storms, only the wind battering like an angry sea against the house and roaring through the trees for two days, so that when I stood beneath them I feared their downfall.

The birds have been absent, yesterday one of our resident graveyard pheasants sat on the wall, looking tired and needing respite from the pounding of the weather.

I notice the following poem is making it's round on Facebook, I think peace is far away from us at the moment but Wendell Berry is always a comfort and I shall find his books later on.

The Peace of Wild Things

 by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

And exciting times; Mike Pitts Digging Deeper

Not forgetting; Stonehenge may have been first erected in Wales, 'amazing' finds suggest

Blue skies

"Astonishing. Getting older and older, I still stand here at this window, watching as if never having watched anything like it before – the wrens, juncos, and purple finches picking the seeds strewn on the pile of frozen snow. Through my breath condensing into fog on the cold window pane, I still see bare branches chasing their shadows in the icy wind, black threads of water crinkling through fissures in the frozen river. I am aware that what I am seeing is no more, no less than the great Mystery, that of being here at all, that of seeing it – as from the other side of a mirror – snow, birds, my breath still condensing, that breath that started so long ago as my first cry.” —Frederick Franck

As I get older I still experience the thrill of the world around me, from the smallest seed to the great tree with the sun shining through.  Today it is a blue sky day, the moon is at half mast in this sky reluctant to give up its dominance.  And has it not been dominant the last few nights, shining like a bright new shiny coin demanding attention.  Someone demanded attention during the night, and as I let Lucy out into the garden the stars shone brightly as the moon.
So what do I see first thing in the morning, well someone's bright face as she has just had a 'mad moment' in the garden, 

Then there is one of the squirrels clowning on the gravestones

The golden leaves that still hang on the sycamore tree, such an elegant shape......

"My sun shall rise in the East and my heart will be at peace."...

Which in turn reminds me of the Jo and Vangelin song - Finding my way home,....though I wish I had something  decent to play it on!
Just identified this tree as larch by it's yellowing top, and then there is the red of the church roof, surmounted by the two church bells, which will never make it on to 'Bells on Sunday' sadly...

So in all a good day, highlighted by a friend's email this morning, as he, and a couple of archaeologist reveal more hidden stones in a circle below the great tors of Cornwall

Odds and ends

The quietness of life, yes the weather rules at the moment.  Can't clean the hens nest boxes  because they lay their eggs in the morning.  The wind roared through the trees on Sunday, some trees have been felled by the storm and the fields have great ponds in them from the sheer volume of rain that has fallen.

We must go out shopping to Kirkbymoorside, and perhaps make the trip to Helmsley as well, this for birthday cards for people in December, it is an expensive month!  LS has made pickled eggs and pickled red cabbage, I like my red cabbage stewed gently with apple, onion and vinegar plus brown sugar, something you can eat with most things.

Lucy throws herself down where ever I may be with whatever she is carrying in her mouth,. She is not too happy walking in bad weather, and can always be found trotting much faster back home than when she started.  She is slightly nocturnal, ie. she wakes up during the night and emits one bark, then a little strangulated  bark, think she is just lonely downstairs and wants some company!

We have news;
Poor Corbyn is being sliced open by the media and his own party  The climate talks seem to be going well, but can one ever imagine such people as Osbourne and Cameron pulling back from 'growth', and now they want to take the country into another folly of war.  Japan is going to kill hundreds of minke whales, the boats set out today against international rules (murdering wretches).  And I see the Financial Times has now passed into the hands of a publishing firm in Japan.  LS's son works for the FT, but has the advantage of speaking Japanese.  I have knitted a blanket  and small jacket for the forthcoming much wanted baby.  the birth is in January I think.

Frankie Boyle quote

“Even our charity is essentially patronising. Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day. Give him a fishing rod and he can feed himself. Alternatively, don’t poison the fishing waters, abduct his great-grandparents into slavery, then turn up 400 years later on your gap year talking a lot of shite about fish.”

Is that the quote of someone who has grown tired of it all I wonder?  Charity is patronising of course, and I have occasionally quoted the little story about giving a man a fishing rod and he can feed himself, stupid when you come to think of it.  I do like Boyle he speaks out.....

Shafts and Wells

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33963372

Friday

 More photos from yesterday, first time I have seen grouse on the road.  Our neighbour called later in the afternoon, they live on the other side of the church in a new house that has only recently been completed.  He was indignant, the planning officer had called on him earlier in the week, why wasn't his  front wall brick, as it had been when it belonged to the Margaret Wood's cottage - Willow House that had once occupied the site, he also wanted the laurel hedge removed and............ the whole length of the garden abutting the church which has wild hedge and wood fencing, this to be removed and a brick wall built.  This of course was in the hands of a builder at the time, did the planner not come out I wonder?  Anyway it seems the rules can be relaxed, scary though considering we have just put up a wooden fence, though in the style of the pub next door.  J also came round to say he would make us a compost bin, wood is expensive, I thought of asking if he had ever thought of pallets but decided not to, and we have agreed to it, think his wife is finding him jobs outside the house though;)

  

red grouse at the side of the road

the stones that mark the road

topping the hill

Goathland church (Or Aikenfield if you watch Heartbeat)

A rather blurred 'Scripps' of Aidensfield

The Bronze age barrow on the road to Whitby

A Journey to Wheeldale Moor

Today we went to a favourite place taking some coffee with us. The journey started grey and dull but as we travelled over the moors blue skies started to appear.  So that when we got down to the Wheeldale Beck, the sun appeared.

Here by the water, with the old gnarled hawthorn trees and stones, peace is at hand, the sheer breadth and width of the moors is reduced to a small valley through which runs the beck.  Lucy had a lovely time, she even managed to jump into the beck unseen, and as she raced round smelling all those different scents that dogs love, we shall definitely have to bring her back again, though next time a towel would come in handy!

Someone's happy

Miscellaneous

The following little motif from the exploits of Peredur is a favourite. It is so 'Celtic', the actual romantic story meanders down through later tales, mostly as one of derring-do, as our young knight sets forth on a series of adventures, but within the tale of this young man, certain pagan images emerge.  It was one of Lady Charlotte Guest's story in the Mabinogion.

"Peredur rode on towards a river valley whose edges were forested, with level meadows both sides of the river: on one bank there was a flock of white sheep and on the other a flock of black sheet.  When a white sheep bleated a black would cross the river and turn white, and when a black sheep bleated a white sheep would cross the river and turn black.  On the banks of the river he saw a tall tree; from root to crown one half was aflame, and the other green with leaves..."

R.J.Stewart interpretation of the above;  The Waters of the Gap

"In the Christian expositions of the Otherworld, its balanced duality has become separation, with Heaven and hell battling for supremacy and the possession of the human soul. The pagan concept as outlined,  in the extract from Peredur, was that life and death, positive and negative, were balanced aspects of one whole picture.  The exchange, of the sheep across the river dividing the two worlds illustrates this, as does the dual nature of the tree, which has the green leaves of the natural environment, and the magical flames of the Otherworld."

Stewart has concentrated the Christian version of the duality between evil and good as a battle for supremacy over the soul.  We know from medieval church history, this battle rested on scaring people by the awfulness of the punishments in hell if they did not behave.  A social trick for an obedient population to obey in both their religious and civic roles to their king and his lords and of course the priests.

The Celtic 'otherworld' though has a more peaceful tradition when it comes to death, you change one world for another, sadly it is a bit like what we are experiencing at the moment with the Jihadists, who also in their fantasy world go on to better things once they die.  The Celts, also fighters, had this sure religious knowledge of a better place on death.

What is there to say, when a false dogma lies at the heart of a religion?

 a black would cross the river and turn white, and when a black sheep bleated a Yesterday I looked at the history of Stewart, who once lived in my home town of Bath, and found out that he had written many other books in the now modern style of interpretation of the Celtic world, or the neo-paganism we see today, he was also a folk singer as well.  The ability to write and tell the tale from a different angle, or at least interpret it to fit in with one's own view is occasionally a bit worrying..



http://northstoke.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/gods-and-theories.html  - drafted in May

  News; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-34759796

            http://www.archaeology.org/issues/190-1509/letter-from/3554-letter-from-england-medieval-
            church-graffiti

Tuesday

The wood pigeons are stripping the holly trees of their abundant red berries, so none for the festive day it looks like.  As it gets dark we hear the loud cry of the pheasants as they go to roost in the graveyard trees.  Same thing in the morning as it gets light and they fly down, noisy creatures......

The ivy creeps through the trees, it has flowered and its dark black berries soon will be more food for these hungry and rather lazy pigeons.  We are surrounded by the festive winter season of evergreen trees, ivy, holly and of course the old yews that overhang the garden and present such a dismal dark green to the world.

It struck me yesterday as I padded round in one slipper, the other lost by Lucy, that I was like the monopad dwarves that appear in C.S.Lewis's 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader', so I went and read up on these strange creatures that hopped around and find that they appear in mythology according to Wikipedia, They appear firstly in Greek myth, the 'shadow foot', often as I sit I can feel a gentle tug on a slipper or sock from Lucy.

The news is incessantly miserable, as if all the talk would make a difference, just been reading Frankie Boyle, who says it as it is, as well as Will Hutton who is angry about the NHS service, that neglects his wife in hospital at the moment.

'Dufflepuds', a tribe of monopodal dwarves, 

Things to collect

Recipe for Yule Wassail

3 red apples 

3 oz brown sugar 

2 pints brown ale, apple cider, or hard cider 

1/2 pint dry sherry or dry white wine

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger strips or lemon peel

Core and heat apples with brown sugar and some of the ale or cider in an oven for 30 minutes. Put in large pan and add rest of spices and lemon peel, simmer on stove top of 5 minutes. Add most of the alcohol at the last minute so it heats up but does not evaporate. Burgundy and brandy can be substituted to the ale and sherry. White sugar and halved oranges may also be added to taste. Makes enough for eight. Wassail!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule

Barnhaven primroses they are so luscious, though the nursery is in France

Fancy taking up weaving again

Sometime this blog is just a diary, a reminder of things to do.......

The Trumpet's Loud Clangour

I start with a photo of a book which I shall probably buy for my grand daughter Matilda. She was booked in for a school trip to to Paris after Xmas, eagerly looking forward to going to the Louvre. Will she go? I don't know, everything is on a knife edge now, we endure and live through the mindlessness of M&S Christmas adverts, etc and make plans.  But the Western world is facing a crisis not just from Daesh but from the influx of refugees, we wobble around with plans for this and that, never taking a determined stand on anything. Should we go for Assad or Daesh, my answer is simple go for both, but then, more people are killed, and others forced down the refugee road, so that is no answer!

There are two news items that have touched a raw nerve, the first is of the photographer's, Magnus Wenman journey photographing where the Syrian children that are sleeping on their long trek across Europe.  It is totally sad and harrowing, the terrible memories will always be with them, the actions of war leave many victims.

The other video is of a little boy in Paris with his father being interviewed by a reporter, his fear of the 'bad men' and leaving home.  Reassured by his father that the flowers and candles will protect him, we know that this is not true.  We have arrived at a point of history, there have been many, when we must take decisions.

Today is  St.Cecilia's day, Handel and Purcell composed music from a John Dryden's poem, it does not quite fit the bill, but so many people have risen above the bloodshed and have been courageous, that perhaps this 'A Song for St.Cecilia's Day, written in  1687 will do.........

From harmony, from Heav'nly harmony

               This universal frame began.

       When Nature underneath a heap

               Of jarring atoms lay,

       And could not heave her head,

The tuneful voice was heard from high,

               Arise ye more than dead.

Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry,

       In order to their stations leap,

               And music's pow'r obey.

From harmony, from Heav'nly harmony

               This universal frame began:

               From harmony to harmony

Through all the compass of the notes it ran,

       The diapason closing full in man.

Blue skies and leafless trees this morning

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-34759796

More photos

Yesterday we were out getting coal and logs for the coming cold weather.  Think we need to stock up on food at some stage as well, just in case the winter becomes prolonged with icy roads. Lucy has now been insured against the supposedly horrendous bills should she become ill in the future, it is weird how we are held to ransom by people who can quote enormous figures whether vet or dentist, perhaps we should question their bills more sharply!

Feed me please. Yesterday when the man who had come to service the boiler, stood at a table filling in a form, she very carefully dropped her food bowl on his shoes in anticipation...

Her one and only trick 'high five'

I need to walk in a wood

A typical village we drive through, Middleton I think

Yes, all the roads are up, once more.

Meandering around, my mind has almost stopped working so I shall concentrate a bit more. Back to my books I think, but just one more thing,  Lucy today, came across our two squirrels running along the church wall and tried to jump up, but she will have to jump higher.  We have both decided that she is compromising on our rules, off the furniture by day but on by night.  Wonder if the 'reward' system works....

Wednesday

In spite of 'Barney' that storm which has since passed over, Lucy and I went for a walk in the rain along the river.  Should have taken her photo as she trotted behind carrying her lead, no need for recall she stays to heel.  The weather is drear, the countryside echoes it, and even the river is dull, but at least not risen, as the rains have lashed down.

In the second photo down you see an old orchard and some farm buildings, I think this farm is empty but do not have the courage to explore as there maybe farm workers around, there was definitely bullocks around up to a few days ago.

The farm at the end of my walk, is up for sale with a million pound price tag, though not sold.  I find it rather ugly, there are farm buildings and ruins round the farmhouse, but I presume it is the land that is of value.

Things to remember; http://digventures.com/2015/11/to-the-rescue-strange-skulls-and-weird-wall-markings/

Tuesday 17th November

A journey: photos from our trip to Whitby yesterday.  The moors are dark with  dead heather, the sky though is like an enormous canvas over which scurry small clouds, over  much larger gatherings. Sun, fluffy clouds, storm clouds, the bleakness of the moors is highlighted by the green fields that crop at the edge.  The road is busy with an electricity cable being laid alongside from Pickering to Whitby, it has taken months and will go on well into next year. The underground pipe will replace the great pylons that march over the moors reminding me of the machines in War of the World.  The 'listening ear' or Fylingsdale  warning system stands out like a sore thumb.......

The start of the journey, we have just come over the bridge and I always take comfort from the fact that the downward slope of the hill shows we live on slightly higher ground

Blue skies and an endless view of moor stretching into forest and then another ripple of moor in the far distance

Speeding by the Hole of Horcum

the world darkens

Rain starts as the clouds come even lower

a beck that rarely flows

mending the bridge

Almost home, the village of Marton just before ours, very neat and tidy, they also keep a defibrillator in the red telephone box

Monday the 16th November

Off to Whitby today for various things to do. We have not been for ages, and will be taking Lucy of course.  Very good in the car, warm and snug she often refuses to come out of it! She has the making of a cartoon character, with her four short speckled legs and ability to carry around anything that comes to hand.  Completely won over LS, even when she does something wrong.

Today seems to be the only dry day we will get, though I saw pink skies this morning, and the remnants of Abigail raged around the trees again last night.  My family in the Calderdale district are always at risk of flooding, they have a large basement into which the water will presumably end up in.  The narrow valley down which the Calder river flows, is also fed by waters from the steep hills on either side.

Random photos of this bustling town......