How short the days are. Walking Lyra just before 10am a few days ago the sun was so low and slanting that it felt like evening. My shadow was long and spindly and crept up the hill before me. We took a turn past the farm at Little Swinton and found the horses had beenContinue reading “The irresistible lure of a new project..”
Author Archives: karenifountain
Reasons to be cheerful part 4
I am smiling to myself as I type, with the lyrics to Part 3 running round my head. You have to love a bit of Ian Dury and the Blockheads (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIMNXogXnvE). And this week I have many reasons to be cheerful. Gourmet Sunday, over all, went off well, and I have therefore been relieved ofContinue reading “Reasons to be cheerful part 4”
The egg timer has tilted
We are in a time of short days and long evenings. Mornings are beginning to be frosty and the sun is dipping shortly after three – a long and chilly sunset has commenced by 4.30. There is markedly less dawdling on my morning walks with Lyra – I am picking up pace to keep warm.Continue reading “The egg timer has tilted”
Self Preservation
The skies are intense at the moment. This morning there was a darkly luminous grey. A few days ago there was a dawn of the most startling fuchsia which had me prancing around the garden in my dressing gown. When I wake in the wee small hours I find stars so startlingly bright that IContinue reading “Self Preservation”
Slow Lane Symphony
I do like when the clocks go back these days. Not for the extra hour in bed, but for the extra hour gained when the body clock gets you up at the usual time in “real money”. Just such a morning today, so Lyra and I are up and out with the larks (or ratherContinue reading “Slow Lane Symphony”
Four go to the seaside
Last Sunday we had our first meal out for eons! We pootled along the back lanes past Holy Island to Bamburgh. Other than a late night drive through when we came to the Mizzen Head for dinner a couple of years ago, I don’t think I have ever been to Bamburgh. It is a lovelyContinue reading “Four go to the seaside”
Autumn hues
The rain over the last few days has turned the lane at the back to little Venice. Lyra likes a good paddle in a puddle, so is unperturbed. I’ve seen a bit less of the pheasants there though, so perhaps they are more picky and have taken to higher ground. A few have appeared furtherContinue reading “Autumn hues”
The Press Gang
With the latest lockdown rules prohibiting our usual apple juicing squad from visiting, we have been somewhat tardy in getting going this year. However, with the apples determined to demonstrate the effects of gravity, we pulled ourselves together on Wednesday and dragged the apple press out. Lachlan and I had collected the apples in theContinue reading “The Press Gang”
Brownian Locomotion*
(* the process by which random thought is produced by the collision of fleeting ideas whilst walking) I love the autumn, the long low light, the snap in the air and the crackle underfoot, but most of all the colour. Spring and summer are ephemeral, all pink and blue and frothy, with darts of primaryContinue reading “Brownian Locomotion*”
Blue sky thinking
We have had a glorious few days recently. Aside from dog walking duties, I have largely been spending the days in the garden, resplendent in my wellies and my Dickie’s navy blue and red zip up boiler suit (which gives me the air of someone who might, at any moment, pivot from gardening and fixContinue reading “Blue sky thinking”