Dearest Louise, how well I know of this 'catching up' malarky! I am forever behind with no hope of clearing unread posts... It appears to be part of the contract I think - perhaps if I ever read the small print I would have known this from the start and saved myself much unnecessary stress! We are here, I think that's all that really counts and I am very grateful for your presence, catching up or otherwise! 🙏🏼
Yes, Frank is rather missed, he was such a comical cockerel, always wobbly on his feet, friendly too in spite of his odd handicap.. he always added a touch of theatrics to the coop and I'm sure the hens are pining because they've not played an egg since!
The farmer tells me the calf is doing well in his warm straw lined stable, thankfully he has moved the rest of the herd to dryer pastures too so I don't anticipate finding another.
Love from this very chilly side of the planet to you also - do you have snow where you are? xoxo
I love snow, Susie. Never saw it growing up, so every flake is special (aren’t they all?). But where I am, there is very little. Years ago, there was enough to play in for a day or so. With the climate crisis, we don’t have much at all… one morning with a bit, and the it melts by the afternoon. 😞 All this cold weather (0° mornings) and no snow. What a waste!
Japan still has four seasons, but it’s obvious they are changing. Winter is short but intense (in northern areas). Spring is short, so the cherry trees are off by a week. Autumn starts later - by more than a month where I am. It’s that darned summer that was extremely hard to deal with last year. Fortunately for me, I’m on a uni schedule with summer holidays. I worry about the people who have to be out in it every day.
We had no such heat here last summer Louise, it was a rather bland affair but I know well of the suffering, 2023 was a killer, literally! Too many of the older generation simple withered and died along with the landscape. ☹️
Its the same situation here Louise, I grew up with snow every winter also, here we had one wonderful week during our first winter here when it snowed a whole meter in a day and nothing but a scattering since, and like you it melts by the afternoon… its really does seem a terribly sad waste. I miss proper seasons so much! 😔
"Which he does, throws open the door, wades into the knee deep mud, picks up the calf as if he’s no heavier than a kitten and plonks him indecorously in the back with mum following." A familiar scene from my childhood on the farm. You describe it so well!
Thank you Jeffrey, I am so glad you enjoyed this. I can imagine you remember well the misery of winter farming, as I do too although my memories are of mud covered lambs which are a far lighter beast to carry and of course, the mother, though equally as protective, less likely to injure!
Susie, The photo of the paths intertwining is so evocative that I wanted to be enveloped in it! I kept enlarging it to see deeper inside. Magical. And then the crimson hills and the baby cow. My day is made, I can rest now after coming along with you once again. And thank you, thank you for including my post on Castaneda and shapeshifting. May you run over your hill a happy hare for days on end, dearest one!
Dearest Pamela you are so welcome, I would include them all if I could!
I am not certain my photography bears close inspection, I tend to use a lens that deliberately blurs the image for the simple reason it resonates more truthfully with the wilderness I wander... nothing is straight or well kept (though I am trying in my small way to remedy this) I try hard to keep this feeling in the images.
One day I pray, I will wander this hill and discover the secrets of the hare, for surly they are for more numerous than those I know - perhaps just a dream but nonetheless less a beautiful one... sending love and warmth lovely. xx
Beautiful as always. I have built such a clearing mental image of your home, the surrounding forest, and muddy fields - all from your sensory writing and lovely photos. As others have said, I'm so glad the calf survived his muddy beginnings!
Your comments always give me a warm smile Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time to read and absorb my humble words. At this time of year we are not usually quite so swamp like but we’ve had so much rain and this week yet more. I’ve taken to checking the fields morning and evening, armed with a torch, just in case of more casualties, so far so good, and thank goodness though I dread even the thought of missing one which would be so easy to do… needless to say I am braying for cold and dry weather!
Susie, I don't think anyone else does photos and words as well as you.
The "oh, today" over the hills and the plight of the calf and then the portrait of your son. (Belated happy birthday!)
It's just all magical.
But I agree. Time needs to slow down. We're already careening through January and I lament that my holiday will soon be over and I'll be staring down semester and all the chaos that it will bring.
For now, though, I cling to the now and remain rooted in the present, refusing to peer too far into the future.
I wish you a beautiful and wonderful year ahead, and hope that spring arrives earlier than it did last year and that nature and wildlife flourishes throughout your hills.
Nathan, Thank you, those are incredibly generous and kind words, I am deeply and blushingly complimented.
That half mud half calf is doing just fine and so far Ive found no more, the farmer has taken all likely casualties from the field! I could hear the swearing from here!
I feel all the lament you do at the end of long holidays Nathan, it's never easy to step back into teaching mode after the bliss of so many free days... I have just finished a two week Christmas break, two days in and I am counting days to the next! In complete opposition to wanting time to slow down, during term time I am quite content for it to fly!
I think to profit from the time we have in the here and now and cherish the moments that are loved is the only path to follow...
I wish you too, a truly wonderful New Year, that the days you love are numerous and healthy and filled with curiosities to inspire your words! 💛
"In complete opposition to wanting time to slow down, during term time I am quite content for it to fly!" amen to this, but equally I very much agree with "I think to profit from the time we have in the here and now and cherish the moments that are loved is the only path to follow..."
Let us be content to embrace every moment we have.
Sorry to hear about the wobbly chicken but congratulations on saving the calf. Nature is to brutal- life battles are incessant if it isn’t one it is another! Enjoy reading how you love, breathe and roll the wave of it all.
The calf is doing well Pipp and whilst it was a sad sight to see Frank wobble his last steps, it was rather comical too and I couldn't help but smile, he will be greatly missed. Heaven knows what was wrong with him!
There is always a battle going on somewhere, nature, life, love, sickness, it's become the norm - we either fight back or cede 😂 I don't think either you or I are the cowering in a corner type!
Thanks for reading lovely, I hope you've some you time now! xxx
Susie, I was sure I had commented yesterday, but apparently didn't get posted or maybe I simply restacked. I love this in its essence of beauty in the writing and the generosity to Kimberly Warner whom I will interview soon! Watch for that. xo
I thought I saw a comment flash up too Mary... an engine room problem perhaps?
Thank you for coming back with another kindness, you are an angel. I will be holding my breath in anticipation to see both you and Kimberly filling my screen - I wouldn't miss a second! xx
Hurrah for passing calf rescuers such as yourself. I can’t bear to think of the poor little thing struggling away…. I hope the start of the new term will treat you well. Xx
I can’t ignore any animal suffering Vanessa, I have even loaded a lost calf into my VW before and taken it back to the farmer… the mess in my car was horrendous but the calf was happy! 😂
The first day back was exhausting, as predicted but on the bright side, tomorrow should be easier! xx
I can only imagine the mess!! And can’t even begin to imagine my husband’s reaction were I to do the same 🙈😂 Glad you survived day one, may they gradually ease…. Xx
Susie I'm in awe of the way you interweave image and art and prose and quotes. The picture of your son is especially moving... he has generational eyes.
Thank you so much for reading and recommending my work!
I really can't say quite how much I appreciate this comment Eric, I am passionate about matching imagery and words, as well as music, editing pieces together so that the whole is hopefully a work of art. My most heartfelt thanks for noticing.. and you are truly welcome for the mention, I've just read chapter 7 which was mind blowing... the speed at which the words flow and explode like your heart... it was my favourite so far! 🙏🏼
The braking system yet to be envisaged we have little choice but to spin at the same speed... days too fast, years perhaps even more so... I search for the way of slowing the process regardless of all evidence against possibility!
Philip Thank you kindly, yes to good health especially, continuing raptures and more than a little curiosity in the year ahead.
Massive thanks Ben, you couldn't make me smile more by saying this, its all I hope for and you would be very welcome! A very happy and healthy New Year to you my friend.
Sending birthday wishes to Seth, sweet sixteen is such an apt phrase for the angel in the photograph- although, I’m guessing that might not be welcomed as my own sweet 11 year old boy would not wish to be called sweet, so we’ll keep it between ourselves. Much love xx
You guess right Emily, he even refused to be photographed for the occasion, hence my favourite portrait of my own eleven year old (for he was indeed that in the photo) angel. It was all down hill from there though... silly faces and hands hiding his handsome face became the preferred game. Now of course its a grimace and a simple no!
Thank you for the wishes lovely, where do the years go? He's still a babe in arms in my mind and yet he is in fact a full head and shoulders taller than I am...
Much love back to you, I hope the week is being gentle on you xxx
"...he looks like a brooding 70's rock star." That made me smile Jo, he would love that, It fits with his love of all that is retro!
The calf is well and warm in the barn with others, a far safer and kinder place for the first days of his life and so far, mercifully, I have found no more although I check (now) religiously every day! The mud is horrendous this year...
I am looking forward to your next reflections Jo, I do hope life is being kind. ♥️xx
Hi, Susie.
I’m trying, unsuccessfully, to catch up on too many wonderful posts. Happy New Year to you if I haven’t already written that.
So sorry to hear about Frank. Each one of these precious creatures leaves us too soon.
Good news about the calf. Sweet little thing, with luck coming into the world!
xox from this side of our tiny planet
Dearest Louise, how well I know of this 'catching up' malarky! I am forever behind with no hope of clearing unread posts... It appears to be part of the contract I think - perhaps if I ever read the small print I would have known this from the start and saved myself much unnecessary stress! We are here, I think that's all that really counts and I am very grateful for your presence, catching up or otherwise! 🙏🏼
Yes, Frank is rather missed, he was such a comical cockerel, always wobbly on his feet, friendly too in spite of his odd handicap.. he always added a touch of theatrics to the coop and I'm sure the hens are pining because they've not played an egg since!
The farmer tells me the calf is doing well in his warm straw lined stable, thankfully he has moved the rest of the herd to dryer pastures too so I don't anticipate finding another.
Love from this very chilly side of the planet to you also - do you have snow where you are? xoxo
I love snow, Susie. Never saw it growing up, so every flake is special (aren’t they all?). But where I am, there is very little. Years ago, there was enough to play in for a day or so. With the climate crisis, we don’t have much at all… one morning with a bit, and the it melts by the afternoon. 😞 All this cold weather (0° mornings) and no snow. What a waste!
Japan still has four seasons, but it’s obvious they are changing. Winter is short but intense (in northern areas). Spring is short, so the cherry trees are off by a week. Autumn starts later - by more than a month where I am. It’s that darned summer that was extremely hard to deal with last year. Fortunately for me, I’m on a uni schedule with summer holidays. I worry about the people who have to be out in it every day.
We had no such heat here last summer Louise, it was a rather bland affair but I know well of the suffering, 2023 was a killer, literally! Too many of the older generation simple withered and died along with the landscape. ☹️
That's how it felt here. It really is dangerous for so many people.
Its the same situation here Louise, I grew up with snow every winter also, here we had one wonderful week during our first winter here when it snowed a whole meter in a day and nothing but a scattering since, and like you it melts by the afternoon… its really does seem a terribly sad waste. I miss proper seasons so much! 😔
Belated happy birthday to your beautiful boy! Have a good week Susie.
What about "a tiny patch of adopted nature"?
Happy New Year dear Susie!
Adopted… a word filled with love - perfect Fotini, thank you with love of course!
💛 💛 💛
And so my adoration deepens...
Adoration gratefully accepted dear David 🙏🏼
Beautiful, Susie.
"Which he does, throws open the door, wades into the knee deep mud, picks up the calf as if he’s no heavier than a kitten and plonks him indecorously in the back with mum following." A familiar scene from my childhood on the farm. You describe it so well!
Thank you Jeffrey, I am so glad you enjoyed this. I can imagine you remember well the misery of winter farming, as I do too although my memories are of mud covered lambs which are a far lighter beast to carry and of course, the mother, though equally as protective, less likely to injure!
Susie, The photo of the paths intertwining is so evocative that I wanted to be enveloped in it! I kept enlarging it to see deeper inside. Magical. And then the crimson hills and the baby cow. My day is made, I can rest now after coming along with you once again. And thank you, thank you for including my post on Castaneda and shapeshifting. May you run over your hill a happy hare for days on end, dearest one!
Dearest Pamela you are so welcome, I would include them all if I could!
I am not certain my photography bears close inspection, I tend to use a lens that deliberately blurs the image for the simple reason it resonates more truthfully with the wilderness I wander... nothing is straight or well kept (though I am trying in my small way to remedy this) I try hard to keep this feeling in the images.
One day I pray, I will wander this hill and discover the secrets of the hare, for surly they are for more numerous than those I know - perhaps just a dream but nonetheless less a beautiful one... sending love and warmth lovely. xx
Beautiful as always. I have built such a clearing mental image of your home, the surrounding forest, and muddy fields - all from your sensory writing and lovely photos. As others have said, I'm so glad the calf survived his muddy beginnings!
Your comments always give me a warm smile Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time to read and absorb my humble words. At this time of year we are not usually quite so swamp like but we’ve had so much rain and this week yet more. I’ve taken to checking the fields morning and evening, armed with a torch, just in case of more casualties, so far so good, and thank goodness though I dread even the thought of missing one which would be so easy to do… needless to say I am braying for cold and dry weather!
Susie, I don't think anyone else does photos and words as well as you.
The "oh, today" over the hills and the plight of the calf and then the portrait of your son. (Belated happy birthday!)
It's just all magical.
But I agree. Time needs to slow down. We're already careening through January and I lament that my holiday will soon be over and I'll be staring down semester and all the chaos that it will bring.
For now, though, I cling to the now and remain rooted in the present, refusing to peer too far into the future.
I wish you a beautiful and wonderful year ahead, and hope that spring arrives earlier than it did last year and that nature and wildlife flourishes throughout your hills.
Nathan, Thank you, those are incredibly generous and kind words, I am deeply and blushingly complimented.
That half mud half calf is doing just fine and so far Ive found no more, the farmer has taken all likely casualties from the field! I could hear the swearing from here!
I feel all the lament you do at the end of long holidays Nathan, it's never easy to step back into teaching mode after the bliss of so many free days... I have just finished a two week Christmas break, two days in and I am counting days to the next! In complete opposition to wanting time to slow down, during term time I am quite content for it to fly!
I think to profit from the time we have in the here and now and cherish the moments that are loved is the only path to follow...
I wish you too, a truly wonderful New Year, that the days you love are numerous and healthy and filled with curiosities to inspire your words! 💛
"In complete opposition to wanting time to slow down, during term time I am quite content for it to fly!" amen to this, but equally I very much agree with "I think to profit from the time we have in the here and now and cherish the moments that are loved is the only path to follow..."
Let us be content to embrace every moment we have.
Its all we have in the end! 🙏🏼
Sorry to hear about the wobbly chicken but congratulations on saving the calf. Nature is to brutal- life battles are incessant if it isn’t one it is another! Enjoy reading how you love, breathe and roll the wave of it all.
The calf is doing well Pipp and whilst it was a sad sight to see Frank wobble his last steps, it was rather comical too and I couldn't help but smile, he will be greatly missed. Heaven knows what was wrong with him!
There is always a battle going on somewhere, nature, life, love, sickness, it's become the norm - we either fight back or cede 😂 I don't think either you or I are the cowering in a corner type!
Thanks for reading lovely, I hope you've some you time now! xxx
Not yet! Closing accounts for the year. Utterly boring🙄 but soon, very soon, freer to begin writing again💕
And no, I don’t think either of us give up easily!😅
I will be sending calming vibes until you are done Pipp, I too have a heap of paperwork I should be attending too… 😝xx
Susie, I was sure I had commented yesterday, but apparently didn't get posted or maybe I simply restacked. I love this in its essence of beauty in the writing and the generosity to Kimberly Warner whom I will interview soon! Watch for that. xo
I thought I saw a comment flash up too Mary... an engine room problem perhaps?
Thank you for coming back with another kindness, you are an angel. I will be holding my breath in anticipation to see both you and Kimberly filling my screen - I wouldn't miss a second! xx
Hurrah for passing calf rescuers such as yourself. I can’t bear to think of the poor little thing struggling away…. I hope the start of the new term will treat you well. Xx
I can’t ignore any animal suffering Vanessa, I have even loaded a lost calf into my VW before and taken it back to the farmer… the mess in my car was horrendous but the calf was happy! 😂
The first day back was exhausting, as predicted but on the bright side, tomorrow should be easier! xx
I can only imagine the mess!! And can’t even begin to imagine my husband’s reaction were I to do the same 🙈😂 Glad you survived day one, may they gradually ease…. Xx
Thankfully I had no husband at that point! 😅Today was easier than yesterday, maybe iron a roll! 🤞🏽x
Susie I'm in awe of the way you interweave image and art and prose and quotes. The picture of your son is especially moving... he has generational eyes.
Thank you so much for reading and recommending my work!
I really can't say quite how much I appreciate this comment Eric, I am passionate about matching imagery and words, as well as music, editing pieces together so that the whole is hopefully a work of art. My most heartfelt thanks for noticing.. and you are truly welcome for the mention, I've just read chapter 7 which was mind blowing... the speed at which the words flow and explode like your heart... it was my favourite so far! 🙏🏼
Wonderful vistas Susie!
"...how fast it spins!"
Indeed it does.
Goes back before Julius Caesar.
I daresay so do oaths and camion... shelter and dry ground.
And, children, the noisy colonies of social birds in and out of hedges.
Here's wishing good health and raptures circadian continuing.
The braking system yet to be envisaged we have little choice but to spin at the same speed... days too fast, years perhaps even more so... I search for the way of slowing the process regardless of all evidence against possibility!
Philip Thank you kindly, yes to good health especially, continuing raptures and more than a little curiosity in the year ahead.
The year has a liturgy and friendship walks among us, gathers strength.
Friendship gathering strength I will never be against Philip… 🙏🏼
The way you write about your home and life is an invitation. I always feel like I’m right there with you on the hill noticing. It’s such a gift.
Massive thanks Ben, you couldn't make me smile more by saying this, its all I hope for and you would be very welcome! A very happy and healthy New Year to you my friend.
Sending birthday wishes to Seth, sweet sixteen is such an apt phrase for the angel in the photograph- although, I’m guessing that might not be welcomed as my own sweet 11 year old boy would not wish to be called sweet, so we’ll keep it between ourselves. Much love xx
You guess right Emily, he even refused to be photographed for the occasion, hence my favourite portrait of my own eleven year old (for he was indeed that in the photo) angel. It was all down hill from there though... silly faces and hands hiding his handsome face became the preferred game. Now of course its a grimace and a simple no!
Thank you for the wishes lovely, where do the years go? He's still a babe in arms in my mind and yet he is in fact a full head and shoulders taller than I am...
Much love back to you, I hope the week is being gentle on you xxx
It is a truly beautiful portrait Susie. Perhaps you will get a chance for others as time goes by x
I hope and will never stop trying no matter how often he pulls a face at me Emily… xx
Oh Susie, what a post!
The photo of your son - he looks like a brooding 70's rock star. 🤩
And the calf - oh life can be so brutal but hopefully a happy ending for the little muddy one.
Sending you love and thoughts for the loss of your cockerel Frank.
xx❤️
"...he looks like a brooding 70's rock star." That made me smile Jo, he would love that, It fits with his love of all that is retro!
The calf is well and warm in the barn with others, a far safer and kinder place for the first days of his life and so far, mercifully, I have found no more although I check (now) religiously every day! The mud is horrendous this year...
I am looking forward to your next reflections Jo, I do hope life is being kind. ♥️xx
🥰🥰🥰