Reflections on Monkey

When Monkey first went to Japan back in March 2022 she started sending us 'pyjama selfies', because the hotels provide pyjamas for guests, such a wonderful idea. This was our first pyjama selfie and Tish said we looked like we had joined a cult. 

While I had the overarching plan for our trip to Shikoku it was Monkey who worked out the details; she knew when the trains were running, she found interesting places to see and knew when they were open, she checked what the local specialities to eat were. She found the garden and the workshops and the boat trip, and shared her wisdom about life in Japan. She made the whole trip a delight. I could not have done it without her and would not have wanted to do it with anyone else.

She has struggled with anxiety and depression for much of her 20s and to see how learning Japanese and going to Japan has transformed her makes me love the place even more. She has grown in confidence and become a real grown-up, but retains her childlike enthusiasm for everything she does:

dancing on the udon dough ... don't ask me why

insisting on putting on the entire set of Samurai armour

ice-cream pretty much every day

crossing the vine bridge

and skimming stones in the river down below

We rode bikes and climbed mountains together

We managed to balance the things that I wanted to do and the things she wanted to do to create the perfect holiday ... but we hardly have any photos of the two of us together.

Stay safe. Be kind. 

Never fear, spring is on the way

Life continues to be a bit weird since Tish and Lyra moved out. 

I like the quiet. It's weird.

I have not been outside much for months, but popped out on Friday to clean and feed the Julians (worms). Then potted up all the house plants with fresh compost.

Life is making itself felt, slowly and surely, as it does every year.

 

Bulbs showing their joy at the rising temperature.

And this little shrub, fresh pink and green leaves just beginning to emerge.

Delightful.

In the empty front bedroom I now have my 'office'. 

A big desk, lots of space, and fairy lights in boxes.

Also delightful.

The Japan countdown has reached 18 days. Flights, car, hotels, bikes, all booked, currency, and insurance purchased. Terrified and excited in equal measure.

Stay safe. Be kind. Go on an adventure.

 

Garden Joy

 

Outside my kitchen window this lovely climber has been gradually intermingling with the ivy. As it started to turn with the autumn I just thought what a lovely contrast they make, the dark evergreen and the pink tinged pale green that will soon be just bare stalks.

Also Han Kang won the Nobel Prize for Literature, that gives me joy too.

We had some family excitement yesterday as my son Lewis made the news after giving Angela Rayner a fork lift truck driving lesson.

Stay safe. Be kind. Enjoy the simple things.

Small joys

I have finally been back out on my little delivery route this week; I have been going stir crazy in the office for several months. The garden at 8a Mauldeth road has been completely colonised by buttercups and was a delightful meadow of yellow in the sunshine on Wednesday.

And this morning our own private little forest behind Dunk's house was lit up by the sun. The window is north facing so it feels dark inside and the leaves were just glowing outside.

Stay safe. Be kind. Make the most of May.

Ospreys at Lock Arkaig

The ospreys, Louis and Dorcha, have been back at Loch Arkaig for some weeks now, but we have our first egg. Looking forward to a summer of watching the chicks grow. 😊

Stay safe. Be kind. Watch some wildlife.

Singing and Dancing

 Four and twenty blackbirds broke the silence down Hart Road in the early morning today, and then I enjoyed mat dancing to 'You Can Call Me Al' by Paul Simon at the gym after work...

Get your fun where you can in 2024.

Blogiversary Joy 2024

It was way back in 2009 and we lived in a little corner of the Cotswolds when I started this blog. Fifteen years later I find myself still here, though we are no longer there. When someone at the gym asked the Tish where she lived he described it as 'the hood', but as far as I'm concerned this is my cosy corner off the world and I am glad of it.

So, statistics: all time views, over half a million. In internet terms that's nothing, some people get that many views in an hour. I stopped worrying years ago about whether my blog was read by anyone, I have come to think of it much more as a diary that just happens to be available to other people. 1556 posts, mostly about books. Most visited posts remain the Margaret Atwood Poetry from 2010 and how to make a lizard cake from 2012, but also Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong from 2021.

The world is currently rubbish so I am grateful to have a life full of people to love. Here they are:

My family in 2010

My original nuclear family 2012

Dunk 2013

New Year 2015

Work people 2018

Lyra, best kitten ever

Jacob, Kerri and Aisla 2022

Lewis and Rachel's Wedding 2023

Adylaide 2023

Wyatt 2024

Lost for Words

 

This is Casey Birks. I first met him when he was a couple of months old. It's lovely to have people in your life whose presence makes the world a better place. When he was young his mum Julie and I used to wonder how he would ever go out into the world. One of the joys of home education is that children can do such things at exactly their own pace. Nobody made him go out into the world before he was good and ready. And some children take longer than others. He started learning the piano, I think that was first. And it was as if he found his niche, and he blossomed. And last week he launched his album at the Carlton Club in Whalley Range. Over 100 people gathered, most of whom were his friends. It is called Lost For Words, available from Bandcamp. Also listenable on YouTube. And it was a delight to watch them play with so much joy together and to have watched him grow and develop as a musician. My heart bursts with pride to see the amazing young man he has become.

And because the Ridley Birks family has been part of my life for such a long time I came across this, which to me somehow encapsulates everything about the life we lived for so many years, and freedom and opportunities it offered us, and I try not to mourn its end. In the tree: Casey, Max, Sadie, Monkey, Rhiannon, Tom, Althea and Al.

Snow and other Delights

Despite all the weather warnings I was surprised by the snow when I stepped out of the door in the early hours this morning. Lyra didn't know what to make of it either. I love the soft muted feel the world has with a fresh covering of snow. 

Mid morning a man turned up in the office with two new computers. Lee had reported ours as running very slow in the hope that someone would come and clean up the hard drives, so this was a huge bonus. The old ones were at least 12 years old; the new ones are tiny and have wireless keyboards and mouses

I had to push my bike home from work again, but I found the culprit and hopefully can manage another uneventful biking year ahead:

Also delightful ... the Gardener's World mag, honey roasted peanuts and a trip to Devon at the end of the week.

Winter Garden

I have not been out in the garden hardly at all since June. The rain arrived in July and it seems to have been raining ever since. I have pushed past the overgrowth a few times but not sat and enjoyed, nor watched the bees. It is very straggly and scruffy this time of year anyway but I knew the worms really needed sorting out ... so instead of the gym today I spent an hour chopping stuff back and just taking a look around.

To my delight the worms are still alive ... and having been left so long the bottom layer of the worm bin was full of the most beautiful dark magical plant food, with not a trace of tomato skins or undigested random lumps. I literally just scooped it out into an empty compost bag ready to be used in the spring. 

Also delightful was the small selection of blooms that I found.

Most delightfully, a rosebud:

To be expected, the ubiquitous self-seeded pelargoniums:

And on the kitchen windowsill, some alyssum:

Stay safe. Be kind. Hurry back inside where it's warm.

Weddings and all that

We should have been at Horton Grange three years ago, but you know ... covid. It was worth the wait. Lewis and Rachel have been a couple for about 15 years now and finally last Saturday they got married. The day was perfect. The food was lovely, the place was lovely, and the threatened thunderstorms did not materialise. 

This moment as the boys stood waiting for Rachel to arrive was what set me off first. 

Hopefully we will get more photos at some point but a few people shared ones they took. I love photos of my children together ... they are so few and far between these days. I wanted to take one with my two daughters-in-law but somehow it didn't happen.

Much fun was had by everyone. Lewis split his trousers on the bouncy castle and Mindy's shoe fell to pieces, and you can call it a success if that's the worst that happened. And I did have the most lovely lunch with Ady.

Stay safe. Be kind. Relish the special time.

Tiny flowers

I have a tiny garden. 

It is about 12 feet by 10 feet. 

I love things that have tiny flowers. They delight me.

So I went around the garden finding the tiniest.

Last visit to the garden centre I bought a miniature rose.

It delights me. The leaves are tiny, the thorns are tiny, the buds are tiny.

The flowers are exquisite.

(This looks big, but it's really close up on the ivy-leaved toadflax)

Stay safe. Be kind. Tiny joys are the best.

Blue tit joy for 30 Days Wild

30 Days Wild with the Wildlife Trusts starts today and I am going do a half arsed job of joining in and posting some stuff about the great outdoors. We don't have a lot of wildlife so it will be mostly plant joy, but I will be keeping my eyes peeled for anything interesting. Two years ago some blue tits took up residence in a crevice by the airbrick outside Dunk's bathroom. They came back and forth for a while but it was short-lived and they just disappeared. So we were pretty excited to see new arrivals this spring. I waited quite a while early one Sunday as the sun came up but failed to get a photo. 

Later in the day I managed to catch him ... just about ...

We have observed the comings and goings over the past few weeks and the brood has plainly arrived as the back-and-forth has gotten more frequent. However much needed work has been planned on the roof and the scaffolders arrived last week:

I was distraught as I thought the parents might just abandon the nest with all the disruption and human activity in close proximity.

My fears proved to be unfounded as they are completely unfazed, and in fact they find the scaffolding a useful perch to check for danger before entering the nest (excuse the photo but the kitchen window is filthy):

Stay safe. Be kind. See what's going on outside your kitchen window.

#30dayswild