A four-seasons-in-one-day kind of day. Grey, brooding clouds before seven this morning, then the palest of blue skies, building to sky-blue vistas and sunshine sweeping across the valley. By nine we had rain. And wind. It’s been a breezy, blustery, showery, sunshiny sort of day. Exhilarating.
The view from here includes a single wind turbine. Peter Hooper, our Cornish farming neighbour, dismissed it witheringly when we met him, but I like it. I wouldn’t want an entire wind farm in our line of sight, but a single turbine, turning ponderously, adds movement and interest to our view. It rotates at varying speeds of course, and turns to meet the wind. This morning, with the sun full on it, it shone silver-bright on the horizon. It’s about half a mile away – just across the first b-road that we meet if leaving the valley to head north. Its feet are below our line of sight so it doesn’t dominate our view by revealing its full height and might; it just adds momentum and energy. The view from here is kinetic.
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B is frustrated this evening. As our ongoing communications battle with BT grinds on, he has connected us to the internet via his phone and something isn’t working properly at the moment. I have managed to do some essential online tasks: banking, changing addresses etc. If I can’t use it again for a while longer it won’t bother me that much. It can be frustrating of course, not having infinite knowledge available at the touch of a keyboard, but there’s a lightness also, in not being tempted by a constant pull into the wider world. And limited usage will certainly make me more discerning.
For me, it’s been a good day. I’ve made good progress on various fronts. The space we have here is going to be amazing. I spent quite some time organizing the cleaning stuff this morning. Such a small and mundane task, but life will be become much easier as a result. And I thoroughly cleaned the bathrooms and then tackled all our lounge bits and bobs, which are now carefully placed and gleaming. The room looks warm and welcoming and will be all the more so when we have our pictures up.
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This afternoon I took a walk from the house: climbing the road towards the wind turbine, between high banks and gurgling water courses; taking some pictures of the house as I walked down into the valley again. It looks quite imposing from here!
I wasn’t ready to go home so I continued walking along the third of the roads which meet in front of Valleybrook. The other two climb quite steeply, but this one meanders along the valley floor for a while before climbing gently towards Pelynt. Here it was sheltered and almost warm. We have seagulls in the area today, perhaps because of the wind, but I also think I heard the mewing of a buzzard, and caught a glimpse of a silhouette banking behind the trees. The walk up our driveway is hard work. Our driveway seems particularly steep when it becomes the culmination of an energetic walk! I’m going to get much fitter very quickly living here!
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I’ve exchanged some lovely texts with my sister, Wendy, and – a real highlight – found a letter from my sister, Claire, in the post box. It feels special to have contact with both my sisters on this day. 35 years ago today our other sister, Karen, died. She was not quite 21 years old. It’s hard to believe it was so long ago; we remember that day so vividly. Wendy and Kevin took Mum & Dad to the church to lay flowers this afternoon. I’m grateful. We have taken them on the last few occasions; it’s too far for Mum to drive now.
A few moments thinking about Karen – as we knew her then aged almost 21. How striking she was. How would she look now? Where would she be; what would she be doing? Would she have children? Only girls of course; she always said she never wanted boys. Would she have moved to America like she planned? My guess is she would have married; she would have worked abroad, and she would have had children – probably boys. I imagine her then divorced, and very successful in a chosen career. She was bright, my sister, strong and driven. And I think she would have liked the view from here.
A Corner of Cornwall 