Category: Gratitude

The View from Here: Christmas 2017

And that moment captured the essence of this year’s Christmas, which for me was all about the very old and the very young.

downloadIt is the twenty-fifth of January.  This time last month was another 25th.  It was Christmas Day.  Yes, a distant memory already; we’ve been back in the real world quite long enough to have packed away all thoughts of Christmas with the baubles and the tinsel.  When it comes to including Christmas here in A Corner of Cornwall I’m even later than last year, but I do want a record of it and it is just a month back after all. Not so very long ago.  But be warned.  And if you really can’t stomach the thought a brief foray back into festive realms I can’t blame you.   I suggest you move along briskly. Continue reading “The View from Here: Christmas 2017”

The view from here: a Tuesday in October

In a world of bustle and change there is always stillness

WP_20160709_013Outside, it has been a mild day: mild but moist.  The air scarcely breathes: a stark contrast to yesterday’s winds.  But whilst yesterday was wild and spirited, today seems damp and tired.  Listless.

As I approached the post box at the top of the hill this morning, I met Peter, our farming neighbour, and his son, Edward.  There was clear evidence on the road of their most recent task: the cows had been brought in.  Were they coming in for the winter?

Out of sight a cow bellowed mournfully.  If she has begun her winter incarceration, it will be many months before she and her sisters are once again on the valley slopes.  The view from here will have emptied.  Our view is never quite in harmony when the cows have gone.   Continue reading “The view from here: a Tuesday in October”

The View from Here: when life doesn’t quite go as planned

After all, I only get one crack at this next decade!

I’ve been in a dilemma.  I want to write a birthday blog yet why would anyone want to read it?  I remind myself that essentially one blogs for oneself.  But the purpose of publishing is that others should read what is published, and if there is an audience, then surely the audience deserves consideration.  And really – can I expect anyone to want to read about my birthday?  So with the subject matter made clear, feel free to move along if birthdays aren’t your thing.  Continue reading “The View from Here: when life doesn’t quite go as planned”

The View from Here – April to August.  Focusing on the Good Things

The cycles of life don’t change; they continue to turn steadily.

Four months to the day since my last post!  For the past little while it has been exceedingly quiet in my corner of the blogging world.  But just recently, for the first time in weeks, I’ve felt the stirrings of an urge to write and the brainpower to follow it through.  That has to be a good thing. Continue reading “The View from Here – April to August.  Focusing on the Good Things”

The View from Here: the rhythms of life

What will be the colour of April that I’ll remember when this month wanes?

“Oh to be in England now that April’s there… “

I think Browning would have yearned particularly for April in England year: in this corner of England at least. Continue reading “The View from Here: the rhythms of life”

“You reading this, Be ready”

Turning away, I returned to the robins in the sunshine and pondered for a while on the lives playing out around me… We intersect, but how rarely we connect.

We parked away from the main car park on our last visit to Lanhydrock, opting instead for the smaller and nearer car park at Respryn.

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It was a sparkling bright winter’s day.  The holly was polished to perfection and there were robins in abundance.  This bold little fellow caught my eye. Continue reading ““You reading this, Be ready””

The View from Here: Christmas 2016

In allowing myself these few days in which to celebrate family, my heart opens.

How to write about Christmas when it’s all packed away, in the past, gone and forgotten?  Maybe not entirely forgotten but certainly time has moved on and people are thinking of other things now that January has its feet firmly under the table.  But Christmas is an important event in my calendar and I can’t pack away the memories along with the boxes of decorations.  The memories need to be stored here. Preserving memories and thankfulness were key reasons for starting this blog.

So feel free to move right along on these belated festive posts – they’re likely to be schmaltzy and sentimental but I need to give Christmas and New Year their moments in the spotlight.

Continue reading “The View from Here: Christmas 2016”

The View from Here: autumn in a bottle

I’d like to bottle this autumn and bring it out to smell and savour whenever I need to stop and slow down and remember all that is good in this world.

It has been a languorous autumn.  Long, slow and peaceful.  Bright, crisp, sunny days only occasionally demarcated by a grey no-weather day or a day of relentless rain.  Frosty mornings.  Stunningly beautiful star-spangled velvet skies.  Continue reading “The View from Here: autumn in a bottle”

The View from Here: August in November

life is a glorious and messy business

This post belongs in mid-August.  I began writing it early October and I’m finally publishing it in early November.  What holds all three dates together are open skies and golden sunshine – beyond that life has been up and down and round the block a few times. Right now, life is good.  It’s a good time to write about family. Continue reading “The View from Here: August in November”

The View From Here: Lansallos to Lantic

A single boat glides silently through the waters below me. And I ask myself: who can fail to appreciate an afternoon such as this?

These passing October days have been crisp, clear and calm.  Invigorating.  Life-affirming.  All that was wonderful about this October was encapsulated for me one afternoon mid-month when I walked a stretch of the coastal path. Continue reading “The View From Here: Lansallos to Lantic”