Category: The View from Here

The View from Here: family, fizz, fireworks and damp squibs

At least it solves the delicate problem of who to ask to buy those red knickers.

red-chanticleerThis weekend’s new moon ushered in the Chinese New Year.  It is the year of the Rooster: the Fire Rooster no less.  I knew I was born in the year of the Rooster but only now have I learned that I am a Fire Rooster.  Fire Roosters are apparently trustworthy, with a strong sense of time-keeping and responsibility at work.  I doubt there is anyone that knows me who would vouch for my strong sense of time-keeping but the other two attributes I’d like to think were applicable.  I am in august company, it seems.  In no particular order, more famous fellow Fire Roosters include Dawn French, Donny Osmond, Jools Holland, Stephen Fry, Hans Zimmer and Martin Luther King III.  Who knew! Continue reading “The View from Here: family, fizz, fireworks and damp squibs”

The View from Here: the January sap is rising

Finally I emerge – not a shining butterfly … more like a sleepy owl, blinking and bemused, but ready to wish one and all a belated Happy New Year!

Well!  Here I am, halfway through the second week of January 2017.  And finally settling to a blog post.  I have been writing – but for myself alone.  And I have been reading – reading books, and also whittling away at the ever-growing list of posts written by others: people who make time for writing, reading and living in a way that seems to elude me a lot of the time.  And I’ve caught up on some people I owe emails to, though several important and dear friends are still waiting. Continue reading “The View from Here: the January sap is rising”

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”

The View from Here: Clinging to the carousel

the view from here is uncertain but worth fighting for

So here I sit, on a golden afternoon on this final day of September.  A month gift-wrapped in anticipation which sadly couldn’t deliver on its promises: thwarted by circumstance and the curve balls life throws us sometimes. Continue reading “The View from Here: Clinging to the carousel”

The View from Here: we have been shorn

As I drive along, after the farmers have performed their nightly shearing, I feel like I’m driving along a motorway

As July closes, the farmers are busy. There is relatively little arable farming here: the fields are often too steep to make it sensible.  But there’s plenty of hay to gather in.  Harvesting by day – and shearing the banks by night. Continue reading “The View from Here: we have been shorn”

The View from Here: scratching the itch

finding my way back into a writing rhythm

I should be drafting a post about a memorable walk with a very good friend which took place on an overcast day last month.  I will write that post very soon, and it will be dated 21st June – around about the day of the walk – because part of the purpose of this blog is to record my life here in Cornwall, which requires a degree of chronology and a matching of posts to when their subject matter actually occurred.  But as the weeks have passed, other reasons for blogging are coming to the fore.

Continue reading “The View from Here: scratching the itch”

The View from Here: vanishing valley, vanishing view

The brume abounded and I abandoned all domestic demands and entered into a quiet, parallel universe

The first third of July passed in a whirl of fatigue, car problems, family dramas, unexpected arrivals, fog, mist and dimpsey days.    Continue reading “The View from Here: vanishing valley, vanishing view”

The View from Here: rose-coloured June

… an English summer’s day is such a joy, how can we not yearn for many of them?

How do I remember June? She certainly gave us a performance of two halves.

Her early exploits were dry and warm, with blazing days of open skies, freshness and bright sunshine.  Summer was splashed all over June’s opening scenes. Continue reading “The View from Here: rose-coloured June”

The View from Here: chaos in the lanes

I breathed silent a prayer of thanks… For of course, that lady could so easily have been me

“The roads are empty around here.  I’ve lost my fear of meeting a car on these narrow lanes because it so rarely happens.”  Oh, famous last words… Continue reading “The View from Here: chaos in the lanes”