Autumn Cottage Diarist

A Month in the Country 11 - Down at Ground Level

Even after just one day on retreat, I am reminded of what a visual person I am - I am not just about words but also very much about images. Both still and moving. I see the world in pictures.

Four sessions of observation yesterday brought to my attention my desire to “look more closely” in the literal sense of getting “down there” to see the world as the creatures that I am observing at ground level see it. So last night I set the trail camera on the edge of a flower bed and left it running. Admittedly my creativity in this case is limited to editing the various video clips - but I value even this, as I am, as a result, learning a great deal more about digital editing suites and techniques. My creativity which is certainly being stimulated in so many ways by this course, is not limited to needle and thread, brush and watercolour,paper and pen - technology is just one more tool to enable me to capture and express the things that are important  in my life.

I find the observation of wildlife therapeutic, in the same way that gardening is therapeutic (they are so closely associated, after all) – when you are looking closely and concentrating on observation and understanding, all other life issues fall to one side – and for just a while, you can be at peace.

Here are three minutes of peace, with the creatures of Autumn Cottage Garden.

Journal Prompt.

Can you get up really close to any wildlife? A bird feeder outside your window? A bee hive behind glass? (Some museums and wildlife parks have these). Can you spread a blanket on the ground and just wait and watch? Have YOU got a trail camera you can set?
Set aside five or ten minutes to really observe wildlife (or domestic) going about their business, record it in your journal – and share it here.

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A Month in the Country 10 - Poetry, Nature, Mindfulness

Every year, the sensitive and compassionate poet and author Roselle Angwin leads at least two poetry and mindfulness retreats on the mystical island of Iona off the coast of Mull in the Western Isles of Scotland. This year, thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak, that pilgrimage was not to be. But out of disappointment for her and her participants has come a great gift for others, as she has, instead, created an online version of her retreat. While I am sure that it can be nothing like the wonderful experience of working with Roselle on the island, I am also sure that this online retreat week - with 'HQ' in the summerhouse, will be a very special experience for me as a participant. After day one I am already “feeling the benefit”

Our days will be a combination of meditation, observation of the natural world and a reflection upon those observations, in both poetry (Haibun and Haiku) and prose.

I expected to experience a number of emotions as I (tried to!) meditate; what I was not expecting was to feel such anger at the intrusion of so much discordant noise into my day - it's something to work with but also a message to listen to. But I found peace again by moving on to sitting and doing the daily practice of (at least) five minutes detailed observation. This is what I captured in one of my (four, spread through the day), five minute observation periods -

“From here in the summer house, I can see I can see the new bird bath in the middle of what is now called “the Splash Garden”, bought on the weekend to provide somewhere for the birds that visit the feeders to splash and drink on their way back and forth to the surrounding trees. I've just spotted - not a bird, but a wasp - sitting on the large flint that I have placed in the middle of the water, taking a drink in a temperature which is now 26 degrees C, humid, and rapidly rising. Fortunately the wasps and other insects don't have to depend on a concrete bird bath, as I can also see, if I turn 90 degrees and look upon the surface of the pond, a large bumble bee is also taking a drink from the edge of a lily leaf. In sunshine or in shade, at least, today, they are not short of the most precious commodity of water”

 

Journal prompt

What is your relationship with the sounds with which you are surrounded ? What sounds do you encounter in the course of a day? Which do you welcome and which set your teeth and nerves on edge? Do you have a place of refuge from enervating  noise? How can you facilitate escape to find the peace and tranquility that you may need?

What can you observe of the natural world around you, right where you are, right now, closely, in five minutes?

Roselle is facilitating another online retreat this year - you can find more details here

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A Month in the Country 9 - Water.

 

As we float in the amniotic fluid of our Mother’s womb, It is there at our beginning.

It sustains us throughout life. We cannot exist without it, and if we desire, it can now be our containment** after death.

It seems to be a human tendency that we are drawn to water, but the intricacies of what it means to us will vary, according to our relationship with the substance – and to its presence or absence in our lives and environment. On the Somerset Levels or in the Ganges delta of Bangladesh, a surfeit of water may hold the threat of flood… in the scorching heat of the Kalahari, or – as we horrifically witnessed at the end of last year, across many parts of Australia and California, its absence brought raging fires, death and destruction to millions of creatures.

It is a more tranquil picture that I bring to you, in these images of the Kennet and Avon river and canal as they meander through the water meadows of Hungerford…a place for children (and dogs!) to splash and play, for birds to dip and dive, for marsh marigolds to grow, and for narrowboats to glide.

There is little more blissful to do on a summer’s day (or any other day for that matter) than sit by a body of water and enjoy its presence in its many forms  - be it a still pool, a gently flowing river, a cascading waterfall or the thundering waves of the sea. Well, I can think of one thing more blissful, when the weather is hot – which is to plunge a pair of sore and burning feet into the chill and sparkling depths. Now that is truly heaven!

** "Dying to be in Nature" at the Wellcome Collection

 

Journal Prompt

What is your relationship with water? What memories do you have of being beside it – or in it? Sports and games? Travelling in parched lands? Travel on water? The ability – or not to wash and keep clean?

Tell us your watery stories!

 

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A Month in the Country 8 - Do you Love something for Nothing?

I think we all love to get something for nothing, don't we? (as long as it does not take advantage of anyone else). One of my particular pleasures in the garden is to propagate plants  by taking cuttings. Earlier in the spring, I took 20 Nepeta (Catmint) cuttings and got 20 new plants; every one ‘struck’, which was a huge success - and just encouraged me to take loads more.

At this time of the year, what we call ‘semi ripe’ cuttings are taken; from new growth that has started to firm up at its base. I need  to cut back this particular shrub (Berberis darwinii) very hard as it is far more vigorous than I had expected, so I was up early this morning to snip some cuttings (they are always best taken early in the day when the plant material is turgid), and I thought you might like a little ‘how to do it’ as I went along.

1 - Take the cuttings in the early morning when they have taken up as much water as possible overnight

2 - Semi ripe cuttings are best taken about 6 to 8 inches long; taken from new growth, Firming up at the base, but still slightly bendy.

3 - Always use very sharp secateurs or a knife to cut below a node, where a pair of leaves joins the stem and where the growth hormones are concentrated . (Wear gloves if the plant is as prickly as Berberis!)

4 - Place the cuttings as you take them from the shrub immediately into a plastic bag,  preferably with a little bit of water sprayed inside; keep the bag closed to prevent evaporation and wilting.

5 - Beforehand, prepare your cutting mix; I use a non-peat based compost, mixed 50/50 with horticultural grit. Water these pots thoroughly and allow them to drain .

6 - At the potting bench prepare your cuttings; remove two or three pairs of leaves from the base of the cutting with a very sharp knife. Snip out the softest top growth.

7 - I use hormone rooting powder - some people do not. My feeling is that anything that gives a little boost is worthwhile! Dip the base of each cutting into the hormone rooting powder and tap the cutting on the side of the powder tub to shake off any excess.

8 - Push a small dibber down the side of the plant pot to make a small hole into which you can then insert your cutting. (You could use an old pencil)

9 - Use the dibber to compact the soil around the base of the cutting so that it makes a good contact. This is really important. (See first image)

10 - Label each pot of cuttings and place the pot inside a large plastic bag; place a stick in the middle of the pot and clip the bag loosely closed around the stick. This will maintain humidity and prevent the cuttings from wilting. Smaller cuttings it can be placed in a propagator. Place the bagged cuttings in the shade and leave them to root

11 - After four to six weeks, your cuttings will hopefully have some sign of rooting, although this very much depends on the plant being propagated. It can take months -  be patient. If you see roots appearing through the base of the pot, you will know that you have been successful; if not, after a month or two, you may care to give each cutting a gentle tug; resistance will tell you that rooting is going on, but I would suggest leaving them for longer if you can bear to. (I usually can’t!!)

12 Once you are fairly sure that the cuttings have rooted, gently tap out the pot by inverting it with your fingers spread over the top, then lay out the rooted cuttings on your bench and pot them up individually in a good potting compost. If you pot them on before the winter, place the potted up cuttings in a cold frame to protect them. If you are giving them a little more time, keep them in a frost free place over the winter, which may be either a cold frame or a greenhouse. Come springtime - voila! Free plants!!!

Journal prompt

Could you share your expertise with others? What are you good at that you could 'propagate' by a set of instructions? Think of something in which you are experienced/something which you know a lot about. It may be a recipe, a knitting pattern, how to mend an item, an exercise or yoga routine. Write your instructions down as a 12 step (or more - or less – step) set of instructions. Share them here - and remember, if you can,  to add pictures – they really can be worth a thousand words!

 

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A Month in the Country 7 – Too Darned Hot!

2pm - 32C. 38C expected by 5 pm.

Too darned hot to do anything much but take a siesta – as inhabitants of the Mediterranean have known for centuries, and in the last decade or so we are learning here in the UK. Climate change is upon us – regarding which we must act – and adapt.

One of my adaptions is to have a ‘game plan’ for days like this. Having grown up with a very traditional ‘find something useful to do’ if one has spare time during the day, I am myself having to learn that there is very little of a productive nature that can be done in these temperatures, to which we are not yet acclimatised. (Apart from open windows throughout Autumn Cottage, we don’t have any air con )

So – from now until about 6 pm, I have repaired to the summerhouse (no - it is NOT a ‘She-shed’ – horrible term!!) with my ‘survival kit in a basket’ – this laptop computer (on which I am writing this post), a bottle of tonic water, a pile of books and magazines, and my binoculars. It’s beautifully shady down here, there is a slight breeze (enough to tinkle the Japanese wind chimes) and I have Classic FM for company.

I’m sitting quietly, seem to be invisible to the Creatures of the Garden, and have already watched a Blackbird come down to the pond for a drink, three Chaffinch fledglings do likewise (not Flappy Bird), and a little Vole run between two plant pots.

I don’t think I’ll be getting bored.

(I’m setting up the trail camera in a minute – watch this space)

 

Journal prompt

What are ‘above normal’ temperatures for you, where you live?

What is your ‘hot weather’ strategy? Where can you go? What is in your survival kit?

 

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A Month in the Country 6 - Signs - and Saviours - of the Times

It's a privilege to live in the countryside; until recently it has been a very peaceful place to live and I love to be surrounded by the wildlife, the silence and the lack of light pollution at night. There is cleaner air to breathe and no crowds! To be in touch with nature at an intimate level is energising, but life in the countryside can sometimes feel isolating, which is why I am also fortunate to live only 10 minutes away from Newbury, our local market town. This is where I regularly ventured with a dear friend to attend both live theatre performances and live relays ofnNational and international theatre and musical productions. We had the wonderful treats of watching performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company, The National Theatre, the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet, all live-streamed and available for just the cost of a cinema ticket and a quick drive into town. At other times we would attend live lectures on such diverse subjects as  Garden Design,  Art History, Travel and the Decorative Arts.

But the last few months, in these pandemic times, have put paid to that. We have all, across the planet, been in lockdown for varying amounts of time, and even now, when governments start to ‘unlock’ us, I think many of us are still extremely hesitant about venturing out. But I have had a rescue package at the end of my fingertips. Of course - it has been the Internet. It's a resource I've used for over 25 years - it's the way I know 95% of you reading this who I call my friends online. But in recent months, the Internet has excelled itself. My son’s partner has found delight and solace in participating in online choirs, and I have been able to access, through the goodwill of so many arts organisations, virtually all of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals, Operas streamed from the New York Met, Shakespeare from ‘The Globe’ Theatre in London  and a waterfall of online lectures,  the latest of which I have just attended.

Most of you are probably unaware of a small British organisation ‘The Churches Conservation Trust’, which has taken on and cares for some 350 historic Parish churches, (those little art galleries and social history museums that exist in almost every village here) that have fallen into disuse and would otherwise be at risk. It’s a truly wonderful endeavour and over the last few weeks they have been providing online lectures on a range of topics relating to the artistic, social and cultural history of these buildings.

Today's lecture was on the history of stained glass windows in parish churches, but there are a number of other deeply interesting lectures, by some very accomplished lecturers, coming up over the next few weeks and into the autumn. I highly recommend that you take a look at their website and Facebook page (*links below), where you can sign up for future lectures which are always free and often take place around lunchtime GMT.

I was of course privileged to study some of this cultural and theological history when I took my Masters course at the University of Winchester, and I don't think he will mind me mentioning that the person orchestrating these lectures online for the CCT is a fellow graduate of the same course. Magnificent job George!

But we can only get so much, I admit, from online interactions and we do also need to meet others and visit other places in real life. I've managed this through my “graveyard picnics” (do we see a theme here friends?) with my aforementioned  friend, and in the next few weeks I will hopefully be able to give you a few little visits to local places of interest. But for now, having recently partaken of my first Zoom meeting (again with dear friends that I have known for 25 years online), I'm off to learn how to host.

The pandemic may have caused endless unhappiness and tragedy, but it is also pushed us some of us to learn new things and participate in the world in different ways. That can only be a good thing, don't you think?

Journal prompt

What opportunities has an enforced ‘change of routine’ had for you?

What new skills have you learned as a result of the extraordinary experience of lockdown? What have you discovered online if you have spent any extra time there, that has helped you to cope with the change in our everyday lives? What is it been like to participate online in a way that you might not have done so before?

Have you provided any courses lectures demonstrations or performances (or both!) for others? If you have, how has the experience been for you?

Whether as participant or producer, what thoughts have you on how you would like technology to serve you in future?

CCT Website

CCT Facebook

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A Month in the Country 5 - Sometimes We Just Don't Have the Time...

Sometimes we have the leisure time to sit, to ponder, to write.

Sometimes we don't. There are days when I can write thoughtful posts, and days when I can make an observation; Today is one of the latter, my time being taken up with mundane chores in the house (a two day, deep clean of my bedroom, bathroom, office and stairs, if you really want to know!) But even today I can take a few minutes to stop and breathe and be grateful for something.

How could one not be grateful at the sight of these beautiful lilies opening today, and their colour combination with the luscious purple Clematis ’Madam Julia Correvon’ alongside them? We still can't transmit scents by electronic means – I only wish I could - you just have to take my word for it. But we can all find 5 minutes (in fact, dare I say we should make an effort to all find 5 minutes) to step away from the mundane and seek beauty in our daily life.

Journal prompt

At some point in your day today, be it a leisurely or ever so busy day, just stop.

Step away from what you are doing and find one beautiful thing. Describe it in words or pictures.

How about 'an image and a thought a day'? No more than five minutes. Keep a little notebook dedicated to the project.

Read through on December 31st. Surprise yourself!

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A Month in the Country 4 - Little Flappy Bird

On summer mornings, I can often look out through the conservatory window to see the cock and hen Pheasants sat basking in the sun at the bottom of the garden – they usually immediately stand up when I go out with their breakfast seed, but sometimes I catch one of the hens lazily sitting in a patch of left-over seed and casually pecking about from her seated position.

About a week ago, while sitting under the apple tree, watching the little Chaffinches come down for their own afternoon peck about, we noticed that one of them was also sitting in the middle of the grass, seemingly taking it easy, while pecking at the encircling provender. But whilst the others around it were hopping about to gather more food, the little one in question was mostly staying put, and when it did move was both wobbling from side to side and splaying out its wings in a seeming effort to balance itself.

I tried sneakily capturing the little creature on film and photograph - not easy when they are easily startled; the little snip of film above and the photographs are a poor attempt to illustrate what I was seeing. Though very blurred and grainy, I did manage to catch one shot of the bird moving from one spot to another in a minimal, low flight, and it seems that it has a considerable deformity of the lower limbs. One foot at least is missing, and it possibly has only one (right) leg. As the reality dawned on me, I felt great concern and pity for the little creature.

And yet - does it need my pity? I suspect that this is a congenital deformity - any injury this severe would more than likely have ended its life. So it is living with the only equipment it has ever known - decidedly dodgy in the lower limb department, but with immensely strong wings, as each time we go out to feed them, it flies off up into the trees with complete alacrity. It is virtually always accompanied by two other chaffinches of the same size, and they always stay very close. I think they are very likely fledgelings from the same clutch.

Having watched it over the course of a week, my pity is substituted with complete admiration; it is coping with life and coping well as far as I can see. It is not failing - on the contrary, it seems to be thriving. It is not, to me, ‘crippled’ or even ‘disabled' - but very much enabled, though very challenged. It is a competent little Flappy Bird, and so we have named it. I'll continue to feed it and hope that it at least has a summer of freedom and the enjoyment of living life; I don't know how it will fare in the winter - but I will do my part to ensure that it gets every chance.

Journal prompt

What examples of physical (and mental) challenges - in your own life - in the lives of other humans or in the lives of other beings have you experienced or seen? Challenges which have been present from birth, or those encountered later in life? What are the coping skills that you have acquired or observed in others? Are friends/companions on the journeey of any help?

From what you have either experienced or seen, what words of advice would you want to pass on to others who may be learning to cope with challenges in their own lives? What are your thoughts on Ability, Dis-ability and Differently-abled? What language do we use – and how does it affect out perceptions of The Other?

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A Month in the Country 3 - I Didn't have a Teddy Bear ...

… But I did have a little dog! My father was an RAF police dog handler, and my mother had been very successful at showing; they first met when my mother noticed Dad's Alsatian, as he climbed the stairs on the bus on which she was working as a ‘clippie’ (I suspect she noticed the dog WAY before she ever noticed him!)

So it was unsurprising that one of my first soft toys was a little terrier dog, called 'Sandy', given to me for Christmas 1950, when I was but four days old. I also had 'Snowy' - a (sheepskin) polar bear, which I still have to this day, and a stuffed koala bear, sent to me by my mother’s twin sister In Australia, which succumbed to a moth attack from the outside (we always assumed so - far more bearable a thought than that something Australian, insect and unspeakable was attacking it from the inside!). It was finally discarded when the inside started to fall out, as the hole got bigger and bigger. (A fact for which I am grateful, as nowadays I would find it difficult to tolerate the skin of a poor dead koala in the house).

That was about the sum of my childhood soft toy library; but my Doll’s Houses were a different matter.

I acquired my first house when I was five years old. Every Christmas Eve I was allowed to sleep in Mam and Dad’s bed, and I clearly remember waking on Christmas morning, with the light shining through the curtains, against which was silhouetted what I thought to be the most magnificent Villa ever made. Unfortunately, it was a little too magnificent; extraordinarily sturdily built, a good three feet high and too heavy to ever remove from their bedroom. It stayed for a little while, but was only played with two or three times, after which the decision was made (by my parents I'm sure, but they convinced me I had personally had the noble thought) to donate it to the children's Ward at the Royal Gwent Hospital. For all I know, it languishes there still.

All through my early years and into my teens, my main hobby was model making and my favourite models to make? Dolls houses. Houses, rooms and furniture, all made with scraps of cardboard, bottle tops, cotton reels, any little bit of junk that could be repurposed. One of the first books that I took out of the Public Library, when I first joined at around the age of 12? This one…

In my later teens and 20s , other pursuits (ahem) replaced model making, but I reached my 30s and motherhood and decided that what was good enough for me was good enough for my children (despite them both being boys - no gender stereotyping in this house!) and returned to making houses again. This time the first kit house I had ever attempted, from the wonderful Doll’s House Emporium.

Others followed, and I also acquired several vintage and antique houses, which I still possess - just a few indoors, fully furnished and on display, but a number more still awaiting restoration.

What is it about the miniature world that attracts us so much? Wish fulfilment, no doubt - the ability to create in fantasy what one might never possess in reality, and sometimes a place to play out scenarios in imaginary families and  imaginary homes (one reason why this sort of play is invaluable in therapeutic setting). For those who create their own houses and interiors, the pursuit offers the opportunity to create interiors – furniture, textiles, ceramics - that are of manageable size and can be created in an attainable and affordable time scale. And then there are the exhibitions, conventions and dedicated shops where one can indulge more fantasies by purchasing the sometimes remarkably skilled creations of other people.

I'm reaching a stage in my life now where I have to make decisions as to where ALL my treasures will go when I myself have gone, but that is a thought process for another time; for now I think I'll switch on all the lights and browse around Autumn Cottage Antiques, before I have a nice cup of tea in their café. The chimney sweep is ready to start work (make things nice and clean for Santa, who is presently swinging on the moon), and ooh, look at those Chinese vases!!

Journal prompt

What were the treasured toys that you possessed when you were a child? Do you still own any treasures from your childhood or younger years? if so, how do you display them? Maybe you've passed them on to other generations? Are there any much-loved toys that you no longer have, but miss? What happened to them? Tell us their story, for it is part of your story too, and writing down your memories honours that part of your child-ish self that so often becomes diminished.

Did you ever make any of your own toys or pastimes? Do you still pursue that creative outlet? Were/are you a model maker? A doll maker? Wooden toys? Metal?  Plastic? Clay? What do you create and play with now?

Tell us about your toy-times.

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(by the way, in case you should think they are lonely - - Sandy and Snowy have company now!

 

 

 

 

A Month in the Country 2 – We all need a Place to Sit, Look and Think

When I sit here,

I see this

When I sit here,

this...

And from here?

this…

All one garden - but so many viewpoints and perspectives, and made so much for interesting if we don’t see it all at once. Many vantage points, and more importantly, many places to sit, view and ponder, are, I think, essential. Moreover, the garden changes as the year goes round – what is growing, in abundance, in the summer, creating hidden spots and secret bowers, may well be died back in winter, opening up vistas unseen for months. Looking back through old photographs of the garden from ten years ago, I can see tremendous changes in what and where things grew then, to now.

As in the garden, so in life. 25 years ago, one of the first email groups to which I belonged was called ‘Spiral Journey’ (we’re most happily still together, but under a different name now). Journal writing brought us together, and looking back over our journals of past decades certainly does illustrateto me that we are all on a ‘Spiral Journey’ – going forward, often revisiting the same or similar situations - but, as in climbing a spiral staircase, (or viewing the garden from different vantage points of place or time) - seeing those situations and events from a slightly different perspective. That can be daunting – reminding us that we sometimes keep on repeating the same mistakes (and if you go on doing what you’ve always done, you tend to keep on getting what you’ve always got!) – but can also be tremendously enlightening, if we are prepared to take on board what those differing perspectives are showing us.

We can’t always have control of what happens – in the garden or in life – but stopping to observe and think about those different viewpoints can give us valuable information on which we can then choose how we, personally, may act differently in dealing with the effects. It’s called 'life-learning' - information from different perspectives is always grist for the mill!

Journal Prompt.

Can you think of a situation – a relationship – a dilemma – (a part of your garden?!) which you have revisited over time, looking upon it with different eyes, seeing and learning from the slightly different viewpoint? Hindsight is a wonderful thing – what comes to mind that you might have repeated, but then thought about and decided to change – big or small?

(If you feel so inclined, share your thoughts on the group – but please always have respect for your self care and only ever share that with which you feel comfortable)

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