Autumn Cottage Diarist

A Month in the Country 20 - A Haiku a Day

A week or two ago, I suggested that if you were short of time but wanted to capture the essence of a day, to try using your phone as a notebook, capturing images that distilled your activities, which you could perhaps then write about later. I've actually also practised another form of ‘quick notes of a day’ in the past, in both my ‘two pages to a week view’ Diary and in my gratitude Journal  - just two or three lines of notes each day, again just the briefest of observations, but particularly capturing “reasons to be cheerful”.

Well, I've been short of time again today, so I've utilised yet another way of recording my life, which is even briefer than the above. Last week, as you know I did a ‘Poetry, Nature and Mindfulness’ online retreat, where I practised the writing of even more condensed observations in the form of Haiku - three line expressions of the briefest of thoughts, a poetic form which originally developed in Japan as lines of five, seven and five syllables, though Western practitioners (including myself) do not always follow that rule .

Several of my good friends online are experienced Haiku writers, but it's not a poetic form which I have attempted in the past. Not so now - I have started to instil in myself the habit of a haiku a day. It’s so easy to catch brief observations, although as my tutor from last week observed, ‘it’s not so easy to write a half good one!’

So as I myself have had time for just a brief blog today, here are three of the haiku I wrote last week; very amateur, but practise will hopefully make - if not perfect - at least a little better. Even I can make time for these!

 

Bumble bee, revisiting the bloom

time after time after time

why can't I persist? 

***

seedhead bends in the wind

returns to its stillness of place

the resilience I seek

***

distant thunder clouds gathering

heat shimmers from baking stones

I turn my face to the sun.

Journal Prompt

Can you try to capture your day in a Haiku? Or two… or three?

Use a photograph to inspire you if the capturing of an abstract thought feels difficult

 

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A Month in the Country 19 - Come, Gather Round my Table

Christmas at Autumn Cottage

Food and drink are much more than fuel for the body, aren’t they? They’re food for the soul as well.

We had supper with our son and his wife last night; we gathered around their table, to share food grown by themselves,  in their own garden and a menu prepared from both a different and a shared culture. We shared family stories about other times we had been gathered around other tables, about the time we ended up eating macaroni marzipan , rather than macaroni cheese, and how particular family rituals around the table defined the identity of that family.

When we travelled to their wedding in Romania last year, we delighted in exploring different cuisines, and when we gathered around the table there en famille before the wedding, the sharing of food was very much also part of the welcome into their family . We encountered unusual combinations of foods considered delicacies (pork fat and raw onions for breakfast?! ) and interesting, home made (Palinka!) beverages. It was clear that the preparing and sharing of food bound that family together as much as it binds ours. In sharing food, two families began to link closer together .

We share food and drink at the most transient and the most important times of our lives, don't we ? We grab a coffee and maybe a sandwich with a friend when we meet for an hour. Balmy summer days? I remember them for long lunches on the patio as much as anything. A favourite way to meet up with work colleagues? In the canteen or out for a curry.

In British culture, Baptismal/naming parties, Wedding breakfasts, Wakes and Funeral food mark Rites of Passage - we gather together to break bread and drink water and wine. The fundamental ceremony of the Christian Church – that of the Eucharist/Holy Communion, is based upon a gathering around a table to break bread and drink wine in memory of a beloved person, in a mirroring of the  occasion when that person broke bread with His loved ones; meeting together and eating together is fundamental to the bonding up communities.

It occurs in most other religious traditions; consider the celebrations of Eid ('the breaking of the fast') after the fasting month of Ramadan, for our Muslim brothers and sisters; consider the weekly (Friday evening) Shabbat meal for members of the Jewish community and their guests, and the great commemorative act of Pesach - the Passover meal. Hindus regularly make offerings to their Deities of food and drink; my Buddhist friends see that consideration of what and how they eat as a very important part of their religious observations.

It is a very deep belief of mine that it is difficult to make an enemy, or remain an enemy with someone with whom you sit down, face to face, break bread, drink wine and share conversation. I think it's an experiment in reaching out that could be so successful - to invite members of communities of groups with whom you may feel difficulty and difference - just sit down, eat, drink and speak with them . (f you can do this in a garden, even better!)

I consider myself privileged to have had an insight into different cultures through the gateway of food and drink (nothing is more welcome, when your feet are burning and your mouth is parched as you walk through a a hot, dusty Greek village, than to stop for a meal and instantly be offered a bowl of olives and a glass of water, before ever a food order is thought about) and I can only hope that the traditions of sharing food, drink and conversation, not only remain but flourish – or as a medieval toast from the City of London declares – ‘For good food, good wine and good company, Godde be thanked !’

(...though always remember - *someone* has to do the washing up!!)

Journal prompt

when do you sit down and break bread around the table with others ? What does it mean to you ? What do you share when you do this ? Communal baking ? Recipes? Family stories? National traditions? Write about some of the most significant meals you have had together with others; write about times when you have eaten alone. Which would you prefer ?

** If I have included your photograph here and not asked your permssion recently, please contact me if you wish to be removed!

 

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A Month in the Country 18 - Getting Back to Normal?

Just a little report today on what has seemed like a big adventure, but was in fact something which in the normal course of days before the world changed, was an ultra ordinary thing for me to do. I am fortunate enough to live across the road from one of the best plant nurseries in the country, so I would wander across and browse around on a fairly regular basis.

To be honest, the days of complete lockdown didn't affect me that much; Life went on pretty much as it always had done at Autumn Cottage. Our routines didn't change much from what they had been previously, and I think we took things pretty much in our stride. But I've noticed that since things have opened up again, and we are able to visit our old haunts, that I find life somewhat more challenging, rather than less. We’re in what everybody calls ‘the new normal’ – but the uncanny resemblance to everything that we were used to but with many little factors not quite the same, disconcerts me. In some cases it’s very difficult to put one's finger on exactly what those differences are – but I think the realisation is slowly dawning that (rather like after 9/11) -the world really has changed for ever,  particularly in the way we physically interact with others – and there is no going back.

In the case of the visit to the nursery, the plants are in the same places; the plants themselves are the same. But the ‘wandering around’ is not quite as casual; One way systems are in operation, and when one comes to pay, there are the ubiquitous transparent screens around places which one would approach in a very relaxed manner in the past. As much as possible is 'contactless' and after unavoidable contact, sanitising is in order, Although we were mostly outdoors, when other people gathered around, both the friend I was with and I chose to wear masks; It's such a simple thing to do and certainly causes no harm - so why not do it? But you cannot see another person smile - or other facial mobility - and I miss this more than I ever realised that I would.

The biggest effect of the current climate  on both of us was that we felt absolutely duty bound to buy large quantities of plants -  purely, you understand, in order to support a fragile economy! Joking apart, the horticultural industry has been hit very hard and it's certainly one area of the economy that I feel is very important to keep going.

Some of the good factors that everybody seems to agree upon that has come out of the pandemic measures are that those with gardens rode the storm mentally better than those without, there was an enormous increase in the way that people really started to interact with – and value - the natural world, and I believe it is also the case that in the now rising house market, owners of houses with gardens are now in premium positions when it comes to sell .

Well, I won't be going anywhere anytime soon, so I guess I'll just have to keep on wandering across the road and filling the car with essentials; it's amazing just how many you can squeeze in to the boot  If you make a proper effort - all for the good of the economy, of course!

Journal prompt

What place does a garden have in your life? Do you actually own your own garden? big or small? indoors or outdoors? flowers or veg ? If you don't have a garden at all, do you have access to public space - community gardens? parks? allotments?

Did having -  or not having - a garden make a difference to you during Lockdown? Have you changed your relationship to these spaces and the creatures within them? Having had the experiences of the last few months, what do you intend or hope for in your relationship with plants, animals and wild life spaces in the future?

 

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A Month in the Country 17 - Healing Arts and Inspirations

Anyone who knows me knows that I have had an interest in helping people to heal – whether from trauma, addiction, and particularly from loss and grief -  all issues which can manifest themselves in a troubled mind and sometimes in a troubled lifestyle. I have been engaged for the last 18 years in therapeutic practise to assist others in finding pathways through these difficulties in their lives, and I have particularly been interested in the use of various expressive arts as means to working with and through the issues.

My initial skill set was in the use of poetry and Journal writing as a means to expressing inner feelings, building upon my (then) 35 years of personal journal and diary keeping. But after running my first Journal writing courses, (as a facilitator for Kathleen Adams ‘Journal to the Self’ workshops), I was quickly aware that I did not have the skills necessary to contain the difficult issues that can arise in a seemingly light hearted writing session.

I knew I owed it to any future participants to get myself properly trained, and thus I started on a long pathway of learning, which began with a Certificate and Diploma in Counselling , in which I specialised in grief and bereavement work. I then went on to take a Master’s degree in what was then called ‘The Rhetoric and Rituals of Death’ at the University of Winchester, where I also developed my therapeutic skills, building upon the invaluable academic learning, and putting it into practise to help others. In addition to the writing and memoir courses that I have since run over those years, I have also used sand tray work, photography, collage and visual imagery. Just over this last year I have been  exploring the use of therapeutic healing doll work, which along with the other expressive arts above can be a very powerful tool.

I have belonged to an online healing doll-making group for the last nine months or so – ‘Healing and Transformative Dolls’ on  Facebook - a group of very diverse and imaginative dollmakers who are all inspired by the group founder, Barb Kobe,  who is also the author of the remarkably inspiring book ‘The Healing Doll Way’ - packed with inspirational images, the basis for a year long practical course and a book I highly recommend if you are interested in the work.

Imagine my surprise, when in the last couple of days, the name of a good friend of mine who I met while doing my Masters ‘death’ degree also popped up on the same group! Now, I have dabbled in the first steps (of modelling faces, which you can see above) to begin my first therapeutic doll; no such hesitancy for Angie - in her first few posts she has shown us a truly wonderful stick doll inspired by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a compassionate and courageous movement, promoting important causes which I know are dear to Angie’s heart (and mine)

(Sister Beata Twinkling Fakement, of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence - by kind permission of creator Angie McLachlan)

The Gorgeously Glamorous and deeply compassionate Sister Beata Twinkling-Fakement is already spreading her blessings upon the world in all their fishnet, leather and Beguine inspired glory, rather as their creator – Archbishop (Liberal Catholic Church International), LGBTQ activist, enbalmer, undertaker, academic, artist, sculptor, icon painter, death educator, musician, doll artist* and deeply good person Angie continues so to do.
I’ll muddle on with my modest modelling, while I wait to see what else she presents to the world to encourage us to help and to heal.

(*Only some of Angie’s accomplishments – I think I feel an interview coming on!!)

Journal prompt

Are you a practitioner of any ‘Expressive Arts’ ? Do you use them for your own pleasure and/or healing? (I think they can be both at the same time) – do you use them to help others?

Describe some of those people whom you have encountered in your life who have been an inspiration and encouragement to you – whether you have known them personally, or whether they have been an inspiration from afar…and from any time in history.

What have you learned from them that you have applied in your own life? What of those ‘life lessons’ would you wish to pass on to those who come after you?

 

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A Month in the Country 16 - On the Shelf at Autumn Cottage!

This is where I nod off to sleep each night – a corner of the little haven of my bedroom. (See the laptop at the side of my bed? That’s where I’m writing this blog post, right now)

But because this is a very old cottage – and because the top floor was originally just a hayloft space, the walls are only just over a metre high before the roof slopes in. So no bookcases in here (no wardrobes either – instead I have a walk-in wardrobe elsewhere) – and only a few books on my bedside table – the rest of my reading matter that I dip into before I settle down to sleep resides on the ‘landing’ at the top of the stairs. I have a little ‘reading nook’ there as well, the chair immediately surrounded by my collection of poetry books, where I can hunker down and ignore the world if I want to.

And here is the stack of books which had built up on my bed, which I have been reading through lockdown – all engrossing and several still only half-way through.

This is my (eclectic) taste in books; I’m not going to describe each one right now – instead, take a ‘book tour’ walk through any that catch your fancy at Amazon to read the descriptions – then come back and we can talk about them. (Do you have any of the same books on your book shelves?)

Journal Prompt

List in your journal (and here) the books that are on your bedside table, or in a favourite reading place right now – a snapshot of your interests on 16 August 2020. Take a picture - share it here - give us all a Magical Mystery tour to follow.

Write a review of one, two or more that you particularly enjoyed and would recommend.

Take a picture and/or write a description of where you love to sit and disappear (into a book!)

Do you think that you CAN have too many books? (I’ve changed my opinion on this – I’ll tell you what I now think tomorrow!)

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A Month in the Country 15 - Cutting Through the Shrubbery!

My hair became unruly and totally out of control during lockdown - did you fight a battle with yours as well? Thankfully I was able to call upon my lovely hairdresser, Sharon, to sort out the birds nest on my head as soon as she was ever allowed to do so (though this last week has played havoc with my wispy curls, which have spent most of their time in a steam bath at temperatures in the mid 30s and humidity hitting 100% over the last few days)

As with the humans, so with the non-human beings here; although we've tittivated and trimmed in the garden as a matter of course, the combination of warm weather and intermittent downpours throughout the last few months have made everything just romp away, so that now perennials and shrubbery, grass and other greenery needs seriously taking in hand.

(The old loo is lurking behind this triffid!)

So just a few photographs here of the work I did this morning (in the drizzle once again), a couple of hours pruning of the Lonicera nitida, which I use here as a very fine substitute for the much slower growing Box and with none of the problems that could come along with Box Blight.

I use small (some call them ‘Ladies’) shears, as they are very manoeuvrable and you can get quite sharp curves cut with them. They are also very useful for picking in between the clematis which has wound itself through both bushes. A combination of these shears and my superb Felco secateurs will get most pruning jobs done. Before, during and after - I think the difference is fairly obvious and very satisfying.

But as in life, though one mostly keeps a constant, almost unconscious eye on the mundane things of life which need to be kept under control, on occasion, one also just has to accept that there are some things over which we can have little or no influence – other than in how we choose to perceive them.

Sometimes, we just have to let go of expectations. (Though my appearance is just a little more orderly now!)

Journal prompt

Anything been out of control recently - in your garden or elsewhere in your life? Any tips on how to manage things? When things become unmanageable, where do you turn? To whom or what do you turn to find help?  Do you find it difficult or easy to ‘just let it go’?

 

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A Month in the Country 14 - If Life Gives You Ripe Bananas...

On the premise of making lemonade if Life gives you lemons - today I decided that if life gave me ripe bananas, I would make Banana Bread!

Life in lockdown UK made us all – apparently – rush to the kitchen to bake like mad. We apparently divided into 2 camps; those who made Sourdough bread, and those who were more inclined towards making Banana Tea Bread. Well, I can't claim that my Banana Bread making has anything to do with lockdown - I've been making it for decades, so just went right on baking, pandemic or not !

I have 2 lovely, non-stick loaf tins, so I tend to make two loaves at a time. The recipe I give you here is supplied for both one loaf or two. If you are intending to use it, I suggest you print it out, and CROSS OUT the quantities not applicable to you. You’ll avoid mixing amounts and wrecking the chemistry. We do NOT want Claggy cakes, now, do we?!

I may well have shared this form of this recipe over the years, on Facebook and maybe even on this blog, but this is an updated version and I can guarantee that it tastes very good – especially after 24 hours and with a generous spread of butter!

BANANA TEA BREAD - Roz's version

(Modified extensively from an old Good Housekeeping recipe)

1 loaf	2 Loaves
200g	400g	Self raising (all purpose?) flour
1/4 tsp	1/2 tsp	Bicarbonate of Soda
1/2 tsp	1tsp	Salt
75 g	160 g	Butter
150 g	300 g	Sugar (I use half and half white/Demerara)
2	4	Eggs, medium, beaten
225 g	450 g	Bananas, mashed
100 g	200g	Nuts, chopped - OR
1 cup	2 cups	Sultanas, soaked 30 min in tea, drained.

(Suggestion - print out the recipe and CROSS OUT the recipe you are NOT using, to avoid mixing up quantities - or print 2 versions!)

Grease 1 or 2 loaf tins, 8½" by 4½" and line with greaseproof  paper (or use non-stick tins!)

Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. 

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add the egg in a little at a time beating well after each addition. 

Add the bananas and beat again.

Stir in the flour (and the nuts if desired). 

(I use a food processor to mix my ingredients , but stir in sultanas by hand, to avoid them also being chopped)

Pour into the tin(s) and place in the oven at 190C (375F, mark 5) for about 1¼ hours until well risen and just firm.  Test with a knife to check that centre is not sticky. A clean knife = cooked.

Turn out and cool on a wire rack. Best left (haha!) for 24 hours before serving sliced and buttered.

Every oven is different - you may need to test-cook this recipe in your own oven and adjust accordingly.

Useful websites

Temperature conversions -  https://www.cookingconversions.org/oventemperatures.htm

Weight conversions - https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/weight/gram-to-ounce.html

Journal prompt

Were you inspired to cook more – or less – during Lockdown? What do you make when life gives you ripe bananas ? How do you use up food that is too ripe or somewhat stale? Recipes please – both for us and for your descendants

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A Month in the Country 13 - A Jumble of Treasures in a Grubby Old Box

This time last year I had discovered a treasure trove near to home; just a mile away, on a small industrial estate, I found that there was someone operating from a unit there who sold upcycled furniture and all sorts of bric a brac, and all for VERY decent prices. As you can imagine - I was in seventh heaven. My joy and delight was short lived, however, as within a couple of months she announced that she was closing down. The 'Ottoman' box that you see above was the last thing that I bought.

When I first saw it, the loose cover was off and what was visible was not attractive to the eye. The covering attached to the box itself was damaged – torn, stained and very grubby, which was presumably why the pretty chintz coverlet had been made to hide its shame! But inside was a different matter; the interior was crammed full to overflowing with a multitude of different textiles - it made me swoon. I was told that I could take the box and all its contents for (I think) 40 UK pounds (approx. $50.00). How could I resist? But in fact resist I did, as I knew the purchase would not go down very well back at home, where it would be seen as ‘more junk filling up space’

I tolerated my agony for 48 hours but then in fact, succumbed and went back to take possession of said item.

What I did not know was (that as I discovered when I opened it), a good third of the contents had been sold during the intervening two days; but it was a fair cop - I had agreed to buy the box and its contents, and the box and its contents (though now depleted) was what I got. I should have checked, but was overcome with excitement – and not a little trepidation. There was still a huge amount of treasure in there, which I have yet to explore in detail. Having taken a perfunctory sort through, the box was closed up “until later when I have more time ” (sound familiar?). Well, that time was taken up - for the next month or two - by work in the autumn garden, and then Christmas was upon us - and you know how much time we all have then.

So the box was closed, the cover was pulled over, the contents forgotten. Until today, when I wanted to put a small piece of decorative linen away, could not be bothered to take just one item up stairs (steep stairs), and something in my subconscious reminded me that I could pop it in ‘that box in the sunroom’ to be sorted in future. I opened it up and had more than a pleasant surprise to see what was still in there. Victorian baby night dresses, several pieces of European embroidery, a beautiful Victorian white silk shawl, with long, long fringing, (which can be used either as a garment or as a table covering)  and many, many pieces of practical use - particularly tablecloths and pillow cases, of which there is one particularly pretty example in blue Toile de Jouy.

The photographs of the crumpled, jumbled items that you can see at the moment show virtually as much as I know is of interest in there myself; I don't know what's beneath. Over the next few weeks, I will take a few items out at a time, wash and iron them and assess them. I will keep anything that particularly takes my eye, but the rest of it really should go to other homes where it will be enjoyed by other textile lovers. I have forgotten the intricacies of eBay, but I think it's time I remembered!

Journal prompt

Do you know if you have any such treasures hidden away in bottom drawers or top lofts? (Don't ask today about what's in MY loft - that is very much more than one other blog post, to be sure!)

Have a rootle around in your linen cupboards, chests, wardrobes & lofts and see what treasures you find and what you can remember about them. My particular interest is in textiles today, but you may also have glass, ceramics, pictures, books (yes, look on those shelves as well) - see what you can find , see what you can remember (where did they come from? Who did they belong to?)

Write down their stories – and as always, it would be a delight if you can share them here. (A little tip – write the stories of important (to you) pieces on a luggage tag and keep it with the item, for future generations)

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A Month in the Country 12 - The Blessed Rain

The heat, friends.

Oh, the heat – 34C today, combined with the humidity.

Us Brits, here, in the UK – we’re not really up to it. We love it for a few days…but then people like me, and of a certain age (ahem), well – we just start to wilt and pray for rain.

At about four o’clock this afternoon, our prayers were answered – and I’ve heard from several friends who ended up dancing in the rain (clothed or otherwise – but we’ll draw a veil over that – or rather, them!)

Truthfully, my brain is still, at 11 pm, not functioning well…so forgive me for not being ultra creative today. Instead - here are some images of the blessed rain, which fell on the Autumn Cottage beneath. (and more (thunderstorms) forecast for overnight)

Journal prompt

Tell me your rainy stories – memories of being caught in it, or having to do without. Climate change is making our need to conserve water even more important – what do you do to help in this fight to conserve water – or anything else – in your own homes and lives?

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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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