I have been looking forward to lighter nights all winter; instead of closing the curtains against the dark at four o’clock I can leave them open until ten. Birds feel the same way and continue to sing until late, lending the day a cheerful ending. Although the sun has neglected to put its hat on […]
Category: Haibun
All Things Must Pass
I love the month of May. The nights are growing longer and it’s been warm enough to sit on the patio until early evening. Although most of the blossom has disappeared from the trees, we have a large rose bush covered in pink flowers, and honeysuckle covers the trellis, as well as the trunk and […]
Plastic Earth
I’ve been thinking about getting a globe lamp for my grandson, so he can see the Earth lit up in his room and explore its mysteries and beauty. At six years old, he is interested in so many things and I would love him to extend that to geography and ecology, to look at our […]
Ornamental
In our garden is an ornamental cherry tree, which has plenty of blossoms each year but bears no fruit. At the moment, there are buds on all the branches; I am waiting for the moment when they will burst open. outside the windowthe beginnings of blossomspring inspiration My plan for next weekend is to spring […]
Waking to a Snow Moon
I woke up around three on Sunday morning to a snow moon that shed its argent light over fields and gardens. It seeped through the windows, spreading its sheen across the bedroom floor, bouncing off the metal bedstead and highlighting the ears of our sleepy cats. When I got up and looked outside, everything was […]
A Gasp of Breath
Temperatures are not as low as they were a week or so ago and I’m venturing out earlier for my daily walk, still wearing a thick overcoat with hat, scarf and gloves. It’s only a lap around the village, over the bridge, down past the horses and back around the moorings, where the dyke is […]
1st January 2024
It’s hard to believe that I woke up in 2024 this morning. Back in June 1949, Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-Four was published. 1984 has come and gone, I’m forty years older, so much has changed – and yet nothing has changed. The New Year’s Eve television programmes were much the same, and January is just […]
Waiting
Here in North Norfolk, we are still waiting for autumn foliage, although the berries are making up for the lack of colour. There are a few yellow and gold leaves drifting about in the current stormy weather, but they are nothing like the usual glorious displays we have had in previous years. Saying that, our […]
Last Morning Before Autumn
Three o’clock finds me up early,unsettled by hoots, shivery calls and a swirlyglittering dome of stars in obsidian sky. Pale clouds wisp across fathomless darkand an owl magically curves an arc,low and slow, before it lands on the bark of an ancient tree. And then there’s me,face pressed against cold glass to seewhat I can […]
Once in a Super Blue Moon
In the wee hours of a late summer morning, I wake up to a full moon, a huge lantern outside the window. Its beams penetrate the slats of the blinds, sending moon shadows dancing on the wall, painting the cat silver as she sleeps at the end of the bed. I pad downstairs and it […]
writing in north norfolk 