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 […]
Category: Haibun
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 […]
To Move or Not to Move
Moving house is something we all think about as we get older: to be closer to family; for easier access to amenities like doctor, dentist and shops; to downsize. I would love to see more of my daughter and grandsons, but love where we live, the familiarity of our small village, the cottage we have […]
Freedom to Walk
Although I am free to walk pretty much wherever I want, this afternoon, I take my usual route. The sun is shining, the horses grazing, and the grass growing tall, waving in the breeze. I think about places I have never been and, hopefully, will never go, where freedom has a high price, and I […]
writing in north norfolk 