Posted by Tania Kindersley.
I really did have something interesting to write today. I was rehearsing it in the car on the way back from the horse. It may have been about the weather (you see the fascination); or it might have been about the nature of certainty. Can’t remember now. Brain says: I have done 1966 words and some notes and some killing of darlings and what more do you want? Blood?
Dog says: when will this bloody book be finished so we can get in some proper ball action?
Horse says: don’t really care, as long as you scratch me in that particular spot just behind my left ear. No, not there, there.
It kills me when she does this. It’s another of the absolutely tiny things of no importance which fills my heart with joy and delight and makes it bloom in my chest. She presents her face, and then angles it about, this way and that, until she gets my scratchy fingers in the exact right position, and then she sort of blisses out. And I feel that, by finding the sweetest of the sweet spots, I have achieved something of profound significance.
The sun shone so hard everyone in the village was talking about it, with the sort of awe and wonder that lost tribes must have felt when they first saw a motor car. I had an excellent conversation with the chemist, the newsagent and the postmistress. (I adore the postmistress, she is so clever and calm and funny.) I like doing errands in the village; it gives me a potent sense of belonging.
I managed to get all my jobs done and only had to ask someone what day of the week it was once. But I wish I could remember the interesting thing that I was going to tell you.
Some quick pictures for you:
Red the Mare, basking:
Is there to be a ball?
YES THERE IS:
Hill, with the trees in their spanking new green:
Oh, that thing that slips away and then wakes you in the middle of the night, or midway through a conversation about something else. My mother used to ring me with an 'aha! it was...' -usually some random thread that we didn't follow through.
ReplyDeleteThe Darling Pigeon looks like a puppy in the second picture. xx
Em - you always say the kindest things about the Pidge. Makes my heart sing.
DeleteI love your blog but I really think that you should relax a bit and not feel forced to write. You have no obligation to do so, please do not tire yourself with this. Take some days of and we will be more excited to hear form you when you return. Do return, though.
ReplyDeleteMarianna - how kind and wise you are. Relaxing quite difficult for me at the moment, but I might easily take your advice. Although I do miss the blog terribly when I have to go away from it.
DeleteBeautiful post. And as I have said many times before - I am in love with your photographs. As we bake in the intense dry heat here, I always look forward to visiting your blog and the colours and images act like a wave of cool air! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHave a good week ahead.
Deep Sea - what an absolutely lovely thing to say. Thank you.
DeleteHave you said what this book is about? Did I miss it (obviously) or forget it (even more likely!)?
ReplyDeleteWhat IS this book about (please tell)?
Pat - it's about all elements of female beauty in the 21st century; politics, media, fame, real women etc etc. My bit of it keeps turning into a mad rant, bloody Botox etc, and the calm co-writer has to talk me down off the ceiling. Much more complicated subject than at first I thought.
Deletelove your wit and the photos always!
ReplyDeleteDiane - what a delightful compliment; thank you so much.
DeleteStuck as i am in recipe project hell, I have only time to read these days v quickly whilst passing through. However meant to say saw joining-up on Martin Clunes' Horsepower prog (repeat) and the amazing french horseman on the beach with his results and wept with the delight of it. Go have a look if you haven't seen it. Sheer brilliance.
ReplyDeleteJo - so very lovely to hear from you. I always wonder about the regular readers, esp the ones who have been here from the very early days. Know all about project hell. Have seen that Frenchman on the beach; could hardly believe it. My aim is to achieve that level of joy with my mare, if not quite his absolutely brilliance. But shall look up the Martin Clunes thing. (She did walk beside me without a halter for ten minutes today, stopping when I said stop, and will now back up with a tiny tap on the shoulder; can't tell you how much delirious pleasure it gives me. She is so willing and such a quick learner.)
DeleteNext stop standing bareback (visions of Enid Blyton's St Clare books flash before my eyes - i read them in my youth and was filled with desire to be renamed Carlotta and be a bareback horserider in a circus. Now it's all I can do to maintain a straight line as i totter down the village high street after a few drinks...sigh).
DeleteLOVE the before and after Pigeon pics. Classic.
ReplyDeleteBlonde - I do sometimes think she is wasted in real life, and should be on billboards, just to add the general sum of human happiness!
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