Insomnia. Wild, half-remembered dreams. Dazed morning head. Eggs for breakfast. Not enough coffee. A very sweet red mare. Work, work, work, work. HorseBack. Work, work, work. Should be cutting, instead put on 1280 new words. Half pleased, half furious. Need more ruthlessness. Forget lunch. Paltry attempts at admin. Followed by: idiotic and traditional admin screw-up. Close inspection of sell-by dates in the fridge. Dubious. Pause to admire handsome, comical face of Stanley the Dog. Contemplate making decision which must be made; swerve it. Time shoots past ears. Contemplate beating self up for perceived hopelessness; decide not to. WORK. High tea, on account of forgotten lunch. (Fried cods’ roe with olive oil and tomatoes. Old school.) Soft Scottish rain. Late afternoon field, green and still and secret. Two gentle, contented horses. Stop for first time since breakfast. Breathe. Smile. Remember the love.
Somewhere, in the middle of it all, this enchanting sight, of the lovely Stepfather, and his dog:
With added red mare, and sweet HorseBack horse:
Were you really good close friends with the God-awful Ghastly Gove when you were up at Oxford? I see stuff on th'interwebs that suggest you were.
ReplyDeleteI think we have a right to know. Well, of course, we have absolutely no right to know, but nevertheless, one judges a person by the company (s)he keeps, and all that...
Dear Anonymous. I am not in fact called Anne Westminster. That was a joke entirely for Tania's benefit. My name is Fi Cotter Craig and I am indeed a friend of Tania's. As you are so clearly find of judging people by their friends I suspect you will consign Tania to the dustbin when I tell you I am gay, have been in prison and currently owe HMRC quite a sizeable amount in unpaid tax. If you are the sort of person who feels entitled to judge people may I suggest you just stop? What on earth gives you or any of us that right?
ReplyDeletewell said Fi ! x
DeleteThe gay and the old lag bit is interesting (if true), but the unpaid tax is cavalier in the utmost, civilly irresponsible and only possible if not on PAYE, so that puts you well up there with Ghastly Godawful Gove in the posh stakes.
DeleteTwo dreadful friends to judge you by - Tania - seems I may have hit a nerve here if they are so quick to close ranks. But then, since you and your close family live in the grounds of a castle in Scotland, I guess that is just AOK with the privileged few, man the barricades the plebs are revolting (and no, I don't mean repellent). Anyone who takes a sniping swipe at them is just jealous, I guess. Or sick to the back teeth of your ilk.
I am tempted to tell you that the gay and 'old lag' elements are the least interesting things about me so fascinating am I. However I would like to correct an absolutely elementary howler you have made. Like a sizeable part of the working population I am a freelancer and as such responsible for my own tax. I don't give a toss about you, your life or opinions which are based on prejudice and supposition. It is particularly telling that you write your bilious comments anonymously and are clearly lacking any moral fibre or character whatsoever so why don't you just shut up?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSorry, made a comment there without reading everything above. Not sure what this is about. Will bow out...
DeleteDear Tania, Beautiful stream of consciousness post and thoroughly lovely photos - thank you as always.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, lovely, eeeurgh eeuurgh. Find the beautiful in you own life, Lainey, what need do you have to keep tagging along on the coat-tails of others? Blogging like this is the most puke-provoking type of public diary-keeping ever. Look at me! Look what I did, look what I have, look where I live, aren't I bloody LUCKY?!!
DeleteVOM ----IT!
Just to say, I really hope you don't take that commenter to heart. So inappropriate, words fail me. But your words and photos are gorgeous as ever - like the telegraphese though love the long ones too. Such a tonic on a morning when squirrels of any kind are sorely needed. Rachel
ReplyDeleteTania - there is only one word for that person - twat. Pay no heed. He/she/it will die without the oxygen of anyone giving a damn.
ReplyDeleteThe author of six best-selling novels now lives in Royal Deeside, though she has done her fair share of slinking around Notting Hill in kitten heels, when her only ambition in life was to be a funky urban chick, and the labels "Guinness heiress" and "Portobello princess" were as indelibly stamped on her as the blue dolphin tattooed on her wrist.
ReplyDeleteA mysterious illness took Kindersley, an Oxford English graduate, from her louche London life to recuperate for six months at Aboyne Castle. Fully recovered, she fell passionately in love with Scotland: "The big country – the wide skies, the silent nights, the mighty rivers, the mountains and the ancient glens."
She found a small stone cottage close to the pink castle that is home to her elder sister, Catheryn, the Marchioness of Huntly, and her brother-in-law, Granville (he's also known as Cock of the North – "a title given to some testosterone-crazed ancestor", according to Kindersley) and has lived there since the late 1990s.
Whew! Sounds like "someone" is suffering from major Kindersley envy!!!!
ReplyDelete(Or maybe in my not-enough-coffee- yet state, I am "missing" some sarcasm here?)
In the words of American cartoonist Sandra Boyton (she of the happy bird-th day two ewe fame): "Don't let the turkeys get you down." Even -- or especially the anonymous ones!
Get a life Anon. As always love reading your blogs so keep them coming and ignore the idiots. :) X
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGilly has hit the nail on the head. I don't comment often but am an avid reader who despises internet bullying. Unfortunately there are many Marion Bulmers stinking up the internet. There was no need to "reveal" yourself Marion. It was so obviously you.
ReplyDeleteI am mystified. I made a comment that a freelance has no need to get into tax debt if prudent, and that the reactions seemed much more vituperative that anon's original comment. If the earlier negative comments aren't worth dignifying with a reply, then why reply?
ReplyDeleteDeb, have we met? I suspect not.
Thankfully, nor are we likely to do any day soon.
Is it envy to be affronted by someone boasting about their horse and flaunting their family wealth for all and any to see? You bloody women amaze me the way you all fawn on one another - dahling that dress is gorgeous, heavens have you lost wight your look fabulous, and on and on. If anyone went on about their boyfriend or husband like Ms Kindersley eulogises her horse then we would be able to pick our way through the sick. Why is it acceptable to boast about something in your life just because it has four legs and not two? And leave the wee Bulmer woman alone, She's the only one among you capable off looking at an issue from more than one side . Anyone with an an ounce of sense or sensitivity could tell I am a man, A man that who is eternally grateful he doesn't know any ladies like you lot, ladies with or without a capital L
ReplyDeletePerhaps when we Scots vote YES in September "Royal" Deeside will eventually be much less cluttered up with English posh and the indigenous inhabitants might get some of their land back - kick off the pheasant & deer shooting and get back to rearing sheep or sustaining humans more humanely.
My objection is a political one, I object to the affront to those who have struggled through a recession and are nowhere near out the other side that La Tandersley's daily spew represents.
This post is very helpful for me , Very knowledgeable post . Great work bro . Keep it up .
ReplyDeleteMumbai Spa Girls
Mumbai Night Calls
Independent Girls in Mumbai
Elite Girl in Mumbai
Vip Mumbai Girls