tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16989092001008782952024-02-20T19:07:49.018-08:00The White Barnour lives, our storiesCBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.comBlogger428125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-42805420773307823462017-10-13T09:23:00.000-07:002017-10-13T09:23:11.826-07:00beach finds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When treasure means fossils, sea smoothed bone, a spoon, the delicate beauty of a hawk's feather and a whale* tooth...<br />
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*we're open to correction on the whale tooth identification, in fact Mide thought it would definitely be better if this was a dinosaur tooth but hey, let's be realistic here. Not pictured: the dead jellyfish and several crabs claws, legs and bodies which we all agreed were best left on the beach.CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-80214587561654261362017-10-02T04:48:00.000-07:002017-10-02T04:48:18.304-07:00hello October<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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hello October with all your </div>
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blue skies, foggy walks, berries, wood stacks, cobwebbed gorse</div>
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sunrises, sunsets, woollen jumpers, </div>
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smoke scented air, fires, </div>
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books, </div>
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pears, apples, pumpkins, soup, fruit cake, damson jam</div>
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& leaf swirling goodness!</div>
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<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-31914471100465042672017-09-16T03:32:00.002-07:002017-09-16T03:32:18.034-07:00Captive voice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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During the summer holidays we went to <a href="http://guthgafa.com/" target="_blank">Guth Gafa</a> (meaning captive voice) held at Headfort House in Kells. It's an independent documentary film festival showing films from all around the world on a wide variety of subjects. Although it's been on the go for a number of years the festival has the feel of something low key and gentle. There was food, music, cakes and coffee but obviously the focus are the films themselves. We split up - Kevin took the the younger boys to see The Eagle Huntress while Hugo and I watched The Island and the Whales in the ornate surroundings of the Adam room. It was fun seeing the boys' eyes open to the possibilities of differently led lives, lives not shaped by western conventions and expectations. We saw a little flash of another world and it provoked a lot of excitement and wonder in all of us. It's important to remind ourselves that there are other ways of doing things, other ways of being and that the world is full of possibilities.</div>
CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-19890200938451272642017-08-23T05:06:00.001-07:002017-08-23T05:06:19.808-07:00Antrim Coast holidays<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We're not long back from two weeks of coastal living with the sea on our doorstep and sunshine almost everyday. There were days of adventure and days of lolling around with not much going on - a good blend, I'd say. Highlights were crossing the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (ironically that's all my nightmares right there- heights, falling, crowds but still I loved it) and the stunning cliff walk on Rathlin Island which we followed with a well deserved Prosecco and lunch at the Manor House. We also stomped over familiar ground revisiting the walled garden at Glenarm Castle, the beach at Cushendun and Dunluce Castle, as well as going to some new places in Belfast - the Titanic Experience and the Zoo. </div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">And now we are home, back to blackberries and berry laden hedgerows, the call of rooks and crows and apples ripening on our four small trees. Somehow Autumn seems to be here - but thankfully there are still a few more days of holiday left before school and routine take over again.</span></div>
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<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-41775802832061311072017-08-03T04:45:00.001-07:002017-08-03T04:45:42.035-07:00this week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There is an autumn touch to the air. The boys ate their first blackberries this morning and the weather has been so inclement that the stove and candles have been lit in the evening on more than one occasion. But there are still blue skied days and breakfasts in the sunshine and walks in meadows. There is also the prospect of August holidays by the sea and the pile of summer reading for those lazy moments when jobs are done. I'm halfway through <i>The Story of Lucy Gault</i> by William Trevor but I have to admit to being distracted - there's <i>The Handmaid's Tale, Anna and the Swallow Man </i>and<i> Ginny Moon</i> waiting for me too... thank goodness the days are still long.</div>
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<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-73244900411596749042017-07-19T02:59:00.002-07:002017-07-19T03:05:17.566-07:00July reading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am just about finished this and I keep flicking on ahead and reading paragraphs in the hope that I can devour it quickly and slowly at the same time - the agony! On the back cover of the 1972 copy I'm reading a critic said 'It will keep thousands of people dithering with excitement' ~ ha, yes I'm all a dither and consequently I keep having to sneak off, away from children, to try and gulp down more in between feeding time at the zoo, refereeing squabbles and laundry baskets which seem to have their own life force.</div>
CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-34911818963991651742017-07-13T03:28:00.000-07:002017-07-13T03:28:25.024-07:00gooseberries<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A scant half pound of gooseberries were picked from the bushes which are tucked into our boundary hedge. A little too much for a fool (as in gooseberry fool, eye roll) but not enough for jam. So to the cookbooks for a pleasant half hour or so until a recipe for gooseberry curd catches my eye. And now, with two little glass jars full of luscious gooseberry goodness cooling in the kitchen, I'm thinking of scones and cream or perhaps vanilla sponge filled with curd and raspberries...</div>
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<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-91359854288673898862017-07-10T07:04:00.001-07:002017-07-10T07:04:04.763-07:00lately...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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peanut butter cookies</div>
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garden guitar</div>
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pink and lime green<br />
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peek-a-boo bovine<br />
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safe dangling<br />
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danger dangling</div>
<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-52956690600343545132017-07-08T09:19:00.004-07:002017-07-08T09:20:15.924-07:00last week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week the two younger boys (and myself) attended a creative writing and Lego making summer camp. It was held in our local library each morning. We learnt how to plan and write a story and then, using Lego figures and an amazing app (Lego Story Visualizer), transform them into a comic strip with proper backgrounds and speech bubbles and all the <i>wham! whizz! bam! </i>and <i>sock!</i> you can handle.<br />
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Mide did some quite detailed drawings of his character - Spaceman Skiff who fights with aliens and space pirates. And then ideas were transformed into comics...</div>
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William wrote about a gang of baddies, led by the aptly named 'Slasher', who were determined to envelop the city in a toxic gas cloud... It makes me so happy to see them engaged in such a creative way and also work alongside one another which doesn't always happen. Mide overcame his massive anxiety at experiencing new things and decided it was worth giving it a go and William had two of his favourite things right there - Lego and writing - so he was delighted. Thank goodness for the library!<br />
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<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-86099031812426527082017-07-04T08:22:00.002-07:002017-07-19T03:05:39.987-07:00winning too<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It is so damp and grey that I light the candles before we eat. The steady drip, drip, drip of the rain is the soundtrack to the evening. We light the fire and set up a board game in the sitting room. The boys choose Trivial Pursuit. It's the family edition which makes it easier for their diverse age ranges and Mide and I play as a team. It sounds relatively simple to play a game together but for us it's not. Autism makes it hard to understand turn taking, it makes the unpredictability of the role of the dice agony, it makes not knowing the answer to a question tricky to acknowledge and guessing the answer just plain awful. However having said all that Mide managed well and actually enjoyed it! So much work, patience, understanding has gone in to getting him to this place ~ the first time he has played a family game with us all the way through to the end without having a tantrum or leaving the room in anger. Also, he happened to win. And slowly I feel that we are winning too.</div>
CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-60046016416248211342017-07-02T08:11:00.001-07:002017-07-02T08:11:54.570-07:00Sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The day started with sun and a few puffed white clouds. On my walk I admired the sleek, glossy flanks of the little black cows tucked behind the hedges. Sunlight was in the fields, glinting off the sea of grass. Home to a sink full of breakfast dishes and homemade granola, coffee and yesterday's paper. Now the rain has come and books are the order of the day. Sounds of squabbling from deeper in the house ~ the two younger ones, all shorts and grazed knees, are bickering and I hold my breath, wondering if I should intervene. Silence again, dispute resolved and I turn back to <i>My Cousin Rachel. </i>The sun is struggling through the clouds, now it's time for tea, some cake maybe. The peace of a Sunday in July.</div>
<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-88014510412346917802017-06-25T08:44:00.001-07:002017-06-25T08:55:05.675-07:00to the sea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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To Dun Laoghaire to walk along the pier with icecream, seagulls screaming and boats with masts tinkling, clinking until all you can hear is the sea, the sea, the endless sea. We watch as the tug helps the cruise ship leave the shelter of the harbour and we wonder about the people on the deck waving to the people on the shore. How I would love to sail out from Dublin, out to sea, to places new to me but always, always with the prospect of returning home.</div>
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<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-31116864215859816642017-06-22T08:40:00.001-07:002017-06-22T08:40:35.643-07:00summer scenes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Summer days - grey skies and buttercups at the Hill of Tara, lined fields, honeysuckle woven through the hedges, early morning walks with fog and fresh scones for breakfast.</div>
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<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-34313474608889978082017-06-19T10:01:00.001-07:002017-06-19T10:07:42.874-07:00June reading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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June is the perfect summer month - the weather has picked up, the boys are nearly finished school and the promise of holidays is stretching out in front of us. The garden has been the scene of most of my reading. The sun umbrella shades the table and chairs, bees and insects buzz in and out of view and swallows tear the skies with their arrow speed. I can close my eyes and float with the characters I've been reading about or let my thoughts drift and turn in the peace of their worlds and drift out of, away from, the reality of mine.<br />
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The coast is undoubtedly my happy place. A walk along the shoreline breathing in salt laden air and suddenly everything inside me is calmer. I have no idea why the sea helps me to feel this way. We didn't grow up near the sea or even spend extended amounts of holiday time at the beach. To actually swim in any great depth of sea would frighten me and I'm an appalling sailor but that surge and swell of water meeting land, the sounds and sand are something I need. Tim Winton had the kind of practical, magical childhood by the sea that I would give my eye teeth for. He writes "I am in the sea but not of it". I think I am of the sea but not in it (due to my extreme cowardice and <i>Jaws</i>).</div>
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Wouldn't it be so nice to believe that anything is possible? Elizabeth Strout has carried on where <i>My name is Lucy Barton</i> left off. We are shown deeper insight into the lives led in small town America where Lucy's childhood poverty was despised and hidden from view. We get to understand more about her situation and the effect on adult life - hers and her siblings. The characters are cleverly interwoven- each person's story leads to another and slowly the picture of life in rural Amgash is revealed in all its pain and ugliness.</div>
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Speaking of cowardice why do we spend our lives so afraid? We are afraid of what others will think of us, we are afraid to take risks, to express ourselves. One of the luxuries of aging is that hopefully our fear diminishes and we get to worry less about the opinions of others. I'm in the middle of <i>Our Souls at Night</i> by Kent Haruf. Two neighbours, in their seventies and both widowed, decide that night time is when their loneliness is worst. Addie asks Louis to come and spend the night with her - "I'm talking about getting through the night. And lying warm in bed, companionably. Lying down in bed together and you staying the night. The nights are the worst. Don't you think?". </div>
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Sometimes is pays to be brave. To get in the water, even though that's where the sharks live.</div>
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CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-81857027594475280492017-05-31T03:12:00.001-07:002017-05-31T03:12:21.593-07:00end of May<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The simple pleasure of walking in the field, just after cutting but before baling. Just insects, birdsong and the sound of moving through grass. </div>
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And then a couple of days later the grass has been baled and we walk through the field in the evening sun. Dogs and children run free and golden light is all around us.</div>
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End of May.</div>
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CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-56596568944367686082017-05-27T06:28:00.003-07:002017-05-27T06:28:32.418-07:00glimpses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The other morning we woke to heavy fog. I walked the dogs up the lane and around what we call 'the loop' as it's mostly off road and brings you through the landscape using an old trackway that runs between fields. It's where we pick sloes for gin and eventually it joins the road that leads back home. It was slightly spooky walking through the fogged air, past the woods where the trees were dripping and cobwebs hung like spun air. Kevin had seen a fox there the day before. He was sick or old and was slow to move off. Kevin had called the dogs to heel to allow him time to go. There was no sign of him as we walked to the top of the lane passing the small field bordering the woods where the sheep huddled together. Then on through the overgrown bit and down the track that lies dipped between fields. It can be muddy underfoot, although at this time of year it's dry earth and easy to walk on. We ended up on trackway again and there right in front of us a fox full of rude good health, sleek in his glossy coat. We had startled him as he crossed in front of us and in one glorious bound he flew into the undergrowth and disappeared. And somehow just seeing him like that, for the briefest of seconds, made me feel better.</div>
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<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-70685657470329445112017-05-15T02:58:00.000-07:002017-05-15T02:58:21.722-07:00today<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today it is raining. The dust under the trees, where the boys' swings are, has become mud and everything else is sodden. The rain woke us in the night and this morning it's all grey skies and wind. But we've had such sun and warmth and blue skies that perhaps a little rain is allowed, if only to refresh the garden. </div>
CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-60481956377992829142017-05-05T04:57:00.001-07:002017-05-15T03:04:24.962-07:00A-may-zing! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: left;">We have been having some truly lovely May weather. Morning walks are along dusty tracks with bluebells and cow parsley and the lake water looks almost warm enough to dip into. Those clear blue skies have meant lots of garden time - playing, reading and even barbecuing (duck sausages-a real winner!) and having friends over for impromptu drinks as the sun sets. It's amazing how quickly we have become used to sunny days- fingers crossed they continue!</span></div>
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<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-8035381509193754612017-04-28T05:30:00.000-07:002017-04-28T05:30:02.950-07:00funny ha, ha<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The other evening Mide remembered a book that his teacher was reading to the class in school. Luckily we had it at home (<i>Mr. Stink</i> by David Walliams) so he spent an enjoyable hour before bed reading out all the funny bits he liked from it. Having a sense of humour is something so intrinsically human that we barely think about it. People with autism are sometimes regarded as having no sense of humour or as not being able to understand or tell jokes. In Mide's case this is not true - he enjoys jokes, word-play and puns and he definitely gets the humour in books like Mr. Stink and cartoon strips like Calvin and Hobbes. Indeed, it also helps us as parents to have a sense of humour when dealing with situations that might otherwise make us furious or cry (or both). On more than one occasion we've used silliness and joking to diffuse tension or reduce his anxiety. Of course, that said, it doesn't always work...</div>
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<a href="http://calvinhobbesdaily.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Calvin and Hobbes</a></div>
CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-13837283968101620522017-04-24T03:47:00.002-07:002017-05-15T03:04:49.616-07:00weekending<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last day of the Easter holidays... a picnic at Castleroche and a walk up Slieve Gullion. I say that breezily but I'm not a natural mountaineer (apparently it was a hill I was climbing as Hugo kept annoyingly pointing out but it truly felt like a mountain) and even though I was encouraged to channel my inner mountain goat I fully insisted on not doing that, but instead used my small reserves of energy for complaining. Kevin wondered did I not feel a sense of accomplishment? I looked up from my 'yay, I haven't had a heart attack on a mountain-side' bar of restorative chocolate and said no, no sense of accomplishment just do not ask me to do that again. Needless to say the boys loved it and, with a sinking heart, I began to feel very out-numbered...</div>
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CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-21366224924419966212017-04-22T04:21:00.001-07:002017-05-15T03:05:23.364-07:00easter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Easter ~ hazel tree branches with glass eggs and paper chickens, cakes and tulips at Burtown House, walking along the River Barrow in the sleepy village of Graiguenamanagh with my sister, magical Huntington Castle, egg hunting and coloured bunting, home to the garden and weeding and planting. </div>
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Spring ~ a time for growth, not always easy because sometimes growth means moving away from what you knew before and going in a different direction where perhaps the way ahead is less clear, and possibly even difficult, but somehow better for you. Have the courage to grow, even when it's hard.</div>
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CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-9493588681244939992017-04-10T06:45:00.000-07:002017-04-10T06:45:21.156-07:00primroses and crocuses<div style="text-align: center;">
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<img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWrlsGpjpqxVNDqSdAO7GtqjLWLyh2W426AKzqFLdha_Ai2qWDO2afQmaF8L4ucAvvF95qxRl2coUDX89aWWDrT1IAJogh3BRW36oIoJAXt9KfCQ8JUDWWq-d5gFmjGrVUOfCxUldd8r8/s400/Debbie+george.+Mansion+house+bowl.jpg" width="398" /></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I love the work of </span><a href="https://debbiegeorgepainter.wordpress.com/" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Debbie George</a><span style="text-align: left;"> - her paintings are quiet and peaceful and always beautiful. Her spring flowers are just perfect - there are plenty of crocuses in our garden and the primroses are making an appearance in the banks along the lanes but I've yet to see any cowslips. This reminds me so much of posies picked by tiny hands, one or two </span>flower heads to be put into the smallest of vases or perhaps an egg cup, a small token of love.</div>
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You can buy Debbie George's work <a href="http://theeditionblog.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">here</a></div>
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CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-53469805397406771562017-03-28T07:18:00.000-07:002017-03-28T07:18:43.083-07:00outdoors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi46qh6BGQHnFAM6trNsdphNm0SlNcFnEj8SEJbrHpQwoTs3JLxrQboz29hEApIys0LWTbheZmno9dVbGg4Yt8QxVItdoCz7SesaEA6SW0WmgqCxXkkqnpJynf7rvZcNEkxhP3Bnf6Jpe_n/s1600/20170319_183602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi46qh6BGQHnFAM6trNsdphNm0SlNcFnEj8SEJbrHpQwoTs3JLxrQboz29hEApIys0LWTbheZmno9dVbGg4Yt8QxVItdoCz7SesaEA6SW0WmgqCxXkkqnpJynf7rvZcNEkxhP3Bnf6Jpe_n/s400/20170319_183602.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It was nice the other evening to walk to the lake. That extra hour meant there was enough light to be outdoors well after dinner time so the dogs and I strolled to the water's edge. We watched as the blues faded to greys and the shadows grew longer and the landscape seemed to settle in on itself, apart from the odd melodramatic blackbird dashing from the hedgerow. The last few days of settled weather has meant spending hours outdoors - eating, playing, reading in the garden and, at the end of the day after we've tidied up, watching fiery sunsets.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3N2i2QXTpea4oECDXUo4EdMTtJ8nscIlO1X7-TQU71zVD-vojsTyf3JG3G5UXFsHLPNZ85KyO_MTd2phKT0ZqXJc_NMrqhMzQHrjjlYA3TgtzI_SE3WFDQkb0YG9HLK9-1AnLo32zqOU/s1600/20170325_190420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3N2i2QXTpea4oECDXUo4EdMTtJ8nscIlO1X7-TQU71zVD-vojsTyf3JG3G5UXFsHLPNZ85KyO_MTd2phKT0ZqXJc_NMrqhMzQHrjjlYA3TgtzI_SE3WFDQkb0YG9HLK9-1AnLo32zqOU/s400/20170325_190420.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-32660099733975592742017-03-15T07:36:00.001-07:002017-03-15T07:36:16.493-07:00Moon light and morning light<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We are slowly stepping into the light and warmth. Yesterday we had lunch outside in the garden. There's a sheltered nook in the front where the wind doesn't quite reach. So there we sat eating a cheese and pesto sandwich and sunning ourselves for a few minutes hoping that this weather would continue. Nothing very big. Nothing very special. Just a sandwich in the sun. The first outdoor lunch at home this year.CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909200100878295.post-35761858378175053282017-03-10T04:41:00.000-08:002017-03-14T05:40:42.354-07:00reading<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: left;">Not for the first time I have wintered well due to books. We have far more than we read, to be honest. But it's such a comfort to have a bookcase full with ones that are dear friends and others that are not yet known to me. I have just finished </span><i style="text-align: left;">Thin Paths</i><span style="text-align: left;"> by Julia Blackburn. It's a lyrical meandering tale of life in the mountains of Northern Italy, part reflection on life, part nature writing, part travel writing. The tales of village life are captured beautifully and simply, although what is being recounted (hardship, poverty and atrocities of the second world war) is not easy reading. I'd first come across Julia Blackburn </span><span style="text-align: left;">on Radio 4 </span><span style="text-align: left;">reading <i>Murmurations of Love, Grief and Starlings</i></span><span style="text-align: left;">, her poem of loss written after the death of her husband, Herman. Thin Paths makes her life with him come alive and shows that our paths intersect and weave alongside others' paths, creating beauty even in the simplest of lives lived. </span><br />
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I am always trying to understand our son's autism. I want to understand his brain, how he thinks, how he processes information. Of course I can't do this anymore than I can with my other boys, or my husband, but there is always that hope that somehow by reading all that I can about autism I will get in there. I read a lot, ranging from the serious, academic stuff to the practical advice giving blogs. In the beginning after receiving the diagnosis that changed our lives forever I did an enormous amount of reading as though words, explanations and theories would somehow soothe and calm me. In fact it did the opposite. I quickly became overwhelmed by all the information when all I wanted was to fix things. There is no 'fixing' this but there is understanding and now I choose much more carefully what I read. Oliver Sacks' book <span style="text-align: start;"><i>An Anthropologist on Mars </i>is a series of essays about people with different neurological conditions (including autism) and opens a door into that wonderful thing - the brain - and the complicated beauty of life.</span></div>
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Which brings me to <i>Gratitude</i>. Not 50 pages long here are four short essays written by Sacks as he faced illness, old age and death. Sometimes I find comfort when I'm not looking for it. And here it is, on the last page... <i>"And now, weak, short of breath, my once firm muscles melted away by cancer, I find my thoughts, increasingly, not on the supernatural or spiritual but on what is meant by living a good and worthwhile life - achieving a sense of peace within oneself."</i></div>
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<br />CBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08058257564478413358noreply@blogger.com2