A Little Kindness

 

Village Elder, Islwyn looked busy this afternoon.

I spied him in my field , dragging branches to the ever growing bonfire mound.

He had been pottering around the graveyard,

The graveyard he has unofficially manicured for well over a decade.

He waved.

We talked about Gentleman Farmer Ralph 

He and Islwyn had been good friends.

“ The family said that they can almost see Ralph’s graveyard plot from his farm “ Islwyn said and I nodded looking across the valley to Ralph’s farmhouse standing proud to the South West “Pity  for them there was not a hole in the hedge“ he added.

I noted that the branches in his hands were the size of a small new hole in the graveyard hedge.

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Another Daydream

I treated myself to a Moka Pot 

They sell them in Sainsbury’s 

Slightly pretentious I am sure ,

But I have enjoyed the ritual of the coffee making.

And to be fair it doesn’t take long to use.

I’m at the kitchen table at a loss to what to do today.

I’ve swapped my work shifts to the weekend to cover staff shortages and to allow me to participate in Gentleman Farmer Ralph’s funeral. 

I will stand in the lane  at noon , with the dogs by my side,

So what to do today? 

The patio needs scrubbing of its winter grime,

And the loose downspout on the corner of the cottage needs fixing.

The planters needs emptying of dead wood and the wood store that used to be an old rabbit hutch needs dismantling 

All dirty met work .....

I’m day dreaming too, thinking and day dreaming with my fat hands warmed by my coffee mug. The nice blue french much without a handle...another thing that pleases me.

I’ll start work in a moment....

Just time for another coffee and another day dream

  

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Knitting

Knitting is an admirable craft. It requires patience, dexterity, arithmetical skill, the ability to follow a knitting pattern and determination. Also - when it comes to a grandparent knitting for a grandchild, it requires a bucketful of love.

As well as being admirable, knitting is widely underrated and undervalued. This is probably because knitting is largely the preserve of women. Okay I know that there are coastal communities where seafaring men knitted happily and effectively but the vast majority of knitters are women.

My mother could knit. Shirley's mother could knit. They each produced dozens of knitted items in their lifetimes. It was a thing that women did. Shirley has inherited that ability and of course with the arrival of Little Phoebe she was delighted to get out her needles once more.

She created a grey cardigan and a mustard coloured one. Phoebe has been wearing both of them so I am sorry to say that my photos show the cute cardigans or matinee coats after they have been washed two or three times. All that possetting, vomiting and liquid overflow takes it toll you know.

Two or three visitors have asked about the dusty pink matinee coat that Phoebe was wearing the other day. I must confess that this was not hand-knitted but produced in a factory in Turkey. It was given to Frances and Stewart as a gift by one of Frances's many friends. It must have been purchased online.  A little research led me to this web address.

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