droop

the christmas tree's arms are tired, they droop at the edges

sunny december day

who thought digging up the thorny brambles strangling the tangled hedge could be so much fun?

sun at the end of 2007

shaggy biscuit-coloured cows cluster in the corner of a sunlit field

All I need

One hot fragrant bowl of lentil soup.

Shoes

The Asian lady at the checkout laughes at the size of my shoe-rack as she passes it over the barcode reader. 'I'd need twenty of these in my house!' I imagine her sisters, her children, her grandchildren, their slip-ons and trainers and wellies and stillettos and big furry slippers.

From Sherfield to Salisbury and back again

Norn Hill. Popley. Hollom Down Road.

after the gift of richness

a craving for green beans and brown rice

the last chocolate

from the advent calendar tastes as good as the first

morning routine under the feeder

the pheasant mosies over to rummage about in the grass where seed and peanuts appear each day like manna

Relationships

Husband: I'm really not 'appy
Wife: 'appy? I think you mean happy!
Husband: (internal grrrr)

An old shoe

"At the risk of appearing foolish, a writer sometimes needs to be able to just stand and gape at this or that thing - a sunset or an old shoe - in absolute and simple amazement." Raymond Carver

this slice of fence

this slice of pale and upright fence is half in shadow, half in light
a leafy elder twig has poked its finger through the slat, the wood
is striped with shades of honey, coffee, cream, has scattered eyes

it's a hard life for cats

the goose-down king-sized plumped-up duvet is rather more attractive than the old and bobbly jumper on the floor, even when he's been unceremoniously lifted off ten or twenty times

fridge music

not music seeping from the floor above
but the fridge's two-tone rhythmic buzz

nearly christmas

the needles already falling - pt pt pt - onto the unopened presents

Visiting the pigs with Esther

Squeaky piglets truffle around in ditches and wander in gangs across the field. Daddy pig, a huge pale lump with tiny eyes, lumbers over to the flimsy wire fence. I marvel at his pigginess, get ready to run.

Toasting marshmallows

Push the plump pink lump onto the spike to make a lollipop: it gives like flesh between your fingers. Find a good small cave of white embers in the fire. Hold it steady, wait until it browns and bubbles, sniff the sweet burning. Bite through the crisp skin into the gooey heart.

equal opportunities

the gingerbread gentlemen and the gingerbread ladies were both delicious

Morning theatre

Orange blackbird beak floats in the not-yet-quite-awake morning, a white glove at a Black Light theatre.

she finds her voice

I could sit and listen all day

december morning

the grass is clothed in ice

instillation art

a bright hula-hoop flung high by a child
its yellow looped on a branch
back-lit by the fierce winter sun

Making leaf mould

Gathered damp handfuls of glossy toffee and caramel coloured leaves, pulled from under the hedge and shoved into hungry punctured bin bags.

cold room, hot bath

thick vapour rises and swirls and swirls as if the water is fire

note to self: garden gloves

after pushing deep down into the pampas grass tussock to cut the stems of the spent blown-over and broken flowers, and swooshing them through an arc and down onto the gravel with the panicles all at one end, my hands are peppered with elegant crimson slashes

happy b... banner

you can just make out 'happy b...' but the rain has bled the painted words into smears

reminder to self

don't wait for things - just live

What comes first

The chemical reek of his aftershave comes first around the corner, then the cloud of tinny music leaking from his headphones.

Greetings from Michigan

Hiding behind the CD are four paintings, the kind you get in books to help children learn their A B Cs. Brook Trout, White Pine, Petoskey Stone, Painted Turtle.

christmas shopping

the malls are bright and seething

it's cold outside but coming inside is better than staying inside