“The Secret Garden” and the way children’s literature can shape our hearts and minds.

“The Secret Garden” and the way children’s literature can shape our hearts and minds. When I reach a low point I find concentrating extremely hard, so the kind of reading I normally do is beyond me. I recently bought Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, finally accepting that the promised copy from a former friend [...]

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Snow at the shoreline

Snow at the Shoreline Cappuccino waves crash upon the shore Spin-drift and snow meet at high tide, Overlap and kiss across a barrier Made of iced shingle and flotsam, Feathers and cuttlefish corpses. Roar of sea and wind drown out The cries of gulls and the crunch Of feet through snow and sand. Breath snatched [...]

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Lost #4

Lost #4 There are no paths. All around me, endless shades of green, with some brown and red and orange as counterpoint, and no opening, no indication that anyone has ever come this way before. I sag against the trunk of the tree I have just climbed, the memory of those distant mountains burned into [...]

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Lost #3

For part 1 see Lost #1 For part 2 see Lost #2 Lost #3 I sit until my bones become weary and the grass becomes cold and damp beneath me; the glow-worms slowly flicker and fade and I am alone. Around me the trees softly sough in the night wind and I shiver. I am not [...]

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The Sea-gull’s Tale ~ knowing when or if to intervene

The Sea-gull’s Tale ~ knowing when or if to intervene. The place where I live is rich in wildlife, but where I work that wildlife is mainly confined to a slice of nature that most people would prefer to ignore or destroy. Rats, foxes, pigeons, the occasional rabbit and most of all sea-gulls scurry, flap [...]

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Being Queen is a lonely thing ~ why life at the top may not be as sweet as you think

(This is a post from almost a year ago that for some reason, WordPress destroyed. For those who are interested, the queen mentioned below is doing very well still and we now have four hives and a spare on a roof somewhere hoping to lure a swarm into it.) Being Queen is a lonely thing…. [...]

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Landlocked ~ a poem about craving the sea

Landlocked When I wake, I want to feel The sea breeze creeping cool Through my open window, Filling the room with the scent Of the salt tang and the seaweed. When I wake, I want to hear Gulls, not rooks, calling raucously Beyond my open window And hear not the soft sough Of the wind in [...]

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“If you’re going through Hell, keep going!” or Why Winston Churchill was Right.

  “If you’re going through Hell, keep going” ~ or why Winston Churchill was right       If life is a journey that begins with our birth, then the ultimate destination is death. This is simple logic talking, picking apart a somewhat overused metaphor and deconstructing it. I often wonder at the way the [...]

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A Tale of a Midsummer Bee ~ Balancing the Needs of the One with the Needs of the Many

A Tale of a Midsummer Bee ~ Balancing the Needs of the One with the Needs of the Many As regular readers will know, I am the proud keeper of four hives of honey bees. I studied bee-keeping at school;  because I refused to do needlework or cookery and wanted to do woodwork or metalwork, [...]

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Monday Meditation ~ Linden Blossom for Lightness of Heart and Ease of the Soul

Linden Blossom Meditation ~ for Lightness of Heart and Ease of The Soul Background Linden trees (also known confusingly as lime trees despite not being a citrus) are among some of the longer lived native trees, some rivalling yews in reaching vast ages. There are two main species to be encountered in the UK, one [...]

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