About Me

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Bristol , United Kingdom
I'm co-director of the Leaping Word Poetry Consultancy, which provides advice for poets on writing, editing and publishing, as well as qualified counselling support for those exploring personal issues in their work - https://theleapingword.com. My fifth poetry collection, Learning Finity, is now available from Indigo Dreams or directly from me.

Monday 5 April 2021

Whatever gets you through the lockdown, or A year up the meadow


It's been a year since I finally walked along the footpath over the top of the local golf course with Son the Elder - having been driven off at the age of ten by an angry but factually incorrect golfer - and discovered the meadow with its hollowing oak, sunsets and views to the Severn estuary, the little wood at the bottom, and Charlton Common beyond. This encounter was to transform my experience of lockdown, and possibly also the Northerner's (though he is less prone to magical thinking than I am) and also our dear Ted's, who missed going to new places and smelling new smells, but who nevertheless had somewhere beautiful and interesting to spend his final months. As for our new dog, Cwtch, she has little idea what constitutes jaunting, but she whimpers with excitement when I turn up the lane and loves running between us and keeping tabs on us as we irritatingly refuse to stay in a neat herd. 


First encounter, 5th April 2020

Apart from autumn when we didn't go up there that often, owing to having had our hearts broken by a certain dog, I have a huge collection of photos through the seasons. I'm going to post ones of the oak tree, which I think might be my most important tree apart from my grandmother's apple tree, especially since we also lost the ash tree from our bedroom window just before lockdown.


Moon rising, 6th April 2020


7th April 2020


Daybreak, 16th April 2020


Sunset, 2nd May 2020


To be frank, there are a lot of sunsets, this on 6th May 2020


12th May 2020


7th June 2020


12th June 2020


Summer solstice, with the sun is setting at its furthest point over the Welsh hills.


Ted wasn't that interested in sunsets himself, 11th July 2021


28th July 2020


30th July 2020


8th August 2020


11th August 2020


The empty meadow, 5th September 2020


Autumn equinox 2020


26th September 2020


4th October 2020


10th October 2020


3rd November 2020


22nd November 2020


A new puppy wants to GET DOWN, 22nd November 2020


Moon rising, 26th November 2020


Cwtch finding her feet, Winter solstice 2020


New Year's Eve, 2020


New Year's Eve, 2020


21st January 2021


6th February 2021


10th February 2021


26th February 2021


The sun is setting in the meadow again, 26th February 2021


3rd March 2021


7th March 2021


17th March 2021


Spring equinox 2021


24th March 2021


Forever Ted

19th July 2020


4 comments:

  1. This is a lovely set of photos, and a beautiful record of a strange yet memorable time.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. It's been comforting to have somewhere to go that gives the illusion of being countryside and has views.

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  2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000tg61
    Hope you can pick this up on 'sounds'

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    Replies
    1. Ah, Trooper's Hill ... lovely! Thank you.

      https://deborahharvey.blogspot.com/2019/03/trooping-up-troopers-hill.html

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