Bushes Communiqué

Broadband is still fritzey, so I’m sitting in Bushes, with an open crab sandwich ordered and a selection of village wifi to choose from…

The week is simply zipping by. And although for me, it’s much taken up with visiting friends, conversation with others tends to be about when I’m off – so regularly asked, that my answers sound like a countdown. This close to leaving, I have a tendency to nurture a pre-emptive nostalgia. Today in the Glebe I took a moment to walk through the garden by myself, enjoying the breathtaking bank of iris, the myriad aquilegia, the papaver… I remembered past seasons, past visits – sunshiney coffees and meals and rehearsals and birthdays and performances.

And I slipped off my shoes and walked barefoot on the warm grass, savouring the sensation and knowing that I’d remember it another time, perhaps in a city, and would savour it all over again.

Pics from Sunday night, when the Drama Group had a little 'do' to say goodbye, which turned into a session before the setting sun...

Sunny New Year

At last, pause for breath!

Today is still and sunny - the Big Freeze is due in tomorrow, so I shall take advantage of this halcyon day to re-stock the cupboards.

I love the story of 'halcyon days' - that halcyon birds (kingfishers) built their nests in little crevices on stormy cliffs (or built them floating on the sea itself). For two short weeks while their eggs were hatching, the seas calmed their constant buffetting. And then the violent storms kicked in again... I used to think it meant 'golden days', but it's more the calm between storms.

Anyhoo, after that, life will be about Nosey Rosie rewrites :-)

Our next performance isn't until Saturday night (note to self: take camera), so I figure I can risk a sauna - if it makes my cold flare up, there's recuperation time a'plenty. But I am on the mend, praise!

[There's a family standing outside the sitting room window, chatting away to the kittens who are outrageously on display, stretched out on the chaise longue. I am trying my best not to giggle...]

And in other news:

All is calm, all is bright

Apparently the Sun is enjoying some quiet time, with hardly any sunspots this year and solar winds at their lowest in 50 years. No-one's quite sure what, if anything, this means, but "they're" keeping an eye out. (Like Palin, scouting for Russians...)

Anyhoo, it's an ideal time to take a look at the action during the sun's sprightlier phases.



There's a whole set of great photos (courtesy of NASA) over at the Boston Globe. Phenomenal, as phenomena should be :)