The original black and white illustration of Moomintroll and Snufkin sat on a bridge over the river at the start of spring. By Tove Jansson.
Happy, Happy Spring! There has been a change in the air this week. Last night's frost hasn't been quite as thick, and the sky is already getting lighter, signs of another beautiful day ahead. I'm taking a break from here, but if you need me, I'm sure you can find me elsewhere. #TheBeaufortReport
And so, winter comes to a close in a blaze of sunshine and glory. The children were leaving school in short sleeves and laughing all the way home, just with the sheer unbridled joy of it all. The tractor was ploughing the hill, and the firth offered a quiet and calm reflection. #TheBeaufortReport
I think so!
Early morning, Stenness Loch in Orkney. A standing stone near the water's edge, a handful of houses and farms on the low hills beyond. Everything bathed in a blue and purple light.
The firth this morning was bathed in subtle purples, the kind you get on cold and clear mornings, promising a glorious day ahead. It reminded me of another early morning overlooking Stenness Loch almost exactly nine years ago (pictured). #TheBeaufortReport #BlackIsle #Highlands #Orkney #Scotland
It has been a golden sort of day, with blue skies and occasional contrails and mostly-fluffy clouds. A very precise, boxy cloud hovered just shy of the mountain peak for a while, making it look for all the world like Ben Wyvis was wearing a pillbox hat. #TheBeaufortReport
I got to play at being in Labyrinth this weekend, and captured dreams and daffodils in my crystal ball.
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#Spring #Caithness #Scotland
A toddler curls up asleep with a teddy bear in a comfy, material dog bed.
Last night's rugby was just a bit too much for some. #Scotland #SixNations
Handwritten notes inside the front cover of a book, including references to a passport office, bras, and blackmail.
This week, I ordered a second-hand copy of "French Provincial Cooking" by Elizabeth David, and I have become a little bit obsessed with what I found written by the book's previous owner inside the cover. #books #cookery
In Our House In our house, chocolate is memory, It's currency, and treat. It’s more than just confectionery, Or something sweet to eat. It's the orange in the stocking, And the coins down at the heel. It's the time on Christmas morning When the dreaming becomes real. It's trading out my hazel whirls For all your orange creams. Carols on the radio, And bursting at the seams.
It’s the bunny in the garden In the early morning dawn. It’s magic happening out of sight When the curtains are still drawn. It’s collapsing in an armchair, A pause to end the week. Recharging with a glass of wine, No need to rush or speak. It’s the little milky buttons That relatives may bring For tiny, eager, reaching hands, Wanting everything. It’s not (just) the taste and smell of it, It’s everything it does. All these moments, what they mean, It’s joy, it’s rest, it’s love.
Last month, @joannechocolat.bsky.social invited subscribers to her newsletter to submit their poems on the theme of chocolate. Here's what I drafted - a light-hearted reflection on what chocolate has meant to me and my family over the years. It was good fun drafting this! A walk down memory lane.
The Unwonted Fatigue of Being Online.
A mostly raw stream of consciousness about digital lives, priorities, and running with things. And, as it turns out, an accidental brief insight into having a brain that Just. Won't. Switch. Off.
There is a magical light this morning. A golden glow that hasn't disappeared with the fledgling day, but has stayed to make sure that everyone knows that anything can happen. #TheBeaufortReport
The weather is on the up again. There is more snow on the mountains, but more sunshine and warmth too, and less of the bitter wind. The trees are budding quickly now, you can almost see the growth from one day to the next. There is everything to play for. #TheBeaufortReport
Say hello to Honoria Hare, who I made friends with this morning.
She was entirely not bothered about me!
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#Stempster #Caithness #Scotland #NaturePhotography #Nature #Spring #MadMarchHare
This photo essay by Lynn Fraser about Kumpo, a figure in Jola mythology, is excellent. Stunning photography. #FolkloreThursday
My Scribbles and Sketches notebook this month is focussed on snippets from the library of books I've collected over the years: Commonplace Folklore. Recent posts have included the words of "Ambrose Merton" and Alan Dundes, and passages about gremlins and the Nuckelavee. #FolkloreThursday
The mountains aren't there at all this morning. A solitary beacon-white wind turbine dances furiously in front of a moody petrol blue and greying sky on top of one of the hills, twisting to see Wyvis somewhere in the gloom beyond. #TheBeaufortReport
After a somewhat middling at times day, the sun pulled it out of the bag just before sunset to grace us with some piercingly beautiful attention from the western hills. Now, night has fallen, and there's a chance of snow. #TheBeaufortReport
There has been a dip in temperature today after the comparatively balmy weekend. A fresh covering of snow on the mountains. The sun finally broke through mid-afternoon, and made a point of hanging about as if to apologise for her absence this morning. #TheBeaufortReport
More haar, more sunshine. A certain type of warmth, promising spring. The sun has changed colour for the season, and is already spilling over more of the garden by midday. #TheBeaufortReport
The haar over the firth has crept up the hill to the end of the garden, leaving us floating above the world. There is a perfect raindrop on the tip of every branch of the Japanese Maple. #TheBeaufortReport
Yeesh. I can't bring myself to 'like' this, but I concur. Sad (and slightly terrifying) times.
The firth was so still today. No sign of movement from a distance, just blurred reflections merging into one another. #TheBeaufortReport
I hasten to add, this isn't a bad thing - in fact, more often than not, it represents All Good And True Things.
Every now and then, I get an overwhelming urge to disappear. Sometimes digitally, sometimes physically. I know it is just how I am wired, and I've spent more than forty years adapting to this, but yeesh! It is exhausting being me, sometimes.
Today is one of those days.
Heard my first skylark of the year this morning, pelting out its arias from a hundred feet up or so; the song that lifts the heart as it falls.
Every three months, I share a daily notebook on Substack, each with a different theme. This month's theme is Commonplace Folklore, featuring excerpts from the library of books I've collected over the years. #folklore #FolkloreThursday
We went into Auri's school today to take part in some #WorldBookDay activities. We took the "build something based on a book from the library" task very seriously.
Past sunset and well into the grimlins, a thin wave of pink stretched across the sky from the west. It lasted a scant handful of minutes before it faded to palest lemon before dissipating into the blue-grey. #TheBeaufortReport
I tried to enter my name as the "display name" for the Guitar World comment form and was disallowed from doing so because "Display name is not valid as it impersonates a real person or well-known public figure"
PS: Actual thing that just happened to me when I tried to leave a comment correcting the article at Guitarworld:
Happy #WorldBookDay! Auri chose 'Matilda' for her 'Bring Your Book to Life' display at school. Instead of dressing up as a character today, her school are suggesting children wear some clothes with words on, so she has chosen her 'Practically Perfect' Mary Poppins top. She loves the original books.