Sunday, June 06, 2021

This and that

Two family members have teased me about returning to the blog after my resignation two weeks ago, but there you are. 

Various things happened at Hepworth Towers while I was 'away' and here are some of them...

Dave - a non-gardener apart from landscaping, lawn mowing and hedge clipping - was sitting in the sun in the front garden and was appalled by all the dandelion seedheads in the swathe of dying daffodils under the wall. 

Next thing you know he had his shed vacuum cleaner out and was sucking up the seedheads. 



He got two drumfuls from the whole of our garden. Pretty effective. But the next day more appeared and he gave up in disgust.


I have been sewing. You may recall the patchwork I made for myself last year:



 

I decided the red and white binding was a mistake. There was no red in the patchwork and it clashed.

So I changed ti to orange and now I am happy with it:


Then  I remembered that I had meant to embroider a motto on the back saying: 'Cobbled together in a pandemic, just for the joy of colour' and had never got round to it. So I dived in without due preparation (I am SO impatient) and ended up with a mistake:



So I did it again and have sewed it on but I am not happy with it. 



The writing is not good enough, not even enough in size, and I'd like my authentic signature on there, not just the letters. Also, I don't like the shape of the patch. It should be a plain triangle. 

On the one hand you could say it fits with the message - cobbled together - but the perfectionist in me is saying that that's a cop out and it needs to be redone. So watch this space.

By the way, that cow and calf I showed you in the last post are the only animals in the field and being intrigued as to why, and why the farmer comes to feed them everyday, I collared him yesterday and asked him. The answer is that the cow has been retired from the 200-strong milking herd and is feeding the calf, which is a bull calf and which when adult will be one of the 5 bulls they keep to sire the new round of calves. 

So both animals have their purposes (see last post) but at the end of the year the cow will be slaughtered. How sad is that? Do I want to be a vegan?

As for purposes, I can choose, or find, my own, and I can live till I drop, and meanwhile be happy I live here with a back garden like this:




And in case you didn't read the comments on the last post, the family member who declines to be named reminded me I quoted Bukowski last year on the blog:

“We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”


4 comments:

Sally said...

You seem to have your mojo back - yay!🙂 I absolutely love your garden and view, Derbyshire is simply the best. Sally x

Kristine said...

Whoops - just noticed you're back, so glad. Thank you for all the joy in your photos and conversations with Dave. I have missed it all.
Don't be too hard on yourself needing to find a purpose - your family and friends are very grateful and happy you're in their lives, purpose enough.
Enjoy your summer as I am enjoying our winter here - crisp mornings and cool, sunny days great for collecting fire wood, raking leaves and the odd bit of spinning and knitting in the sun.
Love,
Kristine

Anonymous said...

Sue - you need to remind amused family members that giving yourself license to change your mind is a symptom of wisdom.

Friends who understood your need for a break can only give thanks it worked so well, and that you are back.

I for one love reading your blog: Dave is an enigma of the highest calibre and You...are a joy.

Thanks for returning with such interesting and uplifting posts - they possibly make more difference than you realise.

Thea, xx.

Sue Hepworth said...

Bless you all for your appreciative and encouraging comments.
Xxx