Tuesday 9 October 2012

Wars and Rumours of Wars.

The farmer and I have just sat out on the bench in the garden in beautiful sunlight with our morning coffee and a stroopwaffel each (given to us by Dutch friends and jolly good). We were looking at the crystal drops of dew on the grass and the fine gossamer threads woven between all the plants and blades of grass. We were listening to the robin sing his song, which sounds so joyful but really means 'keep off my patch'. Then the sun went behind a cloud (one lonely one in an otherwise clear sky Gwilym if you are reading this) and suddenly the chill of Autumn was in the air. As we thought about standing up we saw that the tiny spiders had woven us into their gossamer - our shoes were attached to the grass and our sleeves to the garden bench. It seemed almost a shame to break the magic. A couple of weeks ago we had terrible flooding all over North Yorkshire, with homes flooded and blocks of flats almost washed away. Our village had many houses flooded and the lane where Dominic lives (made out of words on my side bar if you want to see pictures of the lane)almost washed away. Things still hang in the air regarding the mending of the lane and who should foot the bill. But what has amused me is that in the fortnight since it happened I have heard so many versions of a solution. 'The lane has been completely washed away (it hasn't); a) said this and b) said that; I heard one story from a friend, who heard it from the cleaner we share; I heard another version from my chiropodist; and to cap it all, I heard another version this morning from the man I visit on the check out at my supermarket. I don't live in the village but live about a mile out of it so am on the periphery of all happenings but I really begin to think that it is a case of 'send reinforcements we are going to advance' morphing into 'send three and fourpence, we are going to a dance'. As everyone uses the lane who lives on it, I would have thought that the obvious solution would be for everyone to chip in and share the cost of repairs - but maybe that is too simple. All I can say with certainty is that at present I am sitting here and doing nothing. Cowardly it may be - but I would like the dust to settle (or mud in this case), at which point the voice of reason might emerge. Meanwhile, the weather is at its most glorious for early Autumn. There is a hint of the colour to come in the trees, there is a scent of dying foliage, the robins are singing, the sky is clear blue and the sun is warm. The only fly in the ointment is that dear little Tess, my Border Terrier, in her eagerness to go out for a walk yesterday lunchtime, was flying up and down, skidded to a halt and banged her face on the step. She is a sorry sight. I have managed to persuade her to eat a little food by moistening it with warm water and then feeding it off my hand. But she is a sad little dog. We can't find any injury so assume she is just sore. If you are in the UK enjoy the sunshine while it lasts - apparently it is only temporary.

11 comments:

MorningAJ said...

Poor Tess!

Your solution to the lane problem sounds perfectly admirable to me. But you can bet someone will think it isn't fair. Good luck.

mrsnesbitt said...

Well here am I giving up with trying to load up a video!!!!!!

Rachel Phillips said...

who normally mends the lane?

Crafty Green Poet said...

Poor Tess!

We're enjoying lovely blue skies and autumnal colours here too.

Heather said...

We had a glorious day on Sunday, rain most of yesterday and just dull today. Like you, we tend to enjoy the good days when we get them.
Poor little Tess, no doubt she is just badly bruised and I do hope she will soon be more comfortable.

angryparsnip said...

awwwwwwwwww The Square Ones send woofs to their terrier cousin Tess !
Many times I have sat on the floor hand feeding my dogs when they where to sick to eat. I hope she gets better soon.

cheers, parsnip

Irene said...

I like how you describe having been woven into place by the little spiders and I wish you would have stayed in place longer to see to what point they would have fixed you to the garden furniture. It would have been a lovely experiment to report about.

Em Parkinson said...

I hope Tess' face gets better soon.

Unfortunately, the South West is rainy and misty but we did have one glorious day on Saturday.

We have similar lane issues.....nightmare!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Why is it that everyone can't agree on these issues? Thanks for your comments - it sums it up very nicely really. I shall let you know the eventual outcome re the lane - I think a lot of it is "territorial" nonsense. That makes my title even more apt. Thanks for calling.

Gerry Snape said...

my love to Tess....getr better!

Gwil W said...

Pat,
you thought you had got me but I don't think you did
... for isn't it the case that for the cloud to be "lonely" there would have to be no sun standing behind it and no observer (i.e yourself) standing before it? Go on - tell me I'm wrong!
Hope Tess is not too injured - just her pride perhaps.

As to Dominic's lane there was a lane where my grandparents lived and there several bomb craters there from WW2 until at least the 1970's before they got filled in. It might take a while.