1. The swan stand on the frozen canal, tall and proud, waiting for its photo to be taken.
2. The ice reverberates as the rock hits it. It sounds like electric power cables humming in the wind.
3. The instinctual knowledge is us all – knowing when it’s “too cold to snow” and to be able to recognise the colour of the sky, the quality of the light, just before the flakes start to fall.
1. The heavy rain disrupts my gardening plans. Instead, I curl under a blanket with the dreaming dog and finish reading my book.
2. On the drive to Bingley, John makes poo-hitting-water noises and I can’t help but laugh and laugh.
3. There is just enough time between the rain stopping and night falling for us to do our most important outside chores. I clean out the chicken coop and the girls cluck around me to say thanks.
1. Hundreds of chickens – little red specks in the giant field – mill about in the early morning mist.
2. The blue robed woman stands in her garden, watching the train go by.
3. Suddenly the rows of terraced housing give away. The glorious green slopes draw the eye down to the curve of the steely river.
4. For the second time that day, I’m surprised by the quality of the chocolate brownie I’m eating.
5. I love it when posh-voiced older people swear randomly.
6. We’ve chatted over email and IM but it’s the first time we see each other face to face in nearly a decade. I’m surprised how familiar his voice still sounds.
7. I’ve had three long-time-no-see reunion incidents over the last few years and this one is by far the best. I’ve missed them a lot.
1. The sharp snap as I break the twigs.
2. The arrangement of the washing on the line looks deliberately composed. The duck-egg blue of the bath towels, the washed out mid-blue of the dog ones and the soft turquoise & cream of the tea towels all coordinate while standing out against the leafy green backdrop.
3. A productive day and completing a goal – a meal made entirely from stuff from our garden.
1. Two pleasantly dull sounds within ten minutes of each other – the sound of vomit hitting a window in a cartoon and the knock of wood on wood as I throw logs onto a pile.
2. Boron watches us from the wall then when I rest, he pads over to sit on my knee. One of his longest stints in the garden for a long time – spring must be on its way.
3. We stand by the beck – deep in the woods but still in our garden – holding hands and talking about our future.
1. The toast is evenly brown and perfectly crisp. The pate is strongly flavoured but delicious, and stirs in me the desire to make my own. I add it onto my “things to make” list.
2. Throughout the day, all the cats visit me at my desk. They sit on my knee between my body and the table, and purr as I stroke their soft-soft chests while I work.
3. The water plunks when it hits the growing body of water in the cup but plinks! (with an exclamation mark) when it hits the edge.
4. Katherine and I watch dogs parading (in Best in Show) and eat Jaffa cakes, while Joe murmurs over the baby monitor.
© 2024 Louisa Parry