I’m a bit late getting round to reading this one Michela! I’ve been away so trying to catch up! I love the bog asphodel photo and your foxglove sketch. How blessed you are to see the doe and her fawn! Thank you as ever for a lovely read.
You’re very welcome Linda. The fawn is still here, or nearby, and Mama visits. Somebody snacked on my just-beginning-to flower Geranium Rozanne on Saturday night 😔 We are also blessed with red squirrels too, so there is always something to look out for from the meal table.
I loved reading this. It was calming and soothing - with the acknowledgment of the unsettling nature of our times sitting gently at the centre. That acknowledgement kind of allowed me to enjoy the beauty you present without my usual accompanying guilt. Not sure that makes sense? Suffice to say thank you for your words and beautiful images. It reminded me to slow down and observe.
It does make sense Jennifer, and I’m delighted that it had that effect for you. Thank you. I know what you mean about feeling guilty. You might like this post about finding a place of ease—I have found comfort in Nan Shepherd’s words. The feelings all still mingle, but I better understand the need to make, and the importance of allowing ourselves time.
Gorgeous evokation of foxgloves. Too many leaves in Slovenia are already falling and turning brown and crunchy underfoot. Things are not quite as they should be. Or maybe exactly as they must be.
Thanks Lisa. The forecast heat for much of Europe is troubling; an early autumn is perhaps the least of it. It does make you think that ‘normal’ needs a revised definition.
Beautiful drawings and commentary on these heat filled days. I have never seen asphodel - such a lovely photo! We anticipate thes dry days in July and August, but this is so concerning. In Norfolk it is expected to read 37 degrees on Monday and Tuesday...I had hoped to go out drawing, but it will have to wait.
Thank you Deborah. Somewhere cool and shady sounds good; I think I would wilt too at that temperature. Our forecast is much more modest—we just have a bruising, battering wind blowing.
I wish I could sit in a cave until it was all over! It is overwhelmingly hot with not a breath of air. I hope the wind dies down for a calmer day for you.
Beautiful as always Michela. I love the foxglove sketch and the light on the barley contrasting with the dark clouds. It is sad to see the plants struggling with lack of rain, the flowers down here have not been nearly as abundant or as vibrant as last year and it must be worrying to see the moss so dry. Hopefully these things are only temporary and everything will do better next year.
Thank you Gill. I was surprised to see just how much growth the barley had put on; that one wet day must have been just what it needed. I do tell myself that this is simply the driest spring and summer I have seen here, and the moss is an old hand at recovery. There is an element too of last year being unusually wet for us.
Thank you Davor ☺️ Your words remind me too of the following:
We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates… Were it not for shadows there would be no beauty.
This is a beautiful quote. Obviously, there are some qualities of the nature (objects) that invoke beauty. But, it seems to me that beauty goes beyond that - isn’t it about the feeling we get, the quality of our presence? Those aesthetic qualities make us easier to stop, but we could stop anywhere and see the beauty everywhere🤗
I’m a bit late getting round to reading this one Michela! I’ve been away so trying to catch up! I love the bog asphodel photo and your foxglove sketch. How blessed you are to see the doe and her fawn! Thank you as ever for a lovely read.
You’re very welcome Linda. The fawn is still here, or nearby, and Mama visits. Somebody snacked on my just-beginning-to flower Geranium Rozanne on Saturday night 😔 We are also blessed with red squirrels too, so there is always something to look out for from the meal table.
We get only greys here. How lovely to have reds.
I loved reading this. It was calming and soothing - with the acknowledgment of the unsettling nature of our times sitting gently at the centre. That acknowledgement kind of allowed me to enjoy the beauty you present without my usual accompanying guilt. Not sure that makes sense? Suffice to say thank you for your words and beautiful images. It reminded me to slow down and observe.
It does make sense Jennifer, and I’m delighted that it had that effect for you. Thank you. I know what you mean about feeling guilty. You might like this post about finding a place of ease—I have found comfort in Nan Shepherd’s words. The feelings all still mingle, but I better understand the need to make, and the importance of allowing ourselves time.
https://michelagriffith.substack.com/p/find-your-place-of-ease
Gorgeous evokation of foxgloves. Too many leaves in Slovenia are already falling and turning brown and crunchy underfoot. Things are not quite as they should be. Or maybe exactly as they must be.
Thanks Lisa. The forecast heat for much of Europe is troubling; an early autumn is perhaps the least of it. It does make you think that ‘normal’ needs a revised definition.
Beautiful drawings and commentary on these heat filled days. I have never seen asphodel - such a lovely photo! We anticipate thes dry days in July and August, but this is so concerning. In Norfolk it is expected to read 37 degrees on Monday and Tuesday...I had hoped to go out drawing, but it will have to wait.
Thank you Deborah. Somewhere cool and shady sounds good; I think I would wilt too at that temperature. Our forecast is much more modest—we just have a bruising, battering wind blowing.
I wish I could sit in a cave until it was all over! It is overwhelmingly hot with not a breath of air. I hope the wind dies down for a calmer day for you.
Wonderful words again … I really look forward to these …
Thanks Nigel, that’s lovely to know.
Beautiful as always Michela. I love the foxglove sketch and the light on the barley contrasting with the dark clouds. It is sad to see the plants struggling with lack of rain, the flowers down here have not been nearly as abundant or as vibrant as last year and it must be worrying to see the moss so dry. Hopefully these things are only temporary and everything will do better next year.
Thank you Gill. I was surprised to see just how much growth the barley had put on; that one wet day must have been just what it needed. I do tell myself that this is simply the driest spring and summer I have seen here, and the moss is an old hand at recovery. There is an element too of last year being unusually wet for us.
Beautiful observations! I love the sketch!!
Thanks Manuela! I settled on a grass stem to flick tinted graphite and make marks to represent the flowers
Poignant and lovely, both words and photos. 💗
Thanks very much Susanna.
I love the calming nature of your photos🙌 Oh, and one quote I encountered recently - “saying no to suffering is saying no to life.” - Joseph Campbell
Thank you Davor ☺️ Your words remind me too of the following:
We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates… Were it not for shadows there would be no beauty.
Junichiro Tanizaki
This is a beautiful quote. Obviously, there are some qualities of the nature (objects) that invoke beauty. But, it seems to me that beauty goes beyond that - isn’t it about the feeling we get, the quality of our presence? Those aesthetic qualities make us easier to stop, but we could stop anywhere and see the beauty everywhere🤗
🥂
Ooooh great quote! Thank you!