tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post5882004643673403663..comments2023-10-31T15:39:09.651+01:00Comments on box elder: So what have you been doing lately? Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-31745629230147515222013-08-23T09:06:42.945+02:002013-08-23T09:06:42.945+02:00Ellena - I knew that really! Don't worry :~)
...Ellena - I knew that really! Don't worry :~)<br /><br />Lyse - aha! J'ai deviné que c'était quelque chose comme ça :~)Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-35100665986779142532013-08-21T10:27:50.899+02:002013-08-21T10:27:50.899+02:00Oui, frute c'est gallo ce qui veut dire vif et...Oui, frute c'est gallo ce qui veut dire vif et sauvage ( il n'y a pas de mot français réellement<br />Bonne journée Lysenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-39961887376262537152013-08-20T23:48:23.530+02:002013-08-20T23:48:23.530+02:00Lucy!!!Ever since I wrote this comment I was wonde...Lucy!!!Ever since I wrote this comment I was wondering if you had understood the way it was meant and had scribbled the following on a piece of paper "can't think of more meaningful activities than the ones you are writing about and now realize that my life is meaningful". This sentence said it a bit better but I left it there thinking that "she knows what I mean". <br />Ellenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965850008354379369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-22412283758261748312013-08-20T22:13:13.732+02:002013-08-20T22:13:13.732+02:00your photographs are exquisite. And i love the one...your photographs are exquisite. And i love the ones of Cyril.<br />i will miss seeing more of him/her. zephyrhttp://www.thegarden.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-7243143286799113052013-08-20T21:01:55.371+02:002013-08-20T21:01:55.371+02:00Thanks again.
Ellena - is that to say you realise...Thanks again.<br /><br />Ellena - is that to say you realise how meaningful your life is compared to mine?! :~) The pine cone base is in fact quite fragile, more pieces keep breaking off it when it's moved. I've put it on top of the bookcase where I keep various found and fugitive objects. I do sometimes wrap paintbrushes in plastic, even oil based paint (which seems to be being phased out altogether, which is good) will keep a day or two like that. But I really couldn't face having to start again the next day, so I pushed on, and was glad I did.<br /><br />Lyse - bientôt les tricots! Je ne trouve pas le mot 'frute' -c'est Gallo?<br /><br />Joe - they are among my favourite natural things to bring into the house, perhaps all the more because I keep them to admire for a while then they serve as firewood. We get fine big ones round here too.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-8220135716431704742013-08-19T18:30:10.378+02:002013-08-19T18:30:10.378+02:00A pine cone has been sitting on the study mantlepi...A pine cone has been sitting on the study mantlepiece for some years. Like yours it appears so much like a piece of beautifully crafted sculpture that it is hard to believe that it is a natural object. Yet the fact that it is is all the more cause for wonder.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06972049290586377462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-49964638516463316752013-08-18T09:40:55.146+02:002013-08-18T09:40:55.146+02:00Hello! En voilà de jolis passe-temps! On attends l...Hello! En voilà de jolis passe-temps! On attends le post tricots... J'admire ce petit animal qui prend la pose pour la photo , pourtant les écureuils sont "frutes" en principe...<br />Bises et bon tricot ;Lysehttp://lysevaine.canalblog.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-46210387116952821562013-08-17T22:23:28.753+02:002013-08-17T22:23:28.753+02:00I am late because I did not know how to describe h...I am late because I did not know how to describe how I felt after reading this great post of yours. You know what? You made me realize how meaningful my life is.<br />I am curious to know how this lovely section of the cone could be sort of fire-proved to make a candle holder of it.<br />And, brushes and rollers can be tightly wrapped in plastic see-through food wrap and picked up the next day as if never put down (I have only done so when using water based paint). <br /> Ellenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965850008354379369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-44604700727997312122013-08-17T17:40:38.631+02:002013-08-17T17:40:38.631+02:00Thank you everyone.
Christopher - yes, there are ...Thank you everyone.<br /><br />Christopher - yes, there are people who just weigh on you like that, aren't there? Go easy yourself while doing the house selling stuff, it really is the most exhausting thing, physically, mentally and emotionally. <br /><br />ML - what tribulations your garden has at the hands - or rather paws - of the local wildlife! I almost think it would be worth having no blackcurrants to be able to say the bush was broken by a bear! We had kilos of blackcurrants from several bushes for years, and truth to tell I got quite tired of them, so when Tom suggested getting rid of them in a moment of remodelling the garden, I didn't object. I didn't believe about pitting the red and white ones when I first heard about it, but just making jelly wouldn't be quite so special I suppose. We have more jam than we know what to do with; I make it, people give it to us... and we really don't eat that much of it.<br /><br />Nimble - thanks. Yes, awareness of time and cycles increases with age; young children have little idea of the seasons at all, they only vaguely notice if it's hot or cold!<br /><br />Bruce - I know, and Tom still does so much I feel quite bad complaining about feeling my age! I do feel very well, never better, and enjoy and look forward to so much, but I have grown more aware of the need not to waste precious time and energy.<br /><br />RR - glad you enjoyed 'fructal evisceration', I imagined you might like 'épépineuse'. I don't think I've owned or worn anything resembling a suit jacket since leaving school, where we had to wear bottle green Harris tweed ones. I did the other day find a scrap of tricoleur ribbon in a box of scraps and can't for the life of me think where it came from...<br /><br />Francesca - it was a big pine cone, I don't imagine the small ones would come apart in the same way. I have occasionally found the individual petals, but never considered the inner structure before! I hope you're right about the squirrel, the fact that his visits tailed off gradually seems to indicate nothing baleful has happened!<br /><br />Alison - thank you. I'm cheered that you too have that reaction to the question, and yet of all the people who seem to me to have achieved marvellous things and to lead a varied, busy and vivid life, you would be one of the foremost. Just goes to show... not sure what! But you're right that we do need to show interest in other people, rather than just launch straight into immediacies or abstractions, I guess, but how to do it?<br /><br />R - 'What's going on?' is in the present though, so it's kind of checking that you're OK, or not preoccupied elsewhere, or give people an opening if there's something they are bursting to talk about. It seems a better question really. I'm sure your brewing is worth all the effort!<br /><br />Natalie - like you said (or something similar) at yours recently, I'm very good at being in the moment, serenity, counting and appreciating my blessings, finding joy in the detail etc, and I consider myself very blessed that I'm able to do it, and certainly don't find it empty or meaningless, and though I can take things pretty easy I don't really think I'm too idle. I live the kind of life which the busy-busy-busy brigade might well claim they wish they could, but in fact I suspect they would find it, and me, very dull. But who cares! I shall try to take more pictures, though, or spend more time editing the ones I do take anyway.<br />Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-34287645699306395742013-08-17T16:48:54.546+02:002013-08-17T16:48:54.546+02:00Whew, Lucy! I'm exhausted,impressed and admiri...Whew, Lucy! I'm exhausted,impressed and admiring of all that you have been doing since you answered the question and the marvellous way you have of describing it. Let all those who are busy with so-called 'important' things crawl away in shame.Your post is a lesson in living well, sufficient unto the day, observing and appreciating whatever life offers each day. Plus great pictures! Who can ask for more?Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-11184620908964045742013-08-17T16:48:45.812+02:002013-08-17T16:48:45.812+02:00A friend I speak easily with asks, "So what&#...A friend I speak easily with asks, "So what's going on?" At first glance, it seems the same as "So what have you been up to lately?" But I find my friend's opener much more pleasant and engaging:<br /><br />"So what's going on?"<br />"Not much, you?"<br />"Not much. Thirsty?"<br /><br />At that point we drink an ale together and conversation can last for hours.<br /><br />This post had some beautiful images: <i>Unfortunately, once suspended in pickling syrup they look less like pearly soul-vessels and much more like frogspawn.</i> made me laugh; <i>Sea swimming, again. It was as clear as Gordons' gin but much warmer.</i> had me imagining possibilities; and the mussel and pinecone photos are simply delightful! Cyril, fortified with your hazelnuts, has no doubt gone off seeking adventure! To be a squirrel in France!!<br /><br />And I can't help but nodd my head as I hear of your painting job. My last brewing took quite a bit out of me this time. Although the knees are finally stronger again. <br /><br />Prost sweet Lucy! Here's to all the things goin' on!!Rouchswalwehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01393987883437907945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-75274303144896695222013-08-17T15:06:37.348+02:002013-08-17T15:06:37.348+02:00Oh Lucy, I sat here transfixed by your photos of p...Oh Lucy, I sat here transfixed by your photos of pine cones. I too sometimes pick them up when I'm out hiking, but somehow I have never looked at them the way I did just now in your photos. How marvelous they are.<br /><br />And I too loathe the question "So what have you been up to lately?" It instantly exhausts me. I just smile dumbly and stare vacantly until I offer up some lame version of "Oh, you know, the usual." Somehow that question makes me feel incredibly boring. <br /><br />And having said that, I need to come up with a different question, one that I can ask, instead of another version of the same tired one. <br /><br />Thanks for this wonderful post.<br /><br />- alisonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-21881619498135605432013-08-17T09:03:55.476+02:002013-08-17T09:03:55.476+02:00The pine cone images are wonderful. I have never t...The pine cone images are wonderful. I have never thought to look inside one. And the white currants do look as though they are lit from within.<br /><br />I imagine your squirrel is finding enough late summer wild food, and doesn't need to visit.<br /><br />Francescahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07643773227051148862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-13160816660107223662013-08-17T08:24:31.031+02:002013-08-17T08:24:31.031+02:00So what have you been doing? Ignore that question,...So what have you been doing? Ignore that question, 'tis me clearing my throat, getting going, since I intend to answer the question on your behalf. Laying linguistical eggs is what you've been doing, and here's one with purple spots: "fructal evisceration". I sit at my keyboard like Balzac, wearing my fleece dressing gown (much expatiated on down the months) and imagine a nineteenth-century novel with you as the central character. You've disgraced your employment, muckied your ticket as they say oop North, and the Lord of the Manor is dismissing you from his house: "Go forth and fructify," he says. And so you have. But not by peopling the world with babies (of which there are too many) but by going foreign and acting as a sampler/translator/distiller of that foreign land. Eventually your homeland will recognise what you've done and give you an OBE, which is almost insult given what the words stand for. Your home-from-home will be far subtler, giving you a little ribbon which will force you to wear suit jackets for the rest of your natural, a burden which I recommend you accept.<br /><br />I shall read the rest of your post but will not comment however seductive what follows. Having set myself a 300-word on my own blog I find I've been going elsewhere and, like Peter Rabbit, bursting out of my clothes in whatever comment boxes will have me. That's cheating.<br /><br />Oh hell and damnation! There's painting (a veritable ode) and Proust later on. But a promise is a promise.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-78806862998983085432013-08-16T21:21:45.636+02:002013-08-16T21:21:45.636+02:00Ah, just you wait, Lucy, until, like me, you are i...Ah, just you wait, Lucy, until, like me, you are in your 70's. But life is still a great adventure, what with reading, concerts, art galleries, movies, and what seems like the constant wait for the temperatures to get out of the 100's (115 predicted today - 46 Celsius). But your posts are always a joy, no matter how mundane you think they are. Wonderful pictures of the mussels and the pine cone fragments.Catalysthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03804837416104556928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-50271630778758084062013-08-16T20:41:55.556+02:002013-08-16T20:41:55.556+02:00I always hope for something small and personal tha...I always hope for something small and personal that I couldn't possibly guess. Your writing is very particular and you graciously share your joy in unexpected perceptions.<br /><br />I notice that I am much better at planning for seasons and holidays in the future now that I am in my 40s. (Not that I am a master planner, just clearly better at it than I used to be.) It just doesn't seem like it'll be that long until it swings around again. In my 20s it seemed like a crazy investment of attention to plan for a year or more ahead of time. And I was often surprised by weather or quite regular seasonal changes. Nimblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16426446791363667887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-12938103770168182402013-08-16T18:29:00.722+02:002013-08-16T18:29:00.722+02:00I know what you mean about those polite inquiries....I know what you mean about those polite inquiries. I keep my replies very short unless true interest is shown by more questions.<br /><br />I always love your stories of daily activities, they are as if we are having a chat about our daily lives, even if they may seem ordinary to some (not to me). Now I didn't know anyone 'pits' those tiny currants though I know they are strained for jellies. I have the red ones, so tiny this year that we've been lazy getting all of them picked. My black currant bush was the favourite but the bush is almost dead after a bear broke it up.<br /><br />The pine cone photos are stunning! What a beautiful find, I've never seen that.<br /><br />As for squirrels, I was most upset when one very brazenly in our view, sat on top of a pot of impatiens while munching away on the inside of a piece of bark. Said impatiens are broken. Other impatiens have been nibbled by deer.<br /><br />Thanks for a chat over the fence :-)marja-leenahttp://www.marja-leena-rathje.infonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37070024.post-408474149787743992013-08-16T18:05:36.003+02:002013-08-16T18:05:36.003+02:00I too have a friend with that unfortunate habit of...I too have a friend with that unfortunate habit of asking after me. It is actually more than a simple question, which would be fine. It is a question with expectations clearly attached. *Sigh*<br /><br />I love your activity list.<br /><br />I am buried in the efforts of readying my house for sale, and every activity grates on my soul in some way. christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04201537517464996231noreply@blogger.com