Inspiration not as a writer but as a needlewoman. I was always bewitched by the gorgeous illustrations in Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. French, early 15th century (Joan of Arc era), with a magnificent painting for each month, mostly featuring countryside activities and fabulous châteaux that must have been an inspiration forContinue reading “Impact and Influence: very rich hours.”
Category Archives: Nature
Oh Christmas Tree.
It’s Christmas and we now have a Christmas Tree, still wet with rain on December 21st. Our problem is that, unlike the rest of the world, we don’t believe in putting the tree up until the solstice, and since we don’t want it being battered around the garden prior to that, we only buy itContinue reading “Oh Christmas Tree.”
IMPACT & INFLUENCE: Flower Fairies.
I was fascinated by wild flowers at an early age, possibly because our garden was a wee bit wild. My father in his vegetable patch waged war on the weeds that challenged his sprouting broccoli and Jerusalem artichokes, but my mother’s half-hearted attempts to liven the flower boards with the odd packet of Virginia stocksContinue reading “IMPACT & INFLUENCE: Flower Fairies.”
Bethulia and Otto
This is Otto, and he has a significant role in my new novel, Bethulia. Okay, when I say he’s Otto, that’s my name for him. He is actually “The Teifi Otter” and he was presented to the town of Cardigan on the Teifi estuary by David Bellamy on behalf of the Dyfed Wildlife Trust, toContinue reading “Bethulia and Otto”
Riding the Storm
Back in 2020, I published The Covenant, whose story begins in 1883 with two girls walking home as a thunderstorm approaches… “Above the heathery crags on the far side of the broad vale, clouds were piling up, ash and charcoal, heaving themselves into volcanic plumes, turning the late June sky to November gloom. Beneath them,Continue reading “Riding the Storm”
Mellow Fruitfulness and Merry Birds
Something tells me it’s Autumn. I know it, my lane knows it and the birds know it. They have quite a banquet laid out for them. Some of these were very difficult to capture. I think I got the last bunch of hazelnuts before the psycho squirrels made off with them. And I failed entirelyContinue reading “Mellow Fruitfulness and Merry Birds”
Dawn and Immanence
These are pictures of a hay meadow taken on my morning walk, leading up to 7am. Since I am a set-on-auto/point/click sort of photographer, they do make the land look rather dark, which it wasn’t, of course, because it was light long before the sun peeked over the horizon. Slightly more obvious that it’s lightContinue reading “Dawn and Immanence”
The Pheasants’ Revolt
I’ve always had a lot of birds in my garden. I’ve always had a pleasant view from the kitchen window, across a wooded valley to a quaintly derelict farmhouse. Then the quaintly derelict farmhouse was bought and the new owner set up a pheasant shoot. Come the autumn, local farmers gather to take pot-shots atContinue reading “The Pheasants’ Revolt”
Wild Ramblings: flying high
Birds fly. It’s the thing everyone knows about birds: they fly. Yes, yes, penguins and ostriches – okay there are exceptions. But by and large, we think of birds as flying. There are some who really do. Crows, gulls and birds of prey, for instance, have taken to the air like fish to water. Show-offs.Continue reading “Wild Ramblings: flying high”
Country wisdom… or not
Oak before Ash, we shall have a splash.Ash before Oak, we shall have a soak. This, according to country lore, dictates whether the British summer will be a time of scattered showers or torrential downpours. If there were any truth in it, we are about to experience a phenomenally dry few months. I have knownContinue reading “Country wisdom… or not”
Thorne Moore 