We have been reading the Jenny Uglow book aloud each day on and off through this year.
‘Let’s have some Gilbert’ we say and just turn to the date and see what he’s up to. We were very impressed with his cucumbers in February.
Once we realised some years ago (thanks to Covid) that the TV news especially was all about inducing rants and keeping us in a state of permanent anxiety, and that somehow it had become an addiction, we switched it off and have not switched it back on. We are now very selective about what really matters to us and take cues from our children, now all in their forties, and who really do have a very sensible and sanguine perspective on the world that they are way more in touch with than we are.
This week we have all been saddened by the loss of the climbers in the avalanche. Our son was in Nepal and Annapurna last year and for the country to lose six top mountaineers is devastating.
Enjoy the Folk Festival June and leave the world behind for a while.
Thank you for such an encouraging reply. I read in bed and I read bits of Gilbert out to my husband as I go - we were also very impressed with February cucumbers! It's a terrific biography.
Yes, the avalanche losses were terribly tragic, and so young - or what feels young to me these days.
Thank you June for this. I have been so distressed by what has happened at Dulwich and the seemingly overwhelming apathy you describe. The causes, and how we can mitigate such events, seem to be barely mentioned. I too found Melissa's piece hugely helpful. As for the drawing, this was so heartening to hear ( and intend to talk about it in this week's post!) Enjoy it, don't think of the results, just the process. I haven't read the Country Girls since I was a teenager, but do remember how much I loved her beautiful writing. Happy sketching.
Thank you, Deborah. I am taking Grace's advice above, and giving up on the news for a while. It will be easy to do this week while we have a visitor. I've been threatening to start sketching for a while, but now I think the time is right and I will get on with it. Thank you for reading and replying.
You are so right to be angry..I’m with you…and thanks for the tip about drawing….
We are approaching summer in Australia and I fear it might be a repeat of bushfires of the 2019/2020.. we had to evacuate ….I do hope it’s not. all we can do is plan….
And if everyone did their little bit……
By the way, feel free to vent as needed!
I enjoyed reading about Gilbert White, sounds like my kind of book..
It's such a worry isn't it? I was talking with my husband and we were saying how wildfires used to be something you heard about in Australia and now they're everywhere. I hope your summer is free of them and you can all be safe.
Substack is definitely my go to place for expressing my feelings. Everyone is so kind and encouraging. I recommend the `Gilbert White biog wholeheartedly, Jenny Uglow is a brilliant biographer.
I remember 1976 too and “the save water…bath with a friend” campaign which did cause a certain amount of hilarity if I remember correctly. There seems to be a complete lack of foresight about everything these days and little will to try and change things. The only good thing about the money grabbing Infantino (with the Trump family lurking in the background) is that it seems to have been stopped … for the moment.
The new Jenny Uglow book about Gilbert White was already on my very long list of books I want to read, but now it has moved further towards the top.
Yes, I'm pleased there has been fightback on the FIFA thing. Do read the Gilbert White bio - I recommend it! It's also soothing for such times as these.
Do you know why soccer (football) isn’t more popular in the US? Money. The hydration breaks aren’t long enough for a string of commercials which means fewer ad dollars.
Meanwhile, we are fans and watched many games on TV.
I esp loved the viral videos of Europeans traveling to the US for a game and being pleasantly surprised by how wonderful America is. 🥰👏
An interesting post this morning. The fire on Dunwich Heath is heartbreaking. We spent many hours at Minsmere & it is such a special place. So sad to think that some of the wildlife there may never recover. We may never know what caused the fire but I just cannot understand what goes through people’s heads when they think it would be good fun to light a fire, especially when everywhere is so tinder dry. Some children set fire to hay bales in a field not that far from us a couple of days ago but luckily someone saw them do it & alerted the fire brigade who dealt with it before it got out of hand.
I totally agree that the powers that be don’t seem to be considering the implications of the drought, how will the country cope in years to come if what is happening this year is anything to go by. So short sighted. We need to think more about what can be done to try to cope with it all in years to come.
Last year I began keeping a nature diary, recording things in a sketchbook. I’m not very good at drawing but adding things to the sketchbook regularly has really opened my eyes to what is growing in our garden. I’ve learnt the names of weeds, seen things which I would have just walked by in the past & have a record of time passing in the garden. If I haven’t time to draw anything I keep a note of what I’ve seen & can add them later. It is very calming to sit & draw maybe a ragged robin plant or a visiting wren. I hope your sketchbook will give you some calming time.
I am so pleased to read your encouraging words about the sketchbook. I am almost afraid to start…
I don’t know what it is about fire and kids. Is it some deep pre-historic thing that comes out sometimes? Near us someone decided it was okay to light a disposable barbecue on a boardwalk!!!
Starting is the hardest thing but once you have done your first drawing, hopefully it will become easier. Maybe not a good idea to do the first drawing on the first page. Draw for your enjoyment. No-one else needs to see your sketchbook. You can keep it to yourself or share it if you are happy with that. Enjoy the journey. I’m still amazed that I have produced drawings in my nature sketchbook which actually look like the original specimen.
Not a rant - a perfectly reasonable reaction. I watched that episode of the news and it did feel like a tipping point. Good choice of reading material. X
Being me I can't help fearing whether this frightful Infantino person is actually up to something else and this was a diversionary tactic, so clearly outrageous that it was never intended to succeed.
I hope I'm wrong. One can't help but be cynical nowadays.
The Country Girls is a masterpiece, I love that whole trilogy....
Sometimes we need to get things off our chest and you have every right to rant. The only way I can cope with the way we are destroying our beautiful world is to focus on the small things I can do so I perfectly understand where you are coming from. Have a lovely week with your friend
Thanks June. I think you've put your finger on the very odd fatalistic reaction to this summer's hot weather. You're not alone anyway, You're not the one who's going mad!
Thank you for your rant. I’m sure you have put into words what a lot of us feel. I totally agree with your comments about the news - a ‘shopping list’ of disasters and tragedies (rarely good, uplifting news) delivered in a matter of fact manner. Dunwich is just down the road from us, so the devastation is clear to see. It’s heartbreaking.
A perfectly understandable reaction to the world, June! I’ve also been thinking of taking up sketching. Sending best wishes x
We have been reading the Jenny Uglow book aloud each day on and off through this year.
‘Let’s have some Gilbert’ we say and just turn to the date and see what he’s up to. We were very impressed with his cucumbers in February.
Once we realised some years ago (thanks to Covid) that the TV news especially was all about inducing rants and keeping us in a state of permanent anxiety, and that somehow it had become an addiction, we switched it off and have not switched it back on. We are now very selective about what really matters to us and take cues from our children, now all in their forties, and who really do have a very sensible and sanguine perspective on the world that they are way more in touch with than we are.
This week we have all been saddened by the loss of the climbers in the avalanche. Our son was in Nepal and Annapurna last year and for the country to lose six top mountaineers is devastating.
Enjoy the Folk Festival June and leave the world behind for a while.
Thank you for such an encouraging reply. I read in bed and I read bits of Gilbert out to my husband as I go - we were also very impressed with February cucumbers! It's a terrific biography.
Yes, the avalanche losses were terribly tragic, and so young - or what feels young to me these days.
Thanks again for replying.
Ps One Garden Against the World is wonderful.
Oh good!
Thank you June for this. I have been so distressed by what has happened at Dulwich and the seemingly overwhelming apathy you describe. The causes, and how we can mitigate such events, seem to be barely mentioned. I too found Melissa's piece hugely helpful. As for the drawing, this was so heartening to hear ( and intend to talk about it in this week's post!) Enjoy it, don't think of the results, just the process. I haven't read the Country Girls since I was a teenager, but do remember how much I loved her beautiful writing. Happy sketching.
Thank you, Deborah. I am taking Grace's advice above, and giving up on the news for a while. It will be easy to do this week while we have a visitor. I've been threatening to start sketching for a while, but now I think the time is right and I will get on with it. Thank you for reading and replying.
I think sometimes, we really need to do that. And don't let enthusiasm fade - get drawing!
You are so right to be angry..I’m with you…and thanks for the tip about drawing….
We are approaching summer in Australia and I fear it might be a repeat of bushfires of the 2019/2020.. we had to evacuate ….I do hope it’s not. all we can do is plan….
And if everyone did their little bit……
By the way, feel free to vent as needed!
I enjoyed reading about Gilbert White, sounds like my kind of book..
Take care
It's such a worry isn't it? I was talking with my husband and we were saying how wildfires used to be something you heard about in Australia and now they're everywhere. I hope your summer is free of them and you can all be safe.
Substack is definitely my go to place for expressing my feelings. Everyone is so kind and encouraging. I recommend the `Gilbert White biog wholeheartedly, Jenny Uglow is a brilliant biographer.
The Jenny Uglow book sounds great; thanks for sharing. As for FIFA: I'm afraid I gave up on professional sports and its money obsession years ago.
I'm glad the FIFA thing seems to have gone belly up. I can really recommend the jenny Uglow biography of White - she breathes new life into him.
I remember 1976 too and “the save water…bath with a friend” campaign which did cause a certain amount of hilarity if I remember correctly. There seems to be a complete lack of foresight about everything these days and little will to try and change things. The only good thing about the money grabbing Infantino (with the Trump family lurking in the background) is that it seems to have been stopped … for the moment.
The new Jenny Uglow book about Gilbert White was already on my very long list of books I want to read, but now it has moved further towards the top.
Yes, I'm pleased there has been fightback on the FIFA thing. Do read the Gilbert White bio - I recommend it! It's also soothing for such times as these.
I hope that the sketchbook helps.
South West Art, located in Sidmouth, great shop/art workshop facility.
I travel over forty miles 3-4 times a year to shop in South-West Art.
Good luck.
Yes, we know it well!!
Do you know why soccer (football) isn’t more popular in the US? Money. The hydration breaks aren’t long enough for a string of commercials which means fewer ad dollars.
Meanwhile, we are fans and watched many games on TV.
I esp loved the viral videos of Europeans traveling to the US for a game and being pleasantly surprised by how wonderful America is. 🥰👏
Ha! I think lots of people went to look for America during the World Cup!
Absolutely right, June, about absolutely everything. Celebrate what we can do. It's all we have.
Thanks. I’m on it now!
An interesting post this morning. The fire on Dunwich Heath is heartbreaking. We spent many hours at Minsmere & it is such a special place. So sad to think that some of the wildlife there may never recover. We may never know what caused the fire but I just cannot understand what goes through people’s heads when they think it would be good fun to light a fire, especially when everywhere is so tinder dry. Some children set fire to hay bales in a field not that far from us a couple of days ago but luckily someone saw them do it & alerted the fire brigade who dealt with it before it got out of hand.
I totally agree that the powers that be don’t seem to be considering the implications of the drought, how will the country cope in years to come if what is happening this year is anything to go by. So short sighted. We need to think more about what can be done to try to cope with it all in years to come.
Last year I began keeping a nature diary, recording things in a sketchbook. I’m not very good at drawing but adding things to the sketchbook regularly has really opened my eyes to what is growing in our garden. I’ve learnt the names of weeds, seen things which I would have just walked by in the past & have a record of time passing in the garden. If I haven’t time to draw anything I keep a note of what I’ve seen & can add them later. It is very calming to sit & draw maybe a ragged robin plant or a visiting wren. I hope your sketchbook will give you some calming time.
I am so pleased to read your encouraging words about the sketchbook. I am almost afraid to start…
I don’t know what it is about fire and kids. Is it some deep pre-historic thing that comes out sometimes? Near us someone decided it was okay to light a disposable barbecue on a boardwalk!!!
Starting is the hardest thing but once you have done your first drawing, hopefully it will become easier. Maybe not a good idea to do the first drawing on the first page. Draw for your enjoyment. No-one else needs to see your sketchbook. You can keep it to yourself or share it if you are happy with that. Enjoy the journey. I’m still amazed that I have produced drawings in my nature sketchbook which actually look like the original specimen.
Thank you for being so encouraging. Your tip about the first page sounds eminently sensible!
Maybe start with something like a ladybird or a dandelion or even a grass head.
Hope you are having a good weekend.
Not a rant - a perfectly reasonable reaction. I watched that episode of the news and it did feel like a tipping point. Good choice of reading material. X
It certainly tipped me! Life is both beautiful and diabolical.
Being me I can't help fearing whether this frightful Infantino person is actually up to something else and this was a diversionary tactic, so clearly outrageous that it was never intended to succeed.
I hope I'm wrong. One can't help but be cynical nowadays.
The Country Girls is a masterpiece, I love that whole trilogy....
Dreadful man. I hope his goose is well and truly cooked.
Sometimes we need to get things off our chest and you have every right to rant. The only way I can cope with the way we are destroying our beautiful world is to focus on the small things I can do so I perfectly understand where you are coming from. Have a lovely week with your friend
Thanks, Gina. What a mess we find ourselves in. It’s so hard to avoid ‘news’ but I shall try this weekend.
Thanks June. I think you've put your finger on the very odd fatalistic reaction to this summer's hot weather. You're not alone anyway, You're not the one who's going mad!
Well, that’s something, I guess!
Thank you for your rant. I’m sure you have put into words what a lot of us feel. I totally agree with your comments about the news - a ‘shopping list’ of disasters and tragedies (rarely good, uplifting news) delivered in a matter of fact manner. Dunwich is just down the road from us, so the devastation is clear to see. It’s heartbreaking.
I’m sure it must be. It’s such a special place.