Liberation

From quarantine (technically ‘quatorzaine’) after our time in France. Where, in fact, we had voluntarily isolated ourselves, turning down all invitations and never setting foot in a town. We even froze outside on the ferry, keeping rather more than social distance, so we were not worried we were importing anything nasty.

The two weeks confined to the house were spent in an orgy of Etsy work. Lots more spinning (always my favourite) and somehow managing to turn myself into a baby blanket machine – hours and hours of it, got a bit carried away…’just one more…’

It was a good move, though – I’m now back at work (in a drastically altered classroom) and won’t have that sort of time for a while!

On/off? Yes? No?

It turns out it’s ‘yes’ after all. We changed our minds every day – so many factors for and against – but finally we decided to keep the ferry booking we made way back before lockdown. We’re off to France tomorrow.

Piles of bags – and bags of piles – everywhere. One bag for clothes, one bag for books (thanks to kindle) and all the rest for yarn, tops, dyestuffs, winding gear….

I did have some pictures but WordPress continues to be weird. Nasty little pink boxes that say ‘An unknown error occurred’. No further help. So no image possible. Ridiculous.

You can probably tell I still hate this new Block Editor. I do keep trying.

I’ll wave from over the Channel – internet and WordPress permitting. Exciting, if rather anxious, times!

Up/down days 2

Climbing the Sussex Downs in a high (but not dangerous) wind is not an obvious choice. But plans had been made – and the dramatic skies were rather exciting – even the sheep seemed a little edgy! They decided to bolt just after I took this picture!

IMG_6625This time we had a destination in mind. And it suddenly appeared, looking distinctly out of place at the edge of a Sussex field!

IMG_6626The Chattri, with Brighton (and the sea) in the background.

The Chattri is a memorial, erected in 1921 on the spot where 53 Hindu and Sikh soldiers  were cremated. They had died from the injuries they had sustained while fighting for the Empire in WW1. They had been cared for in makeshift military hospitals (some of them in the Royal Pavilion) in Brighton.

Once you get over the surprise of the rather grand and exotic design, you realise that this is actually the perfect spot for a memorial – isolated, peaceful (NO vehicle access!) and with fabulous views of the Downs, the city of Brighton and the sea. And that day we also had exhilarating winds and spectacular cloud formations to add to the atmosphere.

Up/down days 1

 

Literally. Up/down the Downs, near Ditchling in Sussex. Three times recently. The first outing was on a glorious English summer afternoon. The ‘hedge’ in the top small picture is interesting –  it is the outer flank of the right hand side of a giant V, planted to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887 (some sources say the Diamond Jubilee, 1897). Over 3,000 trees were put in – larch, birch, scots pine, sycamore, beech…. Still spectacular, over 130 (or possibly 120!) years later. The picture below was taken (with some difficulty) towards the inside bottom of the V.  The most dramatic photos, of course, are to be taken from the road below – but, except as the crow flies, or the human tumbles, that was  miles away!

IMG_6536