19th august 2010

solitary wolf

sand, sunset and chardonnay

happy birthday to the animal doctor!

we celebrated sitting on the sand dunes, watching the sun set behind the isle of arran. man, the colours that sinking sun paints across the evening sky.

the animal doctor brought a picnic blanket, two glasses and pudding, i brought a bottle of south african chardonnay (actually, rather disappointing, i must admit that of late, i have a distinct preference for the chilean whites)and we stopped off at the lucky star chippy and i bought fish suppers for two.

funny how fish and chips taste so much better when eaten in the great outdoors. of course i managed to get more than my fair share of the wine as birthday or no, the animal doctor has to drive as me, myself ... i have no car!

summer is but a vague memory in these parts and there was a distinct nip in the stiff breeze blowing off the firth.
but ... we scots are a hardy breed, not to be frightened off by a wee drop in the temperature, we watched in wonder and waited until the dark was making some inroads into the gloaming before we packed up our picnic and headed for home.

thank you for sharing your birthday with me.

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures."
-- Kahil Gibran

day two

yay,i am a happy non smoker!
why do i do this to myself ... why?
the truth is i am a miserable non smoker, i love smoking!

but ...
my special lady, prudence peugeot failed her MOT with distinction. on receiving the quote from the garage man i grew even paler and decided that as an edge of the seat pensioner i would learn to live without a car.
I SORNed her, she is allowed to remain with me as long as she remains parked on the property and i don't DRIVE her anywhere!

result - my feet are Sore(please note capital S), i have a frozen shoulder and i have given up smoking ... again!
yeah, indeed, a couple of months without pandering to my addiction and i will have the funds to put my mechanical lady back on the road in good as new condition.

so ... yay i am a happy non smoker ... yeah right ;-)

the newborn

there are cows and sheep
in the field across the road
five cows, one black, one black and white
one light cream, almost white
and two the colour of rich jersey cream
the sheep are a flock
adults all and vaguely disinteresting
hard to differentiate between sheep
once they are full grown
somewhere along the road to adulthood
they lose their joy in living
and with it their individuality
well, to the casual observer at least
i have watched the field for nearly two weeks
i have come to recognize the pained bellows
which signal the arrival of a new life
in the field across the road
and now we are three more, young ones
so new, so small, at rest they could be mistaken
for an anthill, except there are no anthills
in ayrshire pastures, a mole hill perhaps
staying close to mama for their first hours
they now find time to frolic and bound
the new generation, two brown, one black
the colour of calves against the green
in the field across the road

Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

i eat half a grapefruit for breakfast. of course i would rather indulge in a bacon sandwich or a full scottish breakfast, but, what the heck ...
we can't have everything we want!

grapefruit wise, this is the best time of the year for me because the supermarket shelf is very often stocked with south african grapefruit.
i love south african fruit, cider and wine. south african sunshine in an edible or drinkable form, delivered to my scottish table.

of course, even the simple matter of purchasing breakfast grapefruit can be elevated to an art form. after all, grape fruit have changed since the days of my youth when they were smaller, available only in yellow and really quite nasty. only the addition of lashings of sugar made them anywhere near edible!
as a native born south african i have long suspected that all the very best south african fruit was exported to foreign lands, leaving us, the sun blessed population to make do with what might possibly be described as 'seconds' i.e a tad less than perfect.
no matter, i am now a resident of those foreign climes and the south african fruit available is, quite simply put ...
well, practically perfect.

my personal favourite is the pink grapefruit, unfortunately in my supermarket the pink costs 49 pence per fruit whilst the more common marsh, a yellow fruit costs only 35 pence. that is 14 pence difference on each grapefruit. so, say i eat three a week or say 10 a month that would make a price difference of £1.40 to my breakfast spend. in a year... i would have saved £14, given that i might live to ninety whilst continuing to eat grapefruit for breakfast ... 27 x £14 equals ... damn, £378! now what might a ninety year old find to do with £378? most likely,absolutely sweet blow all!
and ... we haven't even touched on the red grapefruit ...

great goblets of glue! i need to get a life!

night sweats and other nonsense

 three o'clock - the small wee hours, what wakes me up?

night sweats...

nothing quite like them, waking up soaked and freezing. i wonder if they run in families? some small genetic imperfection? mine started with a vengeance in my thirties and to this day they creep up on me on the odd occassion.

i spotted the fox yesterday, sitting on the bank next to the railway line, catching the last warmth of the days sunshine. i love seeing the fox, especially in summer when the line is hidden from sight by the leaf clothed trees which grow beside it. sighting the fox under summer conditions is a perfect fluke, i have to be looking out from my kitchen window at the precise moment he/she pads past the exact spot which is not hidden from my eyes by summer's leafy, green glory.

life is a story

i am a great fan of a blog called "bless our hearts" by a certain ms moon. she is a great blogger, she blogs regularly, sometimes several times a day. ms moon shares her everyday life with me, myself and her myriad readers.

i do so enjoy the beautifully written tales of her everyday existence, i have grown to know her life, just a little. moonland exists in my mind, in my imagination i walk with her as she tends her garden, feeds her chickens and shares an afternoon nap with her young grandson.

i think perhaps i found ms moon and her blog in order to teach me ...
there is no need to write only of the extraordinary.
each life is a story, each new day a chapter waiting to be told.