Marie's Web Log

I've been meaning to tell you for a while that my crocuses started coming up - in October! That's when you're supposed to plant them for the next spring. I noticed before Christmas that they had flower heads coming, and now the daffodils and tulips are starting too. Ian said he saw daffodils in flower yesterday. It's been exceptionally mild so far this winter - we haven't had one frost. Our geranium from last year is still going, though the flowers finally died off a few weeks ago. Mind you, I saw a photo in the paper of people in Maryland sunbathing in 22C so something is wrong somewhere.

Well, what else could I tell you. About all the drama we're having about choosing a school for Amelia? We had chosen one, but then found out that the Junior School attached to it (like grades 3-6) had a bad report from the government inspection agency. Things are vastly complicated by the overabundance of religious schools here - I could go on and on. It frustrates me intensely, this country that passes itself off as a modern, forward-thinking land. Ha. Too much history, it bogs you down sometimes.

But instead, I will tell you about something more pleasant. I've been driving up to a client's office three days a week - the one I've mentioned before, in the country house. I've never been much of a fan of driving, always preferring walking, bicycling, or public transport if possible, but with this place there's no choice. And I've started to quite enjoy the drive up. I go across town to drop Amelia at the university nursery, then take the 'back roads' north, passing through small villages of stone and sometimes thatch-roofed cottages, farms, valleys divided into fields by a crisscross of hedgerows. When I come to Stoodleigh, the village near the house, The road rises and the village appears there on the hill, just one stone church and a scattering of eight or ten houses. One of them currently has a ploughed field stretching away from it, down into the valley. It will be really lovely up there in the spring.

I come back via the motorway. Not nearly so appealing.

More photos from Christmas coming soon.