Emy Jane: A Time To Ponder . . .

The Sky of last night, there's a sunset there somewhere!

I wasn’t going to come back here again today, but if I didn’t, I’d be way behind on photos, as the show is tomorrow where I’ll take loads more, I’d rather get these out the way first! (Not sure if that made any sense)

A few things have happened since this morning. One, our local ‘active’ farmer has been more then active. A law passed last year where you could only cut the hedges from 1st August onwards and as if on cue the hedges were cut, more likely desecrated in a number of hours, gone are the flowers, blackberries, trees. Gone for this year. My Dad thinks they do it just to spite us because we don’t like it and unfortunately part of the hedgerow comes down our garden and in years gone by they’ve respected our wishes and left the cutting to us – which is usually around mid September – but now they don’t care and we can’t say anything or they’ll give us hell every year after.

The second thing has finally come upon us. What to do, where to live and when to decide. We’ve had plans for years, plans to move down here and keep a place in London, or extend the cottage or rent it out. The other day I thought we had agreed on keeping the cottage, extending it a little, selling and leaving London and buying an apartment in Exeter. No, it wasn’t to be. So now the one plan has been suggested that I hoped would never be uttered. Leaving London AND selling the cottage for one home in Devon with land, land where we’ll decide when to cut the hedges and not be ruled by irate farmers who just want to kill to make money. (Calm down . . . Sorry) It sounds good, but I’m so attached to this place as I was our old Victorian house in London (we moved from there 6 years ago) that I always vow never to return (well, we have returned to the Victorian and we know the people really well and we go back for dinners). We are seriously running out of money, no-one is happy, no-one can relax and I can’t even paint because I know in three weeks time I’ll have to leave for London once more and break off my work at usual crucial points! I’d love to paint under no pressure, and if one house can allow me that then that’s what it has to be. It’s just I know every nook and cranny of this place, like I still do for the Victorian, sometimes I lie awake at nights wandering through the rooms and I fear I’ll be doing the same thing with the cottage. I find things very hard to let go from houses to cars to old cameras and laptops, I’m not particularly a hoarder, but I’m getting close!

My Dad and I were both restless this afternoon so we went for a walk up the top and across Mucky Lane - not quite as mucky in recent times - and we saw a beautiful Red Admiral and Painted Lady butterfly plus a Yellowhammer and a young meadow pipit. We crossed the main road onto the other side, the inferior side I like to call it and, even though it was nice, it wasn't a scratch on 'our' side! It was good to be back!