dog jumped into deep water at Kirkstall Abbey. Couldn’t get back onto bank and was struggling. Heroically fell in to help her. Stressful!
@johnleach 5:12 PM Jun 27th via web
They quickly got over it though.
TagJohn
1. I spend the afternoon pottering in the garden – sowing more salad, potting on small seedlings and planting out their bigger siblings. Growing veg is such a waiting game – waiting and hoping – but when I see the first courgettes forming, it feels worth it.
2. John’s out all day at a friend’s stag do but pops home between the go-karting and the evening activities to eat some bread & jam.
3. Boron discovers a new place to sleep – my yarn stash between the sofa & the armchair. I hear rustling as he circles around, padding it into shape but by the time I turn around to look at him, he’s curled in a tight circle, his chin resting on a fluffy magenta skein.
1. The clear oil cuts through the beetroot-stained vinegar on the plate.
2. I’m re-reading ‘I Capture The Castle’ by Dodie Smith yet again. The introduction to my edition tells me: “[Dodie] rewrote every line, under [husband] Alec’s critical supervision, hearing every line of dialogue in her head and unable to stop thinking about it even in bed. … She kept a 100,000 word notebook on the progress of the novel, recording how each character changed, and how even the minor characters, down to the [family]’s dog and cat, were kept in play.” One of my most favourite books.
3. After dinner, we go for a walk in the woods – I want to show John the new meadow I found and a balmy summer evening seems to be the perfect time to do it. We follow the faint paths to it, then through it, then away from it, stretching out into the horses fields then twisting back in the woods and home. We’re sweaty and nursing nettle stings by the time we make it home but have had a wonderful time.
1. I’m pawed, I’m licked, I’m nibbled all over. He can’t decide whether to eat his lunch or play with me so runs back and forth between both options until I’m tired. When I get back home, Lily thinks I smell very interesting and I’m grateful for her comparative calmness.
Later on, they play together in the garden. We watch over them like proud mums as they jump about with their helicopter tails.
2. I can smell garlic on the way up the hill but it’s only after leaving the meadow that I spot the former stream bed covered in wilting leaves. I decide to collect some more seed pods but without a basket, have to carry them in a bunch by their stems. I feel like I’m carrying a bouquet designed in the atomic era.
3. In turn, both of the cats visit my knee and I close my eyes to fully appreciate how they feel, sound and smell.
4. I’m so glad when I get a text just before midnight to say he’s on the train, the last train. Just over three hours later, I wake up suddenly and so do the cats and the dog. I hear keys in the door, a shuffling, a quiet unmistakeable cough. Lily’s tail starts banging on the bed – she knows who it is too.
1. While John’s out, we have a lazy day, the dog, the cats and me. I comb Lily for one cartoon, then Carla for another. Carla, despite being a third of the size of the dog, wins the fluff shedding contest. Both feel softer and smoother by the time the funnies come to an end.
2. The rain slows for the first time all day and we descend into the woods for a walk. The mist hangs in the air beneath the canopy and reflects the light, making the lower levels brighter than they should be. The beck water is higher than it has been for the last few weeks but in the pools, it’s unusually clear too. Lily runs around like a crazy thing, I dawdle behind.
3. Nothing tastes as good as leftovers.
1. For the second day in a row, we head out for a walk unencumbered by jackets or jumpers. The dog is in the beck more than out. The stretch of pasty skin between my trainers & my (long) shorts is spattered with mud by the time we return home.
2. They look at each other, giggling and showing off the details of their newly-finished costumes. Suddenly, after months of rehearsals, it all seems rather real.
3. I return home to find he still looks green – I always thought that was an exaggeration but he’s actually green-tinged. The boiled eggs and soldiers finally turn him pink again.
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