Bedroom Arles 1888

 Dear reader,

 

 

I am not a great photographer, it has to be said, but this was my best shot of the rose bush that flourishes in my garden. Last week I wrote on Face-book that I wouldn't put up a photograph of something which was to do with the week's poem, as this didn't seem to be very popular, and not the sort of thing viewers wanted to see.  But perhaps it is a different view you blog readers have so I shall from now on put two different photographs, one the Face book page and one the blog. I am not a great gardener either so there won't be any more of garden fare, plants or shrubs. Just something that I think might interest you.

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Hazel dormice are small, native rodents with golden-brown fur, large black eyes and long whiskers. They are the only British mammal with a furry tail.  Dormice are active in late spring, summer and early autumn in the trees and shrubs and they hibernate in nests on the ground over winter. Dormice can be found in a variety of habitats and landscapes particularly old woodlands over the last century, the lack of management of those that are left, and the removal and neglect of hedgerows no longer needed to enclose stock.

However, a group of thirty eight dormice are being re-introduced into a Derbyshire woodland as conservationists hope to turn around the decline of the species.  The population has fallen by around half since 2000 and they are now classed as vulnerable on the Red List for Britain's mammals.

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From James Woodforde, 1799, 19th June in Norfolk

'Very cold indeed again to-day, so cold that Mrs Custance came walking in her spencer with a bosom -friend.'
 

xx  Mrs. Custance as a lady of fashion, would have worn her gowns low cut, in the bosomy manner so often drawn by Rowlandson: in cold weather she would have needed the fashionable item of clothing know as the 'bosom-friend.'

From D.H.Lawrence, 1916, June 19th in Cornwall

"Foxgloves now everywhere between the rocks and the ferns.'

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Bedroom      Arles 1888

A small yellow chair
straw-seated, propped
against the door
a small mirror
a shawl hanging from a peg
a brown table with water jug
washing bowl and hairbrush
a shut drawer and a tumbler
a shelf for hats and clothes
another small chair
a large wooden bed frame
ruby blanket throw
small pictures on the walls
country scenes
uneven brown and green tiles
on uneven floor
green shuttered windows.

A certain sadness in the air.

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My novel : Victoria Scott's Dilemma is available here. It is rather a charming romantic tale with lots of laughter.  Look on Amazon under books - Patricia Huth Victoria and it will come up.

 

 

                                                                    VICTORIA  SCOTT'S  DILEMMA

 

                                                                                    PATRICIA HUTH

 

With very best wishes, Patricia