Thoughts of a Soo

  CAN YOU HEAR IT IN THE SILENCE? PodBean Link for those who like to listen     This morning the air brings the aroma of what I used to call mouldy mops. Mops that had been in a cleaning cupboard somewhere for too long. Stored away when damp and not aired. The grass is sodden and squelchy, and my body is still slightly tired from a weekend away at a yarn festival. Kath and I did Yarndale! My first time in Skipton and I would definitely return. Other stall holders had told me to think carefully about footwear and warmth and they were right. Sturdy shoes and layers were definitely needed. I loved it when my sister messaged to say, “I’m not being funny, but your photos look like you are in a cattle market in one of the pens.”   Alt text nails it with the description of this week’s photo because it is indeed, “Two women smiling for the camera”. You can just about make out some knitted flowers in the background and this was the ‘Yarndale Meadow

  ELEPHANT HAWK MOTH NOT SHOELACE 55  PodBean Link for those who like to listen   This morning the air is fresh after the rain. It carries the scent of green leaves. A cockerel, a distance away, crows in the morning while smaller birds sing for the new day in hedgerows nearby.    Alt Text says this week’s photo is a caterpillar on a branch. It is. And I have been going out each day to observe this creature and wish it well. I have even proudly shown the postman. I love the fact that most years I get to see one of these elephant hawk moth caterpillars in the front garden, and this one has been sticking around in the same bush these past few days. This year I learned that they like to feed on fuchsia and I feel glad that I left the largest bush in the garden relatively untamed. I did wonder if I would be able to see it cocoon, but I read that they bury themselves in the soil to do this.   When I was young I loved Autumn for the exciting new term at school and

  Angel of the North as Dance 54 PodBean Link for those who like to listen This morning there is a tang of wood in the cool air. It is the kind of scent that might come from opening a little used cupboard door or how I imagine the very centre of a conker smells. Alt Text says this week’s photo is: fabric in the air. I say it is ‘Angel of the North as Dancer’, a photograph of the ‘Angel of the North’ shawl by Kath Andrews Designs . I enjoy lying on the patio to capture photos of the shawls in flight while Kath throws them in the air. This year we have made a set of twelve of these photos into a calendar and we had fun showing the images to people at the Yarn Gathering Show this weekend and talking about how they were created. (The images not the people!) I was thinking about lipstick last week. I don’t wear lipstick. I did when I first met my wife and strangely enough we wore the same colour back then. But the last time I bought a new lipstick w

  Onion Rings and Other Joyful Things 53 PodBean Link for those who like to listen     This morning the wind stirs the leaves on the trees into an unsyncopated crisp rustle. The swirled air brings a cocktail of green scents. Two magpies hop and tap dance in the road before lifting their fans and becoming five.   Alt text says this week’s photo is a picture of a person holding up two rings. I say it is my sister holding up two massive onion rings. I also say that one day I will focus when I take the photo and make sure both her eyes are framed.   A year ago my sister had recently been to visit, and I was starting a new career journey. Today my sister has recently been to visit, and I am starting the qualified and accredited part of my new career journey. These are beautiful echoes as the new academic year establishes itself.   Last year I had a black coffee when we stopped for coffee on our shopping trip and this year (having learned the

  A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH MONDAYS   PodBean Link for those who like to listen This morning the air is drizzle misted and the first scent it brings is warmed tea rose.    Alt text says this week’s photo is a stuffed toy in the air. I say it is the photo from September on the calendar showing Ronnie jumping for joy and the sky is blue through the clouds.   It has been one year since I started this blog and my new relationship with Mondays. This time a year ago I decided to start a blog as a way of documenting my year and holding myself accountable whilst I started a new journey in life. I had handed back the keys to the primary school I had been head of for seventeen years, and I wasn’t buying new shoes for a new term or planning my first assembly of the school year. I decided to see what the air smelt like each Monday morning as each new week began.   I see now why I focus on providing time for people to ‘think, breathe and be’ when I work as a c