15 July 2021

Rowlee

The beloved granddaughter Phoebe Harriet is six months old today. What special  joy she has brought into our lives. She is the best baby ever and this week she began the process of weaning. She was very happy with broccoli but not so keen on avocado. Perhaps she had heard about  the carbon footprint of this increasingly popular fruit. I am looking forward to feeding her some mashed up swede on Sunday.

Weatherwise today was overcast at first but round about two o'clock the clouds parted to reveal our particular  star shining brightly  in an aquamarine firmament with occasional wisps of cotton wool scudding quietly by. I needed no further invitation. Soon Clint was in full harness and we galloped out to the hills.

I tethered him near Hagg Farm above the valley of The River Ashop and soon I was walking up, up to the sky. Well, not really the sky - just Rowlee Pasture - an area of open moorland above Rowlee Farm.

As I had set off so late in the day, I reduced the length of the walk in order to get home at a reasonable time to prepare our tea (evening meal). We ate it at the table on the lower decking - a simple meal of egg and bacon quiche, new potatoes, salad and coleslaw which was washed down with cans of ice cold "Bosh!" beer by "Brewdog".

I told Shirley that I had sat for a while on the moors with my back resting against a gatepost as I swigged some cold water from my flask. It had been so peaceful and so pleasantly warm  with just a few sheep and lambs bleating in the rough pastureland below me that I felt I could have  rested there till sundown. The summer's  beauty was bewitching.

And I thought of Hagg Farm - an outdoor education venue for many years. I helped with school visits there in the early eighties. It was a lovely place for urban teenagers to become more intimate with the great outdoors and spend memorable time away from home. How strange that my once sharp memories of those good old days are now faded  like ghost advertising on a gable end wall.

36 comments:

  1. Gorgeous baby! The little ones can eat so much more these days than we ever had the courage to feed them. My one year old grandson eats a more varied and interesting diet than I do.

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    1. I don't know if it is the same in America but here we used to move babies on with rusks and baby rice - not broccoli and avocado.

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    2. Yes, the same. Rice cereal, then baby food in jars that tasted awful. My grandson essentially eats all adult foods, even with his 8 teeth.

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    3. Eight teeth! I wouldn't put my finger in there!

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  2. Phoebe looks like such a merry baby--like she's going to be a little girl who giggles a lot. What a sweetheart. Hard to believe she's six months old already! Please give her a kiss for me.

    What a beautiful country you live in, Neil. Thank you for sharing so much of your home with us! I never tire of looking at your photographs.

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    1. You make me feel good Jennifer. Thank you.

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  3. Phoebe is such a jolly looking little girl. Those photos are lovely, especially the second from the last. Such beautiful countryside.

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    1. It only took me twenty minutes to drive out there Pixie Lily.

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  4. Aquamarine Firmament. Another great name for a Progressive Rock band.

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    1. Egg and Bacon Quiche would be another great name for a band.

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  5. Such a happy little thing! I never get tired of your pictures of her...or your countryside.

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    1. Wait till later Debby. All being well you will see a video of the little princess.

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  6. Phoebe Harriet looks to be a very happy baby and I am sure she is a joy to all. It is wonderful that she is eating such interesting things already.
    I so agree with Jennifer, thank you for sharing your beautiful country with us. Your walk sounded "grand" as they say in my neighborhood.

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    1. Thanks for such a nice comment Terry.

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  7. Is there anything more rewarding than making your grandbaby laugh? Phoebe has such beautiful deep blue eyes that tell us she really got the joke.
    Like yours, my life has become so much richer since I became a grandparent.
    Thanks for the glimpse of summer. Just what you need when the forecast is for another Antarctic blast. Still there is comfort in soup and a winter roast. We'll be having swede too.
    Adele

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    1. It would be nice if Charlotte and Phoebe could meet and dance together when they are no longer babies.

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  8. Is she not a gorgeous little girl, one day she might be striding across the countryside with you.

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    1. I hope that I live long enough for that.

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  9. Phoebe‘s infectious smile lights up an entire house, I think!
    Your summer walk sounds wonderful, and you ended the day with a perfect summer meal. I know what you mean about feeling so peaceful when you were resting at the gate post. Such moments are timeless and to be treasured forever.

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    1. Only true walkers could properly appreciate that point.

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  10. Mashed swede ? Poor child!

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    1. I am not talking about Bjorn Borg nor any member of ABBA.

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  11. I look forward to starting my day with a Phoebe Photo. Just the thing to put a smile on my face.

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    1. Wait till later on JayCee. I hope to post a happy video of her.

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  12. What a gorgeous happy little girl! Broccoli and avocado - wow! that's a sophisticated diet she's having, and it's obviously agreeing with her.
    I, too, could have sat with my back to a gatepost and absorbed such beautiful surroundings. A perfect place for contemplation.

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    1. Broccoli and avocado is so different from Farley's rusks!

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  13. I though at first you'd written "It was a lovely place for urban teenagers to become more intimate IN the great outdoors".

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    1. Seriously though that's something that leaders do need to think about at outdoor education venues.

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  14. Every time I think Phoebe couldn't get any cuter, up pops another photo of the beauty. And she does!

    I'd be willing to lean against that post for a very long time and look out on those amazing vistas you captured so beautifully in those photos...especially with the aquamarine firmament overhead. Maybe less so on a stormy day--though those kind of days can have a beauty all their own.

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    1. Hopefully my next post will be a video of her.

      You could have leaned against the other gatepost Mary.

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  15. Such a treasure to have such places to walk in and enjoy!

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  16. Little Phoebe is a darling, tell your daughter to cherish every second of her life, they grow so quickly.
    Briony
    x

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  17. There's a big ghost ad for Bovril, similar to that one, in Brixton.

    "Mashed-up swede" -- Bibi Andersson, perhaps? I'm not sure about the wisdom of encouraging cannibalism in your granddaughter.

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