That's Arnold Bennett in How to Live on 24 Hours a Day. The quotation continues: 'We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.' The Zen-ness of this notion appeals.
I shall print Mr Bennett's words and pin them above my desk or write them, by hand, on a small piece of paper, then fold the paper and slip it into my wallet, which is what I used to do, years ago, with quotations that made me stop and think.
So, I am at last easing my way back into blogging, which I have missed but which I could not do - because every time I thought of something to write about, I then dismissed the subject matter as trivial. I knew why and there was more than one reason. I knew that the feelings would pass, in time, and they have. I just had to let time do its work, and it did. I knew that I would see or hear something that would make me think, 'Ah yes, that is the something.'
It turned out to be the sound of bleating, on a visit to my Smallholder Friend last week. She has six Castlemilk Morit ewes and all but one of them had just lambed.
Violet - still waiting:
Abigail, the boldest of the ewes, has already given birth; she is a very protective mama:
Abigail is just as watchful of the other lambs - and of me trying to taking photographs without disturbing the flock. She's just checking . . .
These moments with Violet and Abigail, and with the other ewes and the lambs, remind me that I must get myself back to the here and now and stay there. So I do. Back is good.
Up with insomnia, catching up on blogs, delighted to see you back on line. So glad the healing is beginning. . . . lambs surely help, the resurgence of life in such endearing form.
Posted by: materfamilias | 07 May 2013 at 11:30 AM
Welcome back, D. It's good to hear your voice again. Springtime and everything coming to life again after cold, grey times, has been such a joy this year and your Castlemilk Morits (poetry!) are lovely to behold.
Posted by: colleen | 08 May 2013 at 07:52 AM
Back IS good.
Love the lambs. I wouldn't mess with Abigail either. ;-)
Posted by: sybil | 08 May 2013 at 01:00 PM
Welcome back. I am very happy, indeed, to see you here in the there and now.
Posted by: Christina | 08 May 2013 at 03:02 PM
Dear, dear sheepys. I have never heard of that breed. When our current batch of Romney/Leicester crosses die, we are thinking of Baby Doll Southdowns. Have you ever seen one?
Good to see you back, and no post is too 'trivial.' What seems little to one, is most meaningful to someone else. What exactly is a small holding?
Posted by: Nan | 09 May 2013 at 06:25 PM
Thank you Colleen, Sybil, Christina and Nan for the warm welcome back.
Nan, the Castlemilk Morit breed dates from the early 1920s but reached its lowest level in the 1970s - you can read more about it here: http://www.castlemilkmooritsociety.co.uk/Pages/aboutus.aspx
Numbers have risen since then but it's still regarded as a rare breed here in the UK.
And a smallholding is a very small farm, usually fewer than 50 acres. My friend's smallholding is - I think - 23 acres and is also home to rare breed pigs (Oxford Sandy and Blacks) and a small brood of rescue hens. She and her partner have also had a go at keeping geese but decided that it wasn't for them. It is also home to a fine black Labrador, for the past six years the 'best' friend of my black Lab, the Edinburgh Boy, which dates from the day they met at their first training session! They have been devoted companions ever since and really do seem to delight in each other's company.
Posted by: 60 going on 16 | 09 May 2013 at 07:07 PM
Thank you. I read 'smallholding' in so many books, and always wondered. The other thing I wonder about is 'lease.' It seems that many (in my books at least) don't own their place outright. Over here, if we don't own, we rent. Is a lease the same as renting? But I've read of 100 year leases. Do people put their hearts and souls into places they won't be able to pass along to their kids?
I've heard geese can be pretty grouchy and even scary. My daughter and her fella have ducks. Now that's a nice creature to have around - cheerful, cheerful, friendly. Just delightful.
Posted by: Nan | 09 May 2013 at 07:40 PM
Thoughts are fleeting, and fade into ephemera if not shared... is that the right word, ephemera? Your thoughts are worth sharing. Enjoying your company again, and thanking you for "being back"..
Posted by: Nan | 11 May 2013 at 06:13 PM
There you are! And with lovely pictures of such sweet babes (and a breed which is new to me). I'm with Nan about the posting dilemma and firmly of the belief that one blogger's trivia may be another blogger's treasure.
Posted by: lovethosecupcakes | 13 May 2013 at 04:08 PM
Nan: yes, leasing is the same as renting and many British farmers - about one in three - are tenants rather than freeholders. My friends own their smallholding so at least they will always have the the land they have invested in. (And thank you for welcoming me back.)
Liz: good to hear from you (and thank you too) and that reminds me that I need to be out and about blog-visiting again . . . The sheep and their babes are, indeed, delightful. I try not to think about lamb chops; not that I eat meat but you know what I mean! At least they are having a happy, healthy time while they are here.
Posted by: 60 going on 16 | 13 May 2013 at 07:03 PM
Yes. a belated welcome back D. Good to "see" you again.
P
Posted by: Pamela (Lady Luz) | 16 May 2013 at 02:43 PM