Alpine at Sizergh Alpines flower at Sizergh gardens, crystals of ice linger on foliage. Squalls of hail overnight and we drive home in another pelting. Fragrant winter-flowering shrubs and spring flowers: wild daffodils and cultivars, crocus, hellebore, daphne and winter jasmine.. A rehearsal of spring, and we know this garden but each time it is particular to the season, to the day..
No day is ever the same and nor are we. Contemplating daffodils does not bring oblivion. Beyond Sizergh gardens there are dark clouds gathering. Who are we, the English, the British? Can we summon the national myth a time of crisis?
No day is ever the same and nor are we. Contemplating daffodils does not bring oblivion. Beyond Sizergh gardens there are dark clouds gathering. Who are we, the English, the British? Can we summon the national myth a time of crisis?
May 1536, Anne Boleyn is executed. King Henry V111 marries Jane Seymour. ' Pasty face,' the chalks of Holbein's portrait are fading but the eyes are compelling.. Henry's court comes alive in Holbeirn's portraits. And almost five centuries later in Hilary Mantel's historical novels. What is life like in Tudor England? Who are the English? Death is never far off. The body count in Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies is startling. Executions, child-bed fever, the sweat, the plague. Life-expectancy is short. No congratulatory letters to centenarians from King Henry .
Interviewed this morning by Andrew Marr, Hilary Mantel says she's lived in 1540 for the last eight years- as she's been writing The Mirror and the Light, the big book that concludes her trilogy. Big and breath-taking. 900 pages of brilliance.
Interviewed this morning by Andrew Marr, Hilary Mantel says she's lived in 1540 for the last eight years- as she's been writing The Mirror and the Light, the big book that concludes her trilogy. Big and breath-taking. 900 pages of brilliance.
Warmed by the sun, we apricate. We sit on an ancient window-sill like apricots on a south-facing wall. We apricate while we may for storm-clouds are not far off. Nuthatch are loud and a tree-creeper claws up a mossy trunk. Tits flit through the branches. The gardens are peaceful and tell of spring..
Hilary Mantel's historical novel comes out this week. That's the good news.
Dominating the news agenda is the spread of Covid 19, the Corona virus. The UK Government has a six-point plan, we learn. China, the source of the outbreak, seems to have controlled its spread. There's was a robust response. The Chinese are used to a degree of state control that we, the British, have not experienced. So how will the British respond if personal freedoms are curtailed, for the greater good?
The outbreak in Italy gives cause for concern right now. Boccaccio's Decameron, 14th century, is a collection of stories told by Florentines who self-isolate during an outbreak of plague and keep their spirits up by telling stories. In our times we have Hilary Mantel to read. Or we may listen to The Mirror and the Light as book of the week on radio 4. All in awe of Mantel's achievement are like to listen (from 16th March) and to read.
On having her portrait painted Hilary Mantel said she didn't want to look as if she were ' just contemplating the daffodils..'
Being a naturalist isn't always comfortable, isn't just contemplating daffodils. It's about a willingness to raise one's head above the parapet. Like naturalist Chris Packham who is in the news this week for his opposition to HS2 and the environmental damage that development will bring.
5th March. Collected first 2 copies of The Mirror and the Light from the local Waterstones. For JIll and I, two writers. We'll enjoy talking-over Mantel's craft.
Hilary Mantel's historical novel comes out this week. That's the good news.
Dominating the news agenda is the spread of Covid 19, the Corona virus. The UK Government has a six-point plan, we learn. China, the source of the outbreak, seems to have controlled its spread. There's was a robust response. The Chinese are used to a degree of state control that we, the British, have not experienced. So how will the British respond if personal freedoms are curtailed, for the greater good?
The outbreak in Italy gives cause for concern right now. Boccaccio's Decameron, 14th century, is a collection of stories told by Florentines who self-isolate during an outbreak of plague and keep their spirits up by telling stories. In our times we have Hilary Mantel to read. Or we may listen to The Mirror and the Light as book of the week on radio 4. All in awe of Mantel's achievement are like to listen (from 16th March) and to read.
On having her portrait painted Hilary Mantel said she didn't want to look as if she were ' just contemplating the daffodils..'
Being a naturalist isn't always comfortable, isn't just contemplating daffodils. It's about a willingness to raise one's head above the parapet. Like naturalist Chris Packham who is in the news this week for his opposition to HS2 and the environmental damage that development will bring.
5th March. Collected first 2 copies of The Mirror and the Light from the local Waterstones. For JIll and I, two writers. We'll enjoy talking-over Mantel's craft.
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