Various Observations on a Jolly Good Week



5th May 2013
It has been a good week - at least I think so. What makes for a 'good week' is different for each of us, of course. Sometimes it's just the little things. So it has not been a week in which I have, for example, won the lottery or received an offer for a movie of WILDISH or anything spectacular like that. For me, having a 'good week' is usually just made up of simple things rather like this:

Wall

old stone wall with character, plants etc
Magnificent stones.
I found a wonderful stone wall on one of my walks (we writers take lots of vigorous, solitary walks, of course - ehmm! well now and again, anyway). But look - isn't it magnificent! How many little creatures have their home here?

This is one of nature's works of art. It's fashioned with a little help from us humans, of course, especially those who know when to leave well alone and to allow age and time to simply take its course. It is one of those gems of the countryside that the more you look into, the more you see. I love it.
And then, as if all this wasn't enough (you see how easily pleased some people can be), I went and discovered this fabulous painting.
painting of Victorian lady, face half in shadow, dark background
'Enshadowed Rapture' by George Henry Boughton.

Portraiture at its best



It is called 'Enshadowed Rapture' and is by the artist George Henry Boughton (1833-1905) an English born painter who spent much of his life in the US as well as amid the vibrant art scene of Victorian London. A bit too late for the Pre-Raphaelites, but he was a contemporary and friend of Whistler. What a master of portraiture!

Finally, I have to report the pleasure of being able to get cracking at work in the garden this week, where I discovered that Spring has come at last - and, shortly after which, was delivered of the following flash of wisdom:

'You know you are a real gardener when ... 'You come in several hours later, brush your hair and a lot of what comes off runs away.'

And with that thought, I shall end this blogpost. I promise you a more coherent and carefully structured effort next time. Though don't count on it.
Authored by Robert Stephen Parry

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