John Gray, over at Going Gently, recently asked the question 'Where is your still place'?.
I had no hesitation; mine's up at Haddock's, and here's the very spot. From this chair I contemplate life's follies, and listen to my vegetables as they grow.
Monty's grave is just forwards to the left, after which there's nothing but the undisturbed landscape. The only sounds are those of distant tractors (occasionally), and the only movement that of some cattle, and a few horses. It's as peaceful a spot as anywhere can be these days.
And this is part of the view when sitting (not that I get to do too much of that these days).
p.s. My hand-hewn contemplation chair was found abandoned by some nearby dustbins; it's been serving me well for quite some while. Why do people chuck out such things; it's as solid as the day it was made.
You have a beautiful garden. I too have heard people telling that we can talk to plants, so that they will grow faster...
ReplyDeleteNot much growing there at the moment, just a few late peppers and aubergines, and some curly kale and carrots.
DeleteThere is a beach in Southern Brittany where I often park the motorhome when I go over. Must find one nearer home....or in my home for that matter. Nowhere feels that still at the moment!
ReplyDeleteA while of stillness each day is important.
DeleteEntirely agree. It needs sorting!
DeleteThere is a chair very much like that...
ReplyDeletejammed amongst the stones of our wier...
you have given me the inspiration to try and rescue it...
to return it to land...
and act as my "thinking chair" at the tongue of land that divides millstream from river...
at the moment that is my "quiet place" whenever I get down there...
and I lean against a tree, binos in hand...
and think...
of nothing in particular....
just letting my brain have some filing time!
Saw a beautiful Grey Wagtail there yesterday...
a mature male, feeding...
the egg-yolk yellow flashing as it darted amongst the same stones that have trapped the seat...
it even perched on the seat's back...
that sight got "filed" too!!
I wonder why/how it ended up there. No doubt someone with the same thoughts as the person who threw mine away; too old fashioned and 'common'.
DeleteHow simple and beautiful.Paradise on earth.
ReplyDeletePure simplicity, Yael. No sophistication or high technology. Just as I like it.
DeleteUne jolie scène bucolique. Cro le bienheureux !
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteThat is a beautiful and stylish chair. Shame they didn't throw out the rest of the set.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely spot you have there to be quiet.
I've always understood that these chairs were made by itinerant gypsies who travelled around the countryside, using the farmer's own trees for the wood. They made the chairs using the simplest of tools, local materials for the seating, and charged hardly anything for the finished job.
DeleteIt's a throw away society we live in, unfortunately. And yes, it probably wasn't contemporary or design enough. Fortunately the chair was left 'by' the bins, so you could find it and give it a new lease of life.
ReplyDeleteMy still place would be on a garden bench outside the chicken run. It is anything but still with clucking chickens, a babbling brook and usually the wind. But the sounds are good. They belong to nature and are not man made.
At Haddock's I also have the sound of hens, but, like you, I don't consider that 'noise'; just the sound of happiness.
DeleteMy gardens are my refuge also, especially in late summer when it is mostly about maintaining and not back breaking (but loved) work.
ReplyDeleteThat's right, it wouldn't be as calm earlier in the year.
DeleteA beautiful view. I can spend hours gazing out at scenes like that. Haddocks is looking reasonably weed free - you've been busy!
ReplyDeleteAs usual I've been kidding myself that if I turn it all over now, it'll remain like that until planting time in Spring. It never does!
DeleteYour chair brings to my mind a certain yellow chair in a Van Gogh painting.
ReplyDeleteYour quiet place's atmosphere is apparent in your photographs.
Strangely perhaps in New York City, I have a very quiet place in my apartment during certain times of the the day. It's in an old building with thick walls. If I am involved in some sort of creative project, or reading, quiet surrounds me. You'd never guess that Broadway is at the end of my street.
Best wishes.
I think these sorts of chairs were made all over the South of France.
DeleteIt's amazing how peaceful it can be even in the midst of all the hustle bustle. I used to find that in London too.
Frances's comment is interesting - I really do think that by and large one can create one's own space of peace and quiet in most places. I suppose hardest would be on so called sink estates where there is so much going on.
ReplyDeleteBut your haven of peace and quietude looks divine.
I feel so sorry for people brought up on those estates; on the plus side, it's a good incentive to make a success of life and move on to better things.
DeleteThe view alone is enough to lift the spirits.
ReplyDeleteLovely at the moment too, perfect autumnal weather.
DeleteWhat a beautiful voew plus your garden to sit and be still by.
ReplyDeleteLovely.
cheers, parsnip
I can feel the peacefulness of your quiet spot, and loved sharing that peacefulness if but for a moment...
ReplyDeleteWell I am off to Somerset , we exchanged last week. I am going to have a garden overlooking the Somerset levels. Not as pretty as Haddocks though.
ReplyDeleteLucky you! Sounds wonderful; Somerset is one of my favourite counties.
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