Darkness
The clocks went back today. Yesterday was a vivid blue day but today has been dank and grey. All day thick cloud sat on the top of Penycloddiau. I was working in the shepherd's hut, snug and warm at my little desk by the window. I look out towards the hedge which has just been cut. A rowan tree and a horse chestnut rise out of the hedge and a new little oak tree, grown from an acorn by the stonemason who worked on our utility, is growing at its base. I watched a tiny wren hop in and out of the newly shorn hedge, disappearing into its depths. It is an old hedge, even when just cut it is still about six foot thick. Later I made bread, scones and turned the last of the pears into an intensely sweet and fragrant pear crumble. The kitchen smelt like a hug from your mother. Tonight it was dark when we sat down to eat. I am not a winter person but even I have to admit that it is cosy in here tonight by the woodburner with the cat sprawled ecstatically in front of it on the rug.
