“I cannot stress enough the perils of your friends marrying or becoming court inventors. One day you are all a society of outlaws, adventurous comrades and companions who will be pushing off somewhere or other when things become tiresome; you have all the world to choose from, just by looking at the map… And then, suddenly, they’re not interested any more. They want to keep warm. They’re afraid of rain. They start collecting big things that can’t fit in a rucksack. They talk only of small things. They don’t like to make sudden decisions and do something contrariwise. Formerly they hoisted sail; now they carpenter little shelves for porcelain mugs.”
Moominpappa’s Memoirs by Tove Jansson
Today has been a comedy of errors. And the rain has truly set in. Sunny walks in the woods earlier this week are already a distant memory.
Euan is back from a few days undertaking fieldwork for his elm work in Skye, so I am fortunately no longer the only person at home to do things like clear up half a tube of toothpaste smeared all over the sink and the bath, and wipe down toys which have been attacked with unicorn slime. Oh, the glamour of my life.
“Enjoy yourself as much as you can, have as many diversions as you can, and remember that what people demand in art nowadays is something very much alive, with strong colour and great intensity. So intensify your own health and strength and life a little; that is the best study.”
Vincent Van Gogh, in a letter to his youngest sister Wilhelmina (via Mason Currey)
Somehow, today was Auri’s first day at school. Already.
As I did when Elfi started nursery earlier this month, I spent half the day flinching, thinking I’d misplaced a child somewhere.
Euan and I dropped Auri off in the morning, then went for a very civilised coffee and breakfast pastry in a mildly shell-shocked daze. Later, there was lunch.
Last night, Euan and Auri nipped along to Chanonry Point to meet some friends and watch the dolphins as the tide and the weather were both perfect. It was Elfi’s bedtime so we couldn’t join them, but it was a magical evening, and listening to Auri chattering away excitedly as she got ready for bed when she got back (waaaaaaaaay past her bedtime!) will be something that will stay with me forever.
Remember the other day when I thought Auri might be worn out from a busy day and go to bed on time? Well, this was what she did instead.