The Cottage - Day 2
Wake up to the sound of the dog jumping. Windy but another beautiful day. Drink first pot of tea watching a wren in the fuchsia.
It’s all so quiet; apart from the wind I hear nothing but birds and sheep. It could be any day of the week.
Collect wood for fire.
Walk the 5 minutes down to the postbox. At least today’s is dry unlike the wet stuff I collected for the landlord and previous tenants yesterday.
Reassemble my art table. Reassemble my computer desk.
Dog-dog is barking. Sheep. Different sheep. Different field. Cut some wire fencing and attach it to gate so dog can’t step through and chase sheep. Again.
I’ve earned my lunch, but I share it with the dog anyway. She wants to go for a walk. The door is open and she walks around freely with an entire county at her disposal, but she wants me to take her for a walk.
-Let me finish this pot of tea.
When I produce my boots and the leash the dog is overjoyed. I put her on the leash for the first 50 metres, then she’s off for good.
A man stops his tractor and walks towards me. I wait with the dog.
-It’s okay, that’s a smile not a growl, honest.
He is the first person I have spoken to since I moved. He asks me for directions.
I don’t know where the Ramsays live. We chat for a few minutes and I tell him the only life I’ve seen for miles is the house about a mile away with the green gable. He’s looking for a two story farmhouse, says he’ll call his father in the Isle of Man for directions, walks back to his tractor, and turns it around for the 15 mile journey home.
The dog and I walk towards the mountains. Up through the gap, and onto a boreen. A magnificent wide valley of blanket bog overlooked by THE mountain. When the boreen disappears under water we walk to the top of the hill.
Amongst all the heather and the bog grasses at the very top there is a lush green thick grassy knoll. I sit down. The dog rolls in a long grassy bath.
The view. 360 degrees of mountains and coastline. Sometimes you just don’t talk. Both us just sit and look, down on our house and out at the sea.
On the walk back over the bog we are confronted by a hidden stream. I can jump it but the dog can’t. It’s also 3 feet below so she can’t step into it. So I squat in the middle of it and the dog uses me as a stepping stone. Or a leaping stone as it was.
From the hill top to our home is probably only 20 minutes, but time has few markers when there are no other people around.
While I’m making the tea the dog comes to me and asks me to move the newly reassembled desk so she can get access to her bed. While she’s napping I take Long Grass out for the first time.
Don’t cycle too far though because I have no patches never mind spare tubes. So I just scavenge some wood. Not a problem for Long Grass to transport.
Dog-dog is waiting outside the door when I return. I pretend I found a tennis ball and she plays with it wildly.
The wind is roaring in the evening sun, and the luminous grass outside my window sways every direction while the Hawthorn tree stays rigid.
Unbox my paints. The oldest of friends, waiting and ready.
As the temperature drops suggest an evening walk to the dog who seems disappointed I only carry the leash rather than attach it to her.
Bang my head coming out of the bathroom.
Use my toaster for the first time.
After dinner I light the fire and the dog runs out of the house. 15 minutes later I go out to bring her in. She is sitting in the rain looking at the house. She doesn’t want to come in to the place where the fire is. I have to carry her.
Move the dog’s bed to the kitchen and close the door on the warm room. Feel guilty so join the dog in the kitchen as the fire burns away behind a closed door.
It’s a noisy night with the wind sweeping down the mountain behind me.
Read the Next Day at the cottage
Read the Previous Day at the cottage
List of all the Days at the Cottage
See Also:
• The Cottage - Day 1
• The Cycle Across America - The Beginning
• Photos of The Cottage
• 12 Photos of the Scenery Around the Cottage
• 12 Photos not all Mountains and Islands
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
How much do you charge for B&Tea?
Probably one painting. As in you buy one, not give me one - I have plenty already.
It could be any day of the week. All quite days so Eolai? And you have gaps to go through and fuchsia too. I’m looking for hints to see if I can recognize the place. So far, none or am I missing something? Are you missing talking to people? The dog is good company, but..
Sniffle,
They’re all quiet in the sense of people’s activities. There’s no sense of people going to and from work or shopping or all the things that people do. This is because there’s no people.
They’re not quiet in terms of nature doing its thing though.
You’re not missing anything - I deliberately am leaving out the major identifying features, including photographs. But there will continue to be hints.
Am I missing talking to people? No. Up to 10 years ago I used to love talking to people, but the years since have left me not caring so much any more.
Could be a concept if you dont mind the company.
Your dog is obviously worried that you will get lost and wander off if not attached to her via leash - just look what happened when she napped a bit. I think dogs view humans as errant toddlers - god knows what we’d get up to without their guidance.
Oils or acrylics?
VG - I don’t mind the company if the company brings food. And maybe some turf.
Susan - Acrylics for the most part, though I’m planning some oils in this next spell.