a thank you note to a house in sheffield

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in the shifting light of the last year, i have watched my home respond to the seasons. it battened down the hatches in the deep winter and then opened its doors and windows and tiny corners of darkness to a summer England hasn’t seen the likes of in years.



and now, that the rain has returned and the dark nights are drawing in, my wood pile and i are ready for the fast approaching cold.



this house encourages me to live by the seasons.



it can be very cold at times, it can be bathed in sunshine or feel damp with rain.



but

mostly,

and this is what i mark time by,

the sun writes across the walls and i can read the seasons by its trail. if i turn around, i can read what time of year it is just by the depth or brightness of light and more interestingly, the place the light falls across this room that acts as a living sundial. i register this from greeting the first rays into the room across the side wall some time in March then later, where the sun falls during the year to where it rests daily.

then, much later, when it starts receding, pulling back around the room from the hearth to the back wall until eventually, it never rests in the room at all.

in deep winter, the sun steals its beam back towards itself across a low horizon. then, there is little sun and little light in this room.



i am lucky. my home is a safe place and i appreciate and respect this. in return, i care about it, be glad about it and share it.



from the sounds of rain on the sill, the warmth of the back wall bricks when they have been heated by the hot day sun, the smell from a flickering fire in the hearth, or the cat crying at the door, to the old jug of flowers from the garden and watching the early morning fox run down the road i have fallen back in love with my small house and it is at this point that there is understanding.

But,

even so,

i would still so easily leave again for another right place or person or time.





but for now, i want to say thank you for a good year, in this unassuming little house on a steep hill in Sheffield that has given me an unbroken view of the sky every day and a place to open and close the door.

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Comments

[Home and Away]

Absolutely beautiful pictures...
of the ordinary and the seasons. Love your blog!

[Sue]

Beautiful
I love this! What lovely pics and a lovely wholeness to it all

[Grey haired nomads]

A little house on the hill
Beautifully written as usual. Enjoy India. We love it in all its senses. The Grey Haired Nomads - presently in Spain in the sun, watching the shadows.

[TraceyDoxey]

yes, I knitted the other beanie in three days in London