The Debatable Land

Merry Christmas

So, here it is again. Well, here's wishing all friends and readers out there a most jolly Christmas. May it be all you dare hope it could be. Blogging to resume here in three or four days time. Meanwhile, here's a seasonal scene featuring a rather forlorn-looking Clumber spaniel:

Friday Animal Blogging

It started with Friday cat-blogging. Then there was a dog-blogging splinter group. I predict, however, that chicken-blogging will be the sensation of 2009. Here's one of the cockerels, the one I call Lescarboura, surveying his manor...(Oddly, all cockerels here are named after French* rugby players. We've had Serge Blanco and Michalak and Yachvili before...)

*UPDATE: Or Italian. See comments.

UPDATE 2: As noted in the comments, George Orwell was a proto-chicken blogger too.

Photo of the Day

Winter sunshine.
 

Photo of the Day

Home. Monday afternoon. Oddly calm.

Photo of the Day

Looking west up the Ettrick Valley during the second half of Selkirk's tremendous 6-0 victory against Boroughmuir at Philiphaugh this afternoon. The defending Scottish champions were rightly favoured before kick-off but proved unable to breach the home side's line. A terrific game of rugby, however, played in great spirit by two committed, courageous sides. Great stuff.
 

Photography We Can Believe In

Callie Shell has been following and photographing Barack Obama for Time since the beginning of the campaign. You can see some of her work here and, especially, here. I particularly love the photo of Obama doing a pull-up moments before delivering a speech. There's a matter-of-fact coolness about it. Glamour too, as Virginia Postrel could doubtless confirm. Actually, the Obama who appears in - or is presented by - many of Shell's pictures is, to my mind, strikingly reminiscent of a star such as, say, Paul Newman.

Photo of the Day

Autumn. Mists and mellow fruitfulness and all that. The River Ettrick, as seen from the bridge at Selkirk.

Photo of the Day

There would have been more - and better - blogging in these parts recently if I hadn't been helping to look after my niece, Florence, lately. She was, alas, suffering from abandonment issues as her mother was in London. Even the pastoral delights of the Borderland offered but a temporary reprieve. Still, here she is on her way to feed the two Jacob sheep (Rachel and Leah, obviously) yesterday:
All of which is a way of getting round to reminding y'all that you should check out the wee beast's mother's website. If you felt like commissioning a painting then you'd a) be smart, b) be rewarded with a fine picture and c) feel good about yourself. More details at Claudia's own website.

PS: Child-caring tip for similarly hapless fellows: The Wizard of Oz transforms cranky tots into goggle-eyed paragons of quiet behaviour. I plan to start Firenze Florence on a diet of Blandings Castle soon, however. She will love the Empress of Blandings.

Pastoral Scene of the Day

Well, yesterday actually. Sheep graze under an oak tree at twilight. Looking east towards Selkirk.

Rural life

No blogging for the rest of the day, I suspect. Why? Because I* just unloaded and stacked 200 bales of hay. Best cold beer of the summer being enjoyed right now.
*OK, other people helped.

Greece is the place

OK, so I'm back. I can confirm that anyone wishing a delightful week, free of the grimey concerns of everyday life, could do an awful lot worse than spend it aboard a yacht pottering around the Ionian Sea. Blissful. Alas, it could not last. and so here we are: returned to Scotland, wet and grey (though the last week, typically, is said to have been the best of the year). Plenty to catch up on then. But what, dear, gracious readers, would you like me to blog about? Leave your requests in the comments or email me and I'll tap away at your suggestions... 

Photo: Sunrise over the Ionian Sea. Greek mainland in the distance.

Photograph of the Day

Little blogging until next week as I'm visiting my sister in Cumbria today before going to the cricket at Old Trafford on Saturday. But here's a photograph of the lower reaches of the Yarrow Valley, Selkirkshire:

 

Souterville on the hill...

Special to Souter-born, Phoenix-residing reader MG, here's a photograph of Selkirk, taken from the hill above my parents' house:

Picture of the Day

Back from Ireland and, whaddyaknow, it's like summer has finally arrived here. By which I mean that temperatures have soared into the 70s. Regular blogging to resume soon. Meanwhile, here's a picture two of my mother's hens...

A Wordsworth Day

In honour of the nicest day of the year so far:

I wander'd lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

This afternoon, at home. Though since we're at the foot of the Yarrow valley, this poem is almost as appropriate.