These fulmars which I photgraphed on holiday, don’t have much to do with this post, but it’s a nice serene picture, and that’s the mood Im in just now.

I had thought, now that our big family things are nearing some sort of resolution, and the dust is settling on a few major upheavals, that I would be getting down to giving poetry some serious attention. I have a mass of notes, a whole shelf of books to read and review, and some interesting lines of enquiry to follow up. It was all looking pretty exciting, though maybe, just a little bit like hard work.

However, while my attention was elsewhere, a backlog of house repairs and garden maintenance has built up, a couple of groups I’m involved in have called in some favours, and some cherished friendships are showing signs of neglect. I realise that I’m getting a little overstretched.

It’s time for a re-think, a little quiet, a little re-ordering of priorities. I’ll be back when we’ve had the roof mended, the immersion heater replaced, the mysterious cracks in one of our ceilings investigated. And while that’s going on, I’m going to read some new poets, study Julian of Norwich, doodle a little, dream a little and watch birds coming and going in the garden and over the river.

See you when I get my breath back!