Day 2 Cold Keld 22nd July 2015
Bright warm morning: turning to grey drizzle by noon. Decisions made to take our own paths today, following the things that appealed to us yesterday and drawing from our observations.
Walked down the hill immersing senses in all around me. An abundance of sights smells and sounds made me smile.
Found a spot near a spread of meadowsweet by the beck, nestling among tall grass stalks.
Imagining myself enclosed by the grasses and wild flowers, they are taller than me now as I lie low. Used my phone to make a stop motion video, their waving heads now moving very fast instead of slow and graceful in the slight breeze. Making another video of them moving at their correct speed.
Using a pen to make a contour drawing of the undergrowth, intensely looking and making the intuitive hand motions to make the marks.
Returning to the house for shared lunch we took a walk together in the afternoon, looking for Arras Close a tumble down farmhouse of Cate’s memory, dreams of a home in the landscape. No trace remained.
Walking along poorly marked paths through hay meadows, brought to mind childhood fears of farmer’s complaints of destroyed hay. As a child our parents took us on holiday to a cottage, not unlike Coldkeld we ran about freely in the fields only to be met with remonstrance on our return: for damaging the crop. Testing out the soft comfort of falling backwards into rich, thick, fragrant, meadow grass.
Returning to the house in sunshine. Holly befriended the local cows by feeding them tempting grass from our side of the gate, discovering that they have ear tags with names on them. ‘Mandy” is the most fearless and friendly.
Gentle evening spent getting to know each other better, teaching crochet, drawing and eating. It was my evening to cook and I successfully tried out cooking a whole Camembert, which was served with roasted Aubergine, Courgette and Garlic.
My eyes feel relaxed in the oil and candlelight, soothing and mellow.
