Letters to garden makers

Dear Monty, I have lost count of these ramblings now - I just write them for my own benefit, a kind of therapy I suppose. They may have become too ego-centric to mean anything much. They are just genuine thoughts and reflections on living here - watching TV, reading books and visiting various people and places in between dealing with other peoples health issues. 27/1/15 I watched a beautiful film on BBC4 of a Scottish lady who tied salmon fishing flies in her small cottage by the sea. She became famous but remained humble. The tumbling peat stained rivers and the rolling Atlantic were stunningly portrayed in this visual poem. Her cottage now a ruin - all that is left of her are memories. Today I lopped the branches of a sycamore - there are so many sycamore saplings here that quickly grow up faster than the oaks - but not as fast as the willows.I will have to clamber down the steep sided gully in order to take down another straggly sycamore to open up the view to the hill...

Dear Monty, Three male bullfinch Pink breasted John Bulls Scissoring early buds off honeysuckle stems Like the visitation of an idea. Weakness is strength Let us not be wholly reliant on our own capabilities The fields are closed in by rail and road The sheep penned The cattle slaughtered Where will I meet my end? I am a child Eyes reflecting the sky brightly The hills are dumb The car an intrusion Field, track and trees cut through with roads The birds eke out a living The church stands impotent now in its flat lands Where is the Kingdom - Is it in the remnants of a past life A slower pace Where we may glimpse it ? No - it lives in the child I am 'Let us encourage one another; all the more as we see the day approaching.' Paul

Dear Monty, The robin becomes the story and song. He has no fear of men He accepts crumbs - but sees a feast He sits next to us He sings a spiritual song Not one falls to the ground He is fed and cared for Lives and dies A life full of riches. Tracy Emin - Bird So having a garden wherein he visits is like owning a field - a hidden pearl within it. Paul

Dear Montague, Our days, festivals, vows and resolutions are rarely life changing - but perhaps life affirming. Loaded leaden clouds over the mountain Suddenly bright hills Cold cold rain at the head of the valley being chased by clear sky from the South West. The imminent Kingdom of God That was the fearful message of John Fear brought a turning back to God And confession Fear of God is now politically incorrect in this generation Unlike the fear of being insignificant And fear of poverty and death But I see God in the storms In the post industrial hills In political manoeuvrings Is the Kingdom a place of acceptance ? The winnowing of chaff in me is necessary to get to the potent seed Wherein is love.