cowpats and daisychains

Dear Friends, I sit at the table with my one-year-old son beside me - he plays with wooden blocks and sings to himself - an instinctual meditational hum. The sun is warm outside but we are in our flat, shaded and cool. We have been listening to BBC Radio 3 but the classical music became too eerie for me, and so I popped Stormzy on. I for one am delighted he has become a British household name. Since first hearing ‘Vossi Bop’ on the radio I appreciated his lyrical poetry, yet there was a disconnection because I felt that I lacked the cultural and social understanding of Stormzy’s core vernacular.…

How The Light Gets In Festival site Dear Friends,What a contrast from last week. The Hay Literature and How The Light Gets In festivals of 2019 have drawn to a close. There is an appropriate drizzle pitter-pattering on the pavements and a breeze shakes the bunting about, waving a vigorous goodbye to the fun and frolics that rested upon Hay-on-Wye for a brief amassing, as though people had come from far and wide on a pilgrimage. I like to think of them as pilgrims of the humanities. As a resident of Hay myself, living slap bang in the centre, one can’t help but ogle at the carnival energy they bring with them -…

Dear Friend,There is so much to tell you that it is hard to know where to begin. One positive attribute about not keeping up with one's blog posts isthat there is a great deal to divulge - hopefully making for an interesting read.The last post I wrote (River Wye?) describes a blissful summer and the sensations and emotions that arose during many a swim in the river. Now that memory floods back to me - a British pastime at its best. Today the spring sunshine pours forth upon the small backs of the lambs in the fields and with the warmth the people in town seem friendlier too. Annie swimming in the…

Dear friends, I am happy to say cowpatsanddaisychains.com has just celebrated it’s 2nd anniversary last weekend, today’s post makes a grand total of 33. I hope this blog continues to entice you, the reader for years to come. Thank you for supporting my blog and communicating your own reactions and feelings to posts. Your comments keep me inspired! Yesterday can only be described as an extract from the blissfully simple meanderings of dear Ratty and Mole in Wind and the Willows. Everything about the day was stripped bare to its most organic and innocent core. On occasion one must absorb a feeling of this naive contentment. A pellucid air filled…

Dear Friends, On turning 26 last week I was prompted to evaluate my life a small amount yet again! I still don’t feel to be the sophisticated, elegant woman I imagined myself to be as I daydreamed my childhood away in search of sweeter, greener grass where I thought my adulthood might prosper. To my child self the image of Annie Driver at age 26 was hero-like and every thing was to be square-like and obvious, even the blurred background of this projected image had an air of success and deliverance about it. Now, entering my 27th year I find that the child self who once daydreamed that sophisticated woman…

Dear Friends Isn’t it lovely when the air doesn’t just take the opportunity to bite one in the face on an early morning jaunt?  The only good outcome of the biting cold on sleepy, warm flesh is the ‘healthy glowing’ look that might arise. Other than that I am very happy to be gradually saying goodbye to the bitter cold. [caption id="attachment_706" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Photo Shoot at Hay Antique Market[/caption] Spring is encouraging the baby rabbits to play among the daffodils, primroses and snowdrops. Every time a baby rabbit darts from the hedge to take centre stage on my friend’s lawn we both leap up with her three and half…

 ‘Pinch, punch, the first day of the Month’ Hello Friends, January has come and gone much the same way a pickpocket might steal your precious something away. In my case the precious something was time. It is the 1st day of February I cannot put my finger on it, but I sense a feeling of bamboozlement is taking place - time, once again slipped through my fingers, and became apart of my enlarging past, like an unceasing memory. I have started a new job with a UK charity that has opened me up to lots of new experiences and lots more for me to learn and do! I have peppered…

Hello friends, I am sat in a cafe-bar at 11am in downtown Soho. The animosity of London is a bit of a slap in the face - some people might find it aggressively so, but this December morning I find it most refreshing; I welcome it the way I welcome the North Sea on New Year's Day as I jump forth.. It leaves me buzzing. Please don't mistake my enjoyment of animosity for being a festive humbug. I am in fact loving the Christmas decorations, the mixture of people, shops- especially the Italian delicatessen where I have just come from. It was small and stuffed with a jungle of foods dangling…

Dear Friends, I write this to you on route to Hay-on-Wye. The train gently rumbles my body and has cast a fatigue upon my eyelids. Truly they feel as contently heavy as a suckling babe. I am now ‘restored’ shall we say- intact with a lovely, yet unrecognizable ear on the right side of my head. My new ear and I are obliged to each other, but the bond between us is still somewhat superficial. I feel as though the ear perches on my head like a newly hatched songbird, a part of me fears it may yet fly away! After nearly three weeks (the recovery period prescribed to me)…

Today I share with you a very honest and personal story. I feel compelled to celebrate my true friend Abi, whom I have known since she was born, she is a couple of years my junior. I remember looking into her moses basket and seeing a black haired doll-like thing sleeping contently. Little did I know that the small ‘doll’ would keep growing into the woman whom I now hold as one of my closest friends. The subject matter of this story may be a sensitive one for many of my readers, so please be aware and take care of yourselves. Cancer- the Voldermort word of the ‘real’ world, or…