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Amberley Ramblings, A Bit Of Fluff, French Dressing & Lip Service!

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  Amberley Ramblings, A Bit Of Fluff, French Dressing & Lip Service! The Elizabethan Grandeur Of Parham House, Photographed On My Walk Good Morning! And another chilly one, however we are almost through January and must keep our eyes on the horizon! Apparently, this Monday was 'Blue Monday', another of those slightly ridiculous marketing tags, this one instigated by a holiday company in order to encourage us to book a trip - actually quite clever when you think about it!  It doesn't make one feel exactly happy and perky though. Darkness and damp can make us feel a little down on any day of the week, but then New Order didn't pen a song called 'Blue Wednesday', so I suppose that doesn't really work for marketing purposes! Anyway, I am not feeling vaguely 'blue' and hope that neither are you! Had a lovely w/e  - on Saturday, we visited Arundel Farmer's Market and I was delighted with my haul - Pinot Noir from Georgia (I love Georgian reds),  a

Grief & Love

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  Grief & Love “Grief and love are sisters, woven together from the beginning. Their kinship reminds us that there is no love that does not contain loss and no loss that is not a reminder of the love we carry for what we once held close.” - The Wild Edge Of Sorrow By Francis Weller Good Morning, This week has been one of sadness and reflection for me and for the family and friends of Lawrence Roullier White, who left us five years ago on Wednesday. While I was contemplating my own loss and journey through the quagmire that is the grieving process, the total figure of deaths from COVID in the UK were published, and I was reminded once again that there are now millions of people, just like me, mourning sudden, unexpected bereavement and experiencing the wrenching pain that it brings. My thoughts are with them. I have found psychotherapist Francis Weller's words comforting at times, for the sad truth is that with great love, inevitably, comes great pain, but to know great love is

Hot Stuff!

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  Hot Stuff! Good Morning! What a week it has been - no gentle introduction to 2022 for us, more a headlong dive into the maelstrom! It has been absolutely freezing - Wednesday night, in particular, made me very thankful for the log burner - and the GD and I were wrapped up in mohair throws, with large cups of cocoa, enjoying the flames and a cuddle ( sharing body-heat, obviously) I thought that I would introduce to you 'Amberley Wildbrooks', a 327-hectare area of protected wetlands that begins at the end of our street! There is a path (Wey South Path) that bisects the land, accessed from the village, and I took my first foray in beautiful sunshine on Wednesday. As you can see, the land is dissected by many ditches, dug in the 1800's, and they create an important landscape for rare birds, insects and plants. The specks that you can see in the distance are about 10 large stags having lunch - boys and girls appear to eat separately for some reason! Over half of all aquatic pl