November

Posted by Tania Kindersley.

The world stock markets shiver and teeter on the brink of catastrophe. Greece is about to do something they do not like. (I always wonder about Greece: how did anyone allow it to get this bad? Wasn't there someone, some nice lady in accounts, some observant fellow in the Department of Works, who said, before it became world-crashing, hold on a second chaps, there's something a bit dodgy here. With these numbers.) Good news in Ireland though, where they have found three billion euros down the back of the sofa. I put it down to the magic of Michael D, already working.

The Pigeon and I can do nothing about the coming collapse, so we go and look at the autumn colours. I do a little tour, up over the hills and back again. The sun dazzles and dances. The coos contentedly eat their food, which their kind farmer has put out, on the shaven fields, and observe me with interest. They have no clue what to do about Greece, either. I suspect they are just as worried about Italy.

This is what it looked like:

I love the farmland round here. I love the patchwork fields and the dry stone walls. I feel an odd pride that our cows provide some of the very best beef in the world.

The road home:

The Pigeon:

It was dark when I got back. By five o'clock, the sky is the colour of indigo and the moon is up:

From my back door, I can see the evening star:

And the hill, from earlier in the day: