Alison McQueen

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Lazy bones…

Could there be any place more beautiful than the English countryside when the sun shines? I think it takes some beating. All those years enduring rain rain rain over the summer months, and Lo! This year, the sun came out, and stayed out, and here it is again on September 5th.

The weather man says it’s all going to change tomorrow. There’s double raindrops coming out of the cloud graphic on the BBC website. Sadness overwhelms me.  Yet what’s to complain about? It’s been GORGEOUS here, and the rain is what makes us so green and beautiful.

No matter where I go, when the plane gets back into UK airspace, (normally indicated by the thick blanket of white cloud), it’s the green fields that tell me I’m home. Not big green fields, but small ones, oddly shaped, demarcated by the feudal landlords that controlled such things many hundreds of years ago. Ancient stone walls. Cotton-wool sheep. Copses and spinneys, hay bales and giant wheels of golden straw. English countryside, in all its glory.

So thanks, Sun. Excellent job. Well done. Much appreciado. And if the rain comes down tomorrow in a double-raindrop thunder graphic, then so be it. But spare a thought for those of us whose blood is mixed from warmer climes. We need the sun to warm our bones, and our ancient Anglo-Saxon neighbours quite like it too, so don’t be shy. Visit again soon.

3 Comments Leave a Comment

  1. Posted October 21st, 2013 by Lady Liberty Hen...

    Dear Ali,
    I’ve just found your web-site and have read several of your blog posts. The one about you and your sister trying to look our for and look after your mother resonated with me as I am trying to do the same for my parents. Often, as you say it’s really not easy.
    All the best,
    Julia Annandale

  2. Posted December 20th, 2013 by celia...

    Hello Alison, I read your book ‘The secret children’ from my local library. I think it was the colour picture which attracted my attention. I enjoy books about childhood, growing up and culture. Your book gave me a fleeting insight into India, the colonial times, and the lives of the two girls. The cover sleeve told me that it was a story based upon your own family history, I gather, and this gave me a greater attachment to the story. It was so very well written, especially the plight and feelings of the girls’ mother, and her servant and Mary as a child, her personality shining through. It was a really excellent book, and it very much hit a nerve with me. Your story resonates with me because those times are long gone, and little can be seen around of them. It gave a powerful impression to me, especially the plight of the girls mother, and the eldest girl. I have not had that after-thought from a book in a long time, so thank you.

  3. Posted January 9th, 2014 by Alison McQueen...

    Thank you, Celia. I do appreciate your kind comments very much.

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