Sunday, August 06, 2006

Sunday Scribblings - Who else might I have been?


I see a solitary cottage surrounded by hedges, a gap in the hedge is filled by an old wooden plank gate, overhead is an arch from which rambling roses tremble. Beyond the gate is a small winding path of sandstone with moss growing between the cracks, to etiher side of which are a profusion of plants, some with flowers in bud, some in full bloom and some in their blowsy later stages. Hollyhocks and spires of delphiniums thrust upwards through the perfumed mass. The path arrives at an old wooden door with a heavy iron knocker, there is a many paned window to each side of the door and a small latticed window above peeping through the edge of the thatched roof. Scarlet geraniums in clay pots surround the door and a pair of bright green eyes watch from under a bush.

There is a woman, not young yet not old, a timeless face, she wears a long striped blue skirt covered with a snowy white apron trimmed with lace that matches the fischu around her shoulers, a battered straw hat on her head tied under the chin with a bright blue ribbon, her arms are full of herbs and grasses. She turns the corner of the cottage and pushes open the wooden door, inside is a spotlessly clean room with a vast inglenook fireplace, from an iron hook above hangs a large iron pot. There is a highly polished settle adjacent to the fireplace and a dark wooden dresser on the back wall filled with cups and plates and a pile of battered books. The sun streams through the window causing dust motes to dance in the air around the vase of wild flowers that is placed on the table there. There is a latched wooden door at the far side of the inglenook that would lead to the tiny room above. There is a movement alongside the table.

The woman turns left, and opens a door to the other downstairs room, the green eyes watch now from underneath the table. From the beams of this room hang many things, herbs and flowers, hanging upside down to dry, copper pots, an empty birdcage,a bunch of crow feathers and hooked along the beam is a besom. A large scrubbed table takes up most of the space in the room and the walls are lined with shelves full of bottles and jars, containing seeds, herbs and strange coloured liquids, jostling for position with piles of books. The woman lays her herbs and grasses down on the table, beside an open receipe book, scales and a pestle and mortar. A pair of green eyes now watches from the room door that is left ajar, a nose sniffs at the combination of fragrances that infuse the room.

Standing at the table the woman unties her hat and places it on the table, from the profusion of items on the table she extracts a white mob cap which she places on her head coiling her long plait inside it. Thoughtfully she turns the pages of the largest book, and looks at the old crabbed writing on the pages. She props the page she wants open with a stone jar, reads it her finger tapping against her teeth, then calmly begins to pull off the leaves of some of the herbs she came in with and drops them in the pestle and mortar. The pair of green eyes open wider with excitement and with one leap the cat lands on table opposite the woman, rubs against her arm and settles down to watch. Who else might I have been? Am I the cat or the village wise woman?
Purr!

17 comments:

Rosa said...

What a lovely post. I could visualize everything. (You should write a book, I tell you!) The woman sounds lovely, but if the cat lives with her, either would do just fine. xo

Beth said...

Amazing,,your talent just blows me away. And I agree with Rosa,,you should write a book. I think you should be the cat,,you have 9 lives that way,,lol. Have a good day Ms. Daisy!!!

Heather said...

Will you please write a book!?!?!?

dogfaeriex5 said...

you mentioned that you have 3ghost cats, so do i. i call them the 3gyspy cats, i have seen them only at night and they must be friendly as my 2cats do not seem bothered by them..we have tried to coax them to come to us by they just stare, blank stares...

~k

Carole Burant said...

You had me enthranced from the first sentence to the last one!! You certainly do have a way of writing and I agree with the others, you should write a book!! Hard to say which of the two you could be...the woman or the cat? Hmmmm, you'll have to write a continuation of this story to let us know which you are:-) xoxo

Janet said...

I guess it's unanimous...you should write a book. You paint a lovely picture with words. And I'll agree with Beth...be the cat because then you could have nine lives!

kansasrose said...

I am mezmorized by your words. So visual and luscious!

Tea said...

Unanimous....definately. You would create a wonderful book! I love your stories and look forward to reading them each Sunday.

tea
xo

paris parfait said...

This is delightful!Love the rich imagery you paint with your words.

Jeremy said...

I hope that you are the wise woman.I am allergic to cats.

Miss Robyn said...

great story ? hee, hee. I was going to particpate in this and write about a past life. But I am sure I would be run out of blog town if I said I was a witch again. xox
ps - thanks for the lovely card!

Alice said...

I love the little twist in the tail of your stories, Daisy. As I'm reading I have to guard against allowing my eyes to stray to the end of the story too soon. I keep trying to second guess you all the way along. Great fun, Daisy.

Lisa Oceandreamer Swifka said...

I saw where you introduced yourself...I am a newcomer of a couple of weeks to Violette's board myself. I clicked on your blog and was mesmerized by your style of writing and imagery. To read about your garden I felt as though Peter Rabbit or Squirel Nutkin may hop amongst it at any minute. Over my early morning coffee I sat here in complete silence and just kept reading and reading....and I'm still reading. The very image of having a lovely garden outside a home in an English village....well it was always my fantasy. Now I can read as you walk through your days in the real thing. You really should write a book!

vicci said...

Hi Daisy...Love the story....I think you are the Cat....your writing is superb!

Naturegirl said...

Oh my am I reading my future and that would be my Paisley with her green eyes my constant companion at my side!
I love this story Daisy thank you for sharing with us wonderfully written!:-)

Gretel said...

That was a lovely bit of reading, I feel all calm and smiley now...thank you!

Miss Robyn said...

hmm I just read over at Jeremy's that you were the cat - hmmmmm that means I was the wise woman! I knew that we were together in a past life! hee hee