a walk in the sun and other good things

i've been thinking of favourite smells this afternoon, mostly brought on by the crackling smell of potatoes hitting hot duck fat as we prepared our supper this evening. onions browning in butter has got to be right up there - always makes me happy. chicken stock simmering. cedar trees. the winter smell of faversham, which is a combination of chimney smoke, the sea and the brewery. brushing up against lavender bushes.

we went for a long walk along the marshes this afternoon. it was sunny, but windy. i had to be brave:

that, my friends, is almost certainly a killer cow ready to charge at the slightest smell of fear. n stopped to take closeups, but i was already halfway to the next gate shouting in that trying-not-to-arouse-the-cattle sotto-voice "for gods sake, don't hang about - go - go!"

work is too dull to even mention, and dad is not as well as we would like, but life goes on, and i have a lot to be grateful for. for one thing, the killer cow resisted attack and i am still here, in one piece, against obviously frightening odds!

oh yeah, and in other news, n and i are going to get married in may. we are both somewhat ambivalent, the patriarchal traditional aspects of marriage not really part of our world view, but it turns out that this is by far the cheapest and most effective way of making sure we are taking care of each other, come what may. and you get a good party to boot. we are nothing if not romantic.