At quarter to four we walked up the hill under an already darkening sky made darker still by low grey clouds hanging overhead and curtaining the horizon in dramatic drapes. There was a brisk cool wind and it was a relief to get into the woods where the dogs scattered to torment the small snuffly nocturnal creatures beginning to emerge from the undergrowth.
The clouds got lower until we were enveloped in a damp mist which, as we turned for home, settled into a gentle rain, more refreshing than unpleasant.
But then as we emerged from the woods, the rain cleared, the wind dropped, the clouds parted to reveal a bright waxing moon which lit up the road and Venus,at the moment the first very bright `star` to appear in the evening, suspended over the southern horizon and it was winter-silent apart from the call of a solitary goose flying off in the distance.
The moral being something about setting off anyway, however unpromising it seems.
And we`re 4 books behind on this book-a-day thing so......two snortingly funny but completely different books, one of which I may have mentioned before:
How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran
and
A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away by Christopher Brookmyre
Both irreverent, iconoclastic and full of wisdom but not recommended for those of a nervous disposition.
For something meaty - Dickensian - in its breadth try The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber.
The Telegraph dubbed it a "down-and-dirty tale of an upwardly mobile Victorian prostitute" so you`ve been warned but it`s worth it for the beautiful writing.
And maybe something a bit lighter after that lot? try The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett.
The Queen stumbles upon the mobile library round the back of the castle and it changes her life.
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