Flower, family and fun at the circus
Day 2 Daily drawing and writing
Sunday 1 October was closing night at Giffords Circus, which meant a trip there for me and my sister – we have a long-standing tradition of going to opening and closing night (and often a fair few shows in between, as well). Closing night is always a fantastic atmosphere – the acts are so polished by that point, but also the performers on a particular closing night high and always give even more to their already amazing performances.
If you ever get the opportunity to see Giffords Circus, do take it. It’s an amazing experience. They tour around the Cotswolds and a little beyond (they fit in some time in London) every year. Their home base is up the road from us - or over the fields. If we’re going to a daytime show, and the weather allows, we will walk up over Swifts Hill and through the woods and skirting their farm. It’s a beautiful walk.
When we’re going to evening shows, though, we get a taxi up and usually walk back down the road, which is a little bit of an adventure, because it involves jumping up onto grass verges when cars have the audacity to drive up the hill. We navigating that absolutely fine with no falls (though a few nettle stings and thistle scratches), but I managed to turn my ankle about two minutes from home. It’s quite sore this morning, but I think a bit of a gentle walk later and some regular icing and elevation should mean it will heal fairly quickly.
Today’s picture is of a flower from our garden. (While the circus is amazing and chock full of inspiration, I couldn’t begin to do it justice in a half-hour drawing slot. And I’m actually not sure I could do it justice at all, it’s such a HUGE experience. Maybe one day, I’ll try, though.) Chris planted a bunch of bulbs in some pots a month or so back, I think. He said he thought they were dwarf irises. When they grew and opened up they were beautiful. But I thought they looked like poppies, not irises. Google Lens agrees with me. Apparently they are poppy anemones. Aren’t they lovely, though? I’m hoping, since they are bulbs, that we’ll get them coming back again and again.
I’m really not into the flow/routine/habit of this daily drawing and writing yet, due to it starting on a weekend and with guests in the house both days. I’m hopeful that I’ll get into the flow of it through the week, though, and that it won’t be eating into desk time.