Close Cut

I was woken by a loud noise outside this morning, and having seen how frosty it was in the night when I went to the loo I guessed someone was gritting the road or something. What a delight then, when I flung open the curtains, to see that the farmer had done as he had promised, grabbed the first really freezing morning to negotiate the soggy field and come along with his heavy vehicle to cut my hedge! It looks great, the long growth of last summer trimmed to a smooth surface. When you watch these guys work it is fascinating to see how meticulously they manage to finish the edges.

View from the loo

Same view on zoom

Frosty garden, newly trimmed hedge

Hedge from the lane

It was very fitting that I too went off for a trim and a spot of anti-grey action. Anna and I have got the colouring down to a fine art now. As usual we enjoyed a good catch up, but nothing could have amazed me more than to hear that she has pretty well given up smoking, saving herself over £400 a month. I gasped when she told me that she has been spending this sum for years. If the 'Give Up Fags' lobby ever needed a poster girl she would be it, gorgeous creature that she is. When I left her I had to speed home and grab my Italian books for an afternoon of conversation with Ruth and Lesley. It was one of those days when a lot had to be accomplished, so it was a miracle that Ruth and I managed to be fed and in Aldeburgh in time for The Danish Girl. I must admit I didn't know what to expect having heard conflicting accounts of the film. I find Eddie Redmayne really off-putting with those dreadful lips that probably have an Equity card of their own by now. They have no definition, no colour, and appear to be a Botox disaster. But the man can act, and his portrayal of Lily in the male body of painter Einar Wegener was exceptional, heartrending. It was a beautiful story of love and the unquenchable desire to be oneself, and being based on Lily's diaries was a true account of courage.

The moon was very bright when I turned in past my smart new hedge tonight, and the temperature had changed dramatically from minus 4 when I went out this morning to plus 6. I lingered in the garden for several minutes enjoying the silence and the smell of, what, freshness, cleanness. But I needed a cup of tea and a pee so I had to quit mooning and get inside.