Flights of Fancy

Pushing a wheelbarrow full of logs from the woodshed to the back door in the cold morning I think of my urban friends who have instant heat at the flick of a switch. But I enjoy this routine and wouldn't swap it for a house near a gas pipe. My log supply is dwindling but I think it will see me through this winter. I'm down to my own timber now, trees that were felled three years ago to clear the view, and a dead one that got chopped down earlier this year and is immediately usable. I hung on to this tree because I liked the ivy draped over it, but it was pointless to keep it. One of my obelisks stands there now. Last week Tim the fencing man came back to put some rabbit wire along the only vulnerable place where the little demons had been getting through. I hope this puts a stop to their sorties to pillage my bulb pots.

Yesterday we went to see The Eagle Huntress, and what an inspiring, feel-good film it was. It's beautifully filmed in the harshest landscape in the isolated mountain region to the north-west of Mongolia, and tells the story of a 13-year-old nomadic girl who defies convention to catch and train her own eagle, and then enter in the annual eagle hunter festival populated by arrogant young bucks and hardened old men - and win! Aisholpan's smile lights up her face constantly as she negotiates the toughest trials to achieve her dream. Let the elders of the region first dismiss her aims and then look stunned when she proves that a young girl can outperform all the pros. They still won't admit that she can do it. They can't bear to. Her family are stars too, praising her, encouraging her, loving her all the way. What a difference that makes to a child's development.

Hugo was snug in his red winter jacket when we got back to the car, limbs folded under him for extra warmth. He's getting fed up with being kept so close to home, though he just stands and looks longingly at the field without trying to make a dash for it. He's showing no sign of injury now, but I intend to follow the vet's instructions to the letter, or nearly. Towards the end of the week I'll take him for a short walk on his lead. But for now, as long as things are going in one end and coming out the other in reasonable proportions, I'll settle for that.