The anti-womble

Wombles like to tidy up. Hardy being an anti-womble sees tidiness as a personal challenge.

It was RIP to the Amaryllis yesterday when I thought they were being good and quiet. To be fair the Amaryllis had not flowered and thus had a limited life span. The dirt did not take long clean up. My husband did wonder why the sun room was suddenly neat and tidy though...

I am continuing to read Fire In Fiction and do agree with my original assessment, but because it is a new craft book, it does make me concentrate on my writing rather than on the puppies. All the dog training books have done is make me think about the dogs.

And despite anti-womble tendencies, they are very good at being house trained (including giving a sharp bark if no one is there so they can go out), and playing fetch, plus sitting, downs and rolling over. Border collies like to use their minds.

And today is Waterloo day. 18 June. The Duchess of Richmond's ball was 17 June 1815. This means in 6 years time, it will be the bicentennial. The best book on the subject that I have read is A Week At Waterloo. In the meantime, it is also my 21st wedding anniversary.

More on A Week at Waterloo

I have now finished reading A Week at Waterloo and cried buckets. It is the contrast between shadow and light. The sheer ordinariness admist the horror. The despair when she thinks he is dead, and her refusal to believe that he is alive.
When Lady De Lancey is going to her wounded husband, thinking that she would be happy if only she could see him for an hour, and then her grief at his death about a week later. How she waits in vain for a cross word because he has said that when he is getting better, he is a terrible patient, but he is always sweet to her.
To modern eyes, the sheer primitiveness of the medical treatment and the knowledge that now, he might have survived. Bleeding and leeches. But they thought they were doing the right thing. And it is possible that his lungs had been punctured. In any event, the doctors at the time did the best they could.
What sings above the horror is the love Lady De Lancey bore for her husband.
It should be read by more people. But have a box of tissues handy.