Author Robbie Burton

DO SOMETHING

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DAY 15

Green fields, hedgerows, and distant pink houses were lovely but maybe it was time for a change. Something more moody, Lake Bala perhaps, grey and silvery with reflections of dark clouds and trees.  

So I changed my Facebook cover picture from home to Bala and it was certainly moody. Too moody. When I tried changing it back, Facebook had other ideas and went offline for six hours.

So I’ll leave Lake Bala there for now. A lot of people seem to like it. 10 people even love it.

DO SOMETHING WITH A PHOTOGRAPH 

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DAY 14

It was a pleasurable kind of work but enough was enough, surely? Dividing poems between the ‘strong’, ‘needs more work’ and ‘forget it’ folders is quite draining.  Okay, okay, it’s only shuffling paper and not trying to reassemble words but still… it needs a bit of thought and after lunch there’s not a lot of that around.

Then I pulled a slip out of the DO SOMETHING vase and thought  I don’t want to… but I will. 

In the end I felt much the better for it. I suppose that’s what this whole daft notion is about. 

DO SOMETHING WITH A RINGBINDER

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DO SOMETHING

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DAY 13

It’s not something I’ve ever spent a lot of time on. Shampoo it then leave it to do its own thing. Lucky, I suppose, to have well-behaved hair inherited from who-knows-whom. When you’re adopted no-one ever says You’ve got your mother’s eyes, nose, colouring. Nor has anyone said You’ve got your granddaughter’s laugh or Your grandson’s smile.

During lockdown I grew it. The lifting of lockdown meant I could return to my previous short style but hey, I’ve always been tempted by Let’s see what happens if… 

DO SOMETHING WITH HAIR could have been exciting. It grew just 0.35mm more.

DO SOMETHING

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DAY 12

Crime can go, also those hyped as ‘hilarious’ but aren’t. The unfathomable can go, ditto the predictable. In fact, it’s goodbye to many novels that I’ve hung onto for years. Billy Bookcase is beginning to look quite empty.

I’ve got to make room for walking the fells with James Rebanks, to live Danishly with Helen Russell and to take more time out with Erling Kagge.  

DO SOMETHING IN THE FRONT BEDROOM

DO SOMETHING

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DAY 11

Six fairy-lit Christmas trees on the mountain and a few across the valley
in the highest village in Wales. One bright star to the south.  Not a usual
September night.

The air is cool; wind and rain holding off for now. I put on my glasses.
The Christmas trees lose their shape and shrink to streetlights. The star
(or is it a planet?) remains the same.

DO SOMETHING IN STARLIGHT 

DO SOMETHING

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DAY 10

Using a chimney-less oil-lamp as a hairdryer stand – tick.

Using my late husband’s work-bench as a plant stand – tick.

Using some curtain tape to fashion a lampshade for an old standard lamp – possible but I need to give this some more thought. Oh. Recycle a thought – yes!

RECYCLE SOMETHING

DO SOMETHING

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DAY 9

Mending electricity with string? Impossible, of course. However, it is possible to fix the two together in order to prevent toe stubbing or even falling over in the night.

First, stand on the bed. Try to unentangle the knot in the pull cord high above your head. If the knot’s too tight, loop a piece a string through the cord and let it dangle at the perfect height for on-and-offing the light when sitting up in bed. 

Detach it on the last day of your stay.

DO SOMETHING WITH STRING

DAY 8

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The first petrol station has no fuel at all. The second has queues
and pleas:  Take only what you need.

Narrow lanes have passing places, much too small for the driver
of a very tiny car. He pokes a finger at me, Back, go back. I reverse.

Lastingham and Hutton-le-Hole have visitors galore. Locals
are hardly ever seen.

DO SOMETHING WITH RUBBER

DO SOMETHING

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DAY 7

I picked out notes, could name them, but a tune was out of the question. The room’s air muffled the piano’s dampers and stifled my fingers.  Floor-to-ceiling windows caught and threw back hills, trees and sky but kept beaks, heads, breasts, tails and wingtips in pale grey impressions.  To stop further collisions I closed the windows’ shutters. Locking the door behind me, stillness was kept in.

Do Something In An Empty Room 

DO SOMETHING

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DAY 6

I walked beside them, on them, admired them – and photographed a few. I wanted to upload a couple of photos but in this lovely place it’s too much to ask of my phone’s intermittent signal.

The photos show a limestone path beside a river, sheep grazing below rocky outcrops and a couple of leaning gate posts…

Do Something Near Ancient Stones