Upstairs

Upstairs!  It’s from here my cottage has the best views.  This is where I see our village, roof rectangles, squares and triangles framed by the rounded shapes of trees.  Masculine and feminine.  Cezanne could have painted it.  Come to think of it, reception rooms of all the grand old houses (try Hampton Court)  are on the first floor.

Also, it’s only from here, that some of my May beauties are visible.  The white climbing rose Mrs Herbert Stevens (did I plant it because Granny was Mrs Horace Stephens?) along the fence at ground level peers at next doors dustbins, but from here strings the world with pearls.  Far better than Climbing Iceberg.  The other joy is Clematis Montana ‘Grandiflora’, this moment hiding the juniper with galaxies of white stars.  And Cecile Brunner covered in tiny toy roses girds the arch in pink to face the sky.