Self-Consciousness

After the persistent drizzle and rain of yesterday there was no respite today either. A brilliant starry sky when we went to bed gave way to greyness and more rain when we awoke. It grew heavier and more miserable all day. I had hankered after a little outing on my bike but the weather was too desperate to even warrant giving the idea a moment's consideration. But it was grand, as they say here. Our good friends H and M had stayed overnight so the house was full and with the fire soon lit and roaring a cosy day was had chatting and cooking and eating and generally keeping the flow of tea and coffee and washing-up going.

It was an impossible day for any kind of outdoor photography so I had to use the subjects to hand. Over the course of my visits here I've got to know TJ's beautiful and delightful daughters quite well, but mostly I've only had the company of one or the other. It's been rare for me to see the two of them together. They needed just a little persuasion to pose for me and I regard it as a great honour that they did indulge me in a very short photo session. But it wasn't easy!

It's my observation that the more naturally beautiful a woman the more self-conscious she is around that beauty. It's as if she's almost embarrassed by her riches and prefers not to show off to the world. I'm not talking here of the synthetic look which is the result of make-up and the desire to be fashionable, to look beautiful in some preconceived air-brushed way as defined by modern culture and media. I'm talking of the kind of beauty which is a combination of a natural grace and an engaging personality. Rosie and Rachel here are beautiful by any measure but they are reluctant to flaunt it. The girls are quite different in personality but they are both very much each their mother's daughter!