Category: Creativity

Viking grub, pt. 2

Following hard on the heels of the global gastronomic success earned by the smørrebrød, any self-respecting Scandiwegian will offer you küttbullar or perhaps frikadeller. Meatballs to you, madam, which were for some years announced on the overnight ferries from Harwich to Esbjerg and points north as ‘a Danish speciality’. Laughter rang around decks. No, to be fair, they are special – for their ordinariness.

Frikadeller med kartolfter, broccoli og løgsauce

They are the from the same stable (in the case of IKEA’s menu) as, say, Bratwurst or doner kebab, the ‘left-overs’ solution for butchers and mothers alike. In fact in post-war Coventry, pork butchers sold ‘faggots’ which were much the same: minced or ground cuts or offal bound togther with milk or cream and seasoned to taste with various herbs and spices; fried and served with spuds or owt available.

Not bad with a decent onion gravy.

And to accompany the meal………………. Continue reading “Viking grub, pt. 2”

A pome about magic

I had a boy cousin (still do, come to that)
Whose whole world was, for him, a machine.
While the rest of us played on our bikes in the sun,
He took his to pieces – and not just for fun –
Testing modifications. Would this version run?
With occasional sweets in between.

 

 

 

One Christmas he had an old wireless set
Which he proudly displayed on the floor.
He’d removed all the parts and dismantled its case;
Examined each valve, disconnected the base.
Then (magic!) restored ev’ry one to its place;
Switched it on and it functioned once more!

Winner! May Poetry Competition

Drip or trickle …

I believe PapaG’s spontaneous, on-topic couplet was inspired by the Navy ration. It’s not clear whether he meant it as an entry, but it’s very welcome anyway. Thank you, PG.

Water

Good one, FEEG! I really liked this take on the theme, especially the rhyming combination of ‘tongue’ and ‘dung’. Classic! 🙂

Water Oughter

A high standard from LW; clever, amusing poem, good title.

The Plumber…

A poem of the first water; concise but not caught short. I appreciate Janus taking the trouble to pen these lines when he was otherwise engaged.

The Flood

JW breaks all the rules yet again with his unique style of writing. Witty and Wacky, with a charming illustration.

Many thanks for your entries everyone.

The winning poet this month is … JW! Congratulations! 🙂

By any other name

Seein’ as ‘ow my youngest is due to add Number Nine to the Janus clan in the Autumn, I feel qualified to comment on the theme of naming children, further aroused by the Beeb:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21229475.

Auntie (possibly wishing to avoid some nasty social aspersions being cast) seems to have missed out a very widespread reason for countries restricting the choice of names – RELIGION. Some countries allocate days to ‘holy’ names – so if you are born on 25th December you automatically become Christos/Christina (!); and although I confess to knowing almost nothing about Islam law, I have the impression that babies are only given ‘approved’ names.

What surprises me is that Denmark – otherwise notoriously free of constraint in almost every imaginable respect – has its own list, outside which a child may not be named. The religion or what’s left of it, is Lutheran but its tentacles still reach into daily life by awarding Spring days off work for General Prayer, Ascension and Whitsun respectively, promoting the Confirmation industry among greedy teens and, yes, forbidding one to ‘christen’ a baby with the Liverpool cup-winning team. So there’s the rub – what a pity their holiness doesn’t extend beyond their sanctified monikers!

In Britain of course the rich and famous persist in giving their offspring silly names, often of dubious gender and provenance, like themselves in many cases. But relax, friends, it’s all cyclical and soon the Johns and Joans will be rife amongst us again.

The Flood

It was raining cats and dogs and frogs and
Fearing the flood would not abate I built
A boat; And two by two my zoo took shape

Caterpillars shared room with centipedes
But man, I kept the spiders from the flies
No tigers about so no life of Pi
Gathering my flock I prepared to sail
Then the heavens closed to bring sunshine
Thank God for that as I am no Noah
The animals are all female, probably
And it would be the end of humanity

Three Ds plus one

What is it they say? Death, divorce and dimissal cause most stress and turmoil? Well, just add Disruption by Removal!

When we arrived on 6th May, all but our beds and a few essentials went into the barn – fifty boxes included! And since then we have slowly reclaimed the house room-by-room from the crew who have been re-laying floors, refitting the bathroom and installing new bits of pumbing and wiring for the kitchen appliances. It was all supposed to be done before we arrived but the best laid plans of mice and men…. The main thing is we’re more than happy with the result – a spacious, comfortable farmhouse away from the madding crowd.

And tomorrow we’re promised the arrival of this little puppy:


Continue reading “Three Ds plus one”