In deference to the persistently lazy days of summer and in eager anticipation of John Mackie’s promised contribution, Backside has decided unanimously as ever to keep the Summertime contest open until 31st August, after breakfast.
As Nat King Cole sang in 1963:
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Youll wish that summer could always be here!
Mid-August is somehow on the cusp – either of Autumn in Europe and some parts of the Americas or of Spring in the Antipodes. The equatorial tendency of course never quite differentiates.
So cherished versifiers, kindly be inspired to celebrate either the promise of summertime or its passing; both thoroughly deserving of your attention in the next two weeks after which you’ll be judged on the quality of your efforts.
https://charioteers.org/2013/07/25/summertime-the-august-poetry-challenge/
Pic by PS Krøyer, one of Denmark’s Golden Age painters who lived and worked in Skagen
The Beeb has obligingly promised rain and more rain for Manchester today, which means that England will draw the match with the Aussies and retain the Ashes, even if the last two tests go the wrong way.
Cloudy with rain persisting for much of the day, very heavy at times with a risk of thundery bursts and localised flooding. Towards evening the rain will ease and slowly clear eastwards, perhaps allowing some late brightness in the west.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/7281603
Huge smiley thing.
To introduce the next competition, I can’t resist quoting a lyrical George (this week’s name, innit?):
Summertime,
And the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’
And the cotton is high
Your daddy’s rich
And your mamma’s good lookin’
So hush little baby
Don’t you cry
As we fully anticipated when we moved house, the C_nt’s three 500 ft. turbines have now been given an official green light (as you might say) by the Danish gubmint’s ‘Nature and Environment Complaints Committee’. So three monstrosities the size of the London Eye will soon overshadow the village a mere 600 m. away. Not to mention the poor birds whose migrations will be disturbed.
Those wonderful people at Siemens have proudly announced that these are ‘test’ mills of proportions not previously installed on Danish soil. So they couldn’t possibly offer precise data on their output of noise – or even their output of power! But hey! Who cares about a few villagers, their life-style, their properties and health? Roll up and see and hear the latest technology at work!
I see that our southern neighbours have some similar problems. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23229097
We are blessed with a thalassogen on this good Earth
that knows not our rules, or has forgot ‘em
when most liquids get hot they rise to the top
when they cool they sink fast to the bottom
We awoke to a white world, with the snow still falling. It wasn’t forecast until tomorrow, I thought. By late morning it was sleeting, and finally it turned to drizzle. There’s very little snow left now – just a line at the bottom of the car windscreen where it had gathered more thickly. From the kitchen window I could see the bushes decorated with sparkles of melted snow.
It’s about 2c out there, but it’s a ‘wet cold’ which gets through to your bones – (the sort of day my Ma always called ‘raw’) – and I am disinclined to go out and take my daily walk. But I should really. Maybe if I put on the heating (which I had only just returned to its usual ‘morning and evening only’ setting) and know I can come back to a warm house, I may then be less disinclined?
Hands up those who are planning to put in a picture or a short story…. closing date on 15th.
See links at right hand corner of the page.
Last year we had so many ladybirds. This year I have hardly seen any.
Ladybirds in my clematis last year
I was reminded today of the ladybirds while on a walk with a friend, when I looked closely at the old man’s beard illuminating the hedgerows. No nesting ladybirds. Continue reading “Ladybirds: have they flown away, home?”
Boadicea's Chariot 
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