Now is the Winter of our discontent…

…made glorious Summer by this son of York.

One of the best first lines ever written IMO.

I always thought the last Plantagenet  had suffered from a bad  press, although by heritage I had to support his nemesis Henry Tudr (it is so,  how it is spelled, only the English need extra vowels).

Well, just to show I’m not totally prejudiced, I joined the Richard 111 society (American Branch) this year and now get access to all the latest goings-on around  the car park.

Where was I?  Yes, discontent, well there must be some as a result of the April Poetry Competition, which  unlike modern playground games will only have one winner.  A fine crop of entries  from many of the usual suspects plus a few from some expert prevaricators.  I liked them all, especially Soutie’s pairing of poem and picture, but most of all I liked this little gem from Bilby:

Sunshine

Harsh lover
are you warming someone else’s land
And sucking moisture from the sand?
with lizards gaping in the heat
and lifting legs to cool their feet.

Absent lover
There’s a Tequila sunrise when you set
and bodies sunsick, slick with sweat;
swaying, dancing, heat skin-deep,
dreaming sunlight when they sleep.

Fickle lover
leaving, teasing,
warming, disappearing, freezing.
constancy is not your style
but, oh, please linger for a while!

Well done Bilby!  Now set us another one for May.

 

 

May Photography Competition: Let’s Do the Things We Normally Do.

Thank you to Araminta for giving me the privilege of judging the May photography competition.

The topic for the month is: let’s do the things we normally do. Submissions should be of life’s normal occurrences. Taking walks, cups of coffee, roasted wild boar, etcetera. The deadline is 18 May at midnight British time.

Talking about Gardens

Needless to say, when we bought our house last year we had the property inspected for all the usual things… no problems there. We also asked the over-paid ‘experts’ to check on the wooden retaining walls which ran down the length of the house and across the back. We asked the right questions: was it properly built? was it safe? was it legal? We were assured that it was. Right questions – wrong answers.

It all began when I called someone in to clear this area and plant some bushes along the fence.

1

“I’ll certainly do that for you”, said the landscaper. “But, you’re wasting your time, the retaining walls are failing”.

Even I could see what he was talking about! Even worse, the ‘lawn’ was completely uneven. Continue reading “Talking about Gardens”

Results of Photo Competition- Dwellings

Many thanks to all those who entered :

Janus’ soon to be ex-dwelling and good luck with your move to a very lovely spot without the wind turbine horror.

Soutie’s very pleasant Port Alfred weekend retreat by the ocean.

Christina’s “Des res, iron age style” : interesting take on the theme.

Christopher submitted a photograph of a modest London residence occasionally inhabited by HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Continue reading “Results of Photo Competition- Dwellings”

Insufficient Buggery, Dammit, Bloggery!

Just blame Janus!  As you all know, I have nothing but gardens on which to blog.  Holding most other activities in anathema, having declared ‘fatwas’ in all directions and holding most appurtenances of modern life to be ‘instruments of the devil’, there is sod all left!  Then there is the other side to that coin-  When you live in ‘God’s little acre’ why the bother with anywhere else?  We actually did emerge this week to go to the tulip festival in Skagit County (one down) with friends.  Wonderful tulips but the multicultural aspect proved too much for us, it was mobbed by more of them than us.  Vancouver had emptied across the border to view tulips en masse.  We retreated to lunch.  I didn’t bother to take any pictures.  So, just for a change you get more of what is in bloom right now in the garden.

Image

Continue reading “Insufficient Buggery, Dammit, Bloggery!”

Passenger profiling and the Schengen agreement

We’ve just returned to France after a few days in Italy, no thanks to French railways. Normally we accept that as soon as we set foot on an Italian train, the entire railway system collapses.  Not this time.   Arriving at our local French station to catch the 9.24 train to Ventimiglia we found a scene of chaos.  There was a local railways strike and some idiot had left a case in the middle of the concourse to boot.  Station staff were thinking of evacuating the station, so we rushed on to the platform before they could chuck us out.  Time passed and the 9.24 disappeared off the board.  Lots of would-be passengers simply went home, giving up any idea of travelling that day.  When we finally got to Nice about an hour later, we learned that the next train to Italy would be in four hours time.  That’s the EU in action! Do not hesitate to cause problems for other member states! Continue reading “Passenger profiling and the Schengen agreement”