Poetry Day 2nd Feb

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Invitation to The Fourth Annual Brigid in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam

Feel free to copy the following to your blog and spread the word. Let poetry bless the blogosphere once again!

WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading

WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2009

WHERE: Your blog

WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day

HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.

RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. Last year when the call went out there was more poetry in cyberspace than I could keep track of. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun. Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers.Thank you, Reya, for beginning what is now an annual event.
Posted by d. oak at 8:02 P

The Seed Packet

I recently went to the local garden centre & found myself in the seed section. There was quite a cluster of people around the beautifully presented seed packets. All present had a serious air of deliberate selection and anticipation. There was no frivolity, nothing remotely light & fluffy about this cluster of gardeners, more of an earthy, deep focus, like growing roots.
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I bought 4 packets of seeds that instructed the gardener to plant them indoors in February. It's only a few weeks away but I am so impatient, impatient for the smell of damp soil hugging the dry sleeping seeds. Impatient to make those anxious, excited visits, many times a day to check the precious pots. Eager to feel the anticipation of those first probing shoots, then the unfurling soft leaves. To have the simple pleasure of reading & re-reading the the seed packets & envisaging the fully grown plants in glorious leaf & flower. With all this comes some anxiety, has all been done as instructed by the packet, and what should be done to avert mishaps or illness to the courageous protoplant on it's phenomenal journey from unremarkable seed to voluptuous bloom.
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Those unremarkable seeds are magical things sustaining gardeners through the cold winter chill that lies ahead after all the glitter of the mid-winter festivities have passed & been put away in boxes - their seed packets - ready to sprout & bloom next December.
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I wonder, are we - the planters -helping the seeds grow the way they grow, because we so strongly hold their final images in our heads. What a responsibility. Are we seed growers the 21st century's elementals - the fairies & gnomes so loved of fairy tales & myths. What happens when the wrong seeds are put in the wrong packet? Nature must have a back-up plan, after all a majority of seeds grow quite happily without an anxious garden present.

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Not long now til February. To curb my impatience I'll plant up a winter hanging basket & keep checking my outdoor bulbs.

Impressions Around New Years Day

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* Walking the dog on New Year's Eve up to the towering redwood on the hill. Looking up at it's sparse branches through the swirling mist.

* Making Thank You cards whilst watching Father Ted & drinking the New Year in with a glass of WhiskyMac (a present).

* All day a heavy frost covering everything with a white rime. Makes the world look like a Christmas card. Still air, grey skies a muted, muffled day.

* The big dog infected by the sparkling air running round & round throwing pieces of frozen horse poo in the air!

* Problems with the gas supply (run out) - sitting under duvets with 2 pairs of trouser, two jumpers and a body warmer. Feet cold.

* Catching all 25 hens and dusting them with mite powder.

* Watching the hens taking a dust bath in their temporary home. Hearing their purr calls.

* Watching a flock of twittering long-tailed tits at the bird table. The robin chasing off all comers.

* Problems with gas (see above) so no proper cooking facilities. Having tinned soup, onion bajis & Christmas pudding for tea.

* Waking up on the 2nd January to SNOW

* Walking the horse out through the snow & noticing a hoof print in a hoof print! Great rejoicing - as "tracking-up" combined with high spirits yesterday equals a comfortable & sound horse. Hurrah maybe last years list of injuries is ALL OVER.

* Taking the dogs for a walk in the crisp sunshine to check out the hens' new home.

* Reading a seriously up-lifting story about a rescued horse - he made it & is living a happy, healthy & very useful life. Thank goodness for people who care & dont just "walk/drive by".

* Great rejoicing - our GAS delivery is coming tomorrow. It's going to be -5C tonight - getting up could be an event to be delayed for as long as possible!!

Happy New Year

ANSWERS TO QUIZZ NOW ADDED TO THE POST

Things to look forward to in January

The Longest Night has passed,

Santa has been & gone,

All seasonal sparkles are put away

So what's left to bring cheer,

In the gloomy months ahead?

Flowers of course!!!

So if you have not planted any - go out & buy a pot of Spring bulbs or Orchids or any lovely flowering plant to take your thoughts to easier days ahead.

(Pictures from Kew Gardens - one of my "favourite places")

A seasonal something!

A Christmas Quiz
Clue: Chilean Christmas Tree? (3 words)

* The three wise men (MAGI)
* A brand of lift/elevator & the 1st name of a famous rhythm & blues singer (OTIS)
* The 1st name of an actress that had a child named “Sunday Rose” in July 2008 (NICOLE KIDMAN)
* A fruit brandy made from the double distillation of morellos (KIRSCH)
* Austin Healey’s kiwi dance partner (first name) (ERIN BOAG)
* A fermented dairy product (YOGHURT)
………
>>>>> (New word)

* The bull fighting dance (PASA DOBLE)
* An item made famous by a “Singing in the Rain” routine & by Rhianna singing “you can stand under my ………” (UMBRELLA)
* An American Heavy Rock Band noted for their beards & sunglasses & “Gimme All Your Lovin”
(ZZ TOP)
* Biblical character (a fisherman) & springy cartoon character (ZEBEDEE)
* The title of Sir Cliff’s first chart-topper (LIVING DOLL)
* The birthplace of D H Lawrence (EASTWOOD)
……..
>>>>> (new word)

* An excitable Strictly Come Dancing judge (surname) (BRUNO TONIOLI)
* A type of deer with a shiny nose & balletic name (REINBEER)
* An old-fashioned & now rude term to use for the Inuit peoples of Canada & Greenland (ESKIMO)
* The first name of the man who sang “Eye-to-Eye (Contact)” & “H.A.P.P.Y. Radio” - he has a seasonal surname! (EDWIN STARR)



Another clue if you are struggling!
The national tree of Chile - an evergreen pine!

MONKEY PUZZLE TREE

seasons greetings

Birds and Books

Birds are featuring large in my world at the moment.

The hens are causing us a lot of concern. After extensive reading, experimenting, observing & asking a local egg producer we have come to the conclusion that the hens are BORED. Their supply of grass has run out and at the moment we are not in a position to move the run. So I guess we are going to have to be creative- boxes of soil with stuff buried in it, hanging up bunches of greenery, logs to sit on etc etc - so much for hens being low maintenance!

So far I haven't come upon a chapter in a hen book entitled "Boredom". I guess it is still a relatively new concept in the population at large that poultry warrant attention to their mental health. Yet again it is the caring "amateur" & welfare charities that are bringing about the positive changes to animal welfare - not the "professional" egg & meat producers. Long live the great British (& other nationality) amateur!

We have a simple bird table & feeders, attached to our run of bean poles. This year the local bird population has "found us". It is such a "simple pleasure" to watch the comings & goings of the little visitors. Supplying peanuts (whole & in a feeder), a "wild bird mixture" & bits of bread has so far attracted blue, great, coal, willow/marsh & long-tailed tits, a blackbirds, a robin & a nuthatch.

We are also the nominated geese-feeders on the park & this regular feeding pattern attracts more than just geese - there are ducks, moorhens, peacocks, crows, magpies & jackdaws & I bet there are other quieter birds watching & waiting for all the fuss to die down. I'd love to see the local ravens come down to eat!

Not far away is a rookery. Once the youngsters left the nest this summer the rookery became empty. In the last month or so huge numbers of rooks have been congregating at the rookery then flying off to roost somewhere nearby. As coincidence would have it, a few nights ago I picked up a book & started reading a chapter at random only to discover that the book is all about rooks & jackdaws. It's a beautifully written book so if you are still searching for a Christmas present for a bird-lover then this is worth a consideration - "Crow Country" by Mark Crocker (ISBN 978 0 224 07601). I borrowed my copy from the local mobile library - so here's plug for them - "USE THEM OR LOOSE THEM".

Also from the library, I have borrowed, read & can recommend the latest in the Maise Dobbs series "An Incomplete Revenge" by Jacqueline Winspear. So get down to your local library & see what you can find & don't forget that the staff are usually only too happy to help! On that note, it's time for me to log onto the library catalogue & order some books ready to dive- into over the Christmas break.

Great Ideas in Action

Making my world a more harmonious place.

Carpinus betulus - hornbeam

I found this fantastic picture at the following site - http://apps.kew.org/trees/?page_id=1. It's from the "people's arboretum" - what a fantastic idea. It's a great web site to - well worth a tour around.

It reminded me of how much I have always loved Kew Gardens. When I first visited this magnificent place it cost 1p to get in! Years later I lived in London & visited it frequently - still very cheap- it was in the days before the sparkly new visitors centre. What a gem.

Wish I could get to the Eden Project..one day




What a pretty seasonal picture!








Eden has submitted plans for a wind turbine and has some very accessible information on this subject.http://www.edenproject.com/whats-at-eden/index.php

Come that great day when we have our own piece of land a wind turbine will proudly feature as one of our energy sources. We could have done with one this week as for two days in a row we were left with no electricity or a severely restricted supply. The reason why - the supply to this site is being exceeded & we are at the end of the chain so when there is too much use we don't get any - a dramatic demonstration of growing energy use & the need to be self-sufficient!

Onto another great development - BBCI - it may well have saved my marriage- OK that's a bit bold! Poor Mr PoppyM missed his much anticipated viewing of the Survivors (see above!) so I set-to exploring BBCi & found it there. So for the 1st time in his life Mr PoppyM watched a programme on a computer screen with headphone - he was really impressed. And of course as a spin-off from this I know that I can watch Strictly Come Dancing Results on Monday avoiding any clashed & squabbles about Sunday viewing - marvellous!