Month: March 2011

Theres something special about a winter’s night when the moon is full – especially when its cloudy and everything has an eerie look about it.  Its a look, just like in these photos I took last winter, and its times like this when I remember a particular poem written by Walter De La Mare called Silver.

We had to learn it at at school, we also had to learn it well enough to recite in class but until quite recently I could only remember the first two lines – honestly this aging process has its drawbacks lol –  however thanks to our trusty friend G*oogle and the Internet, here it is – and I wonder why I’ve never searched for it before.

Silver

Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy cote the white breast peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.


Walter De La Mare (1873 – 1956)

As I read this now it all comes back to me, standing there in the class room feeling quite confident, one of the few times I did so, reason being I knew every line. I never ever did well at written exams but sailed through anything oral.

That’s me – never have trouble talking lol

I’d like to know what we did wrong to be inflicted with the beep – I’d love to know who invented the beep ‘cose I’d certainly give him a piece of my mind

Not the bad word beep and not the reversing beep not even the ping beep of a low smoke alarm battery beep but that infernal one thats heard around us more and more these days – the one that seems to be attached to everything electonic.

My Dh has been party to the beep for a long time now, I have resisted for a long time whilst smiling at all those around me who were slaves of the beep. 

Sadly progress wiped the smile off my beepless face – our trusty 25 year old beepless microwave packed up last year and I reluctantly joined the beep society.  There is nothing attractive about a microwave that beeps at you – and I have been known to tell it so across the  kitchen.  Its almost like someone snapping their fingers and expecting you to drop everything and attend to the needs – doesn’t happen in my house lol

Christmas time saw me falling more and more under its spell – I entered a new phase of my life by becoming the owner of a mobile phone – yes, up till now if ‘they’ wanted to talk to me ‘they’ had to wait till I was ready to speak to them.  Unfortunately this thing beeps when ‘they’ decide they really need me to know something and text knowing my curiosity will get the better of me

Oh dear, and you know what…..last week another wedge was driven into my desire for a beepless life when the new fridge/freezer was delivered and had the audacity to beep at me when I stood at the door pondering.

And then not content with just finishing a wash and coming to a standstill – guess what the new washing machine did – yes the beeping thing beeped at me!

I’ve had enough………I’ve decided I’m going out to protest……I’m going to stand outside the electrical stores with a placard……a large one …….one that says Ban the Beep

It’s funny how some posts generate interest and others are just run of the mill – I’ve been looking back over last week’s posts and would like to say thank you for all your recent comments and emails.

The little bereavement programme I’m associated with is a support service Sids and Kids Victoria provides – please look at this link – http://sidsandkidsvic.org/bereavement-support/treasured-babies – it will all be explained to you there. Providing ‘right sized’ layettes for these little babes who are born too soon is just part of the range of help available for families who lose a child suddenly – given to them by caring volunteers, staff and counsellors at this organization.

The Christchurch earthquake has been on our minds all week and I’m sure will continue to be so for many more weeks. The awful sadness continued today when we saw the tiniest of coffins being carried from a church – inside was the little baby boy born after the previous earthquake and taken by this one. You’ll be glad to hear Michelle finally made contact with her family.

Now from the comments on the pumpkin soup post I do believe there might be some soup-making going on around the world. You know, I can’t recall ever seeing pumpkin in a can/tin here but I’ll have a look for it – the soup I froze certainly came in handy on a couple of days this week when time got away from me.

Thanks for your advice on planting the bulbs, it’s a while since I had any on the garden – the Iris I do have are all the rhizome (sit on the surface) type and I’d forgotten about the planting as deep as the height tip.  Thanks for that Olive and Lois:)

But I do need to get my finger out where they are concerned as this week is forecast to be damp so it will good planting weather.

My chair post meant that Jan could answer my question about the one I saw in the museum – they were known as Morris chairs thanks to a man called William Morris. Often its not the weird and wonderful and expensive but those everyday things that we treasure – so I’m glad ordinary items bring back memories for others.

Most of us seem to agree that silence is golden when we need to concentrate but doing several things at a time comes easily to us – is that a female thing from necessity:).

And who knew the answer to weight loss was so simple lol
See you again another day
Cathy