22/01/2007, 13:33
The sun is shining, snow glistens on the hilltops, and we're off to spend some time in the big city.
So much for the determination to WRITE!
However a walk in the forest might inspire some creative thought............
Skeletal fingers stretch upwards,
like many hands pressed together
to protect
against the onslaught
of winter.
Gloved in bark,
their inner sap well protected beneath,
they pattern the skyline,
allowing a blink of blue or white
to filter through.
Glistening in the distance,
snow groups itself in flaky bundles
linked together by temperature,
for the moment,
a crystal crust.
The unbroken blue
cloudless and clear
yawns above,
stretching itself north
south, east and west,
inviting exploration.
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21/01/2007, 09:51
Our friends,Mary and Stan Pape, live in France. They are both retired, living very busy lives, that until now haven't allowed them to join the blogging fraternity. That is about to change. Their blogs are set up and waiting to be posted upon. Look out for them in my Weblogs to read.
Today, I've been reminded by my good friend Judie , that I SHOULD be WRITING and not KNITTING and WANDERING all over the country!!! I did resolve to WRITE this month and began with good intentions. Unfortunately, things and people got in the way, as they do, and the writing has been left on blank pages of expectation. So for the coming week, I'll have to TRY to buckle down and put pen to paper, disregarding all those other distractions.
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18/01/2007, 09:43
Once again it's January. It's winter. Snow is falling. Wind is lashing our shores. It happens every year, and yet it makes headlines as if it is something out of the ordinary.
I don't normally watch breakfast television, but I was interested in the headline materials this morning. The weather dominated.
South East coasts are experiencing high winds, almost hurricane force in places. Further north winds of seventy mph are being recorded and reported on by hooded individuals standing outside so that we can best gauge their effects. Still further north, snow has fallen and transport is being disrupted. Nothing unusual in all of that. Nothing that makes real headline material. Winter weather is with us. It is after all WINTER!!!
The other main headline material concerns that reality programme to beat all reality programmes, Big Brother. I haven't placed a link to it, but I'm sure it can easily be found through google. I have no interest in the programme whatsoever, and have never watched it. Apparently this particular Big Brother is generating unusual degrees of comment from the watching public, and viewing figures have escalated. My cynical mind has to wonder about the production as a whole, and the way it may well have been manipulated to greatest effect.
Today, after the biz of yesterday ( dog-walking, card-printing, stock-making, soup-making, family-history searching, curry-to-beat-all-curry eating, knitting-here-and -there, talking, listening and watching) it's a day for a bit of quiet......or another episode or two of Lost
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16/01/2007, 23:37
Today was one of those days, one of those FEW days at the moment, when the sun shines inviting outside pursuits.By nine thirty we were up up and away. A balloon ride would have been fantastic, but a disco ride was the practical alternative. So with sun rising on the horizon, we meandered south, following the route through the city to the Clyde valley beyond. A hint of ice had been evident as we left the peninsula. There was a veritable coating of it the further south and inland we went.
It was decidedly chilly as we approached Lanark. The river itself showed no signs of frosting, but the shallow puddles in fields overflown into during recent weeks and days, were frozen solid.A cup of coffee was called for. New Lanark was the place to get it, and an odd ball or wool or ten that happened to be on special offer.
There was a warmth to the sun, despite the chill in the air, which encouraged us to walk Dougal and capture images from above the buildings of New Lanark and the Clyde itself.Some new growth was there to be seen in the form of lush ferns cascading over rocky outcrops and knobbly tree roots.I imagine their growth will be stunted as forecasts of snow and more frosty weather appear daily.
Returning through town, we ventured to Pollock on a somewhat circular route, veering off to Pollockshields instead of Pollockshaws in the first instance. We eventually reached the new Tesco 24 and purchased a few unusual items from their amazing assortment of world foods. The store is so large that it would take a day or a good part of a day to do it justice. We will return!!
By three-thirty we were on the homeward stretch priding ourselves on our timing and ability to miss the rush.Foolish souls. We caught a tail-back from the Erskine Bridge to the Milton roundabout and were delayed for at least 35 minutes. And then we caught up with the exiting traffic from the base as we tried to make it on to the coast road home. But we made it home with sun to spare and found our spirits raised considerably by the whole day.
A wee bit of sun is a powerful thing! here's to more of it SOON!!!!
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15/01/2007, 08:57
I was in Helensburgh on Saturday. It was still on flood alert. Winds of almost storm-force whipped water the length and breadth of the Clyde. I felt the strength of the wind as I struggled to fill up my car with petrol and negotiate street corners on my quest for fresh fish. Perhaps if I'd waited along the shore, some might have been thrown into my waiting hands!!
But there were no fish jumping the ever-increasingly high waves. Not a fish was in sight. There were wave-jumpers though of the human-clad-in-dry-suit variety. Not one, but an assembling multitude, unstrapping fins from rooftops and trailers, erecting sails to boards and leaping off to sample what mother nature was offering on this turbulent stretch of water.
Unfortunately, my camera was not to hand to record the event.I daresay I will have a future occasion to capture these opportunists at play.
;)
Speaking of opportunists was something I was engaged in last night at about half past eleven. Unable to sleep, I had opened my computer to engage in a little solitaire (the ultimate in mind unwind to permit slumber), only to discover my mum was on-line too. Naturally, she skyped me. We caught up on a few bits of family news and then discussed some work my brother has had done in his house. The work is very good indeed, but remains unfinished. Despite all my brother's efforts to contact the workmen, they fail to respond. It now falls to him to complete it. Opportunists of a different type who have been paid to do a job and leave it incomplete.
My mother has thoughts on how to deal with these particular opportunists!!!
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