While staying on holiday years ago, in a rented house in Norfolk, I wrote this poem.
In Her Spare Room
I see these books,
draw in a breath,
as cherished memories
race into my head.
These are:
Akenfield
Portraits of an English Village
Swallows and Amazons
The Speckledy Hen
The Little Flowers of St. Francis
My Friend Flicka
The Wind in the Willows
Tales of Old Inns
The owner of this house
is unknown to me,
but her collection
of treasured books
tells me a little of her,
what makes her who she is,
what makes me who I am.
*
The plight or the flight of the bumblebee is in the news this week. They are suffering mass extinction due to rising temperatures. It is feared that some bumblebees could vanish in the next few decades - Britain has already lost two species and the great yellow bumblebee can now only be found in Scotland. There are fewer bumblebee species in areas that have got warmer, with the greatest declines in areas which exceeded the insects' temperature limits.
Bumblebees are vulnerable to climate change because high temperatures can cause heat exhaustion or reduce the supply of flowers which they need for nectar. Their numbers are also falling because of intensive farming which leads to habitat loss, toxic pesticides and killer parasites. Bumblebees play a key role in pollinating crops, meaning their declining numbers could heavily impact the British food industry.
*
Please take note if you keep a rabbit.
Giving rabbits a partner makes them happy as they are sociable animals and suffer from loneliness on their own. The traditional practice of keeping one rabbit alone 'can cause misery' for the animals the British Veterinary Association said.
*
I used to have a rabbit, he was called Zambezee. I think he had a miserable life; well he certainly didn't have a partner. He just sat in his cage looking sad, no doubt wishing he had a female rabbit for company.
*
With best wishes, Patricia
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