Small moments of warmth

 Dear reader,

I have often wondered where the saying:  'enough blue in the sky to make a sailor's trouser' comes from.  Apparently it was believed by sailors that if they saw two patches of blue sky in a cloudy morning, the day would bring good weather.  Dutch sailors wore wide trousers the same blue as the sky, hence the saying.

It is thought that British and American sailors first wore bell-bottomed trousers in the 19th century because it made it easier to snag a man who had fallen overboard.   The wide legged design of flares made it easier for sailors to remove the trousers when wet and roll them up when working in  muddy conditions.

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My sister and I loved going to Yarmouth beach for picnics and my mother would only take us if she saw a little sun and a blue sky. This, I have to say, wasn't very often as the Norfolk weather was not tropical, in fact I seem to remember lots of rainy days. In those days we lived in a small cottage near to a river and spent much time capturing tadpoles and riding our ponies.  And of course trotting through the lanes with Joey in harness. Joey was rather fat and not too keen on those expeditions, sometimes he refused to go ahead at all and needed coaxing.

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From Richard Jefferies  1878 November 3rd in Surrey

'The horse-chestnut buds at end of boughs; tree quite bare of leaves;  all sticky, colour of deep varnish....Still day: the earth holds its breath.'

 

From James Woodforde   1795 November 6th in Norfolk

'There was a most violent gale of wind this morning early about 3 o'clock, continued more than an hour.   It waked me. It also shook the house.  It greatly frighted our maids in the garrett.  Some limbs of trees blown down in my garden.  Many windmills blown down.'

                                                                                   *

Small moments of warmth

 

 

I remember a little warmth,

Joey trotting the family through Norfolk lanes,

the small yellow trap swaying in the sunshine.

 

I remember picnics on Yarmouth beach

with enough blue sky ‘to make a sailor’s trouser’.

We ate cucumber sandwiches, Penguin biscuits.

 

I remember dark evenings,

the small warm flame from a Tilly lamp

lighting the kitchen, and sometimes for supper

we had chicken, chocolate mousse.

 

I remember a warm holiday in France

squeezed into the back of a car,

singing old thirties love songs.

 

But will these small moments of warmth,

at the end, be enough to heat and split

the heavy stones that circle the human heart,

allow salt tears to trickle through the cracks?

 

                                                                                           *

 

With very best wishes, Patricia

 

 

The Mind Cupboard

 Dear Reader,

I will not be writing much this week as I haven't been feeling very well.  I have high blood pressure which is not good health wise and spent yesterday afternoon in the A&E department of Banbury Hospital.   It was a long wait but worth waiting for as they were very helpful. Gosh, this ageing malarkey is not certainly for cissies as someone said.  

I have put the Mind Cupboard on again as I know it it your favourite of my poems.   I very much like the poem I put on last week " I Call to you".  Try reading it again and see what you think.

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From John Clare   October 31st 1824 in Northants

'Took a walk, got some branches of the spindle tree with its pink-coloured berries that shine beautifully in the pale sun.'

From Gerard Manley Hopkins  October 29th  1873 in Surrey

'Wonderful downpour of leaf;  when the morning sun began to melt the frost they fell at one touch and in a few minutes a whole tree was flung of them; they lay masking and papering the ground at the foot.  Then the tree seems to be looking down on its cast as blue sky on snow after a long fall, its losing, it doing.'

                                                                                    

 The Mind Cupboard

 

 

My mind cupboard overflows

with unwanted debris.

It needs a spring clean.

 

I will brush away the cobwebs

of cheerless thoughts.

Scrub out the stains of childhood.

 

I will replace the brass hooks

corroded with salt tears,

empty all the screams

hoarded through the years.

 

I will replace the accumulated ashes

from the worn shelf-paper,

with virgin tissue.

 

I will chase and catch the wasps,

relieve them of their stings.

I will refill this cupboard

with love, and learnt, brighter things.

 

                                                                         *

 

With very best wishes, Patricia

 

 

 

I call to you

 Dear Reader,

The history of the oak tree is rich with myth, legend and cultural significance.  The oak tree was sacred to many gods, including Zeus, Jupiter, Thor and the Celtic Dagda.   

The oaks association with lightening and thunder may have contributed to its sacred status.  The oak was a symbol of strength and endurance for many ancient cultures the the Druids, Greeks, Romans, Celts, Slavs and Vikings.

Since the earliest ties between humans and oaks a very symbolic image of oaks has developed in which these trees have become associated with longevity, stability, endurance, fertility, power, justice and honesty.

Oaks have been common to these islands since the end of the Ice Age, some 12,000 years ago.  An oak tree can grow over 30 metres tall.  In England the oak is a national symbol of strength.  Couples were wed under ancient oaks in Oliver Cromwell's time.

The oak tree holds a special place in Celtic mythology.  Ancient Celts believed that oak tree were portals to other worldly realms, and Druids held ceremonies in oak groves, associating the tree with spiritual significance.

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From John Everett Millais   October 16th 1851 in Surrey

'Worked on my picture; painted nasturtiums; saw a stoat run into a  hole in the garden wall;   went up to it and endeavoured to lure the little beast out by mimicking a rat's or mouse's squeak.....Succeeded, to my astonishment.  He came half out of the hole and looked in my face, within easy reach.'

From Francis Kilvert    October 25th   1874 in Wiltshire

'A damp morning steaming with heat, the outer air like a hothouse, the inner air colder, and in consequence the old thick panelled walls of the front rooms streaming with the warm air condensed on the cod walls.....The afternoon was so gloomy that I was obliged for the first time to have lights in the pulpit.'

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I Call To You

 

I am the winter snow

the summer sun

I am the birdsong

the first snowdrop

I am the seagull's cry

the gold red sunset

I am the butterfly, the ladybird

the falling leaves

I am the blue mountains

the oak tree

I am whispering trees

the silver stream

I am the Southerly wind

the Northern Star

I am the sound of the sea

the gentle rain

I am the light, peace

love and sisterly soul

 

 

I call to you

                                                                        *

 

 

I wrote this poem at 3am in the morning, the words somehow dictated from above.

 

With very best wishes, Patricia

 

 

                                                                              

Sleep Snare

 Dear Reader,

Sleeping is a large part of our lives and an essential function that enables our bodies and minds to recharge.  While this universal human experience may seem like a biological constant research shows that our sleeping patterns haven't always been the same.

An average night sleep in 17th century England is thought to have started with people going to bed between 9pm and 11pm.  A few hours later they would wake from their first slumber for between one or two hours before going back to their second sleep which would last until morning.

During night time waking hours evidence shows that people engaged in a variety of pastimes, whether that meant staying in bed to read or going out and visiting a neighbour.  When Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light bulb in 1879 it saw wide spread adoption that changed the way we sleep forever.  This is because it allowed people to stay up, work or socialize through the night in a way that wasn't possible under the dim glow of moonlight or with the use of oil lamps.

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I have always been a very poor sleeper.  Every night at about 3am I go downstairs and make a cup of tea. I take it up back to bed and read for a while until I feel sleepy.  I have a sleep in the afternoons, and at this time I sleep deeply and well.  

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From Dorothy Wordsworth   October 12th  1800 in Westmorland

'We pulled apples after dinner, a large basket full.  We walked before tea by Bainriggs to observe the many-coloured foliage. The oaks dark green with some yellow leaves, the birches generally still green, some near the water yellowish, the sycamore crimson and crimson-tufted, the mountain ash a deep orange, the common ash lemon colour, bu many ashes still fresh in their summer green.'

From Gilbert White  October 13th  1787 in Hampshire

'We saw several redwings among the bushes on the north side of the common.   There were swallows about the village at the same time:  so that summer and winter birds of passage were seen on the same day.'

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Sleep snare

 

 

 

 

I lie awake and hear

the clock strike three,

and wonder how to

snare elusive sleep,

how to capture it,

how to find

its hiding place

and coax it back to bed.

I might entice  it

with crimson berries,

or butter croissants

then pounce on it,

and let it loose

inside my head.

But sharp is cunning sleep

it knows the tricks,

is bored of counting sheep.

 

 

 

I must fly northwards

to the moon

and let sleep take me

 

 

soon

 

          soon

 

soon ......... 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                           *

With very best wishes, Patricia

 

 

 

 

The Shed

 Dear Reader,

I took this information from the Daily Telegraph as I thought it was interesting and hope you do too.

"You may have noticed spiders scuttling across your floor or dropping from the ceilings, fangs glistening, hairy legs outstretched, all eight of them.  If they are not in your house yet, they soon will be.  They are coming, and this year, according to reports, some are as big as rats.    It is spider season.

Late August and early autumn mark the start of the spider mating season when millions of sex-crazed male spiders look for mates and end up indoors.

Meg Skinner, a spider expert, says spiders are around our gardens all year round but now we are seeing a lot more spiders in homes.  They are bigger and tend to wander round rather than hide in corners.  This is because the ones that we encounter are usually males looking for females to mate with.  The females generally stay in one spot in the corner.  But the idea that spiders enter our homes for warmth is a myth.  Spiders don't like heat they prefer cooler, damp conditions.

There is no good reason to be afraid of spiders.  The vast majority of the world's spiders are harmless and there are no dangerous spiders in the United Kingdom."

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From Dorothy Wordsworth   October 2nd 1800 in Westmorland

'A very rainy morning.   We walked after dinner to observe the torrents....the lichens are now coming out afresh, I carried home a collection in the afternoon.   We had a pleasant conversation about the manners of the rich - avarice, inordinate desires, and the effeminacy, unnaturalness, and the  unworthy objects of education ... a showery evening.   The moonlight lay upon the hills like snow.'

From Gerard Manley Hopkins   October 5th 1872 in Lancashire

'A goldencrested wren had got into my room at night and circled round dazzled by the gaslight on the white ceiling; when caught even and put out it would come in again.   Ruffling the crest which is mounted over the crown and eyes like bettlebrows, I smoothed and fingered the little orange and yellow feathers which are hidden in it.  Next morning i found many of these about the room and enclosed them in a letter to Cyril (his brother) on his wedding day.'

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The Shed

 

 The spider let himself down

from a crack in the grimy rafters.

Time to spin another web,

catch flies, feed his children.

This old shed he loved

had housed his ancestors,

its essence was in his blood.

He knew well the aged wooden bench

laiden with hand-worn tools,

the swallow’s yearly nesting place,

the bee’s hum and buzz.

He knew of the warmth from the earth floor,

from the hurricane lamp, lit on dark evenings,

of the dusty windows facing north,

and he knew he could swing on the ash spokes

spliced to the wheel hung on the hook.

He knew too that the moonlight

cast quiet shadows on the pile of logs,

home to small scuttling creatures.

He knew that nearby in a bed of shavings,

an old dog slept.

This restful shed scented with lavender and tar,

was a timeless place.

 

Clearing, cleaning, scraping, peeling,

the old shed becomes new.

Much buzzing and humming

as computers move in, reference books,

filing cabinets, printers, blaring telephones,

glaring lights, and stress.

 

No quiet shadows now

in the bright new shed,

no cracks, no silence, and the spider.... dead.

 

 

                                                                                  *

With very best wishes, Patricia

 

I glimpsed a child

Iraqi children

 Dear Reader,

Moroccan tea was first introduced to Morocco in the 12th century, BC, by the Phoenicians who settled in the country's north for over eight centuries.  Another hypothesis links it to the first settlers in Morocco, the Berbers, who brought a green plant with them when they moved from their original land in Asi.  Also another historical theory said that tea came to Morocco from Spain and the Portuguese at the time of their military attempts to conquer in the 18th century.

Some historians think that tea was first known to the Moroccan's through maritime piracy which was active at that time in both the Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean regions.

Moroccans serve mint tea to their visitors not only as a gesture of warmth and hospitality but also kindness, appreciation and gratitude.  An ancient Moroccan proverb says; "The first glass is as bitter as life, the second glass is as strong as love, the third glass is as gentle as death".

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I have learnt so much writing these piece about world affairs and movement and how people live or have lived in the past.  It seems to me that people from all over the world have, for one reason and another, have wanted to move elsewhere since the beginning of time and records.  

So who are refugees?  I often wonder.  

                                                                                 *

From Dorothy Wordsworth  September 30th  1800 in Westmorland

'It rained very hard.  Rydale was extremely wild.....We sate quietly and comfortably by the fire.'

From Katherine Mansfield   September 30th  1918 in Hampshire

'The last day in September - immensely cold, a kind of solid cold outside the windows....Don't read this.   Do you hear that train whistle and now the leaves - the dry leaves- and now the fire- fluttering and creaking.        Why doesn't she bring the lamps?'

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I glimpsed a child

 

on the kitchen chair

feet dangling

legs swinging

 

large brown eyes stared

from a dusty pale face

 

she didn’t smile or speak

 

about seven years old I thought

Syrian perhaps or Iraqi

her clothes once pink and green

now mud stained and torn

 

her silver bracelets sparkling

in the sunlight

 

I made her Moroccan mint tea

offered her cake

kissed her cold cheek

dried her tears

 

I fetched more sugar

but on return I saw

the chair was empty

the child gone

dissolved in the morning air

 

 

                                                                                    *

With very best wishes, Patricia

 

 

 

this man

 

 Dear Reader,

I wrote today's poem for my husband Geoffrey at the end of his life, when he was very ill.  I looked after him for years and months before he died, and it was heartbreaking to see him slowly disintegrate.  But sometimes he seemed to perk up and get better and I wrote the poem on one of those occasions.  It has been eight years now since he died and I do miss him.  Looking at photographs makes things worse, I remember all the sunshine and the joys of being together and all the love that I received and gave. 

                                                                                *

On Wednesday this week Francis and I went to the Wildlife Park near Burford.  And what a treat it was.  The sun shone and it was warm ice cream weather.  The park was started by a family who lived in the big house which had fields and gardens surrounding it.  They decided to fill the grounds with animals from all over the world so that we can all enjoy them without having to travel to faraway places.  All the animals looked so well and healthy but I just had a question in my mind.  Were they happy enclosed?  They looked happy but I wonder whether they were.  What was taken from them was their freedom.   I have watched documentaries on wild life and seen meerkats scurrying around in the desert alerting themselves and their families to danger.   But they are fed well, they are safe and have medical care if needed so perhaps I can stop worrying about them.  The camels looked a bit moth eaten but perhaps that is how camels look. We finished the day with a small train ride round the estate and agreed that we had had a lovely day out.

                                                                                 *

From John Clare  September 26th 1824 in Northants

'Took a walk in the fields, heard the harvest cricket and shrew-mouse uttering their little chickering sons among the crackling stubble.'

From Gerard Manley Hopkins   September 28th 1874 in Denbighshire 

.....to Caerwys wood, a beautiful place.   The day being then dark and threatening we walked some time under a grey light more charming than sunshine falling through boughs and leaves.'

From quiet homes and first beginning
Out to the undiscovered ends
There's nothing worth the wear of winning
But laughter and love of friends.

Hilaire Belloc

                                                                           *

this man

 

loved blue

 

it was a ship, a blue ship

 

that he sailed in

 

it was his power

 

made his heart beat faster

 

drove him along life’s waterways

 

 but he sailed away

 

came adrift

 

became shipwrecked

 

no power no heartbeat

 

this man

 

had lost the blue

 

 

but I made a small ship out of wood

 

gave it sails of the finest silk

 

an engine fired with love

 

 

 now he sails again

 

his power came back

 

 

and I painted the ship blue

 

for

 

this man

                                                                  *

 

 

 

With very best wishes, Patricia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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