Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee,
Whether summer clothe the general earth
With greeness, or the redbreast sit and sing
Betwixt the tufts of snow on the bare branch
Of mossy apple-tree, while the nigh thatch
Smokes in the sun-thaw; whether the eave-drops fall
Heard only in the trances of the blast,
Or if the secret ministry of frost
Shall hang them up in silent icicles,
Quietly shining to the quiet Moon.



Friday, March 14, 2008

A Book MeMe


Quite a while ago Cate at Beyond The Fields We Know tagged me for this Meme so I thought it was about time I actually got round to doing it.

The rules for this meme are:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

I turn to page 123, and count down as the meme instructs me to do, and I find these words:

It was there,where it went wandering away into the blue-hazed distance between gentle slopes scattered everywhere with relics of a forgotten age (fragments of old roads,odd entrenchments, a sunken barrow or two and in-numerable shards and flints)that we bade it goodbye.

. . . . .

Our Roman road had brought us many delights along its varying course. It was November: "No-warmth,No-light, November," as the poet put it.


This is taken from an old book called 'No Road Runs By' written by Beryl Netherclift and published in 1935. The area described is the South Downs. I'm not going to tag anyone but feel free to do this Meme if you want to. The photo at the top is a Southdown sheep taken when I was in Sussex last year.

Monday, March 10, 2008

In Like A Lion



March has most certainly come in like a lion this year so hopefully it will eventually go out like a lamb and we shall finish the month with some nice, warm Spring weather. The wind has been very strong during the last week and has brought down several big trees in the woods where I walk Bilbo Baggins. Here he is standing by one that is partially blocking the path.


This tree was snapped clean in two, below is the top half which is lying on the ground.




Another tree blown over in the meadow beside the wood, this was all last weekend before 'the worst storm of the winter' and there are at least two other major trees down that I've seen. The southern counties have had it much worse than we have here in the North - our turn apparently comes tonight!


It isn't all doom and gloom though, there are many signs of Spring including these hazel catkins and...


....the pussy willow.


I've been busy with the knitting needles recently and have just finished this 'bump' jumper for Cesca who is expecting another baby in July. It's folded to show the ribbon fastening at the sides which expands as required.


This shows the back of the jumper. I'm rather pleased with the way it's turned out.


Miss Kaitlyn came to see how Grandad was feeling, she hasn't seen him for a month because after the radioiodine scan he had to avoid the children and young female members of the family because he was radioactive.

I really am hoping to post more regularly now if I can get near my computer. DH has taken to family history in a big way and is currently updating all the computer records. I prefer working with my paper records so I only update the computer now and again and am bad about naming sources etc. So I'm being taken in hand! It's great as it helps me a lot and also gives DH a meaningful way to pass the time while he's largely confined to barracks. Drinking 10 pints of water every day tends to limit his outside activities :):)

I'd like to say 'thank you' for all the lovely comments that have been left. I shall try to get round to everyone's blogs over the next few days.