I wonder whether this clock ground to a halt at 6.30 in the morning or evening and what time of year it happened. Perhaps it was summer, so the gardener was outside and missed his breakfast or tea as a result. Maybe it gave up the ghost at the same moment as someone died, a bit like the grandfather clock in the well-known song written by Henry Clay in 1876.
bottlenose dolphins
communing underwater
~~~sonic disturbance~~~
oceanic symphony
interrupted by drilling
With rue my heart is laden
For golden friends I had,
For many a rose-lipt maiden
And many a lightfoot lad.
By brooks too broad for leaping
The lightfoot boys are laid;
The rose-lipt girls are sleeping
In fields where roses fade.
Words: A.E. Houseman (1859-1936) – A poem from The Shropshire Lad
Music: George Butterworth (1885-1916) who died in the Battle of the Somme and received the Military Cross for his bravery.
Sunlight through stained glass:
names of the war dead dappled
in crimson and gold.
Cornered by brown dog,
fox cub acquires fighting skills.
Boundary dispute.
This is my first video ever, so please excuse the quality. Today’s learning curve — transferring a video from my camera on to my PC, converting the file from AV1 to wmp, and uploading it on to YouTube. Now I know how to do these three things, I can dream about making a book promotion video in the next couple of years. (note: that last statement is an example of positive thinking)
You’ll see from video that my dog and the cub begin by having a long staring contest, followed by a confrontation that’s all bark and no bite. From watching this feisty cub close up, I’ve decided wild animals, even when they’re five-weeks’ old, are not sweet and cuddly things. Just nobody put their fingers near a cub’s mouth, or you might come away minus a few digits.
I telephoned the local animal rescue people to check whether they needed to move the cub to safety, but they said leave it for 12 hours as the mother vixen is probably moving her litter one-by-one and has deposited her cub in a safe place (bad choice) and will return to collect her cub later. Good news, she collected her cub by midday, so I don’t have to contend with another sleepless night while my dog overturns chairs in the kitchen and bays through the kitchen window at foxes crossing her territory to move dens. Let’s hope the vixen has finished transporting her cubs now, and doesn’t decide to deposit another one behind my garden shed this evening. And just so you can all go “ah, isn’t it sweet” here is a still I took of the cub.
If you go down to the woods today
You’re sure of a big surprise.
If you go down to the woods today
You’ll find one bear in disguise.
The rudest bear that ever there was,
shuns good company, because
Today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic.
CHORUS:
Fasting time for Teddy Bear,
The mouldy old recluse is having a grouchy time today.
Watch him, catch him unaware,
And see him starving on his own today.
See him glumly stick about.
He hates to play and shout,
but be weighed down by his cares.
At six o’clock his grandchildren come
To take him home to bed,
because he’s a sad old teddy bear.
If you go down to the woods today,
You’d better not go alone.
There’s one cross bear in the woods today,
So safer to stay at home.
The rudest bear that ever there was,
shuns good company, because
Today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic.
REPEAT CHORUS:
This old bear that’s hidden out,
Is sure of hunger today.
There’s only bark and beetles to eat,
and miserable thoughts to play.
Inside a tree where nobody sees,
He hides his bulk without any please,
‘Cause that’s the way to avoid a teddy bear picnic.
REPEAT CHORUS:
Sarah Potter Writes 