What Is The Point?

 Catherine’s Retirement & Resurrection Lunch. Easter, 2023- there was fizz😄

What Is The Point?

What is the point of a
Birthday without the candles
Celebration without the fizz
Retirement without a send off
Life without a purpose
Actor without a stage

What's the point of
Christmas without a virgin birth
Easter without a resurrection
Mountain without a summit
Tunnell with no ending
Ship with no rudder
A problem with no solution

And as for
Effort but no power
Sowing without reaping
Plant without water
Bud but no flower
Blossom but no fruit
Forgiven without forgiving
Shown mercy without being merciful

Oh and
Justice without mercy
Giving without receiving
Loved without loving
Sheep with no shepherd
Served but not willing to serve

And even
Of a longing not fulfilled
An absence of war but no peace
A Saviour but not being saved
End of life without eternity
Eternity without a heaven
What IS the point?

A Short Poultry Story- Life On The Plot

 Loved keeping hens over the years, you can wile away the hours just watching them

Life On The Plot

 A paltry poultry story by Paul Bright. Dec 2010

We were glad to get away from the farm i can tell you- no not that farm at Langley CIA HQ silly; I mean Paxcroft Farm the other side of Trowbridge!  1500 of us cooped up in that barn, so getting selected was pretty smart, don’t you think?  We just got grabbed by the legs and stuffed in a box actually, not the correct way to handle a bird! Cor can remember that day like yesterday, it was so hot in that box coming across to Bath in the car, I tried to tell the little girl, Molly’s her name I think, to give us some more air but she didn’t want to know, I think she was a bit scared of us initially with our big feet, flappy wings and sharp beaks. You know crammed in like that with my new buddies I had to keep my beak open just to breathe.

Well, we soon arrived on ‘the plot’ as we now call it, a small secluded allotment site surrounded by houses, nevertheless, with the greenery etc we don’t feel overlooked as we need our privacy when performing our ‘daily miracle’, yea we like it there and feel well settled. Took a few days to sus out the place, however, bearing in mind that big barn we came from and don’t forget we’re only youngsters, POL- point of lay dummy,  and learning the ropes. Anyway we were put in this ark and run on ‘the plot’ under the plum tree, and didn’t know we had to go down the ladder to get out, so we were stuck up there until the people took us down. Same when it was time for bed we just thought we would be carried up like kids but no, had to do it ourselves- got it sorted now, bit of independence like.

I am glad we were given names by the people because it means we won’t be eaten, least we hope not- we did hear one of the people say they would put us in the pot after the first year and it doesn’t pay to keep hens after their second laying season- we’ll take our chance, 4-5 years would be a good life. We’ve got our private names of course but to you I’m Eeny, the dark one and top of the pecking order and my buddies are Meeny, Miny and Moe, something about a rhyme, or something.

You probably want to know what breed we are- Highline one of the coolest layers going, none of our fancy cousins like Buff Orpington who strut around the place, look pretty but don’t produce the goods. It would be nice to have a bit of male company such as a Leghorn  cockerel to keep us in order, we do like to misbehave, and have a few kids running about the place- can’t believe the number of people who don’t know how chickens are made. But we know it would upset the neighbours and it’s against the allotment regs anyway- ‘cattle, dogs and poultry shall not be kept in such places or in such a manner as to be a nuisance or annoyance to the inhabitants’- sounding off at 3am on a summer’s morning wouldn’t do would it?

Now we soon got a daily routine established- up with the sun, come down, bit of a pooh, drink and feed, house cleaning, back up for the ‘miracle’- now that can be a pressure because only two of us can get in the nesting box at one time and if you can’t wait your have to lay it carefully on the landing! Once the egg has been discharged you can take it easy and have a preen, that’s a personal clean, fluffy bottoms and all that- we go mad after wet weather when there is a bit of sun coming through. We need to preen the old feathers with the waxy stuff using the gland at the base of our vent at the top of the tail, to waterproof the feathers again. We like a bit of grit too to help the digestion, you see grit in the gizzard acts like teeth for us-‘like hen’s teeth’ get it? We haven’t got any! The people tend to come up in the afternoon and are pretty good on cleaning us out, getting the goods of course and letting us have a run around and stretch our legs. A balanced layers meal is just the ticket for us, ok like cats the same every day, and we prefer the organic type. Greens-yep more the merrier and even a bit of pasta or rice- eh some wise crack said we could be chicken tikka masala, sure!!! 

Blue the black cat with the bent ear is a bit of a pain and stalks us; we tolerate him and show whose boss by making noises and flapping our wings at him. Monty the other one is much more sensible and just watches us from a distance.

We like to grub around, especially when the ground has been freshly dug, but have to be careful though, and not get in the way of the spade or fork- it’s not nice on the foot you know! We like to wander and ended once up over the fence in the next door garden.  The people haven’t clipped our wings so we like to fly low and whizz around like a harrier. We do like a good dust bath especially in the poly tunnel alongside the tomatoes where the soil is warm and fine- keeps our plumage healthy, cool in hot weather and those nasty insect pests at bay. We’re not too keen on the wind and rain that’s why we really appreciate the people putting us in the poly tunnel over winter, smart move. Even then the water has frozen over on occasions and its tough breaking it through.

They usually coax us in with some corn –fall for it nearly every time but occasionally give them the run round. Might have a final drink before bed, and then at dusk it’s time to go up the ladder and into the house for  TV, knitting, watch a film like Chicken Run etc before wing over the head and settle down for the night on the bar.

Now i gotta explain a bit more about the ‘daily miracle’. The people say it is  ‘a miracle’ every time we lay one- they’re right of course- a miracle as you know is  ‘An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin or an act of God: One that excites admiring awe’. Our eggs are beautifully packaged and one can recycle the shell in all sorts of ways. Eggs last a long time, you don’t have to keep them in the fridge by the way, and as for value for money, I cost £7, well there is the cost of the feed but think how many I lay- for instance 1 a day, hardly miss,  that’s hundreds in a year, thousand or so in a life time!

Listen a few facts about  eggs, you need to follow this closely, it’s a bit technical- eggs develop one by one in us and become detached and slip into the oviduct- along a twisted tube ending in the vent or anus through which our droppings and eggs pass on leaving the body. You see the oviduct is in two parts. In the first portion the white or albumen is deposited around the yolk of the egg- takes 3-5hrs and in the second part of the oviduct the shell is made which is another 15hrs, got to get the packaging right for the customer otherwise it’s a mess, oh and there’s no date on it, you have to do that yourself- so you see we’ve always got one on the go. Sometimes we do a double yoker just for a laugh. Recently Meeny laid a 100g egg a real whopper. (3.5oz) 

As yet we haven’t had any hassle from the fox and keep pretty well thanks. We only start to moult after 12months beginning early autumn and haven’t been tempted or tested with getting broody, feather eating, egg eating, egg binding, prolapses, common colds, roup, cramp, liver disease, fowl cholera, crop bound, or Newcastle disease whatever that is!  On Guy Fawkes Night our owners had made a bonfire and we overheard someone say to them you could have roast chicken- not funny!

What  do we contribute?-  fresh manure for sure, the very best you can get- per bird per day is over 90g (4oz)- in fact if you had 100 birds you would make nearly four tons a year, think about that...deep pooh! Our eggs are freeish range- £1.20 half doz to you, normally £1.76 check out the colour of the yoke, oh and let’s not forget creating amusement, pleasure- we’ve quite a repertoire of sounds, don’t mind being picked up and stroked, we keep the bugs down, make the new neighbours feel welcome and grub over their freshly dug ground.

Well, time to wind up, why don’t you come up and see us sometime, we’ll show you around the plot and if you have time then join us for a meal. On the menu this week is a smoked salmon soufflé starter, Lancashire Tart main course, accompanied by  fresh veg from the plot, and for pud a choice of chocolate roulade, crème caramel or pavlova- all with fresh eggs of course! Yeah come on up, we’re always in!

PS. Post meal entertainment: The World's Longest List of Chicken Sayings...! http://www.chickenvideo.com/sayings.html

A Short Drama for Christmas for family and friends -Blood On The Snow

 

Blood on the snow

 Light Christmas drama story, narrated with props, audience sits in circle in the dark. 2001

  

This is the story of the one eyed mountaineer Berg Schmit, here’s his other eye (pass round wet marble or pickled onion).

One day he went mountain walking with his friend of many years standing Rabin Ravine. It was winter and snowy (pass snow/wet/ice cubes).

 

One thing Berg always did when going out was to take his small pet rat called Nibbles (pass mouse).

They climbed higher and higher through the forest (pass fern) and past mountain cattle and sheep (sound of sheep/cows-toy), towards the shelf ridge which they could clearly see through the binoculars (pass bins).

 

Now unknown to Berg, Rabin was heavily in debt over a business transaction. He was so desperate, and knowing of Berg’s wealth, and that he lived alone, he decided there and then to kill him. He would then impersonate Berg, take his funds from the bank account and no one would know.

 

By now they were walking across a crevasse and Rabin seized the moment by stabbing him in the back of the neck with the end of a ski pole (pass ski pole). Berg fell forward in agony and Rabin then hurriedly picking up a rock repeatedly rained blows on his head, rendering him unconscious (pass rock).He thought he was dead. Rabin had to hide the body so that he would never be found and so pushed him down into the crevasse. Little did he know however was that Berg was alive and lodged on a ledge out of sight 20 feet down. After a couple of hours he came too and immediately took some survival tablets (pass tablets).  He knew he had to get out soon as the wound to his head was becoming gangrenous and smelt awful (pass stilton cheese). Even Nibbles was getting interested, he was so hungry. His fingers were hard to the core (pass carrot).

 

Then he thought Nibbles was his only chance and decided to tie a note to him with the location. He sent him up the crevasse and was gone. Nibbles had to find human help, he knew that. Walkers were often passing by this popular route and Nibbles hadn’t gone far when he bumped into someone (pass mouse with note).

 

Help soon arrived at the top of the crevasse and Berg could signal his location with his torch (flash torch).The rescuers lay down a rope (pass rope) and Berg was quickly pulled clear. One of the rescuers had a walkie talkie and called in a red cross helicopter with doctor(radio talk). The doctor immediately gave Berg a morphine injection to ease the pain (pass loaded syringe of water) and he was then transported to Innsbruck Hospital.

 

It was decided immediately to operate and Berg could smell the clinical smell of the operating theatre (pass TCP/Surgical spirit on cotton wool) whilst the surgeons were gowning up (pass plastic gloves). The operation was risky and surgeons had to pull the skin away from the brain, exposing the brain itself (pass part cauliflower/cabbage). They completed by using a stapler and scissors (pass stapler and scissors).

 

Berg was in the recovery room and was able to speak for the first time-life was coming back. He told the nurse in attendance everything about Rabin who was later arrested (pass handcuffs) and convicted of attempted murder……

 

….Oh but sorry to say Nibbles didn’t survive and died from frost bite (pass mouse).

 

What is the moral of the story? Don’t take your pets for granted, you never know when they might come in, however small, and may even save your life .    

A Short Story- Bees Behaving Badly

 

Bees Behaving Badly

Paul Bright 2002

 

‘Eat honey my son for it is good: honey from the comb is sweet to the taste, know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul.’ Proverbs 24.13.

 

Well there they were on the beautiful Llyn Peninsula of North Wales, it’s the long finger of land that thrusts out towards Ireland if you don’t know. Basing themselves in their friend’s holiday cottage called Ty Pen, which means end house, at Nefyn an un commercialised historic little town famous in the past for its shipbuilding and herring fleet, Paul and Catherine’s minds were buzzing with a list of things they needed for the week. Taking a trip to the local Spar they decided there was still one item missing for the two honey monsters…. a jar or two of the local nectar!

 

Making a beeline for a cottage situated nearby in the delightful little village of Edern they knew of a family who sold at the door and from whom Paul and Catherine had bought some honey cone from last year.

 

The door was answered by a tall thin lady with long, finely combed hair and done up in cone like fashion held by a red clasp. From within there was a buzzing sound of children and plates clattering and it immediately became clear it was tea time with the brood swarming round the table, tucking into a tasty dish like bees round a honey pot.

 

The lady called out to her husband ‘sweetheart there’s someone who wants to buy honey’. ‘Okay my queen, coming’, came the reply from deep within. Paul apologised for calling at such a busy time, ‘Oh no’, she said, ‘we’re used to flying into action at a moment’s notice, nature of the business’. 

 

Mr Haywood the beekeeper came to the door, a man in his forties with suntanned complexion and wearing round-rimmed glasses resembling compound eyes. He was holding a couple of pots of liquid gold…wildflower and heather honey, which he had taken from his store at the bottom of the stairs.

 

The beekeeper had a cold, evidenced by him blowing a runny nose, however, on being asked how the bees were he started waxing lyrical about the years he had been an apiarist. In fact we learnt later that he was the bee inspector for the area and would visit other beekeepers to check on their broods and produce.

 

At one point Mr Haywood confessed that when he had the bees at home he got into trouble with the neighbours and had to move them to an ‘out apiary’ site. On enquiring why he described that when the bees took off together they always went on the same flight path over his neighbour’s car and rhetorically asked, ‘do you know what the first thing bees do when they take off?’ No what are the first thing bees do when they take off?  He said ‘they open their bowels and their droppings set like enamel and in this case over the neighbour’s new car. My neighbour was beside himself with anger and so I had to move them’.    

 

By this time the beekeeper was droning on somewhat and Paul and Catherine wanted to settle up. They were told the honey was a set price at £3.50 a jar, but more expensive at the shop a few doors away where the proprietor tended to hive off some profit. Paul and Catherine thought they had been stung as back home in Bath one could get it at the local greengrocers for £2.20 for 454grams, which is 1lb for those who still like to think that way.  Catherine concluded ‘well if it keeps one worker in business I believe its worth it, lets be off and taste and see!’.

  

THE END

 

Honey               Honing             Honig                Miel                 Mel Pur

PS. I  later had the wonderful experience of  learning to keep bees 'out apiary' on a nearby farm. 

A Short Story- Bruce The Christmas Spruce

 A short story to Catherine,  niece Claire and nephew Tom. December 1988

Bruce the Christmas Spruce

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!

 

So the words whistled in the wind around the forest, high up in the glen.

 

Bruce the Scottish spruce knew as well as any, having seen it all before, but this year he had a feeling things were going to be different. Standing ten feet tall he was truly a fine pine, braving the worst storms and providing shelter for creatures below.

 

Bruce could now see the workers approaching armed with saws and spades, ready to take the Christmas stock of trees. A hush fell upon the forest and a sapling was heard to say to his older neighbour,

 

‘I don’t want to go, don’t let them cut me down’

 

‘Stop pining!’  Came the reply, ‘this is what you were planted for!’

 

Bruce had his needles crossed as the men worked nearby. The sound of the saw sent shivers down his pine, and yes he was right, it was going to be different this year….it was his turn!

 

The saw was put to the bottom of the tree and Bruce closed his eyes in despair for what was to come.

 

‘Don’t cut me down, don’t cut me down’, he cried.

 

At that moment the man stopped as though someone had spoken to him and he put the saw down, picked up a spade and dug Bruce up roots and all!

Bruce could not contain his relief and thanked the man for the chance to live.

 

It was a bumpy journey in the back of the trailer with all those Christmas trees- it gave him pins and needles, Soon,however, Bruce could see the town lights and the hustle and bustle of Christmas shoppers.

 

‘Where am I going, who is going to buy me, oh I want to live’. These were the thoughts that filled his mind.  

 

‘£10, huh, I thought I was worth more than that, still I’ll be a bargain for someone’.

 

And no sooner had he said this than a couple picked him up and put him in the back of their Land rover. On the journey Bruce had company too. Claire and Tom talked excitedly of how they were going to decorate the tree. They were really nice; perhaps things were not going to be so bad after all.  

 

Bruce looked a picture in the drawing room even though he didn’t believe in fairies and would have preferred an angel on top. The white lights sparkled and really set him off. For a moment he saw himself waltzing across the floor with Ruth, an old friend in the forest- what a sweet fragrance she had!

 

Soon the Christmas festivities were in full swing and Bruce loved every minute, especially covering up the presents on the tree with his branches so that Claire and Tom had difficulty finding them.

 

On New Years day though Bruce felt really unwell and it wasn’t due to too much Christmas pudding that was for sure. His needles were dropping like nine pins and he needed water quickly if he was to survive- had the family forgotten he was alive?

 

Bruce started counting the days of Christmas on what was left of his needles, but his pining must have been heard for as the family sang ‘On the 12^th day of Christmas’, Claire said

 

‘Come on we’re going to plant you outside and watch you grow!’

 

Bruce’s face unknotted and his shrivelled trunk creaked with sighs of relief,

 

‘A chance to live, but can I survive after losing so many needles?’

 

Luckily the family were keen gardeners and gave Bruce FIRst Aid and he not only survived but grew into the finest Scots Pine in the land. 

Birds and small creatures would come from afar just to nest in his branches, and what he loved more than anything was when Claire and Tom climbed right to the top of the tree, that really tickled. But little did they know that as the children looked out they could see the forest he came from, and his heart went out to that place.

 

One night Bruce had a dream that he was back in the forest with his friends and it was Christmas again. This time though he didn’t hear the whistle in the wind…

 

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!

 

No, it was a new sound, that was vibrant and exciting….

  

Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming!

 

Then the trees started singing with joy….

 (Isaiah 55)

 

‘Oh he comes to judge the earth

He will judge the world in righteousness

And the peoples in truth 

(Psalm 96:12)

 

The noise became louder and louder as a mighty wind blew through the forest causing the branches to rustle with joy. A shout went up and then Bruce saw an amazing thing….the trees actually started to clap their branches, singing again and again the words he had heard, as they swayed together in the wind.  ‘Oh he comes to judge the earth……’

 

Bruce was so excited his needles stood on end and he just felt he had to join in, swaying to and fro. Oh how he wanted the dream to go on forever.

 

Suddenly he stopped… and realised it wasn’t a dream at all… but that it was actually happening. He knew then that it really would go on forever and ever. 

 

(Finish with chorus- You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace and the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you. There’ll be shouts of joy and the trees of the fields shall clap, shall clap their hands.

And the trees of the field shall clap their hands and the trees of the field shall clap their hands, and the trees of the field shall clap their hands, and you’ll go out with joy. Songs of Fellowship 640)

 

THE END

There Was A Young Virgin

What does Christmas mean to you?    December 2012

There was a young Virgin

There was a young virgin, a Nazarene

Pledged to Joseph who had a dream

The child she would bear, 'God with us' there

The world through him would redeem

 

To Bethlehem travel and register

They could find no place to rest for her

When time for the birth, there was only the earth

Out the back was best they could do for her

 

The shepherds were shocked at the news

Even the sheep were looking bemused

But the angel was right and there in the night

The baby in manger they viewed

 

Wise men travelled in from the east

And asked Herod where was the feast

The feast of the king born King of the Jews

We’ve followed his star from the east

 

To the house the star came to rest

The wise men entered and blessed

Blessed and worshipped the child there lay

And gifts they gave of their best

 

Eight days passed, to the temple they went

Named Jesus and the cut underwent

Prophetic manna from Simeon and Anna

Blessed them as Galilee bent

 

When Herod realised he'd been outplayed

By the Magi who'd gone on their way

The boys were slaughtered, he gave the order

There was weeping and wailing for days

 

Then Joseph warned in a dream

Took child and Mary unseen

From Bethlehem fled, to Egypt led

Away from Herod’s cruel scheme

 

In time an angel appeared

There was now no need for fear

To Nazareth led they made their bed

In wisdom and grace he was reared.

....The child she would bear, 'God with us' there

The world through him would redeem

In The Resurrection

  Reflecting on the death of The Queen and Liz Chatfield and others Sept 2022.

In the Resurrection. 

The Queen is in the resurrection

With the angels

Saved into your loving presence

Life for eternity 

And Rod's there, Liz, Graham, Ivor, Alex too

Dad's in the resurrection, and Grandpa, Grandma, Auntie Marjorie.

Begonia's there with Simon, and Quintus, Roger, Margaret, Linda and Jill

And Billy's in the resurrection, with Corrie, Dietrich, John, Lydia, Cornelieus, Paul, Cephas, Thomas, and 

millions more...Mary, Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, Moses, Noah...

There with the angels in your loving presence

Life for eternity, And you too?

When We Get To Heaven

 I am sure there will be some surprises in the new heaven and earth,  and will our pets be with us?June 2020. Can visualise Catherine in heaven with all the cats on her.

When We Get To Heaven

 

When we get to heaven

Who's going to sit on your lap

Who's going to fill that position  

Where it's warm to have a cat nap

 

Which of our honourable felines

Down through all the years

Will ascend this special throne 

The favourite one so dear

 

Amelia Barrass Fox 

Was first to us you see

Educated at Aunties learned home

A classic furry taxonomy 

 

Next Charlie would have a claim 

Bought at a price with the house 

Thrown in free 

A hit with the lodgers but diabetic,

Now he's running free 

 

But what about Sparky, black lamb

And Catherine's best friend, 

With a jealous streak she was number one

From beginning to the very end 

 

Yet, her 'brother'

The noble Earl Grey 

A Russian Blue who strode like Aslan

Surely, he would have his say

 

Finally, the cat who walks by herself

And wandered in to stay

Mia Belle or Mimi, striped mackerel tabby

Usually gets her way

 

Enough roars Aslan in heaven

There is room for all without jealousies,  

For the lion lies down with the lamb

Simple, like cats’ eyes, it will be.

 

 

Robin

 We can learn  from the Robin, ever present gardener's friend and when things are adverse, still sings.

Robin

As storm clouds gather, nature braces,
Takes cover once again
Yet take heart from the ever-present robin
Still singing in the rain.

Undesirable Members Of The Family

With thanks to my gardening friend Rowan all he taught me, and no offence intended to the trees and animals- in their place fine! Oct 2020. Oh and we can add Box moth caterpillar to the list- its just destroyed my box hedging!! April 2023

Undesirable Members of The Family

 

Hazel and Ivy, are sisters with a lot to answer for,

You can coppice and cut them, but they'll still come back with more.

 

Mares tail and bindweed sneak underground,

And given half a chance they'll cover you, and choke all around

 

Cousin Couch is a lawn best not fed,

Dig him and burn him or bin him instead

 

Watch those sycamore, ash, and oak babies go,

Soon you'll have a forest, so stop them before they grow

 

And those little pests and diseases, blights and mites

Be on them in the morning, tea break, noon and night.

 

Dont forget our friends deer, badger, rabbit and moley

Given half a chance they’ll leave your garden chewed and holey.

 

Nearly there, but mustn't forget our brother tough boy bamboo,

He burns hot and fast, so dig him out- you know what to do

 

Finally, those distant kin Himalayan balsam and the dreaded Japanese knotweed, 

If you have or your selling up........ don't call me!

 

Smokey Joe

 Had great fun helping my niece at Watford boatyard scrape and re bitumen her boat. July 2021

Smokey Joe

Smokey Joe's Jessica's boat

Long and narrow, home afloat

All things green with a compost loo

Where gerbils have the run right through

 

And now she's had her bottom scraped

Painted ballistic black as slate

Back in the water and the London scene

Why pay rent when you live the dream

A Whisper

Getting to know the Holy Spirit 

A Whisper

 

It's a whisper, whisper

A flicker, just a thought,

So gentle, landing like a butterfly

A feeling, a growing thought

 

 Not flying away, now listening closely

 Getting stronger, is this something, is it true

Is it loving, of your Word,

My heart quickens, I see it, it is you

 

Oh not to miss the moment, shall I shaln’t I,

Is it now, is it later, what am I to do

I cannot rest until it's settled:

It is done, it is given, peace returns in you

Change

 How do we deal with change? The iconic Branscombe Pearl was the last fishing boat at Branscombe Beach and left for pastures new down the coast when its owner retired. 2021

Change

The tree's cut down, Maggie died

And the Pearl has gone

Things happen, change, time moves on

But the sun rises once again,
The tide will come in
And Gromwell flowers,

Promise of new things.

Terrorising The Neighbourhood

Growing up seems to happen very fast in nature, a matter of survival, and  young Peregrine falcons are a sight to behold. Peregrines are the fastest member of the animal kingdom with a diving speed of more than 200 mph.  Hooken Cliff, Branscombe, East Devon. 1st July 2022.

Terrorising The Neighbourhood

Young, keen, hungry, green, learning the ropes
Sweeping the cliff, screeching, mobbing pairs, jets in sky, speeding high
In hunt fatigue bristling talons and beak, eyes stare, into the stoop,
Dropping,
Dropping like a stone.
Watch out!

Cats Don't Close Doors

Our cat is a bit like the Rum Tum Tugger in TS Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats-when she is out she wants to be in, when she is in she wants to be out- and she doesn't close doors! 

Cats Don't Close Doors

 

Cats don't close doors
They open them with a flick of the paw
Or nuzzle into rooms at mine or yours
They pounce and leap, twist and turn,
Know all the moves there are to learn
They're curious (twist of the head),

And do a hundred clever things and more,
But cats don't close doors

When Things Get Tricky In The Family

On Catherine’s 60^th Birthday celebration lunch with friends at The Bath Priory Hotel 25^th Sept 2021. Proverbs 17.7

When Things Get Tricky in The Family 

When things get tricky in the family

You're hurt and start to see red

When there's fallings out, misunderstandings

The next contact we begin to dread

Friends soothe the troubled waters

With a listening ear

Friends bring relief and strengthen you

In laughter and in tears

When things get desperate in the family

And even angels fear to tread

When you have done all you can

But still toss and turn in bed

Friends come in like lifeguards

And throw you a rescue line

They pull you in to a better place

There to give you time

Friends, and family

How precious are the two.

And as they say, 'a friend in need is a friend indeed',

There, just for you.