To Your Children

 

Do you like a short, entertaining, realistic story with a lesson that's there to find,

or the fantastical, mythical, happy ever after with cultural value in the lines

Do you like a story set in the real world with ordinary folk like you and me,

or an allegory,  fairy tale,  of witches, dragons, elves, talking animals, and strange  creatures coming out of the sea

Maybe you like a parable or fable that you need to think about, 

and get the morals in the lines, or one that begins 'once upon a time' with a happy ending, where there is no doubt.

For whether it's the Good Samaritan, Narnia or Little Red Riding Hood,

keep reading them to your children and  childrens children, for they'll  think and smile, dream, wonder, and help to make them good.

Clancy Boys

 Renewing of water pipes Kilmington village, East Devon, 2026

Clancy Boys have come to town

Clancy Boys drilling all around

Singy voices in  orange attire

Travelling daily Welsh valleys far

Now pipes renewed, aqua flowing 

Villagers relieved, South West Water crowing

No more outages to attend

For the Clancy boys  have made the mends.☺️

Hope For The Nations

Your gospel O Lord is the only hope for the nations

Your gospel O Lord in this land

Good news for all in every kind of situation

For the whole world is in your hands.

Broken down walls, the mighty have fallen

How we have turned and grieved your heart

Forgive, restore, in Spirit and truth Lord,

We worship you, set us apart.

Chorus:

Come Holy Spirit Come

On earth your kingdom come

Refining fire, refreshing rain

Rushing wind, come again.   rpt

Jesus you're the way, the truth and the life

Now and forever more

No one comes to God except through you 

The Lord of life welcomes one and all

So, by your grace, your love and power 

We'll fulfil your purpose in our day

Changed into your likeness, your church arises,

And til your return, we say

Good And Faithful Servant

 He was 16 when we set out on his final journey, and i reflected on all that faithful service he had given me at our home in Bath and then latterly here in Devon. What a worker, never complained, full of life, completely responsive,  got me out of many a mucky situation, he was really a faithful companion.

 And now as I climbed the steps and gently lowered him in  I simply said thank you, you have been a big part of my life, regularly by my side, I will never forget you.....my DC05 Dyson vacuum cleaner.

Beans

Acknowledging celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 'Bang In Some Beans' campaign to address rising diet-related health problems and the environmental impact of food choices.

You are what you eat

You know what I mean

For a balanced diet 

Just bang in some  beans.

Carbs, proteins, fibre, fat, regime,

Vitamins, water, mins, the seven supreme,

Legumes, lentils, peas are green, 

And for good measure, bang in some beans.

Upping our fibre helps your gut, weight, 

Blood-sugar regime,

Fruits, nuts, veg, whole grains, are cool, 

Just remember to bang in some beans.

And not just baked beans but  chickpeas too- they'll keep you regular😉

Black beans, flageolet, haricot, kidney, edamame, butter beans, cannellini and navy beans too 

They're cheap,  so when you are cooking

Just remember...you know what to do

And whether you're vegan, veggie, flexi, Mediterranean, keto, paleo, Atkins, gluten free, bulletproof, carnivore or, dare I say, a 'normal' foodie

Don't be a has bean, bang in some beans!

Devon Lanes

 

Late April, East Devon. Reads well with pastoral music such as Elgar's Chanson De Matin wafting in the background.

Walk the lanes, take the air, clear the head,stretch those legs, walk them, walk  those ancient ways, familiar yet something new, across Cory Brook, fruity farmyard smells, lush pastures freshly cut silage,  mewing Devon Reds out of winter quarters, bleating lambs with their mothers basking in the morning sun.

Walk the lanes, walk them, walk  those ancient ways, campion, greater stitchwort, herb robert, clouds of cow parsley banks of native blue bell either side waving me on my way in the gentle breeze , squeeze in for a milk tanker then the clip clop of a passing rider on their charge, pleasantries exchanged with a ruddy faced farmer arriving to check on stock, wiggling River Yarty comes into view, myriad hues of illuminated green,may flower,  blossom, hedgerows clipped, darting swallows, skylark, birds song everywhere, cockerel sounding hens rooting in the yard, hamlets, ancient bridges, tumble down outbuildings, and catching the scent of lilac and wisteria dressed cottages

Yes walk the lanes, walk them, walk  those ancient ways, turn at Crandons Cross and head towards Bedlam Lane but then take a footpath along the Yarty, quiet, few if any people, an elusive woodpecker knocking, rest awhile, peacock butterfly  settles and then is away, sun catching the rivulets in mini cascades,  blankets of yellow buttercups descending to the river, rejoin the lane, high banks rising up like a tunnel to Westwater, highpoint, a vista, open skies,  the town below, Minster standing  sentinel.

And so to home refreshed, renewed, I will  walk those  lanes again, walk them, walk  those ancient ways.

Inspiration

 Finnish composer Jean Sibelius's Fifth Symphony Eb Major  1914-15

And so he sat and wrote "Today I saw 16 swans. God, what beauty! They circled over me for a long time. Disappeared into the solar haze like a silver ribbon'.

Inspiration ignites the creative flame and so captured by one of the great experiences of his life,  he began the grand theme, finale to a symphony sublime.

Strings fluttering, confused, unsettled, answering back, lifting  in palindromic rotations,  increasing intensity, spiral circles, climbing higher and higher, 'until finally like the sun parting the clouds, the brass arrive to put things on an even keel'¹.

 Orchestral ecstasy, a conductor's dream,ending in dramatic defiance,a statement of beauty defying conflict-pow! pow! pow! pow! ... pu-pow! 

¹Conductor Leonard Bernstein description

Anything New?-A Poet's Quest

 I want to write something special

Something that will stand the test of time 

Something that cuts through the everyday

That future generations say

Wow, that's a cool sweet rhyme!

But hasnt it all been said, written, sung 

And is it true there's nothing new under the sun

I cannot rest, here we go an idea, 

Way in, spark, has just begun.

So what is it that makes us want to write, create

We don't want to rely on AI to replicate

Is it not in our DNA for as our maker says 

'See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it'

 I look and listen, I believe it.

And though I'm no poet laurete and sure won't make the nations favourite lines

'If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, and blaming it on you' would be a great one, but it's Kipling's not mine.

I take my hat off to the Shakespeares, Wordsworths, Betjemans of this world 

and  keep plugging away,

Yeah, make the most of  what I'm given, be thankful 

And simply pen what comes my way.

What Would They Say

What Would They Say

 In loving memory of John Barrass Fox 3.2.1937-15.1.2026.   Acts 10. v42

My much loved Uncle John died the other day,

Died in his bed overnight, full of years, suddenly slipped away.

He'd been caring for his wife my Auntie Anne,

But didn't appear that day,

Time went by, the alarm was raised, and they found him as I say.

He was a lovely man, quite eccentric,

With a beard in which you could nest in

And wore shorts, even on Christmas Day.

I wrote a card to the family ,so many memories,  

There'll be a service on the way.

Of course moments like this make me think again about my life, and what would they say?

Of our own mortality, and to make the most of each and every day.

I hope they'd say, he was a good man too, even wore shorts like his  Uncle John and remember him on Christmas Day.

But mark this and mark it well, at the ending of our days

The  only one who counts for you and I is what the Lord Jesus has to say.

What Can I Say

 What Can I Say

A song that sums up Psalm 139

V1

What can I say, What can I do, 

Where can I go from your  loving presence    rpt

Chorus

You know it all, you planned it all

Almighty God

You know it all, and I give my all

To the Holy One

V2

Every thought, Every plan

Each day that lies before me    rpt

Chorus 

Mid 8

In the highs, and in the lows     BM C

In the joy and  tears.    Bm C

You're changing me day by day,    Bm C

Into the likeness of your son    Am F

To be a part of your church and what's to come. Am F

To see your glory shine D

Chorus and rpt

Crime Drama

Crime Drama

It seems we like a crime drama, arm chair detectives many are we.

My wife prides herself in sussing it out and is usually far ahead of me.

There's  always a new one on the tele to feed  that  desire within- good against evil, justice, getting the baddie-  it could be a Thin Blue Line comedy, something gritty, violent behind the sofa time, real fly on the wall docu- what have The Met done now, a Scandi dark one, heist, courtroom, who dunnit Morse,  or a cosy Marple,  Midsomer Murder- who'd live in that village,  and then there's  the one who got away, remember The Shawshank Redemption, that twist reveal, I remember it to this day.

Don't know about you but I grew up with Kojak- 'who loves you baby' (suck lollipop if you have one), Starsky and Hutch, Ironside, seems like nothings changed, as we watch the latest at our firesides.

Could go on and talk about crime novels such as Dostoevsky's Crime & Punishment and then the real life criminals- The Wests, Sutcliffe, Shiphams of this world. 

But theres one crime in history that stands out to me; The one where we all had a hand in the death, and it's not Agatha's Murder On the Orient Express in case you're thinking, no, it was  the innocent one, who carried the can, that you and I may go free.

I Told You

I Told You- the joys of getting older 

What are you doing this afternoon? 

Going to town to pick it up, I told you

You didn't tell me it was ready

I did

You didn't 

I'm worried that I told you and you didn't remember

I'm more worried that you think you told me when you clearly didn't. 

I know, let's  just forget it then and not worry about it

So you ARE going into town then?

Yes darling, if you say so.....