“Daisies are our silver, Buttercups our gold: This is all the treasure We can have or hold.” Thus runs a children’s hymn I remember from Sunday School in the 50s and early 60s. Innocent and charming, it was written by Jan Struther, to be sung to the tune…
Category: words
Early this morning, the alarm woke me from sleep to see the last complete lunar eclipse visible from the UK for about 10 years. When I first looked up at about 4:15, slightly less than half of the moon’s face was bright, and the rest a dull mark…
…. one of those words you hardly ever need, but when you do, you do. It is the smell of wet earth after rain – not usually noteworthy in our damp Atlantic climate here in Devon, but after weeks of parching sun and wind, we now have a…
Every so often, I come across the remains of a buzzard kill. The edge of our stream seems to be a favoured spot. We have a pair of buzzards who nest locally, and their favourite prey seems to be the wood pigeon. I’ve heard the chick(s) calling for…
They are tedding the hay in the field behind our garden today – we’ve had such a cool wet summer so far this is the first time it’s really felt like summer (i.e. hot and dry). Hay is best made in June, but mid-July it will have to…
Many years ago, we were lucky enough to loan a dapple grey Welsh gelding called Ollie, who was a real sweetie. One summer’s night, we took my Mum and Dad for a walk to our field to see him, and I still remember vividly what a wonderful experience…
So farewell then, Neil Armstrong Childhood hero, and Coiner of that famous phrase. With one small step you shuffled off Your mortal coil, And took a giant leap Into eternity. Tranquillity Base – the Eagle has taken off, Into the wild blue yonder. (After E J Thribb.)
A worthy contender for the “Who writes this crap?” award. This article on the BBC news web site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14306146 is a mix of sensationalist technobabble, misconceptions and plain tosh. It’s hard to believe that a “technology reporter” is actually paid to write stuff like this. Did you know…
I never thought of the origin of this phrase before, but today, I was outside at just after 6. The sky was a dark inky blue starting to lighten to a sullen grey in the south, and apart from the distant roar of the surf, all I could…