I met a poorly squirrel
now what could rhyme with that
I asked what she was doing there
and then we had a chat
Suggested she move somewhere safe
and not stay on the ground
I even helped her start to climb
close by where she was found
I came back later she was there
looking much the same
I do not think that she’ll survive
it really is a shame!
I talk to them, they talk to me
in easy stages one two three
First greet them with a bright “Good Day”
and ask them if they’ve time to stay
Then if they have, ask how they are
and have they had to travel far
Are they alone or with their spouse
Do they live in a hole or house
It’s truly magic, meeting friends
the joys of walking show no ends
Some of you may know that I go for a walk most days. I talk to the trees and anything else I encounter along the way. In these days of Covid I have changed my route and now I mostly go through fields, woodland, along the river and canal. I stay away from roads and people as much as possible!
Today I had a real bonus meeting and conversation. Apart from the cattle, horses, swans, spiders, grasshoppers, and birds, that is.
I quite often come across a dead mouse, or vole, and that’s what I saw this morning, and then……she moved. It was a teeny tiny mouse, and her name was Melissa. I know that for a fact because she told me. You may think me a little potty, nuts, crazy, or whatever. I don’t care.
I asked Melissa if I could take a few photographs to remember her by, and she agreed. In fact she was quite happy and so that her friends on Mousebook could see what a big girl she is she asked if I could put a Pound coin alongside her to compare with. A pound coin is 23.43mm diameter. That is 0.922 inches in old money!
Melissa was exploring her neighbourhood for the first time but couldn’t remember how old she was. Baby mice grow up very quickly. After just six days, they have fur and can move and squeak. After 18 days, they are ready to leave the nest. Female mice can start having babies when they are just six weeks old. They can produce 10 litters every year, with up to 12 babies in each litter.
She soon went back to the nest which was accessed by a small hole in the ground. Another of her siblings popped his head out to say a quick hello but disappeared and didn’t want his photograph taken.
Seriously though, folks, isn’t she gorgeous. So much so that I am not sharing her space with any other friends I met today.
Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday gives us the chance to share familiar, and sometimes not so familiar, songs. Jim has given us Musical/Opera this week rather than a choice of words to be included in the title or lyrics.
If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.
I’m opting for a not so familiar song this week, from a musical that is normally performed by schoolchildren. I was lucky enough to attend a performance, probably 25 years ago now. It was very moving. The children had obviously spent a huge amount of time in learning, rehearsing, and performing the 90 minute work. Afterwards I bought a cassette tape (remember those) of the performance and played it often in the car whilst travelling to and from work.
Peter Anthony Rose MBE (music) and Anne Conlon MBE (words) are British writers best known for their environmental musicals for children. They were both teachers in Lancashire, England, for the majority of their creative achievements and most of their works have been written specially for St Augustine’s RC High School, Billington. At the time Peter Rose was their head of music. They wrote with a view to expanding the children’s knowledge of the world and the environment, perhaps hoping that their seeds would fall on fertile minds and help to make the world a better place.
In 1988 the US-based World Wildlife Fund (WWF) funded the musical Yanomamo, by Rose and Conlon, to convey what is happening to the people and their natural environment in the Amazon rainforest. It tells of Yanomami tribesmen/ tribeswomen living in the Amazon and has been performed by many drama groups around the world. Sadly, lessons were not learned and the Yanomami continue to endure massacres, disease, and a loss of more and more of their environment. What appeared to be a positive awakening of their plight was very short lived. The rest of the world calls it progress!
Yanomamo is a 90-minute work for chorus, soloists, narrator and stage band, and the original production, performed by the choir and musicians of St Augustine’s RC High School, was narrated by Sir David Attenborough and premiered at the Royal Institute, London, before appearing at the Edinburgh Festival. They later performed Yanomamo in America, narrated by Sting, which production was recorded for television and later broadcast (on Easter Sunday, 1989) on Channel 4 under the title of Song of the Forest. The TV version was commercially released by WWF. Since its publication the musical has seen performances by thousands of children throughout the world.
The lyrics are on the video which, unfortunately, is not very good quality. I hope you enjoy “Song of the Forest”
Renee has hit the nail smack bang on the head with her assessment of the man pretending to be POTUS!
A predator in the animal kingdom is defined as an animal that kills or eats other animals for food. The most successful predators are not necessarily the biggest and the strongest. They are the ones with the sharpest predatory instincts. They are fast. They have heightened senses. They have good camoflage. They can attack without their prey ever sensing […]
I Know A Predator When I See One — Life in the Boomer Lane
Easter Sunday, boiler’s broke
phone the gas, they send a bloke
social distance makes it hard
shout to him across the yard
Cat goes crazy, races round
scratches bloke then goes to ground
launches right across his head
goodness me I think he’s dead
Thank the Lord he’s coming round
the cat once more has gone to ground
the boiler well and truly broken
the bloke at least has now awoken!
No cats, or blokes, were hurt in the writing of this poem! The boiler, however, is crying – all over the once dry bedding and towels. Happy Easter everyone.
Thank you to Jim Adams, who hosts Song Lyric Sunday and gives us the chance to share lots of familiar, and some not so familiar, songs.
If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.
Of course, it’s only natural that the prompts are what they are, and there really is a lot to choose from for Christmas music. I’m not going to be giving you lots of detail about my choices this week because Christmas is all about joy, sharing, giving, children, love, and a little respite from the stress and strains of this cut and thrust life we all seem to be part of now.
I’d like to share a little bit of joy with you all, and to thank Jim, for hosting this weekly share of music for this year, Helen Vahdati who started this great weekly event, and all of the participants and readers who are part of it all. May you all have a blessed Christmas and a Happy and healthy New Year ahead.
Please enjoy the music of Trans Siberian orchestra.
Firstly with the magic of Christmas Eve for a little girl. Will she get back before her mother catches her?
There’s SNOW AND KITTENS!
and secondly, if you must have lyrics, then here we have Christmas Canon. You’re watching the official music video for Trans-Siberian Orchestra – “Christmas Canon” from the album ‘The Christmas Attic’ (1998). “Christmas Canon” is set to the tune of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D”.
and an alternative recording with lyrics on screen:
Christmas Canon
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
the joy that he brings
(Merry Christmas) the joy that he brings
(Merry Christmas) the joy that he brings
(Merry Christmas) the joy that he brings
This night
We pray
Our lives
Will show
This dream
He had
Each child
Still knows
This night
We pray
Our lives
Will show
This dream
He had
Each child
Still knows
This night
We pray
Our lives
Will show
This dream
He had
Each child
Still knows
This night
We pray
Our lives
Will show
This dream
He had
Each child
Still knows
On this night
On this night
On this very Christmas night
On this night
On this night
On this very Christmas night
On this night
On this night
On this very Christmas night
On this night
On this night
On this very Christmas night
On this night
On this night
On this very Christmas night
On this night
On this night
On this very Christmas night
On this night
On this night
On this very Christmas night
On this night
On this night
On this very Christmas night
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Paul O’neill / Paul F. O’neill
After reading all the terrible reviews of the Cats (2019) film, Daisy, my British Shorthair princess, would like it to be known that, although she auditioned for one of the leading roles, she was rejected for being too beautiful!
She thinks she’ll have to ponder a little and, of course, the best way to do that is to snooze.
It’s time again, for Kat Myrman’s wonderful challenge, to write a story, inspired by her picture prompt, in 280 characters or fewer.
Here is this week’s prompt and my contribution.
Check out all the fabulously creative entries here and, if you’ve never had a go, why not try a story of your own? You may surprise yourself!
Photo by David Cardinez@pixabay.com
Bruno was really very pleased with his new SUV.
It wasn’t the precise colour he’d wanted, but the layout was superb, and the extras far surpassed any other make.
It was the first car to be fitted with a bathroom.
Bruno could now answer the age old question with “No, in the car!”
(276 characters)
Aardvarks have very poor sight
and eat many termites each night
50,000 they say
then they sleep through the day
after washing them down with a Sprite.
(they don’t really drink Sprite, but the 50,000 is accurate!)
Well, I’ve gone from A to Z and back again with animal, birds, and insect limericks. What to do next week? Answers please on the back of a £50 note!
It’s time again, for Kat Myrman’s wonderful challenge, to write a story, inspired by her picture prompt, in 280 characters or fewer.
Here is this week’s prompt and my contribution.
Check out all the fabulously creative entries here and, if you’ve never had a go, why not try a story of your own? You may surprise yourself!
Photo by Nadiya Ploschenko at Unsplash.comThey had been at it for hours!
They didn’t seem to mind who heard them, and, in the glare of the lights, who saw them!
She’d never heard such grunting and groaning. It was all rather embarrassing!
Tomorrow she will adjust the security lights so they are not triggered by hedgehogs!
(279 characters)
Hopefully you will be able to access one of the links to find the source of my tale!
https://nypost.com/2019/08/05/noisy-hedgehog-sex-carousel-keeps-neighbors-up-at-night/
https://www.foxnews.com/world/hedgehogs-mating-germany-awake
This is the first time ever that I have tagged a post with “sex”. It will be interesting to see how many new followers I get!
Poems by Tom Alexander
an online journal of short writing
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"If only half of the history that has happened in Nottingham had happened in some other place, that place would be famous; but because it did happen here no one knows".
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Diana R Zimmerman
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magnoliajem
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Mad as a box of frogs? Most probably ... but if I can’t be perfect, then I’ll happily be fabulously imperfect!
Finding inspiration in the little things
I am more than breath & bones.
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a light hearted look at caravanning through the eyes of a couple of grey nomads.
When a woman tells the truth she is creating the possibility for more truth around her. Adrienne Rich
novels. poetry. screenplays. endless musings...
Where shall we go today?
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To put down in print, the thoughts rattling around in my head.
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