Rhymes or Reason

I dunno if it's just me, but today I've been feeling cold all day. I just can't seem to get warm, and the coldest bit of me is my feet. I've tried to keep them up off the ground, and keep them warm, but for whatever reason I can't seem to stop them from feeling cold. Anyway, have a read of today's pome.

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January Eighteenth, Monday today
just as cold as on the weekend
no snow or frost, but winds hold sway
someone please tell me when it will all end

the thermometer lies when it says its warmer
the windchill factor kicks out the warm
it's what we all expect during the winter
so we stay indoors, keep away from harm

as it is I'm not getting any younger
wish I was though because then I'd be
able to withstand the cold much better
when those bitter winds batter me

instead I huddle in my armchair
feet all wrapped up nice 'n toastie
on the pouffe they linger there
while I tuck into meat and roasties

food is what will keep me warmest
so I tell the wife each day
it keeps her on her toes and honest
and helps to keep the chills away

in the kitchen by the cooker
warm my hands above the flame
heat a pan put on the cover
till it's boiling just the same

then pour the water in the cup and
add the granules from the tin
to make the thick brown gravy up and
find the boat to pour it in

I like to have my food all covered
with some gravy, or other sauce
because without I've always suffered
when trying to swallow the food has caught

my tonsils must be rubbed quite raw
by dry food swallowed in a hurry
that's caught and snagged on nature's paws
till it made me choke and that's not funny

so now I'm careful when I eat it
to chew my food till it's quite soft
then slowly use my tongue to ease it
down my throat without a cough

it's crazy when you think about it
having to do this every time
I want to fill my tum with food it's
a sentence that will last a lifetime

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Let's hope I feel a bit warmer tomorrow ?

 

They are all brilliant.

 

Thirty four years ago today, on January 19th, 1987, we moved into our present three bed semi. The place isn't posh, it's a bit grubby and worn a bit threadbare around the edges, but it's ours, and we can relax there. It's home, not just a house, and despite appearances to the contrary, we do care for it in our own way.

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Today's Tuesday and what do you know
we've lived in this house for thirty four years
today's the anniversary, does it show?
perhaps to me, but not to you my dears

that cold day in January eighty seven
we moved from our small two bed flat
to this house that seemed like heaven
a turning point we had arrived at

we were skint so this was it
the only house that we could stretch to
a three bed semi here in the sticks
our own brick fortress to hang on to

so now looking back at all those years
we've made some changes to it all
but still we struggle to keep up I fear
with the latest fashion protocol

instead we've treated it as home
and not a show house to be proud of
somewhere we can relax as one
and not some place we are in awe of

so many of the houses nowadays
although they look like glowing show homes
don't seem to have a human face
instead they appear just monochrome

grey and white and black and chrome
may impress the casual visitor
but to me they just don't make a home
they seem to lack essential character

I much prefer to look around
at well used comfy furniture
where I take my ease and not be bound
by the latest rules of fashion culture

so here's to our forever home
since before our son was born
it's the only one he's ever known
and from which we won't be torn

it's ours now all the money's paid
the mortgage confined to the distant past
in twenty twelve we made the grade
and became property owners at long last

although the wooden floorboards squeak
there's only a few that we've discovered
and the garage roof has a slight leak
but these don't add to our discomfort

instead they add a certain charm
the house appears to talk to us
it keeps us safe from any harm
to our family it really is our precious!

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So what will tomorrow bring? Who knows? Will Biden become the new Pres, or will Trump find a way to trump him to the house of cards? Watch this space!!

 

Thanks for the latest. Xxx

 

Well, today it rained! And it's still raining, and I've got to drive out into the wilds of Gloucestershire tomorrow morning, so I hope the roads remain passable till after I've done my job and got home again. Meanwhile, here's today's little dittie

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Wednesday morning it rained
and rained and rained and rained
a storm's on the way said the weather show
I thought to myself, they're not wrong y'know

so I stayed and watched out the window
just in case it changed its mind
but it didn't although for a while it did slow
by then I'd become resigned

following the cold clear drops on the glass
as they ran down in strange little streams
and what had been a puddle on the grass
was now becoming a lake it would seem

so I turned to the old computer
and looked for some videos to play
I thought I might catch up with the alien encounters
to while away my day

as it was I found something interesting
about a bloke called Bob Lasare
he worked on a flying saucer he said
in the Nevada desert, a place called S4

where they built all the planes for spying
that flew over Russia for years
the one that Gary Powers was shot down in
an adventure that ended in tears

but now the day has moved onward
the daylight has dwindled away
it's time to work out the hazards
I'll face tomorrow today

I'm driving down to Tetbury
to work on a tractor you see
it's an old diesel model that's no longer used
for work but is now a much loved hobby

for someone with more money than me
who can play in the fields all day long
but his toy has worn out and it needs me to see
about finding out what has gone wrong

so it's off to the farm where he keeps it
to work in a barn till it's done
I just hope it's not where they store all the cowsh*t
that would be awful for everyone

I'll let you know how it all pans out
when I get back tomorrow some time
but till then I'll just say nighty night toodle pip
and try to get this last line to rhyme

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Not really one of my best efforts, but I didn't have much time to write it, as I have to get off to bed now ready for the early start in the morning.

 

They are all brilliant.
Safe journey tomorrow. X

 

Well it all went well. I drove down to Tetbury, a distance of around 110 miles, then spent the next five hours or more working on the tractor engine, then drove the 110 miles home again.
Anyway, here's todays pome, which has absolutely nothing to do with the work I did today. Instead this little ditty is about the names we give collections of things.

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An unkindness of ravens
a murder of crows
and a glaring of cats
but what about toes?

would a group be a foot
or even a feet?
and then what about bottoms
would they be a seat?

then there's always the one that kind of lingers
what do you call a group of fingers?
would it be a hand or a bunch of fives?
you might even say they're digit (ised)

and all those things around your head
such as ears and nostrils, brows and lashes
they need collective nouns other than pairs
so what to call them there's the catch, eh?

how would a lug of ears sound or even a lobe of
and brows, would they be a matched eye ridge of
or lashes, would they be full bull whip of
while moustaches might be an upper lip of

and as for nostrils we know there are two
but why come in pairs when a single would do
after all there's only one nose on your face
but somehow one nostril would look out of place

what about groups of things in the mouth
such as your teeth that come in a north and south
they were in a song written by Cat Stevens
if you bet I'd say the odds are evens

that cockneys old and cockneys young
would know what you meant if the song was sung
for rhyming slang is their natural jargon
and the rest of us have to beg their pardon

coz we don't always get it all
when they speak in their own lingo
a bit like the bloke at the local hall
who works as a caller for the bingo

but I'll tell you all the things that I can think of
to group these things by a given name
one that matches what they're made of
or something similar if not the same

do these things have names for a collection
if so what would those be I wonder
or would a group be a selection
now there's a thing for me to ponder

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Now I think I need to lie down for a bit, my brain hurts!

 

I just love them all. X

 

I haven't done much today. It was sunny this morning, but frosty. Then it clouded over and by this evening there was heavy sleet falling, so not quite all four seasons in one day, but almost! Anyway, have a gander at my latest musings.

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Friday twenty-second it's turned quite cold
makes me feel as though I'm old
I know I am anyway, but still you know
I don't like to think that it really shows

this evening though it's started sleeting
I heard it on the shed roof sheeting
beating down like hardened rain
'really' I thought 'not again!'

it's been raining all week and now the ground
is sodden through, it's quite profound
it seems like we've displeased the gods
but if so they must be awkward sods

pouring the water down upon us
as though the ground was fully dried out
we know it's not though watch the run off
as the rivers rise we'll keep an eye out

they burst their banks and flood our homes
in libraries they soak the tomes
and gardens don't need constant hosing
yet the rain clouds keep on dosing

all our country's being flooded
when will it end I sometimes wonder
by February we'll be overloaded
with all the water we'll be under

but keep your chin up says the clown
coz if you don't then you might drown
don't let the water get you down
and turn your smile into a frown

instead just try to keep on trying
better that than always crying
if I said different I'd be lying
and my rhyming prose would end up dying

perhaps I should have said it's drying
as a wish for all our land
coz after all there's no denying
we could do with a helping hand

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Let's hope tomorrow is both warmer and dryer!

 

I have sunshine. xxx

 

Today's offering is a little shorter than some, as it's Saturday night and I need a bit of a rest. Never mind, have a read anyway.

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'Well, it's Saturday night and I ain't got nobody
I got some money coz I just got paid'
those words were from a song by Cat Stevens
about a bloke trying to find a way to get laid

dunno if he did, or whether he stayed virginal
it was a long time ago the song was written
but no-one alive can ever really know it all
about the bug of love when they've been bitten

it jumps up and bites you when you least expect it
it knocks your train sideways out of the tracks
it makes your world spin clear out of its orbit
and once out you know you can never go back

the change to your life it cannot be ignored
it's stronger than steel if you thought you'd break out
the bars to your cell you could never have gnawed
if you thought you'd escape, thought that you could back out

and now that you know you must consider two
when living is now a negotiated pact
whenever you plan for something to do
it's not just simply a personal act

so you try and you plan and you hope and you dream
that together you'll overcome any big hurdles
but it's not always quite as straightforward as it seems
and your blood in your veins if you're nervous will curdle

because now you've got a new need to be adult
to think everything through as a couple and agree
before you spend money or look for a result
that helps you both grow through love to be free

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See you tomorrow.

 

Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens - Wikipedia

 

I don't know, after a beautiful golden red sunrise it snowed. Still, they do say red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning, and now I know what the warning was about. Anyway, here's today's ditty.

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Today was supposed to be a Sunday
but when I looked out it was a snowday
from ten till two the white flakes blew
around the garden and the chimney flue

the poor pigeons must have had quite a shock
when the food on their table was suddenly hidden
not by the grass or even a rock
but by a snowy white soft fluffy midden

mind you the garden really looks clean
no longer dirty grey mud on the ground
instead there's a sparkling and silvery sheen
that's spread like a magic carpet all around

the garage roof now looks about a foot thicker
but still corrugated as it should be
the snow flakes continue to dance and to flicker
in front of the window, it's something to see

it's almost hypnotic to watch as they fall
the myriad mirrors of crystalised water
not one is the same as the next but they all
resemble each other as they all cluster

the white fluffy bed helps to deaden all sound
I discovered today when I ventured out
I was almost silent as I blundered around
it was quite tempting to jump up and shout

but the cold in the air began to get through
so I scurried indoors as quick as I could to
warm up my hands so they wouldn't turn blue
perhaps wearing gloves is something I should do

tomorrow perhaps if the snow is still there
I might make a snowball or even snowman
but somehow I don't think there'll be much to spare
it should all be gone soon and I'm not a fan

I rather wish it hadn't dropped in the first place
when all that snow melts the garden will flood
it's bad enough now as a frozen white surface
but when it thaws out it'll all turn to mud

then how long it will take for it all to evaporate
anyone knows it depends on the weather
until then though we've got to accommodate
what's already here and hope it doesn't get wetter

so I'll wait to see what tomorrow will bring
and hope that the snow has started to thaw
just hope it's not frozen to a slippery icing
that covers the pavements and could cause us to fall

for a broken leg or ankle or even a hip
is something I could really do without
I know that they say there's many a slip
but I thought it was something else that was about

so take care my friends if the snow is still laid
when you get up and go out to work tomorrow
take a brush and some salt and perhaps a wide spade
to get it all up into a wheelbarrow

the barrow can then be tipped into the gutter
to melt and just drain away as cool running water
and with luck the sun will rejoin us again
and in no time at all it will no longer matter

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Candy Gal, he didn't write the song Another Saturday Night although he did record it. That was an older song by Sam Cooke that he covered. He is still a hero of mine as a songwriter and singer though, and about ten, or was it fifteen, years ago I recorded on Youtube his song Moon Shadow. As for his conversion to Islam, I think it robbed the world of his musical talents for a couple of decades, but he's back now and singing and touring again, and if I ever get the chance I'd like to see him live. The last time I saw him sing was in Hyde Park in 1970, when he was one of the warm up acts for Pink Floyd when they did Atom Heart Mother. They introduced him simply as 'Steve', but it was obvious who he was as soon as he opened his mouth. He was good as I remember, and I enjoyed his set.

 

Today it's remained cold all day, and although some of the snow melted in the sun, nevertheless most of it is still there, and now it's freezing hard into ice. I'm hoping that tomorrow the weather will change and the snow will thaw and drain, but I'll just have to wait and see.

Today's poem is about a memory I have from when I worked in Norwich for six weeks many years ago.

Driving from the hotel I was staying at toward the city centre one morning I remember seeing a fair haired girl stood in the middle of a large triangular traffic island. She was obviously a working girl as she was trying to catch the eye of every male driver who went past. I was amazed, as it was 8.30 in the morning and it was cold. However, she stood her ground, wearing only a short skirt and a thin top, and plied her trade with determination.

I sometimes wonder whatever happened to that girl? She'd be twenty odd years older now and hopefully settled, but her fate is completely unknown to me. I only saw her the once. The next morning she wasn't there, or on any subsequent morning as I drove along to the car park, although I have a vague memory of seeing her crossing the road one evening as I was driving back to the hotel, just before I left Norwich as my contract there was finished.

Anyway, here's today's ditty.

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It's cold outside I want you to know
I felt it when I fed the birds
I crunched up the garden through the snow
but that's just about all I heard

no sound of bird song on the breeze
no sight of starlings whizzing about
the light is going it's starting to freeze
soon God will turn the daylight out

it's times like these I sit in the warm
and wonder about those less fortunate
like girls who have to sell their charms
to keep themselves from becoming desperate

I've seen them sometimes on the corner
busy traffic streaming past them
standing there in bodily danger
but hoping for someone who won't condemn

but who understands the plight they're in
understands their motivation
they don't want to be taken in
just start up some communication

but strangers look and wander past
as though the girls just weren't there
it's sad to see the poor girls outcast
blinking in the headlight's glare

they stand out in all winds and weathers
trying to make ends meet to pay
for rent and food and other matters
pressing needs from day to day

that keep them on the streets in winter
shivering cold through hours of pain
hoping for a generous punter
who'll give them shelter from the rain

it's just a shame society can't
offer them a proper place
a role with dignity, a helping hand
that'd put a smile back on their face

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See you tomorrow!

 

From 1974 to 1979 I lived in and around the Canterbury area in Kent. My first year there was spent sharing a house in a small village called Waltham. It was six miles due South of Canterbury, and up on the high weald. Hastingleigh was only half a mile away and that was the highest point in Kent, and only ten feet higher than Waltham. In the fields around the house were herds of sheep, and I remember waking up one cold January morning in 1975 to the sound of lambs bleating for their mothers. The snow was around two feet deep at that time, and it was very cold outside, yet the lambs were being born into this harsh environment, and I marvelled that any of them survived. Well, I guess they did, and today's little ditty is in honour of them and their hardiness in coping with such adverse conditions.

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On the high weald of Kent the snow lay deep
I was tucked up in bed and still fast asleep
but then I awoke, daylight started to creep
round the curtains, it was then that I heard the sheep

January is lambing season down there in Kent
even though it was freezing they were still being born
I could hear the lambs crying the poor innocents
the sound of their cries on the wind was forlorn

I felt sad to think of them out in the cold
some of them only a few hours old
trying to find some warmth by their mothers
instinct told them to nudge till the teats they discovered

for the weather is unkind to all in the winter
the young and the old it just doesn't matter
then I understood the need of the lambs
to drink as much milk as would make them all fatter

coz fat's what they needed to keep them alive
with only their wool they'd never survive
the harsh winter cold that chills to the bone
would have killed them for sure if they'd been alone

thank goodness that nature has put them in families
mother provides for her children in need
and as they grow older and face the realities
of a life independent then most will succeed

for the sound of their bleating is still with me now
many years after I heard for the first time
the sound of suffering out on the downs
as the babes cried out for some warmth in the night time

that is nature's way to keep the breed strong
for they will survive while the weak won't last long
it's natural selection in practice when you see it
I'm just glad I'm human and we've overcome it

so weaklings like me could be born anytime
and be frail and feeble yet still be alive
we've changed our world to match our paradigm
so that even weak babies can still live and thrive

and me, I'm just grateful to be born when I was
in nineteen fifty in a nursing home here
three years after the new NHS
was born as an institution that I still hold dear

if only there was the same for the sheep
as they struggle and toil in winter's cruel hold
to know that there's help in the snow that lies deep
to give another poor lamb a chance to grow old

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See you tomorrow, when it's due to be warmer, albeit wetter as well.

 

Last night I had a headache. So just before I went to bed I wrote about it.

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It's late at night my head is thumping
the pain behind my eyes gets worse
I've tried pain killers they're no use
they just seem to make the pain increase

yet still I take them in the hope
they'll cut the throbbing for a while
then I can get some sleep tonight
when I lay my head down in my bed
I seem to be wishing on a cloud
one that's sitting on my head

the darkness seeps into my psyche
it pulls me down, wish I could shed it
I just want to get some decent rest
so there you go I've finally said it

I've admitted I'm in trouble
the pain is just so spiteful
it bores into my brain cells
and cores them like an apple

then worms its way along
through countless nerve synapses
till it crashes to my skull
just like my palm has slapped it

my left eye is the worst bit
pain pulses like electric shocks
as though someone has stabbed it
with the stings of a hundred angry wasps

if I could only hinge my eye
the stabbing blades might shoot on through
and miss my head entirely
and then perhaps the pain would die

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This morning the headache seems to have gone, but I'm not holding my breath, as it will probably start up again later on. :-(

 

Oh I missed loads .
All absolutely brilliant. Xxx

 

Today was coffee lady day. She turns up at 11am every Wednesday and parks just up the road. Her coffee is good, and not overpriced, so I'm happy to support her business. Anyway, here's today's poem, sorry it's a bit late.

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Wednesday evening and it's warmer now
the snow has gone replaced by rain
no need for a heavy coat anyhow
as we watch the snow go down the drain

the clouds rolled in and away it went
the warmer wind helped its demise
so now it's gone completely absent
except outside number fifty nine

they had a big bank of the stuff
built alongside their garden wall
so even this morning the cold white fluff
still sat on the concrete as I recall

I was on my way to get my coffee
the lady brings it every Wednesday
she has a van she sells if from
parked up the road not far from me

eleven am she tries to arrive
working hard to run her business
dispensing cheer to us every week
through rain and shine she's there regardless

but that was this morning and this is now
the memory of my caramel latte
still warms my tongue I don't know how
but my nose and mouth retain the bouquet

perhaps I'll purchase another cup
tomorrow I'm off to the shopping mall
there's a Costa there so I can pick up
a long tall latte in its drinking vessel

I hope it's no colder than today
there's shopping I simply have to do
the cat needs more litter for his tray
and I want to get more bird food too

I feed the wild birds in my garden
I've set up a table specially for them
there's pigeons and mapies and I once saw a raven
all flock to eat it's total mayhem

the seeds and nuts get spread everywhere
the floor beneath the table's covered
it's nice of them to freely share
the daily bounty they've scratched and scattered

the trouble is the local rats
think that it's all manna from heaven
they come into the garden despite the cat
to gobble up the feast that's given

so come the summer I'll have to stop
feeding the birds to starve the rats
and if that don't work I won't give up
but I'll get myself another cat!

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