New Year Felicitations

pic by Stewart Butterfield at Wikimedia Commons

Happy New Year to you, one and all.

I've been looking at new year quotes and was rather taken by this one by American writer and columnist for the Kansas City Star, Bill Vaughn.

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves."

I can be pessimistic if I'm not careful, but on New Years Eve, I'm definitely an optimist. Which are you?

A Haiku Diary

About 18 months ago I started to write a haiku a day. Gradually this turned into a haiku diary, where I try to instil the essence of a memorable part of each day. It’s amazing how it jogs my mind to remember when I read a few from months ago.

I try to do this every day, but often fail. However, I do keep a factual journal inherited from when I was in a business partnership and needed to record what I did with my time. At the end of each month I refer to this so I can go back and fill in the gaps. Some of my blog entries help too.

It gets done each month because I always post my monthly haiku diary in my Writelink blog. The link is to the last one posted for November.

As I look back, I can often recognise the ones I wrote as they happened because they are more poetic and less about the factual things. But even if the words in my haiku are less tangible, I can still relate them to what I did on the day.

December is a very busy month so I have lots of gaps to fill. But below is one I wrote for Boxing Day on the 26th. My last post here was a prose version of that day too, one which I wrote in the evening.

Summer’s leaf curtains
are drawn back to air the views
on our country drive.



Pic is by Raould at Wikimedia Commons

Happy Times with a Dark History

Today was a happy day. Our friend Bramble, a tan and white spaniel, came with us to visit a village with a dark history. We took her to see some friends who’ve moved out to Norton St Philip. They used to work in our local pub and now they run their own, so we can drop in whenever we feel up to a 70 mile round trip with one of us driving and therefore not drinking. That of course has to be me, since hubby drives all week for work.

When I opened the car door at home, Bramble immediately hopped in and onto the passenger seat, refusing to budge over to the back, so that hubby could sit next to me. He was all prepared to sit in the back until I said I didn’t want an unrestrained dog sitting beside me in the front. After some rather hilarious pushing and shoving, we finally managed to get her out on the passenger side and then back in behind the two of us. And off we went amid some happy laughter.

Since the weekend, it’s been cloudy and grey with only people’s Christmas lights to brighten the streets. But today was a lovely day for a drive. The sun shone, burnishing the naked trees and brightening the grass. It was good to be out in the countryside with summer’s curtains of leaves drawn back to air the views.

The Fleur de Lys in Norton St Philip had not long opened when we arrived. Only one regular was sitting at the bar reading his newspaper; “escaping from in-laws”, he told us. To his surprise, we were welcomed with hugs and kisses by the landlady. And on the bar stood a glass wellie full of dog biscuits. Bramble was a happy doggie too.

The pub sits on a corner immediately opposite The George, and it's these two buildings that have the dark history. The George is reputedly one of the most haunted inns in England, and possibly the oldest. Probably first built in the 13th century, The George is recorded as having a continuous licence since 1397. In 1685, The Duke of Monmouth stayed here when he tried to usurp the throne of England from James II, and is said to have narrowly escaped assassination when a bullet was fired into the building through a window. His followers secured the village and fought off a Royalist attack, but Monmouth did not survive long afterwards for he himself was caught and executed.

The George also served as a court for his Bloody Assizes by the infamous Judge Jefferies, The Hanging Judge, who tried Monmouth's supporters, showing no mercy. Prisoners were either locked up in the George’s dungeons awaiting transportation, or hanged nearby. One of the accounts I have read says the executions took place at the Fleur de Lys and their bodies were displayed there. You can see it here, together with some photos of the two pubs that sit on opposite sides of the road.

We’ll have different memories of our visit to the village today, though, as we passed a happy hour with our friends before the skittle teams arrived for their lunch ahead of a game. We took our leave when they started to get really busy and wended our way home, let Bramble out for a run by the river, and settled in with some Christmas sarnies in front of the telly, before she had to go back to her regular master.

Merry Christmas Everybody

Happy holidays to everyone. Peace and goodwill.

The Sally Army

This pic of a Sally Army brass band playing in Birmingham, UK, is by Anneli Salo

Every year I give what I can afford to the Christmas appeal of the Salvation Army, who do wonderful work in helping the least fortunate to have some sort of respite or treat at that time of the year. Knowing that there are homeless people sleeping rough and scavenging for food is bad enough at any time of year; at the Christmas holiday time it seems doubly hard somehow.

The Sally Army, as it is affectionately called here, was set up as an evangelical movement in 1865 by William Booth in the poorer areas of London’s East End. His wife, Catherine, designed the famous Sally Army bonnet. Lieutenant Eliza Shirley was only 17 when she followed her father to Philadelphia, US, with permission from General Superintendent William Booth to roll out his work in her new country. George Bernard Shaw's famous play, Major Barbara, tells a story set within the work of the organisation.

The international work of the Sally Army is now widely recognised as not only bringing people to the Christian religion, but supporting the least fortunate of any religion. They are, for example, famous for reuniting people who have been lost for years with people who have missed them.

Their homeless shelters are available all year round, but as Christmas approaches they appeal to those of us who have the comfort of our homes to help them make a special effort over the holiday. Donations also go towards helping poorer families to have a simple Christmas dinner and presents for their children. Elderly people living alone might be invited to join others for a meal. Extra volunteers are needed to distribute meals and gifts, or just provide companionship.

The Army's work reinforces the message that Christmas as a time of goodwill is not just for the fortunate few. Some people think its members are too evangelical. I myself may not completely share their faith, but I know they do invaluable work. The SallyArmy has been performing small miracles for nearly a century and a half. It would be great to believe that it won’t be needed for that long again, but I really hope it can continue for as long as the needy are with us.

Run Up to Christmas is Bad for Writing

Photo by
Nevit Dilmen

My blogs are about the only thing I'm writing at the moment. There's just too much else to do at this time of year. Thank goodness I no longer have clients with deadlines. I've no idea how I managed to fit everything in when I did. Tomorrow I'm heading for London and meeting up with an old friend. Friday I'll be helping my daughter to set up her new computer, and then we have a weekend of jollification. I'll be back on Monday and probably won't be able to post again before then.

Thought I'd just mention that, since I put the Helium widget on my blog, my article clicks have definitely gone up. That's fantastic, and it has encouraged me to look for those widgets now and read seom of the articles written at Helium by other bloggers. That gets me over there to do some rating too. If you've not yet seen any of my work there, please do click on my Helium Go and then find something you'd like to read in my articles list.

Moving Dreams

I’m feeling rather envious of a friend who has just moved into the home of her dreams, after spending a frustrated six months in rented accommodation waiting for it to happen. She sold her previous house very quickly after putting it on the market several months after mine went up for sale. Now she’s in the new house and I’m still waiting for a buyer, and likely to be doing so for quite a while to come, by all accounts.

Studland Beach is not far from where I hope to be living next. To reach it from there, the quickest way will be to cross the narrow entrance to Pooles natural harbour at Sandbanks on a ferry, as long as the queue is not too long. I understand it is very popular in the summer months. To reach it you drive past the famous millionaire homes, supposedly some of the most expensive coastal properties in the UK.

At the far end of the beach on the other side are some varicoloured cliffs. I took the photo there a couple of years ago in early summer. The second one is a view across the harbour taken from a layby where we stopped on the drive home.