TWO THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

The greatest value is not in falling but in rising again when we do fall.

Time moves not like a river from here to there:

we do that:: Time moves in waves - it ebbs and flows.

There is a time for everything.

POEM - FAIRY FEET

I often think of the well loved old cottage where my father was born. No one lives there now but this poem made me think of it. It was only a small place but visited by many who found friendship and love there.

Nobody lives in the cottage now,

But birds build under the thatch,

And a trailing rose half hides the door

And twines itself round the latch.

Nobody walks up the cobble path,

Where the grass peeps in between,

But fairy feet tread the cobble stones

And keep them wonderfully clean.

Nobody knows that the raindrops bright

Which fall on the grey old stones

Are the feet of the fairies dancing for joy

On the path that nobody owns.

(Phyllis Garlick - from my old book 'The Child's Book of Verse)

DURHAM WEEKEND

Last weekend we visited Durham to see my son who had kindly bought me a new mobile phone. He took us to Runswick Bay on Saturday and after a breezy walk on the beach we visited the Ship Inn which is now a cafe in the nearby village. It is well worth a visit and the sandwiches and cakes were delicious. They were holding a folk evening on Saturday night which sounded good.

We saw our first snow on our journey home, the hills looked like a scene on a Christmas card.

My son and his wife are off to visit the German markets today starting their journey from Newcastle to Amsterdam and then taking a train to Munich and visiting the Christmas markets in Munich, Nuremberg and Regensburg.

WHITE FIELDS - AN OLD POEM

In the winter time we go

Walking in the fields of snow;

Where there is no grass at all;

Where the top of every wall,

Every fence, and every tree,

Is as white as white can be.

Pointing out the way we came,

Every one of them the same -

All across the fields there be

Prints in silver filigree;

And our mothers always know,

By the footprints in the snow,

Where it is the children go.

(James Stephens - taken from my old book called The Child's Book of Verse)

ANSWERS

1  A soccer team.
2  The fiddlers
3  Hot, you can catch cold

THREE JOKES FOR CHRISTMAS

What has 22 legs and 2 wings but cannot fly?

Which players in an orchestra can't you trust?

Which is the quickest hot or cold?

BLOG UPDATE

I have still not been able to find a way of uploading photos at the right size, hopefully this will be remedied soon.