tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5159391198851183102012-02-16T18:07:08.122ZMeandering around the UK and beyond, in form and forming verse. All things that writers muse.Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-27096826460568597912012-02-02T19:59:00.000Z2012-02-02T19:59:56.030Z

It may be too late for a happy New Year, but sight of Cromer from the promenade brings back impressions of Christmas Special on the pier.  This chill scene of the most delightful seaside town of the east is known, in its heyday, as Poppyland. So what memories are linked to the East Coast?  Blistering winds and chill seas? Fish n chips? Cromer crabs? No matter. Every place has its story, and

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-29977408241684518782011-10-29T19:56:00.000+01:002011-10-29T19:56:48.597+01:00

And now it is autumn, the garden is ablaze with colour.  The birds have not returned to the gardens for food because, here, the sun continues to shine. There have been bees, butterflies, dragonflies.  Winter flowering shrubs have begun to shine - along with spring shrubs that are trying to flower for a second time.  Even the strawberries have green budding fruit. As for the plum tree, its

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-64240192824686926312011-10-29T19:42:00.000+01:002011-10-29T19:42:42.732+01:00

Beginnings and endings are strange, but it's the bit in between that's tricky. Looking up into this cherry tree, nothing, absolutely nothing, has changed.  It blossoms in spring, as it has always done.  I remember delighting in this tree every year, to the extent that one day the neighbour hammered a fence in the middle of his hedge - just to prove that the tree was his and not ours. But it's

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-83905545517339311892011-10-16T20:19:00.000+01:002011-10-16T20:19:50.017+01:00

Some things are more, or less, than they appear.  This flowery summer hat was delightful - protecting me from the sun, on a meander around Candle Dyke.  Typical Norfolk, water, windmills and swans.  Mesmorised by dragonflies, it was impossible to capture them on film.  The walk turned into a dawdle, a frustration, anything but a photograph.  And then, obligingly, a young dragonfly landed on

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-18777646267585846972011-09-21T17:39:00.000+01:002011-09-21T17:39:51.385+01:00

 There is no reason for this theme, except the sun shines and surprises with light that keeps SAD at bay.  Soon will be the season to renew friendships - well, send !hush! seasonal greetings - take out the crafts or jigsaws that have been forgotten all summer, and to organise pics of holidays and memorable events. There are so many ways to display our photos nowadays.  Gone are the days of SLRs,

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-18254594764064358012011-07-29T08:28:00.000+01:002011-07-29T08:28:06.595+01:00

There are little messages everywhere, in nature and in life.  These messages of spring may remind me of the Lake District, Dora's Field, the Daffodil Garden in Grasmere, or climbing the Bowderstone near Ullswater. But they don't, they remind me of endless walks through woodland, sights of follies, bluebells, a lake, a house, and everything Norfolk. Many and varied are the messages off Cromer,

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-76188325154520811552011-07-13T13:55:00.000+01:002011-07-13T13:55:24.894+01:00

 There are many visitors and residents that give a new perspective, impressions that can turn to verse, or a photo or painting, or a short story. Everything holds interest from the right perspective, like this delightful ladybird.  And not a harlequin in sight. And when visitors arrive, they bring flowers.  The most gorgeous peonies I have ever seen, good enough to eat.  Well, almost!  So,

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-1135171385759087062011-06-26T21:56:00.000+01:002011-06-26T21:56:25.370+01:00

Nothing stays the same - it's all changing.  Except, perhaps, these clouds above my former college.  It was strange to discover a brand new housing estate, and none of the images in my head were visible to anyone out for a normal stroll.  Everyone busy, crossing the street, going about their business. Do they even consider how the road name was chosen?  A former college, now just a passing street

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-74488458745989888382011-06-01T07:52:00.000+01:002011-06-01T07:52:05.896+01:00

 In The Tree Year, we are moving on.  The tree has bloomed and petals fallen.  Whether there will be fruit, who knows?  This is a baby tree. And trying to take a pic of this delightful tree, it needs the sunshine... but then it's overexposed, and who can see the luminous quality of ruby leaves, unless you are sitting beneath it. Although it is too small to provide shade, it sways gracefully in

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-28510694293101084022011-05-08T08:58:00.000+01:002011-05-08T08:58:23.429+01:00

Little we see of nature that is ours, and yet so much of nature is wrapped up in nurturing of human beings. There, at Wells-next-the-sea, it is easy to see the misnomer.  For the marshes carry on for miles, and where is the sea?  It is shored up with the seals off Blakeney Point. Everything is change in this part of the world, the coast nowadays is not the coastline then. Yet, there are sights

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-30062786908303559182011-05-04T20:38:00.000+01:002011-05-04T20:38:55.259+01:00

A Sitooterie (Scottish) is an outdoor space to sit... a place to enjoy nature.  And there are few places that combine the enjoyment of nature with the formality of a house and garden, reputedly the birthplace of Anne Boleyn. So whether you enjoy architecture or flowers, Blickling Hall is definitely the place to be - most of the year.   Except, I would guess that a Sitooterie is a peaceful place.

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-787662784896193012011-04-17T20:32:00.000+01:002011-04-17T20:32:42.680+01:00

And now, my plum tree comes into its own.  As fast as it's covered with delicate pink blossom, the leaves bud in shades of copper.  It may be small, but this tree packs a punch in any garden.  Its limbs are delicate and graceful, and the leaves are the most unusual shade, beginning with those bright buds, and covering the nudiflorum rapidly. There are worse trees in a small garden.  It would be

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-47355506348391909852011-04-02T05:29:00.000+01:002011-04-02T05:29:43.607+01:00

 It's the Tree Year, and everywhere I look the garden is bursting with life... except that it's been so cold, grey, blustering that I haven't been sitting outside waiting for birds. And, you have to be dedicated to be a twitcher.  I would probably wander off with a book, a poem, or the laundry... So I added a bird feeder, to ensure capturing whatever wildlife was attracted to my tree.  Except,

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-53028055758747224812011-03-20T16:15:00.000Z2011-03-20T16:15:27.894Z

It's the Tree Year... and quite a lot has happened since my last post, looking over the fence... Spring has arrived!  The garden is in bloom, the birds are singing, and I have no idea how many words I have written... but creativity is currently in flood. So it is not surprising, when looking closely (as all good poets do) on their own side of the fence, to find my Prunus (plum tree), although a

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-89854993620498056082011-03-06T13:26:00.000Z2011-03-06T13:26:02.157Z

There are some glorious trees that, once you see them, you have to photograph.  Late summer at Waterhead, near Ambleside, has this grand specimen.  It is the perfect view of Windermere from the park. I can imagine strolling along the jetty, an ice cream dripping in the sun, and then the delightful walk back to a town that was unknown in Wordsworth's day (Stock Ghyll was there, of course, but

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-38208046842972124742011-02-25T09:55:00.000Z2011-02-25T09:55:49.186Z

There are many signs of togetherness, and while it is well past Valentine's Day, there are family times ahead over the coming months, when togetherness may be celebrated.  I guess, togetherness only has meaning in relation to separation, so everyone is somewhere along the spectrum of together/apart and all it means as we progress from Auld Lang Syne through to Easter Sunday.  Whatever it means,

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-48288679919586011992011-02-12T20:45:00.000Z2011-02-12T20:45:10.340Z

Considering acolytes, processing through the church or the streets of Walsingham, the glow of these aconites is delightfully wild.  Something worth kneeling to see and photograph, in the grounds of the Abbey ruins. There is nothing left of the Abbey, except the stigma of an East Window, open to the sky and woodland.  The river winds through the woods, and then there is a dip through the gate and

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-46186430647054511432011-01-26T15:37:00.000Z2011-01-26T15:37:41.581Z

 It is a mystery!  I have spent months with feathers wafting in - with autumn leaves - through the front door.  Nothing keeps them outside.  And now - almost - the day has arrived when 'Soul Feathers' is published.  It is a core title at all 300 branches of Waterstone's, and yesterday it reached 7th place in the Poetry/Drama category. So why am I interested?  Is it because it's packed with poems

Tips for Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00630208882981825802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515939119885118310.post-86905029803845233202011-01-13T20:31:00.000Z2011-01-13T20:31:20.427Z

Each new year is a path to folly.  We are so busy preparing to celebrate the depths of winter, that resolutions arrive last-minute, tacked-on to the year end. If we make plans, we do not expect them to last.  Inspiration is as immediate as the present moment, as weather-worn as our whole lives. So when a writer needed to write a Villanelle for a writing class, the idea sparked my muse.  From

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