Where I'm from.....

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This idea, or method of writing a poem about Where I'm From, is pinched from Dorothy, who pinched it from Kathryn, who found a template.
Try it for yourself, here.
It's a wonderful exercise, I've found it enlightening and rather cathartic.

So. This is Where I'm From:

I am from sheepdogs in chamomile, from mouldering thatch and Massey Ferguson

I am from the wet wooded lanes, the mist laden dawns and staunching plough.

From GirlGuide tents and Meals on Wheels and British Legion Standards. Days off school for potato picking, and the Royal Show. From 'Jill's Gymkhana' and 'Follyfoot' and Miss Whitfield's Children's Riding School.

I am from the deadnettle, dandelion, daisy and dog rose, the cleavers and willowherb, clinging to wet Labrador.

I am from the RAF March, the Last Night of the Proms, the Boat Race, the Test Match, from Churchill and Kipling, Daniel and Kate and mad Clarissa.

I am from the walkers and travellers. From coffee and biscuits with the news, and then bed. From Two Way Family Favourites, and Morecambe and Wise.

From God is an Englishman, and understands cricket, and horses who have gone, graze the Elysian fields.

I am from Oh God Our Help in Ages Past, Jerusalem, and I Vow to Thee My Country. From a Girls’ Grammar School, with vast engraved boards of past achievers.

I am from Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah, Praise the Lord! and Yes, Jesus Loves me.

From towering vault of medieval church, and brick built vestibule of square Victorian chapel.

I'm from Warwickshire woods, and Gloucestershire fields,. black pudding and golden pies. From Sunday tea, with trifle. From Choc Ices and Cornish Mivvies.

From the gin soaked knee of Uncle Clem, and Alf’s Rolls Royce. From Maud and Arthur’s council house garden, with blackcurrant bushes, and a shed.

I am from a 1930s semi, a brick built cottage, a stone house on a hillside.

I am from people who were born and died on the land, and asked no more.

I am from England.



Goodbye, Bracken

6 comments
Haven't posted for ages - so much is going on, and yet so little is clear, nothing solid to comment upon. The girls both now have places at school in September, so life will change hugely for me. We have been burning the midnight oil and the rubber on the road trying to find a stand in pony for H for pony club camp in just one week's time, and have I think, just succeeded. As a result, I think, of the momentous decisions, and perhaps the search for a pony, I am feeling pretty poorly. I have a lot of symptoms which could mean anything from 'my age' to 'run down' to full blown chronic fatigue - so I am trying now to take it a little easier.

On Thursday, Neil fed the in kid goats, turned to milk the other goat, turned back, and our beloved Bracken had died. No warning. She ate her breakfast, she died.

Worried sick about the other goats, he had to take her all the way to Bristol University for a post mortem, which revealed that she had ruptured her uterine artery. No reason, it just happens. So sad, and after such a hard week, it just nearly did for me.

The weather is a repeat of the last two summers - cold and wet. The Rayburn is alight, and all the others have gone off to evening meeting at chapel, but after I was nearly reduced to tears with the pain in my joints, sitting still this morning, I have been left at home, on the sofa with a blanket, to try to feel better.

And to shed a quiet tear for Bracken, my favourite. Bye bye, sweetheart. Sleep well.

I can't think where this photo was taken, she seems to have climbed into a semi deconstructed lambing pen, but it's so telling of her lovely face.

Must be the heat! Unbelievable Business Opportunity!

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Woke up this morning ... (where's Dorothy and her family when you *need* them? Come along, we'd like a Blues riff in there, if you please .....) where was I?
OH yes. Woke up this morning to discover that Usborne's Starter Kit - which if you please enables you to start your own business, as well as have a lot of fun, and some seriously lovely books - is on offer for the first few days of July only for ...... FIVE POUNDS!
Get outta here, I hear you cry!
But, no. I mean yes - you really can start your own business, get lots of free books, and perhaps, the icing on the cake, you can be on my team for just FIVE POUNDS!
It's a no brainer. Unless you're so rich you don't need any more money, and so weird you don't like gorgeous books, in which case, I can't help you, I can't really. Your fate is sealed.

Toddle along to my website FIRESIDE DAYS and download your organiser agreement today, and email me to get you started on the first fun stages of your Usborne business.

But hurry, because the bargain price is going to creep back up throughout July, and the increbible £5 deal is only for the very first few days !

Big stuff happens

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It is hot, here in England, uncharacteristically hot. We've had a year of proper seasons, for which I am so thankful. It snowed in winter. The sun shone, the wind blew, and the showers played hide and seek in spring, and now summer is blazing, hot, and dry. Thank you Lord, for a proper year!
Finally, after long prayer, and strange days indeed, we have Boo ready to register at a small christian school in September. H has to wait for a place - she's praying and hoping one might come up in September, but if not, it shouldn't be too long.
Tomorrow, and Friday, Boo will be off for her induction days - long summer days, for the first time in her nearly ten year old life, spent in a classroom. She is sooo excited! They are ready to fly, my fledglings, and for all the world, I would not hold them back.
If it doesn't work, if they don't fit, if H turns inward again, they will be back home in a heart beat. But for now, we are content, it is what the Lord would have us do, we have peace, despite the strained finances, and the strangeness of thinking about uniforms and name tapes ... it's OK.
In farm news, two broods of chicks continue to grow and thrive, our very, very late lambs (Neil has to do everyone else's lambing before ours can pop!) are doing wonderfully well. The goats are blooming and due to kid this month some time.
The days are long, hot and humid, and since my kitchen still lacks a hob (promised Saturday) I still cannot cook properly, or do any preserving!
I hope soon to update on our Dig for Victory campaign (with mixed results at the moment) and also on Make Do and Mend - times are very tight, so I hope real inspiration will be at hand!
Finally, supplies have arrived for our soap making course in September, and I am very, very excited to get down to some preparatory work! It's going to be good!
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