Grape and Grain Poetry Competition.

Writelink have a poetry competition, Grape and Grain.

You can see my entry here.  Your votes and comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

http://writelink.co.uk/grapeandgrain/entryDetail.php?id=120

Just Doodling

I am putting together a poetry collection, called 'Just Doodling.'  This is a selection of poems written by me over the last few years.  It's good fun to do, and here is one of the poems that will be in the booklet.

THE FLOWER SHOP






Opening a flower shop on the estate,

What a mistake, was the general debate.



An old lady shuffled into sight, as I closed the door one night,

With a friendly smile and twinkling eyes.

“You’ll do well here.”

She told me that she cleaned at the Swan.



Two weeks later we had our first funeral order,

Relatives of Marion, who cleaned at the Swan.



I clearly remember her charming face,

The old cleaning lady who passed that day,

A spirit of goodwill who came to say,

“Keep cheerful, happy and bright,

Business isn’t built overnight.



-----------------------------------------------------------



Her family worried about paying the bill,

Until,

On clearing her bungalow they found,

In Marion’s wardrobe a purse safe and sound,

Containing no less, a hundred pound.



That jolly old lady who was fond of a whiskey,

And enjoyed to smoke,

Had saved up, and had the last joke.



The relief on their faces was plain to see,

First they cried, and then laughed at her frugality.

“You’ll do well here.” She’d said.

Thanks Marion,



We are doing well, and as you can tell.

Those who doubted we would,

Are stuck in the mud.

Unlike you,

Who knew,

Life is for living.



THE END.

Grumpy pansy

Here is a picture of a grumpy old pansy at the bottom of our garden.  He didn't like having his picture taken, so he'll be most annoyed at being posted onto my blog. 

Reading another P.G. Wodehouse story.  Summer Lightening.  It's very funny, and is set at Blanding's Castle. 

I am proud to have my photograph of sunflowers on 'Acumen' website.  When you took out a subscription to the magazine, at the beginning of the year, it included a free pack of seeds from Sutton's of Torquay.  They've grown into giants of great beauty.  You can see it here.  http://www.acumen-poetry.co.uk/




Here is my poem, Greenhouse Wars.  Just for fun....

Greenhouse Wars

Winding round the wigwam canes, vines and leaves entwine.

Tomato plants with fruit on, coming along fine.



Derek swears he’s eating his, I don’t believe a word,

Unless they eat them green and that’s just absurd.



Keith on the allotment has eaten small green beans,

Small as in minute I think is what he means.



Pat and Maurice cut cucumbers last weekend,

So did I, but I won’t pretend It was the biggest, tasty all the same.



Now aubergines and chillies vie for breathing space,

Along with lettuce, basil and cabbage,



Tomatoes take priority now, as they’re the nicest to eat,

Potted marigolds deter the flies,

Resident toad eats the ground level pests.



Giant sunflowers wafting in the wind, standing guard,

Like majestic queens regally swaying on our back- yard.

No more burps.

No more burps.




If you love cucumbers, but suffer from the after effect of burping all afternoon, then you will love the variety of ‘burp less.’



While browsing through the seeds at Dobbie’s Garden Centre earlier this year, I came across a variety that I hadn’t heard of before. I took home the seeds, and planted them in a tray of compost then watered them in, and placed them on the shelf in the greenhouse.



In no time at all twelve shoots appeared. I gave them a sprinkling of water each evening, and as they increased in size, they were re-planted into larger pots. Several weeks on into the season, I was able to plant two of the cucumbers into full sized containers. One is on the yard, and the other in the greenhouse, to see which grows best. The instructions on the packet say, ‘indoors or outdoors.’ I’ve tried both to see which works best.



There were more cucumbers than we needed, so when we went to the car boot, the ‘burp less’ cucumbers were sold on at a pound each.



So far both plants are full of bushy green leaves, full of yellow flowers, and covered in baby cucumbers. The proof will be in the eating though.

Gardening Article.

I'm planning a gardening article called.  'No more Burps.'  This is refering to a cucumber plant that is milder than the traditional cucumber, and apparantly doesn't repeat as much as those big crispy green ones.  More on this later. 

P. G. Wodehouse.

Reading P. G. Wodehouse, and enjoying the books a lot.  Blandings Castle is hillariouse from the first page.  Just finished reading Dr. Sally which was equally enjoyable.  I would say to anyone who hasn't found P.G.Wodehouse yet, to take a book out of the library.  You'll be hooked.

signatures.

Using a signature on the end of emails is a good way to promote your blog or website.  I now have a link to this blog on all emails.