The Turf

 2nd November 2020

My thoughts turn to my grandmother on this Feast of All Souls. 

So, a little poem:

Warmth

What makes me feel warm inside?

I think of my grandmother.

It's the days leading up to Christmas.

She sits in front of the range - for warmth

She picks up a turf sod lying in the basket,

To feed the oven,

Her hands hardened by farm work, by family life,

I help her, pick up my own lump of turf

Turf that Uncle Timmy dug from the bog,

 the previous autumn

It Feels hairy to the touch, rough against my fingers,

not like the regular, smooth edges

of factory brickets,

We take turns, my nan and I, to place a sod in the fire

without words we feed our story, make it rich.

Flames give a glow to her - already pink cheeks.

When the roar reminds us "enough for now",

She sits back, smiles, and for while,

retells old tales of family long ago,

 linking the threads,

 lost in the mist of shared Ancestors

I wipe my eyes, reach for another sod,

And know who I am.

 

For You Jan

28th June 2020

For You Jan -  A Little Ramble.

You are with me, in my mediation, this morning.
You, dressed in purple,pink and red, 
making flames dance daintily or your face.
Diamond stars sparkle below your ears.

 Your smile, encourages, welcomes, comforts me 
good to see you, dear Jan . 
You ask me, with interest,  to tell you more, 
more about the Irish trip. 

More about those trad evenings 
you,  I know,  love everything Celtic. 
So, stay awhile, let me tell you about Jim o the Mill.
An old farmhouse cottage, thatched, hidden,

 along a boreen, way up in the mountains, not easy to get to. 
Round the outside of the house, lights, lanterns, balloons,
 in multitudinous colours, decorate the windows and walls,
like its Christmas.

 Cars line the lanes, fill the fields. 
Musicians gather, eagerly cradle their instruments, 
Ah, I see your eyes widen now, music is always your thing
Shall I go on? 

Others, greet with hugs, ask how each other are, like it’s a family affair.
 But we also  meet travellers who’ve come from afar
Africa, America, Germany, even Bulgaria.  World renowned is farmer Jim.
 A  micro bar, the size of a tiny parlour, open only on Thursdays

Serves Guinness and Cola and Irish whiskey.
We’ve become fond of the Guinness.  The evening unfolds
 music, poetry, storytelling fill the three small rooms. 
Bodies squeeze in too, sit on benches, on dirt floor, or perch on stairs. 

We are in the room where Kathleen is, my cousin, with her fiddle. 
A boy, about ten, with an accordian, as well as a head of curly, red hair,
An American with his guitar.  One begins to play a tune, others join in, 
even if they’ve never heard it. This is an Irish  ramble, all are welcome.

Anyone can play their instrument, or sing or recite poetry or tell a story.
 I look around. You’d love it, the atmosphere. 
In the open hearth the fire gives a soft glow to the spirit, 
far away places imagined in burning sods. 

On shelves, antique looking tea pots, family photos, crock jugs, books.
On walls, fiddles, art work done long ago by children now with grandchildren of their own, and is that a pitch fork, and beside it a hoe,  yes. 
We’re encouraged to join in with songs we know. I know a few, folk, rebel.

My cousin sings for me – Tipperary Far Away, I swallow holding back a river.
An American intones an old Irish balled, haunting,  
hits a hollow deep inside-  I’m off again. I imagine you with us dear Jan, 
shutting your eyes as you do when you listen with intent.

 We leave at 1.30 in the morning, no sign of the night coming to an end. Apparently, you’ll like this, if you’re there in the morning, 
when the sun comes up, they’ll cook you sausages and bacon.
Thanks for listening, until we meet again, so long, Jan, dear friend.

Spiderman

11th March 2020

Spiderman

Below is a picture of my grandson, Theo ( sorry, Spiderman)  who is four today. I thank God for him and all my grandchildren and great grandchildren. I love them all dearly.  I found an entry in my journal for the day Theo was born. I will copy it here exactly as it is, with no editing, so, apologies now for errors etc. and sorry if you find it a bit boring.  My journal is just a daily rambling. 

March 11th 2016

7.30 am

Well, what news , there you are , another new addition. Baby Walker, born 4.25 am this morning. What lovely news. We will go over later for a few hours. New life, hew hope. That makes twenty one grandchildren now and what is to be is yet to be revealed.

I just wonder what the family will look like in ten or twenty years time. There'll be more grandchildren, but also more great grandchildren. 

What a blessing it is , our large family. And each new addition so precious. 

Tiny hands that will grow and perform the many tasks of life. That cheeky smile that says, oh it's good to be here with you guys!. Those chubby legs that will eventually get into mischievous corners. 

Who does he look like? Seeing the family genes in each of his expressions. 

And don't cry baby,we're all here for you. What will you be like? How tall? What will you like to do?What will you be good at? What kind of a person will you become? We love you to bits, even though we haven't met you yet. Your softness calls to us to hold you close, showing you how the world can be comfortable and kind. You might learn otherwise later. But, for now, for you, the world is wonderful. 

And I am your Grams. 

Hopefully we'll get lots of time together to get to know each other.

Hopefully, I'll be blessed with many more years of life , so I'll be able to enjoy your own family in the future.

I wonder what your sister and brother will make of you. Will Liam, big brother, protect you, look after you? And Livi has been looking forward to your coming for a long time now. She'll be over the moon with you, I'm sure. 

And your Dad, his heart will melt, he'll fall in love with you, with your obvious likeness to him, part of him. And of course, your mum, she'll be so happy.

See what joy you bring to the world. All your aunts and uncles, cousins and other relations are there for you, loving you already. You are one lucky little boy. 

And still no name yet. "Baby Walker", we laughed at that this morning, at the pun, me and grandad. 

As I get older, I get more sentimental about our family. It becomes more important . And my hope is that during the time left to me, I see more of all my children ( those with or without children) and all the grandchildren. I will have to make plans so that we get to do this.  

Day 24 - Breathing

24th Oct 2019


Day 24 - OctPoWriMo  2019

Breathing

Crowds

Breathe mist into icy air

Scurry along this  dark evening,

Eager to get to ...

Theatres, Shows,  meetings with

Friends.

Keep cold at bay with

Furs, scarves, hats, gloves.

Hurry past...

Past railings

Where you're sat on

Your cardboard mat

Past...

You...
In  the air

Tempting aromas - burgers,,
chips,  onions,

( I've always loved the smell of frying onions).

You,

Hunched over,.

Hands gnarled, red

 "a man of the road".

They, look away.

Are you invisible ?

No, they don't want to see..

Don't want, to "get involved"

Make excuses:

"There's no need for anyone to be

Hungry in this country"

Your blanket,
pulled up under your chin,

little protection.

A small family notice,

See you,

Are moved,

Bring coffee, chips.

A cheery word,

Acknowledge you,

Listen to you,

Then go their way,

You, watch,
Hands caressing warm cup
You, smile...

Day 17 - Family

17th Oct 2019


Family



Thanks to the people of the Netherlands. In the last twelve hours 99 of you have visited my blog. I don't know why this is, but I'm happy that you are reading my work. I would love to hear from you, so please write a comment and start a conversation.

Day 17 of this increasingly difficult challenge.  OctPoWriMo 2019.

I have , in the main,  been sticking to the prompts to see where they lead me. The prompt for today sent me into quite a kaleidoscope of thought as I pondered the whole idea of family and what it means to me.
I eventually came to the conclusion that it means everything to me. In no way have I done justice to this idea in the poem I've written . How could I?

The photo is of my husband and I and our nine children at my daughter's wedding, one of the only times we get everybody together these days.  However, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to family. This is only 11 of the 47 who make up this small part of the family. And if from there we spread the net... well...

Family

On the table, spread out before me

Taking up most of the space

Two large pieces of paper

On one the family tree on my mother's side

On the other , my father's

Both tracing the branches back,

with their different characters, to my 

Great, great grandparents

Hinting of Roots that go deep

Both papers from my parents down

Identical

.There in the middle, I am

Above me,certainty of the past 

Below, promise of  future surprises

Great, great grandchildren - mine

there at the bottom.

All of us, on both sheets

Children of God

We belong to the 

Family of God

The human family.

Three years ago today

11th March 2019

I don't usually share writing from my journals, especially on my blog, which obviously, gets seen by so many people.
But I make an exception today.
Three years ago today a grandson was born - he was neither the first child nor grandchild, but when I heard the news early in the morning I had to go to my journal. Looking back, I'm surprised by the joy of it, considering it was only a month after my mum died.
I copy exactly as I wrote it, unedited, bearing in mind, it's a stream on consciousness.

11th March 2016


Well, what news, there you are , another new addition!
Baby Walker, born 4.25 am this morning. What lovely news.
We will go over later, for a few hours. New life, new hope - that
makes twenty one grandchildren now and what is to be is yet to be revealed.
I just wonder what the family will look like in ten or twenty years time. No doubt there'll
be more grandchildren, but also more great grandchildren.
What a blessing it is, our large family. And each new addition so precious.
Your tiny hands, baby,  that will one day perform that many tasks of life. That cheeky smile that says,
"Heh, it's good to be here with you guys!" Those chubby legs that will eventually get into, goodness knows what, mischief as well as kicking a ball and running with brothers and sisters and cousins.
Who does he look like? Seeing the family genes in each of his delicious expressions.
And don't cry, baby, we're all here for you.
What will you be like? How tall? What will you like to do? What will you be good at? What kind of person will you become?
We love you to bits already, even though we haven't met you yet. Your softness calls to us to hold you close, showing you how the world can be comfortable, safe and kine. You might learn otherwise later.
But for now, for you, the world is wonderful.
And I am your Grams. Hopefully we'll get lots of time together to get to know each other. Hope fully, I'll be blessed with many more years of life, so I'll be able to enjoy you own family, if you have one,  in the future.
I wonder what your brother and sister will make of you. Livi has been looking forward to your coming for such a long time now. She'll be over the moon with you' I'm sure.
And your dad, his heart will melt , he'll fall in love with your obvious likeness to him, part of him. He'll love you with his life.
And of course, your mum will be so happy.
See what joy you bring to the world.  All your aunties and uncles, cousins and other relations there for you, loving you already. You are one lucky little boy. And still no name yet, though it is early days. "Baby Walker" - we laughed at that this morning, at the pun.
As I get older I get more sentimental about our family. It becomes more important and my hope is that I see more of all my children ( those with or those without children ) and all the grandchildren. I'll have to make plans....

TToT

6th Jan 2018

Today folks I'm joining in with the Ten Things of Thankful brigade. If you want to do this too just put it into google and away you go. Then link up to share with the others.
The idea is to look back over the last week and find ten things that you can be thankful for .

So, let's make a start:

1 Firstly I feel so blessed to have a wonderful family - yes, there's a lot of us but I love each and every one enormously and am so very proud of them. 
2 In particular I am thankful for my darling husband of forty five years who is such a treasure . Always there for me or any of our loved ones. 
3 I am thankful that I live by the sea. I went out twice this week for walks with my gorgeous daughter.
4 I am thankful that I got three new writing journals for Christmas - that'll keep me going. 
5 I'm thankful that I got to a writing for wellbeing workshop yesterday - it always inspires me, hence...
6 I am thankful for having some time to myself today - not much, but it was needed and valuable.
7 I'm thankful for that radio programme that I got to enjoy - it was totally unexpected.
8 I am thankful that, although I've put on a few pounds over the Christmas time, I couldstill get into that dress i wanted to wear today - I did wonder if I would. 
9 I'm thankful for the comments that some lovely people have posted on my blog these last few days - it's always so uplifting to know that somebody is reading the rubbish I write.
10 I'm thankful for my friends  - whom I love and must try to see more often 

Well, that just dribbled out .
Now it's your turn.
It does make you think .
It also makes you realise that there are so many things that are good in your life.

Day 8 Money

Day 8: 8th April, 8th poem


I took the prompt today from Napowrimo - to write a poem reflecting on money:


Money

Money doesn't make you happy,
that's what people say,
But to live in this world we need it,
It helps us on our way

But it shouldn't be the thing that
takes up all your heart,
It only gives material stuff,
The physical, bodily part.

It has no value of itself,
It's just a means to an end,
to bring some joy to those we love,
family and friends.

So, if you find you're lucky enough,
and have a fortune to spare,
Spend it wisely while you can
Give some away and share.

Many people are going without,
they struggle to make ends meet,
You could be there to help them along,
And put them on their feet.

So, don't be a miser ,
with your pot of gold,
make others happy,
before you're too old.


I struggled to find time to write a poem today, as we're so busy with family staying for the Easter holidays.
But the motivation to continue with the poem a day for April forced me to produce something, and in rhyme, which is not really my style.

My treasure is my family.

xxx