telling to children again

Did a bit of telling the other day in Cambridge at a school, greek myths, a smattering of the legacy told with another teller. Enjoyable and good to be telling to children again. They really liked the tales of Heracles and the gory and messy labours everything from the hydra to the apples.

tempting fate good times and sad news

Well it had to happen didnt it. I talk about mild weather and we get frost for a few days. About time too it looked seasonal and winterish which makes a change.

Been out and about again, another trip to the coast to mark someones birthday. Frost on the sand and some nice mammals and birds and lovely Norfolk scenery. A stoat in full ermine was lovely to see as it dashed about on a roadside verge. A small group of Grey Partridges in a field beside a car parking area with beyond them pinkfooted geese and a quartering barn owl. Pictures in the mind for other days.

Then onto more sad news I am afraid, I posted about the number of Rangers lost in 2011 working in and gaurding the wildlife and special places around the world. 2012 has not started well in this respect at all. Four Rangers in four different countries have been killed be poachers and other folk who dont like what they do to protect the natural world in all its forms that we see and perhaps take for granted on TV screens. For most of the families of those lost life will be very hard now without a breadwinner. For one where the Ranger lost was a woman her husband is also a Ranger in the same park, going to work will never be the same again I am sure.

We must never lose our love of special places but we also never forget that people work hard to maintain them, in some cases risking their lived to do it on a daily basis.

This not cold winter

Well I know that we do still have plenty of time for it to get cold, and yes I am hoping it will despite the long range weather suggesting its only a possibility.

I was working in a garden this morning that I have been to for a month, there I was clearing away some rubbish and I came across this flower which is going over but is still a tender Abutilon.

Thought I would also include this picture that really goes with the blog for yesterday the 11th Janaury but I had not transferred the picture then. This is the early evening of the 7th January taken with my mobile phone camera, it shows Trevor one of my brothers and his wife Jane after we had seen all those marvellous geese. The light was fantastic on the beach.

Bard of Suffolk 2012

You might remember that I won the Bard of Suffolk competition in 2011 a title that lasts until the competition this year.

The date for the 2012 competition has just been announced its July 8th and again at West Stow Country Park. The organisers are making a big change this year, there will be a seperate competition for storytellers and poets, up to now its been combined.

This years theme is Love and I am not allowed to enter this year, I am instead a judge for the storytelling.

So if you know a storyteller or poet  who wants to have a go, have a look at the Suffolk Eisteddford website, the rules are on there and get in touch with Robin Herne the main man.

Winter will it get here???

Will it or not is the question. We all know its been a mild winter and they are saying that it might get colder yet but when. Try looking at a long range weather forecast and you will see what I mean.

The winter birds are here I know, I had the chance and took it to see thousands of wintering geese last saturday on the Norfolk coast. It was marvellous there were Pink footed, White fronted , Brent and Barnacle on top of the usual Greylag and Egyptian.

But back to the mildness, I was looking at a new garden this afternoon and already in flower way too early are Periwinkle, Bellflower and Hebe, not to mention a Passionfruit that looks like it has never stopped growing and is covered in buds waiting to break.

words and what they say

I am often accused of taking the written too literally, whether in a paper or even on the side of a lorry.

But why not I ask, if its written its there to be read and interpreted, I am a storyteller after all, well at times anyway. I was looking at the local paper when out fell a sales booklet for a local DIY shop.

If you are still reading you might be wondering where I am going, well turning the pages I came across some elctrical power tools and suddenly stopped dead, no surely not, yes there it clearly says; ***** & ****** Mouse Sander + 15 accessories only £15.98.

Now hang on a minute this could be a cruellty case I says and who asked mice if they wanted to be sanded in the first place and if they said yes why? Then there are these 15 accessories I darnt think what they are, are they restraints to tie the poor little things down while sander happy  folk carve intricate designs in their fur. Is it something to do with no body hair and these folk darnt have a go at the dog or cat and think mice are fair game.

Needless to say all I got was a smile after I finished rambling on and moved on to the next power tool; A Scorpion Saw.