Povey Prattle

The Donkey (b y G. K. Chesterton ).     When fishes flew and forests walked       And figs grew upon thorn,    Some moment when the moon was blood       Then surely I was born. With monstrous head and sickening cry    And ears like errant wings,    The devil’s walking parody       On all four-footed things. The tattered outlaw of the earth,    Of ancient crooked will; Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,       I keep my secret still. Fools! For I also had my hour;    One far fierce hour and sweet:    There was a shout about my ears,    And palms before my feet.     (Thanks to my friend Bruce Lomas who posted this recently on Facebook, and thus reminded me of poem I had long forgotten)

It was Irene's birthday yesterday.  She had a grand time. Her 90th birthday reminded me that she and I go back a long way -  in fact for almost seventy years.  Now there's a thought. This photo' was taken at Irene's wedding in 1946  Irene is holding my twin sister Elizabeth.  I am being held by my Mum. Next to us is my late aunt Phyll, and her daughter, my cousin Rosemary.  Rosemary died in her early twenties because of Hodgkins Disease. In the second row you will see my sister Maureen (with a nice smile)  and next to her my sister Jean, peeking around the head of our Great-aunt Ada. My dad is in the back row on the right  (second person from the right)

I had no aunts on my father's side (he was an only child).  The five aunts I had were "aunts by marriage" the wives of my mother's brothers.  (Mum had six brothers  (one of whom was killed in WWII), and one sister (who died (in the 1920's or 1930's?)  of what was then known as "lock-jaw" (tetanus poisoning). Of the "aunts by marriage" the favourite was and is my Aunt Irene (my sole surviving Aunt)    She is a grand woman.  (Irene has an niece by birth "Kippy" (Catherine), who lives on Staten Island.  Kippy is the daughter of Irene's only brother - a Merchant Marine whose ship was torpedoed in a war time North Atlantic convoy.  Kippy is also a wonderful person.  We share the same Aunt  Irene ( Kippy by birth and I by marriage) so we call each other "cousin".) Dear and good Auntie Irene celebrated her 90th birthday today in her native city of Bristol, U.K..  She was surrounded by her family members -  each one ...

I wrote this on Povey Prattle a few days ago. "Sable" is a very nice looking Labradoodle  She walks with her owner a man named V. .......  But he and I know well enough to keep Sable and Penne at a safe distance, since Sable is a bit frisky, and Penne dislikes other female dogs. V was away recently  (scuba diving in the Cayman Islands).   Sable was being taken care of by a house sitter/dog walker.  I did not immediately recognise the dog since she was not with her owner. The dog sitter and I exchanged greetings, at a distance of about 4'.  Then Sable lunged at Penne -  so of course Penne lunged back.  Unfortunately Sable got scratched in this ten second kerfuffle.    The dog walker said  "too bad this happened, but Sable was the aggressor". Now V wants me to pay half of the $500 veterinarian bill. Part of this bill was for the first set of stitches, and the other part because the slight wound had to be re-stitche...

It was on March 24th 2009 that I adopted Penne via the Humane Society of Sarasota County.  She was then six or seven years old. She may be twelve or thirteen, but she has the energy of a young dog. Our six year friendship has been an un-mitigated blessing for both of us. It "feels" like we have been together for far longer than six years.  I cannot imagine life without her. I have been careful to ensure that she is not over-fed and thus over-weight, but I spoil her with well prepared food, served twice a day. The basis is the Trader Joe brand canned food - "Lamb with rice and vegetables".  It's one of those canned foods in which you can indeed see some vegetables. To that I add:  (1) a scrambled egg, (2) a few slices of  boiled sweet potato, (3)  a quarter of a cup or so of cooked chicken. My veterinarian  noted recently that she is in good shape, and at the perfect weight for her size. Penne loves to walk, so we get out for half mile wal...

Start with mini-pita breads ( the ones which are about 2" in diameter). Slice them in half (horizontally). Toast the halves until they are crispy. When the halves have cooled, spread them with a mixture of cream cheese and red pepper jelly. (The proportions of cheese and  red pepper jelly are a matter of your choice). I made some tonight for a wee "pre-dinner party" at my home, which I hosted for Ben, Bob, Ron, and Charlotte. My toasted  mini-pita, cream cheese and red pepper jelly hors oeuvres are now "all gone". Evidently my four guests enjoyed them

A couple of nights ago I had a ear worm.  It bugged me throughout the night. It's hard to know whether I was dreaming, or waking frequently in the midst of fitful sleep (a bit like listening to a sermon really). This ear worm started with "Little boy blue come blow on your horn", but just as I got to the line "he's under the haystack fast asleep" it morphed into the Andrew Lloyd Webber "Pie Jesu". Over and over again. I could not shake it, even as I walked with Penne the next morning. So I blocked it with "Jack and Jill went up the hill"  -   guess what?  That too became an ear worm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Sable" is a very nice looking Labradoodle  She walks with her owner a man named V. (he's a bit of a blowhard).   But he and I know well enough to keep Sable and Penne at a safe distance, since Sable is a bit frisky, and Penne dislikes other female dogs. V was ...