Povey Prattle

At Glen Oaks Manor and Glen Oaks Ridge we used to see at least two or three families of Muscovy Ducks as they made their homes around our ponds. Now they have all but disappeared.  In recent weeks we've seen only one lonely bachelor Muscovy. Have the Muscovys  simply abandoned our area, or are they leaving/declining in other SRQ communities? Many of my neighbours have disdained them, because they are unattractive (beauty is in the eye of the beholder) ; and  because of their copious droppings. I  like the Muscovy ducks on account of their insouciance.  I miss them . (On my trip to Vietnam I saw some Muscovys not far from the village where I spent a night with a Vietnamese family. They (the ducks) were a nice reminder of home.) But here in SRQ I have to ask " Where have all the Muscovys gone?" The following photo's are not mine. I lifted them from Google Images. Muscovy with Chicks This, unlike the others, is a photo' which I took ...

........  a Convocation of Wood Storks (spotted this afternoon). .

  Betty Botter read my blog yesterday ( the one about the time she bought some bitter butter), and she came to the conclusion that I have far too much time on my hands.  She is right. The evidence is this: -    the best I could find for a blog entry today is the following tongue twister.  (You'd think that I could focus on  more noble matters).     Ned Nott and Sam Shott Ned Nott was shot and Sam Shott was not. So it is better to be Shott than Nott. Some say Nott was not shot. But Shott says he shot Nott. Either the shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot, Or Nott was shot. If the shot Shott shot shot Nott, Nott was shot. But if the shot Shott shot shot Shott, Then Shott was shot, not Nott. However, the shot Shott shot shot not Shott, but Nott.     If you can memorize this tongue twister,  you are cool . If you can explain it, you are a genius .

 Way back then (in about 1958) I attended Fairfield Grammar School in the Montpelier district of  Bristol U.K. In  those days in the U.K.  a "Grammar School" was what Americans know as a Junior/Senior High School. F.G.S. was blessed with a Music Teacher/Choral Director/ Orchestra Conductor:  a Mr. William J. "Dickie" Richards. I rejoiced to sing under his direction. One one occasion he led us to sing  a musical setting of a late 19th Century Tongue-Twister viz: Betty Botter bought some butter; “But,” said she, “this butter’s bitter! If I put it in my batter It will make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter Will but make my batter better.” Then she bought a bit of butter Better than the bitter butter, And she put it in her batter, And it made her batter better. So ’twas better Betty Bought a bit of better butter. I cannot find the particular tune  (as sung at FGS under Dickie Richards),  of this tongue twister on line....

St. Boniface parishioner Barbara Williams Ford-Coates   is the  Collector of Taxes for Sarasota County, She heads one of the finest and most efficient governmental agencies  one could hope to encounter.  She is utterly respected throughout the County. Barbara is smart, wise, and warmhearted.  She is a delightful sister in Christ Here she is, in an undated photo',  alongside the great American leader Julian Bond, (who  died last Saturday) Julian Bond and Barbara Ford-Coates, photo' taken from her Facebook page. Betsy Mitchell is also a member of St. Boniface Church.  She is a woman of guts, faith and intelligence.An avid athlete, Betsy took up Adaptive Rowing following a serious injury to her leg.   She will represent the United States at the World Championship Adaptive Rowing event at Lac d'Aiguebellete in France - Aug 30th -Sep 6th Betsy and I got "caught up"  over coffee yesterday morning, Lac d'Aiguebelette ...