The Frightening Sunshine of February

There was an article in the online Guardian the other day, asking if anyone else was worried by this strangely warm February.     Yes.  It is a bit worrying, especially if it is going to be followed by an icy March.

I wrote a poem/verse about another warm February many years ago, in my poetic era.

FEBRUARY 1986, SHEFFIELD

by me

Go back, you foolish little bulb

 Winter hasn’t gone

 Don't be fooled by this warm February sun

 Put those twigs back, reckless little bird

 March is still to come

 Its killing frosts will drop you

 One by one.

I see that I never found a title for it, just the date, which is quite useful actually.  But I doubt that February was as warm as this.

John Clare wrote a poem about this kind of February too.   I shall blog it, even though its going to put my own effort in the shade.

It begins like this:  

The snow has left the cottage top;

The thatch moss grows in brighter green;

And eaves in quick succession drop,

Where grinning icicles have been,

Pit-patting with a pleasant noise 

In tubs set by the cottage-door

While ducks and geese, with happy joys,

Plunge in the yard-pond brimming o'er

The sun peeps through the window-pane;

Which children mark with laughing eye,

And in the wet street steal again

o tell each other spring is nigh:

and it ends like this:

While south winds thaw; but soon again

Frost breathes upon the stiffening stream

And numbs it into ice: the plain

Soon wears its mourning garb of white;

And icicles, that fret at noon,

Will eke their icy tails at night

Beneath the chilly stars and moon.

Nature soon sickens of her joys,

And all is sad and dumb again.

Save merry shouts of sliding boys

About the frozen furrowed plain.

The foddering-boy forgets his song,

And silent goes with folded arms;

And croodling shepherds bend along,

Crouching to the whizzing storms.

https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/february-28

This morning we, the Captain and myself, went for a walk in Highdown Gardens. They are full of crocus and daffodil at the moment, all in dappled shade under a cloudless harebell-blue sky.

I hope I will tackle Paperwork Mountain this afternoon, and have a housework day tomorrow .  while I wait in for my medicine to be delivered.

The Long and Winding Road to Angmering

The alien growth was removed from my body by two very nice ladies with hacksaw and blowtorch (probably, I decided it was best not to look).  It was remarkably painless and I can't say it even feels sore today.

The results of the biopsy will take about a month - and its re-assuring they are not rushing it through

It was the meeting on Sunday - an oasis of truth and wisdom in world full of spin.  And what on earth I did with the rest of my day I do not know.   Yesterday was a hospital day.

And today the valiant Jean and I drove to Angmering.  It was a fraught and difficult drive and I am starting to wonder if I can go on much longer.  But then I had 3 clear roundabouts on the way back - oh and the awful right hand turn was clear both ways!

It felt like a miracle, and I thanked Jehovah, heartfeltly,

We spent an hour and a half with a very nice lady, a long time call of Jean's.  She made us very welcome and comfortable and we had a great talk. And a mug of tea.  We are to book a time with her next week when we can take her a copy of the new Awake! magazine and perhaps go through some of it with her.

My plans this afternoon are to go out for my walk, which I haven't done for some days.   But the plans of mice and men...  so I may just fall asleep on the sofa.

Red in Tooth and Claw

I had the opportunity to post a poem I wrote many years ago on fb today.  Well, its actually a verse.

A MORAL DILEMMA

by me

Why do I feel

No pity for the flea?

I suppose because

It preys on me

The two giant spiders

In the bath

Fill me with such panic

I have to ask

Ken-next-door

To take them out

But I do not wash them

Down the spout

I do no harm

To mice or rats

A philosophy not followed

By my cats

But fleas I kill

With sprays and no remorse

I spray the cats

As a matter of course

Fleas probably die

An awful death

Slowly choking

Robbed of breath

Do they feel?  Think?

Care?  All that?

Have they just

Achieved their cat?

A comfy home

With lots of bites?

A decent future

For their mites?

All in all

A scratchy heaven?

When suddenly

I am upon ‘em

PIFF PAFF

I squirt their furry host

And the fleas’

Paradise is lost


We live in a fallen world at the moment.  Things will be restored wonderfully when the earthly paradise is restored. And what the role of the flea will be then I can't imagine.

Jean and I were out this morning, trying to tell all who will listen about this - without any specific reference to fleas though.   We were given a small Close to do - only found a few in - but had one very interesting call with a young girl who was in the middle of her ironing. She turned out to be ironing her Prison Officer's uniform shirt!

We both agreed she looked too young and fragile for the job, perhaps expecting someone large and frightening.   But it is our local open prison she works in so hopefully large and frightening isn't required.   A lovely girl - she probably charms all the prisoners she meets anyway - she took the current magazine - and we may call back.  

I am trying to think what on earth I did yesterday, but its a worrying blank.   I was having a bit of   an arthritis flare up - right leg - and Captain B was limping horribly - with Metal Detector's foot (in my opinion).   I had to take some strong medication which made me feel really sick, and he eventually limped off to the shops, doing Jackie's shopping too.

And on Thursday I was an emergency householder, as the sister who was allocated the part was still in the West Indies.

This was our brief:    

FIRST RETURN VISIT

Question: Is the Bible compatible with science?

Scripture: Job 26:7

Link: Is the Bible’s advice practical?

Job 26:7 says, of Jehovah that "He stretches out the northen sky over empty space, suspending teh earth upon nothing.   So there it is, in one of the earliest books of the Bible, an accurate picture of the earth, floating in space.

The Recorders Conference (and hello John, if you are reading)

Anther year has hurtled round and on Saturday the Captain and I went to the Recorders Conference in Haywards Heath.   Very well organised as usual, and some great talks.  Michael and Clare compered (is that the word?) very competently.

I got sidetracked from blogging the Conference as I found two new reviews of "Waiting for Gordo" that I wanted to blog.  It is lovely when people enjoy something you have read - just as its lovely if they enjoy a meal you have spent time cooking.

Which reminds me that I had a cooking afternoon yesterday.  I noticed that we were down to the last two pieces of cake in the freezer when  was making His Lordship's sandwiches this morning, so I do need to re-stock.  Marmalade muffins I think, as he is presently eating the last but one slice of carrot cake.

So that meant that I ate half a hot marmalade muffin - and I should not be eating cakes or biscuits at all.    It was delicious though. I use a Cranks recipe I have been using for years, and it has never let me down yet.  The important thing is to use raw brown sugar. And I also have Captain Butterfly's home-made marmalade, of which he made gallons some years ago.

And now I can't have hot buttered toast with marmalade... diabetes.

Anyway back to the Recorders Conference.   Two things, the creation is endlessly fascinating, and its always heartwarming to be reminded how many people are out there trying to care for it, many of them unpaid.

The talk on the seals of Chichester Harbour, by John Arnott, was great, and made us want to visit and see them - but from a tactful non-harrassing distance.And we also enjoyed the Fungi of Lullington Heath, speaker Margin Allison.

It is only over the last few years that I have begun to realise and appreciate the beauty and the variety of the fungi herds

We had a talk on Seed Conservation - all the work that is quietly going on there - and one on Bryophyte Recording - and I didn't even know what a Bryophyte is! A kind of dinosaur?   But it turned out to be  mosses - but with some more things added - worts of various kinds.   And there was a talk about the return of otters to Sussex, which was exciting but which, for obvious reasons, didn't give too much away.  All this plus some info about the Sussex local wildlife sites initiative - something which hopefully will lead to more wildlife corridors  - and there was an opportunity for current projects to be publicised.

And there was an excellent and well-organised veggie lunch, plus two coffee breaks.

We had to miss the last two talks - Grasshopper & Crickets and Earthworms, as Col had something urgent to collect from the Detectorist Shop before it closed.

I did visit Maggie this afternoon.  I found her in a new bed and with the net curtains from her window gone - perhaps for laundering - and with a view of sky and trees.   I chatted away for half an hour and she appeared to enjoy my visit - and heartbreakingly looked sad when I left.  Even though she no longer has the slightest idea who I am.

What a mess we, the damaged children of Adam, are in. But a rescue is on the way. The Kingdom of God is so close now.  Already it is working miracles, gathering people from "every tribe and nation and tongue" and teaching us to be one loving family.

And every year at the Recorders Conference and other such Wildlife/Eco occasions that we go to it seems more and more strange to me how the Creator's name is never mentioned, how Jehovah is never thanked for the glory and splendour of it all.

Oh and welcome back to the blog John, if you are here!  It was a nice surprise to bump into you in the supermarket.

"Waiting for Gordo" - another review!

I was talking to a facebook friend yesterday.  They were asking about my book and said they would buy a copy - and while I was looking up the Amazon site to send them a link, I came across a review in an online dive magazine.

The Reviewer says that the book "gets to him"., even though its not about diving as such.   I am so pleased it did and must try to see if can find him online and thank him.

THIS SLIM VOLUME is an eccentric thriller about a mixed bunch of middle-aged scuba-divers holidaying on a small resort island, presumably
in the Maldives, as seen through the filter of non-diver of the group Miranda.
The book is Sue Knight’s second novel, and I’m not sure if it’s significant that the author is a Jehovah’s Witness, although her publisher does underline the fact.
It kicks off with the lyrics of the nursery song Ten Green Bottles Hanging On a Wall, setting the theme of a book in which the cast of characters soon starts thinning out.
I didn’t count how many friends there were, and kept getting mixed up as to which was which, because we don’t really get to know any of them well, apart from Miranda and her domineering husband Jim, but they probably do number 10.
Some of the friends are friendlier than others. Gordo, Jim’s dive-buddy, is, as the title suggests, lurking offstage.
The story is out as a paperback but I had downloaded the ebook on Kindle to read while sitting on the beach on a different tropical dive-island.
The book wasn’t long enough to divert me from diving for too long, but my vaguely unreal paradise surroundings did match the atmosphere of the book nicely, and the story has an unsettling dream-like quality that gets to you.
The plot might seen quite slight, but there are hidden depths there.
I wouldn’t normally rush to the bookshelf for a dose of magical realism but Waiting for Gordo made for a pleasant diversion.
I should make clear, however, that unlike in Twelve Mile Bank, and despite the dive-island setting, it turns out that there is precious little actual scuba-diving in this book!
Review by Steve Weinman

https://divernet.com/2018/03/07/waiting-for-gordo-by-sue-knight/

When I wrote Gordo, I was middle-aged Miranda.  Now I am elderly Miranda. 

Our lives are so short   .  So it was great to be at the meeting at the Kingdom Hall Sunday morning - and to be reminded of the hope we have.   

And thank you so much Steve Weinman, your review is much appreciated.  It is interesting that he notes I am a Jehovah's Witness.  My young publisher did include that info, though I didn't ask him to, as (sadly) he does not share my beliefs.   Obviously my religions beliefs inform what I write to some extent, but this is not a book about religion in any way.  Though it is about the way we are ruining the earth - and how NOT to tackle the problem.

But when I first went to the Maldives - so many years ago I feel dizzy thinking about it - I used to wonder why, when we were here on a paradise island - so beautiful - with a a group of lovely divers - it clearly wasn't paradise. And it should have been.

The creation was trying to tell me something.  And I wondered and wondered about what Janet Frame calls "the sadness that belongs to the world".   So even though I knew next to nothing about the Bible at the time, let alone Jehovah's promise "to bring to ruin those ruining the earth", that is kind of where the book began.  With a question:  It ought to be paradise, why isn't it?

I don't answer the question in my book.  But the Inspired Scriptures, both Hebrew and Christian Greek, do answer. Its a wonderful answer.  So please - talk to us when we call, and accept a free home Bible study.

Another Review for "Waiting for Gordo"

And its a lovely one too.   Peter Hiley says:

"This is a fascinating story, beginning quite mundanely with the group of divers called the 'Shoal' starting their holiday on a beautiful little tropical island. But interpersonal relations become strained while disturbing events begin to pollute the idyll. The detail and atmosphere are captivating, developing a Hitchcock like dread of occult influences coming into play."
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waiting-Gordo-Sue-Knight-ebook/dp/B075WS4YFB

Thank you kind reviewer.  I am so glad about "the detail and atmosphere" - I really want my readers to feel they are on that beautiful but scary island, without boring them with reams of description.    And re "a dread of occult influences" - yes, that could be one of the possibilities, I want people to wonder what on earth can be happening- though - spoiler alert - this is an ecological thriller, not an occult one. 

The basic crime is an ecological one, and the ruthless and very wrong vengeance being taken is also an ecological one.    Maybe it does illustrate the wisdom of Jehovah's warning that vengeance belongs only to him.  I hope it might.

But I really did want it to be a good read. And while I only have a few reviews and a few readers, they all seem to have enjoyed reading it.

I must must must get on with my next one.  But I am so tired. It's like I am running on empty.

Lovely refreshing meeting at the Kingdom Hall last night and one which has left me wrestling with my conscience... I might blog about the outcome.

Today the Captain is taking Elizabeth to the beach for metal-detecting practice, ahead of their field trip on Sunday, and we will all have a coffee later.  Assuming I can get myself together.  I have to gloom back to the Pharmacy to get Jackie's meds.  I trekked over there yesterday but when I took them to Jacks it turned out that they had only given her half of what she requested.

Nothing seems to work right anymore. 

Climbing Mount Paperwork

I did at least get my reply off to Pete, and the Butterfly Paperwork done. If all goes to plan it will be posted on Wednesday, along with letters to Darren and to Jeremy & Paddy (which are both done dusted, signed, sealed and stamped).   But there is still a long way to go, paperworkwise.

There was another episode of the thrilling adventure series I Drove to Angmering yesterday morning. "Shall we?" I asked Jean. We both have calls there that needed doing - but its the driving - two BigBoy roundabouts plus a truly nasty right turn on the way back that makes me not want to drive there.  James Bond himself might have hesitated.  The right hand turn was compounded by an enormous lorry blocking the traffic and then suddenly backing-up, just as I was trying to pull out. 

Anyway, we felt we made the right choice as we had some good calls, were made very welcome by all we found at home, and one lady gave us her phone number so we can call her and arrange time to come in and have a proper talk. She is reading all that we leave with her.

Today... posted Butterfly stuff, letter to Jeremy & Paddy, and to Darren - so that is done. Feel guilty I am not going to Maggie this afternoon, but I really do want to try and reduce this paperwork mound if I can. And I just don't feel equal to it, to be honest.  I am exhausted from all my recent medical troubles and treatments.

Spoke to Jennifer and to Bea of the North on the phone.    And Col continues to tackle the mouse problem in the garage.  Please please don't tell me about it, I begged.  The older I get the more the cruelty of the whole system we live in seems to get to me. He also did a talk on the Maldives -diving - this morning - and found when he got there that the projector system wasn't working so he couldn't show all his lovely slides!  Which are what the talk is about.

"Could you give us a talk without slides?"  They asked. And he did,  And they really liked it, and he is invited back.  So a bit of a triumph.  The tropical undersea world is one he knows and loves well.

Playground Blues

Why do we still put children (and all the other little creatures found on the killing ground) through this?

https://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poem/item/13619/auto/0/BACK-IN-THE-PLAYGROUND-BLUES

My faraway schooldays have left me bad at coping with all unstructured breaks. I still dread them.

My medical week has given me a sore shoulder and arm - from the scan on Monday - the trolley was very hard on my somewhat failed shoulder implant .  And I have another procedure to face - plus a dental crown looming ahead - but I also have some new creams for my skin condition and a biopsy in a month if they don't clear it.

I feel like a one woman exocet missile aimed at the poor old NHS.

How much longer can I last?  So the other poem I am thinking of just now is Philip Larkin's "Next Please"    The"huge and birdless silence" is rapidly approaching.

Jean and I had a lovely morning on Saturday, still doing our return visits.  We found lots of people at home, had some good talks, and can call back in every case.  Tricky driving though.  You don't realise how many Closes the world has in it until you start to go door to door.  And how few parking spaces.

And bear in mind I need a space that would fit a double-decker bus, easily.

And the we had lunch at the Hall, followed by the Broadcast.
https://tv.jw.org/#en/home

Jacks cancelled supper at the last minute, she is not feeling any better - to put it mildly. So Col and I had Chicken Kiev in front of the Rugby.   And as there was a lot of cheering and clapping I expect there were a lot of runs.   But I can't tell one end of  Rugby racket from the other, so I can't be sure.

The Captain left early, laden with boxes of sandwiches and metal detectors, and I am just off to the Kingdom Hall for the Sunday meeting. Then I must shop - I need to get Jean's Kefir milk for Tuesday. And then I hope I will reply to Pete's very very interesting letter and email and also write a thank you letter, in the old-drawn fashion, to Jeremy and Paddy. 

But what may happen is that I will come back, have lunch, and fall asleep in front of the telly...

Of Mice and Cars, and the Wonderful AA

The AA man came Wednesday morning to try to get the Captain's car going again.   We had a day out in London planned on Tuesday and had found his car wouldn't start!   A puzzle.  The battery is pretty new, so I think is the alternator (though I am venturing into unknown territory with the word "alternator").

Anyway, we had to catch our train, and also catch our allotted slot in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms Exhibition we were planning to see at the British Library - on a rare day out in London.  So we had to leave his car in the garage and drive off in mine.

But first thing next morning Col phoned the AA:
https://www.theaa.com/

 I went off to the shops - for us and for Jacks, plus an appointment (don't ask) - and when I got back, I found the AA guy here, and the car back on its feet again.  Apparently a mouse had made a nest inside the engine!   And to make it all nice and cosy it had carefully chewed through lots of wires and engine parts.   The AA guy said it was amazing the car hadn't burst into flames...   

What next?    And what next for the poor old mouse, who clearly successfully raised a family in the car and may well be back to try again... and Captain B has just gone off to buy a load of mousetraps. 

What a mess we - all the earthly creation - are in.

However, a paean of praise for the AA guy.   Col says he could not believe how he got the tangle all sorted and repaired.   And so quickly and so cheaply.  Join now folks.

Oh, and I saw my first selfie-stick usage - at a traffic lights in London.  The bright lights!  The big city!

It was my bone-scan on Monday - and Jon and Linda came round afterwards and had tea - sandwiches, cake etc. We haven't seen them since the wedding, or seen their new place, but we will try to get over there.  They both work shifts, which makes it complicated.

Back to the hospital on Friday... and I have the dentist today, for a replacement filling. What a medical week this is.   Maybe I should have asked the AA man to sort it out for me?

The Snow Arrives

Thursday night Captain Butterfly drove me to the Kingdom Hall and said he would pick me up as the weather forecast worried him.  No snow as we drove there - no frost even - but when he picked me up nearly 2 hours later we drove out into a snowy Winter Wonderland.

I was so grateful for the chauffering.  I have never driven in snow  (no snow in Saudi).   However, come Saturday all our snow had gone, so Jean and I were able to go out on the work. We only did an hour - 3 calls each - it was cold but sunny -everything looked so beautiful - the sunlight on the empty trees.     However, it was very chilly on Saturday evening and when we drove over into the East Sussex wilderness for supper with Dan and Libby, we found there was still some snow on the ground - soft when we arrived, icy when we left.

I am terrified of ice now.  It has become a "terror in the way", as Ecclesiastes puts it in that perfect poetic description of old age.  "and the grasshopper drags itself along..."

Lilian - exPlanetExpat - rang and we had a chat. Its good to keep in touch - we saw a lot of each other in our expat years.   She studied (the Bible) with me, and still keeps up some contact with the local Jehovah's Witness congregation.  She does not go to the meetings, sadly. She would learn so much if she did.

We had a lovely supper with Dan, Libby, Richard, Sarah and Indi in the uncharted region beyond Brighton - got back after midnight - a very very late night for us these days - meeting in the morning for me plus shopping for Jacks and Jean,  detectoring for the Captain. And I, with so much that needs doing, dozed on the sofa all afternoon...

Perhaps the thought of this week daunted me - 2 hospital visits, 1 trip to the dentist and one day out in London.  It feels like an Everest to climb.

The snow went as suddenly as it came, and today any kids on The Green will have to be content with making rainmen and throwing rainballs. Though I think only the valiant dog walkers will be out.