Wednesday 15 April 2009

Oh to be in England Now That April's There

April in the Botanical Gardens, Durham

It's glorious weather here. Think we should make the most of it, this might be our summer!

Seems like this poem expresses how I feel about spring here in England. It just suddenly appears from nowhere and to be truthful although I love going on holiday, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at the moment.


Home Thoughts, From Abroad

Oh, to be in England,
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough

In England--now!

And after April, when May follows,

And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops--at the bent spray's edge--
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower--
Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower.

Robert Browning


When I read the poem this morning I remembered this song. It's another of my favourites, written and sung by Clifford T Ward.

He wrote it for his wife in 1973 when he was touring the American Army bases in France and based it on the Browning poem, Home Thoughts From Abroad.

He was a wonderful singer songwriter but suffered from multiple sclerosis and sadly he died in 2001.


Nice one Clifford!

Home Thoughts from Abroad - Clifford T Ward

Tuesday 14 April 2009

Susan Boyle and Egg on the Face for Simon Cowell!

As I said in the previous post I never normally watch reality shows like Britain's Got Talent.

I didn’t see this act but my eleven year old grandson told me to watch it on You Tube. Wow!!!!!
I'm glad I did, she is amazing.

Simon Cowell behaved like a patronising git as she came on. Well let's face it she's not a dolly bird (showing my age again there), she's forty seven. So it was wonderful to see his expression change the moment she started to sing I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables. It was better than a slap in the face. Doesn’t he look nice when he smiles? Almost human. You can see I'm not a fan.

The moral - Never judge people by their appearances! What a wonderful lady. I hope her dream comes true and this isn’t the last we see of her.

Sadly they’ve disabled embedding on these videos now so you have to go to You Tube and watch from there. This is the link

Susan Boyle – Britain’s Got Talent

The End of a Reign & the Passing of an Era

It's the day that most of us have dreaded even those who are not royalists.  Many of us grew up with her and have seen a long momentous ...