Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Well Wednesday seems a small day for the end of a big year but let’s remember how far we have come and how much has happened to us. The world can be a funny place; alliances between people form through time and are often easily broken. For within all we remain creatures of instinct and selfish preservation. But rarely does it happen that something is found that will last a lifetime. Such was finding you for now the days bless the nights and hope rekindled that someone could be so unselfish and faithful. I never pretend things are easy and that our lives are simple and yet the fact remains that we have found each other. I shall never let you go for I have such need you. So for that I apologise because that makes me selfish. I fully intend to remain so for the rest of my life. No poems or long declaration on this day for all that I need to say is; I love you.
Into the night you walked with me among stars under the light of a full moon just as you promised you would. Feet compact fresh fallen snow as it lay on ground lit with twinkling reflections from the heavens. Dreams and joys brought alive by the fall of night into the first day of the year. So is born a winter day from the echo of time compressed into the first day of the New Year. Feel the history of the world in a walk through the quiet places alongside the water we emerged from so long ago. Water that lies still and cold touched by the hand of night into sheets of crystalline ice patterns that reverberate into the morning sky as we cast small stones onto its surface. Soft shall strike the first rays of the sun onto the surface and the mists of the day are born to float laconically above the horizon. Snow may lie thick along fields so that they resemble a desert of whitest sand dunes. Oh the joy of footprints in unblemished snow and imagine we are the first too ever set foot on this beauteous ground. See the relics of the dinosaurs incarnate again as a Robin waits crouched in the heather with breasts aflame and then see the Sparrowhawk fall silently from the sky to take our new found friend away. How ancient bloodlust remains for watch close and though time may have shrunken their stature their deadly game of hunter and hunted is revealed. So we watch and see then a riddle revealed as the hawk is thwarted by us and the Robin seeks solace among our company. Yet what of our superiority when ultimately tis saved by loathsome rooks that wait at the water’s edge like ghouls. How we are humbled and enriched by this sight. Then too we see the five Cormorants wheeling and diving through the water and air as fluid as feathered snakes. For if such a day at the culmination of all the time before can bring so much joy then that time was not misspent and the one that gave me such joy shall be my love for all that remains of my walk among the world.
Wallowing whale spied a porpoise in the sea

Said wallowing whale, “come here right by me”

Said porpoise, “wallowing whale I dare not”

“For you have eaten my tail have you forgot?”
The jester has struck a stanza or two together

The rhyme is for fun for the heart already is won

Mine and only thus so, make my heart faster go

For the world is strange and yet you re-arrange

It all together as a honeybee working the heather

To a glorious song, that shall be forever long

In autumn in the cool, for loving makes me no fool
A world is now cast into the darkness of winter that shrinks external pleasures and expands the internal ones. To warm firesides we tarry amid electric evenings filled with the pursuit of gentle hobbies. Then to warm beds where two lovers may while away the hours till spring comes again.
Hurry in the dark for I wait for you
The world takes all we may give yet….
She has for once given me all her joy
To share in heat and cold to come
Wrapped her gift in the soul of you
Thank you for your love and warmth
Through a year, through forever
For I shall never ever be alone
For words not said
Shall grow about us
Whether the world
Should listen or turn away

Tonight drags me down
To the safe, realm of sleep
Yet the heart hungers still
For the last, sweet, gasp of air

So with my last thoughts
I hurl words I need you hear,
Just as your eyelids close
As the wolves howl for spring

Come day release me from sleep
That I may know a heart is waiting
To give all of its sweetness
To the one I call my own

For the hours shall rush by
Like the raging tides
That flood inland
Then disappear back to sea

Thursday, December 25, 2008


Funny, how a year slips by us so very fast. All the plans and dreams somehow mainly get lost along the way. I like to have dreams ready although oft times they must come to nothing. Maybe a bigger house with its own garden, a pair of Tannoy Westmisters, a dog, Seems like most of the things we dreamed of are added to the list for the next year. Maybe that’s the best way for it keeps one hoping onward for the future but now the credit crisis has landed extravagant dreams can be realistically suspended and perhaps now we can begin to focus on what is truly important and in that small way it may do us all nothing but good in the long term…I hope so.

Today the sun filters through grey leaden clouds that hang loosely in the pale blue sky and the light scatters off the drops of water that cling to the leaves. It as though a million fairy mirrors was being held up to the light or else is the gleam from their gossamer wings. It is a view of columnar walls of rustic browns and evergreens waning to darker hues as leaves (long gone) rise above the flattened grass to welcome Christmas day. It is not a day for Oberon and Titania and the humour of Bottom beneath some cool glade under the light of the stars, though my soul is right there with them. How could it be anywhere else on such a winter’s day as this? For is it such a leap of faith to see the bees and birds as fairy folk and the wax and wane of each day as the most potent magic. If so then I shall be misguided but joyous for the world makes me so.

Merry Christmas

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

18th Dec 2008

The auditor has cancelled her visit today as her father is very poorly. She’s a nice lady so I hope everything works out for the better over the next few days. So I shall catch up on some of those jobs I never seem to get around to. Like tidying some of the office paper piles up a little bit for a start. Weather has gone much milder because I am sat at my desk sweating and have taken my coat off…yes sometimes I work in my coat…how Christmas Carol is that! I’ve made an amazing discovery I can type my blog stuff at work on break times and then e-mail it home. I could post from work but our internet connection is so slow I think it would be quicker sending semaphore.

22nd Dec 2008

Well obviously I had a busy day and didn’t finish the blog stuff that work day. We had a rainy weekend but the weather is set for dry all through the week…no white Christmas I’m afraid this year. Still had some good news this morning as we have the rest of the week off (well the next couple of days) and Wednesday was only half a day. The mill has no work and both machines shut last week so it is all pretty quiet. We did wonder if they would succumb to the Christmas spirit and they have….fantastic. In and out of work by 11am…now if only we could do that every day.

Garden survived all the snow and ice but there was a sad casualty in the Yucca plant. The weather is forecast to be mainly dry so shall definitely get up there and take down some trees to allow more light in for next summer. I thought of buying a chain saw ( the trees are quite large,) but the thought of me up a ladder with a chainsaw going full roar doesn’t seem to inspire anyone with any confidence so it’s the hand saw…but sawing through 12 inch boughs 10 feet in the air isn’t that great either. I shan’t ask Nick to help as he seems to have spent most of this year harming various bits of his anatomy (as my 3 trips to the emergency room testify.) Well I did say he had a ‘can do’ attitude, even when he can’t. Still have nearly 2 weeks to accomplish the deed. I’m looking forward to that.

Here is to a good 2009 for us with lots of rest and laughter and sunshine. We all missed the sun in the UK this year so a little next summer would be nice. Here’s to friends and family and most of all to words and I hope there are many more next year.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

17th Dec 2008

The days run so fast now it seems all we can do it is take a deep breathand try to keep up with the change. It has been a strange year really! Things have stayed approximately the same to all appearances and yet thewall of gloomy predictions has gotten ever higher as economic woes camefrom just about every quarter. Not all of it seems to add up of course, but then it never does. One thing is certain and that is when change comes it generally catches us all by surprise (even me the reluctant pessimist!)We’re almost to the shortest day of the year now and once it is passed thenthe growing world can make new plans underneath the snow that will surely fall and luckily cool any thoughts of premature growth. This year the period before Christmas has been much cooler than normal. We have had a lotof deep frosts already. I think I have de-iced the car more this last month than the whole of last winter. Some sad news is that the Yucca palm broke 2of its 3 branches under the weight of the snow fall the other week. It had looked so great all summer. I shall plant the broken stems in the greenhouse and try to encourage them to grow. Nick gave me the palm to look after when he moved up from the south…one day he will have a garden again and want it back. Perhaps he may have more than 1 if the branches root. Despite looking so tropical they are amazingly very hardy.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Soft fell rain on moist soil and then permeated down through the tracery of orange fleshed roots that hug the bones of the world deep underground. Roots delving ever deeper downward toward the essential soul of the earth, as they move winding through the layers of time from ages past that saw the footfalls of the first dinosaurs and the birth of history and. Hush now; listen we can hear the call of the aeons that brought us to this moment to share a world beautiful and green and take part in its present. For it our world now and its beauty and peace calm our souls, heightens our love till we think we may experience no more joy. Yet the sun shall set and the night brings greater joy in each other to awake to a beautiful dawn birthing a brand new day and the circle of joy ever increases. So it shall always be for the love we share is like the gentle spring rain and it permeates our souls and enriches our love till all is evergreen, whole and strong. You are my history and yet even more my beautiful future.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

If we see beauty it is best to see it together and briefly
For the world is alive and sentient and surrounds us
A wall of light and oxygen enriching every sense.
It reaches deep within us and plants gifts of sight
For think beauty and see with me all we have shared
A winding grassy path laden with refreshing dew to cool
Toes in the fierce heat of a summer day while above
Moisture laden air on wind caressed trees casts shade down
Bringing restful sounds as we sit and watch the world unfold
Leaning back carefree against aged bark to open our hearts
See you remember how we felt then and a day lives again
Yet the memory is brief within us, for time has been kind
For many such days has she bestowed and is yet to bring
And where will we put the exquisite memories of them all
As we enrich and grow throughout all the aeons to come?
For the gift of sight is upon our eyes and we belong to the ages
Soon we shall see our first soft footfalls through sendaline snow
Crisp, purposeful movements committed through love and hope to…
Our future to come when warm hearths shall be our only adventure,
To relive all we've done, seen, tasted and smelt and I shall look…
Within your heart and soul and see beauty no longer brief but forever
A full moon has occurred closer to the Earth than it has done at any time for the past 15 years.
The Moon's elliptical orbit means its distance from the Earth is not constant. It was a little over 350,000km away as it passed over the northern hemisphere, about 30,000km closer than usual. Astronomers said the moon would appear brighter and larger than usual, but the sky in the UK was almost completely covered by cloud. Friday's full moon was predicted to appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons this year, according to NASA. The Moon's orbit is elliptical, meaning it does not follow a circular but rather an oval path. It has reached the point where this oval orbit is nearest to the Earth. The moon appears largest as it rises and sets, but this is a psychological illusion. When it's close to the horizon, our brain interprets it as being bigger than it actually is; this is called the moon illusion. The Moon's brightness varies throughout its annual cycle, during the mid-winter in the northern hemisphere it can appear brighter simply because it is higher in the sky.

I never noticed it was any bigger by the way

Wednesday, December 10, 2008




Warburtons are a Bolton company and crumpets are one of my favourite things....they couldn't make em this good down south.

Tuesday 9th Dec 2008

It’s been a long cold week up to this point. We had a couple of large snow falls a week ago and almost every night since has seen minus temperatures. Despite several days of rain some of the snow still lingers along the path and field edges that are sheltered from the elements. It’s unusual to be so cold before Christmas so the plants and animals are likely to have a tough time of it till spring. Incidentally the cat I fed on the yard wall never came back again so I hope it found its way home.

Could it be the frost is the guardian of the innocents?
Hiding them away from the warm in a crucible of frost
That shimmers and spreads across the damp meadows
Bringing me a glaucous night underneath spreading stars

I’m currently off work as I have a heavy cold...likely I’ll return tomorrow. Felt really poorly over the weekend and yesterday, but getting better again. I don’t like not being well because it always makes me wonder too much for my own good.

Wednesday 10th Dec 2008

Well there and back again and another day at work passes...had to go a lifting and slinging refresher this afternoon for 4 hours...fabulous. I don’t know how I kept awake through it. Still feeling a lot better today although the cough is always the last to go away. It is getting very close to Christmas now just a little over 2 weeks ad I’ve done nowt (Lancashire for sod all,) as of yet...bah humbug! Lucky we have Amazon...dropping a big hint there.

Hope you’re well and hey if I win the rollover lottery I’ll come and visit and may even buy lunch.

Time slows and stills and yet the rhythmic tempo never stops
No matter the reason or the need it flows and spirals
Into tomorrow and if I do nothing...so shall it still come
To lead me into a beautiful dream where we are together

Take care.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Softly falls rain through barest branches that stretch toward the spring sky. Like I stretch toward you through the day till I reach you tonight. Your love shall cover me and run along my body just as the rain collects in the joints where branches meet a solid trunk and then runs down the bark in cascading rivulets. Ever you shall be the sun in my world that brings me to life and growth and wellbeing. It shall always be so my love for now and every spring to follow. For without your warmth and nurturing I should wither and lessen. I shall stay safe within the heat of your passion and love and grow tall toward our destiny and you shall be the only gardener of my heart and I shall make for you a garden of joy always.
The darkness closing in with a rose tinged sunset in the west. The still blue sky framed the crescent moon almost to first quarter and the first stars were beginning to sparkle and glisten. The air cold, the paths sheened with icy cobbles that took the remaining light and twinkled a starlit path for my footsteps. Funny but the birds were singing even into the cold and dusky evening and it lifted my heart and I had the greatest thoughts of you and I so wished you were at my side. I couldn’t bear ever the thought that it could be someone else there. I love you so with all my heart and my heart is strong yet gentle and sensitive as the gossamer threads that hang from a leaf and support the spider. Slender and strong, yet so easily broken. Promise me you’ll never break my heart…for I could not bear it. Surely as the spider I should fall and never again be whole in my lifetime. For in loving you I place all I am within your hands and I do know you will take the best care of it. For you are my love and I yours and we shall take care of each other always.
The world moves and I must answer its siren call as the day turns to night and the sun falls above the eastern hill. Yet while the world calls me forward I shall no longer travel alone for my love is always with me, within me in a way I never thought was possible. Hugging the very corners of my soul with loving thoughtfulness and I for my part shall love in return forever. I shall never leave nor seek comfort from another for the world moves and I must answer and now it is my very world and the siren song has enraptured and captivated me forever. Hear me world lest you cannot see it yet, but soon I promise you will. For I shall hold my love within my arms in a little while and I will never let go and we shall move as one together forward forever while the world calls us.

Every word I give you comes from this heart beating within my chest for they are to this great love of mine. A heart that is now doubled in size and beating to the rhythm of your soul and joy. Ever my heart and words grow with the greatest pride that you are mine. These words cannot be ever be denied and slip out of me like raindrops escaping light summer clouds to freshen a dry world. For my world has been watered by you and slowly turns to the greenest garden. It grows and grows and all is for you to enjoy and seek joy and solace within. It seems I exist to make you happy and loved and to be so comfortable with me. To soothe away the strains of the day and enrapture you at night. You will never own me my love, but I say with honesty and true love that I give of myself freely to you (all of me) and never shall I withdraw from the promises I have made you. I shall be such a willing slave to your pleasure and happiness. Take me and care or me for I shall have nothing or no one else now.

Your tender kisses did the trick my love for I am awake and beholding the day in all its spectacular beauty. Clear blue skies and a heavy frost and even a little snowfall fell in the night. The whole view I see is one of winter yearning for Spring. So soon to come and wake the world to exuberant growth. Ha, but yet even the first of her wonders awakes and grows. For you are the first ever of her wonders in my world.

The birds are absolutely elated this morning and singing with the melody of angels. For that is how they sound to me and all that I see is lifting me up and taking me to that special place you have created for me to live in. It truly is the most wonderful place I have ever been to and I am never leaving.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

What a world awaits the evening. With wreaths of dense fog laid along dark paths. Paths that take feet along seldom walked ways above the trees. How I long for the light of the moon to pierce these clouds and light my way with a trail of silver. For the snow has all but left, save for small deep patches, that cling in coldest corners or within deep-root crevices at the bottom of trees. A dog barks out in the night and is answered by the owl that winds invisibly among the foggy air on high. Safe tonight are the little creatures this night.
The house is cold tonight with a chill upon the rooms such as I have never felt before. It is as though somehow the walls were transparent and the cold air of night floods into the house. Air that has moved slowly across the last vestiges of snow that lies on the ground like molten, crystalline jewels melting under a dragons breath. Yet amid the lyrical rhymes the truth is that bones grow older and more they long to sit by the warm hearth and listen to melodious divas or explore words written or spoken. On such a night I think of you and miss your warmth and comfort and always your loving place at my side. I shall count every hour and every melting flake till you are by my side once again.
I couldn’t imagine that world
Where you weren’t there for me.
It would be the darkest, coldest
Loneliest world full of sadness
And I for sure, wouldn’t want…
To be living very long upon it
No birds again would ever sing
The sun would remain forever hidden
Behind highest walls of grey cloud
That perfectly matched my mood.
No laughter sparking within my heart
No thoughts of love for you that…
I need to have constantly within me to…
Brighten the world, lift my heart upward
Away from the melancholy state
I should sink into forever without it
See my sweet love I need you
Like the seed needs rain to grow
For within your caring heart and…
Its loving sunshine smile; I bloom
I grow tall toward heaven itself
For that is where you surely are
You are my forever with me always
And I shall never stop loving you.
The night came swift and wet to the hearths of the north
Yet never shall it enter within the heart of this one man.
Who fearless before the dark remembers your face

For the heart is born aloft by the sentiment of memories
The higher the cold winds blow down upon me
The warmer I become for they carry your laughter

I close my eyes and I hear your sweet, loving words
That are and always shall, be my comfort and eternal joy
For when the wind blows you are with me in the dark

Monday, December 01, 2008

Monday 1st Dec 2008

Hope you like the pictures below...think that is quite enough for tonight. We have been having very heavy frosts over the last few nights...its bloody freezing! Hard to believe it was 77 degrees in Las Vegas. Did update my diary for Vegas but left it at work...will update it tomorrow.
In the Bellagio gardens

At the top of the Eiffel Tower

Top of the Stratosphere...guess the show

Off to a show













Paris Hotel

Looking from the top of the Eiffel Tower

Down the strip

Bellagio lake and Caesar's



The Bellagio
Room 10004

The lions at the MGM Grand (allegedly all descended from the original MGM lion)


Car on fire (we thought this was a stunt but it was quite real)



Me and Mike at the Grand Canyon

Shot of the Canyon

Lake Mead (see the low water line)


Flying back to Las Vegas



Ceasar's Palace Staff
Me at Caesar's Palace Fountain

The group minus 1 (Joan)


Ladies who were lunching (colourful or what!)



Bellagio Fountains
Bellagio Fountains

Bellagio Fountains






The Venetian
Statue of Liberty
Bellagio Lake



View from the hotel