All posts by Phil

Music Choices

A Song For Now…

I’m posting this in response to the challenge from Nickie at Typecast, just here on her blog:
State your ultimate Christmas song!

Like many genres of music, it’s hard for me to choose a favourite out of all the tunes I like. That’s why there are NINE tunes here – try them any time you have the time… but for now (the festive season) well…

Just a minute. Go back a few weeks. Armistice Day seemed very poignant this year. And I thought of this song, of which I am rather fond, and which is founded on fact, as they say. Be warned, though – you may need paper tissues…

Ladies and gentlemen, please click below to listen to:
Belleau Wood

Thank you.

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100 Word Challenge

The Season of… What?

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This post was prompted by the special ’50/50 split’ 100 word challenge’ here.
Please click on the link to see the rules – and other responses. 

The concept: A clear blue sky. Brilliant sunshine on fresh snow. A slight, persistent, air and ground frost. Children, dressed in brightly-coloured warm clothes, laughing and shouting as they pull each other along on sledges, their parents joking with one another as they exchange stories of family life.

The reality…

Now it’s your turn. 50 more words – no more and no less!

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100 Word Challenge, Musings, Poetry

Ode to Mums Who Cook Christmas Dinner

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Once a year, in town or city
And around the countryside
Everyone prepares for feasting
On the day of Christmastide.
Special food, and drink as well
All the supermarkets sell.

When the day at last arriveth
For the tables to be spread
Many ‘mums’ are working madly
For their families to be fed.
‘Merry Christmas’ each will yawn –
(Ovens start in early morn.)

When the festive fare  is eaten
And the plates are cleared away
We salute those who’ve been busy
On this Christmas ‘holiday.’
“Well done, Mum!” And she’ll reply:
“That’s all right – I’ll wash, you dry…”

This post was prompted by the ‘100 word challenge’ here.
The appropriate tune (from a carol) should be obvious!
A hint: see the first line. 

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100 Word Challenge

Are Bells Ringing?

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This post was prompted by the ‘100 word challenge’ here. Please read that first,
 so that you understand the idea.

“You know, Jen, if Mother asks once more whether she can hear bells, I think I shall get tinnitus! I know she can’t help it, ’cause of the blast. But honestly…”

***

Jenny ran home to tell her sister the news. She had hardly got the words out before they heard their mother shout from upstairs.

“Harriet! Haaaarriet! Is it me or are bells ringing?”
Hetty ran to her  mother’s room, breathless, tears welling in her eyes.
“Yes, Mother…  This time you’ve got it right. Your ears and brain do not deceive you. I think every church bell in the country’s ringing right now. The war’s over!”

This account is fictional, but there must have been hundreds
of real-life occurrences like this on the 8th of May, 1945!

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100 Word Challenge

Our Strange Guide

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This post was prompted by the ‘100 word challenge’ here.
First of all, view the link and picture, then read on…

We were lost.

Earlier that day, we had to leave the main track, blocked by fallen trees. Dusk fell; guiding the horses was not easy. Don, in the lead, was using a compass. Suddenly, he reined in, raised his field glasses, then shouted back:

“Cabin! Lights! Smoke!”

We altered course, and rode on – straight into a sheltered clearing, where we camped for the night.

The next morning, we found the cabin; it lay a few yards from the familiar track; empty, derelict, doors and windows swinging open. The stove had clearly not been lit for years. Likewise the hurricane lamps.

This account is fictional; however, similar occurrences have been reported in real life. 

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100 Word Challenge, Musings

The powers that be?

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I remember, one day at primary school, when our teacher, who had recently returned from an ‘exchange’ period (she had worked in an American school) relating to us, in class, some stories of what her experience had been like.

In the main, she had got on very well; but the greatest challenge, she’d found, was to stimulate her class to produce creative writing. When she finally made headway, another teacher looked at the class output and asked how she had achieved this. She explained: “First, I read them a poem…”

The shocked reply was “But poetry isn’t till after Christmas!”

This post was prompted by the ‘100 word challenge’ here.
It is drawn from my own memories of school.

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