Green Islands: 1954

It's sobering to consider the change of pace and the degradation of some aspects of society wreaked in just fifty-five years.  Nowadays the voice-over wouldn't do at all - far too sexist, m'dear.  There were no 'security guards' in high-viz jackets confiscating parents' cameras or demanding to see CRB checks and no-one threatening to arrest the man feeding the ducks on the grounds that he was littering (oh, yes, it did happen).  There's been a collective, national, loss of innocence; progress is essential and wonderful but not at the expense of a country's heart and soul - there are things we can still learn from the past.

Lightning Strikes

Sailing By

Samhain

We were born before the wind,
Also younger than the sun
'Ere the bonnie boat was one
As we sail into the mystic.
(Van Morrison)

Homesick

I enjoyed it better with the sound down:

The Walking Englishman

Peter, the English Gardener

I could have done with subtitles in places but he's spot on with his pruning tips:



More gardening tips here.

Gardening

Royal Horticultural Society

More links: Freebies for your garden
Heirloom English seeds

A Reminder

I first came across this simple poem in primary school; it was read out to us by Mr Carlton, our Class Teacher, and, for better or worse, it made a lasting impression:

"What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare."
'Leisure' by W H Davies

Lightning Strikes