torch flower of the blue smoking darkness
- D H Lawrence -- a more appropriate quote for the gentians, though the Thom Gunn quote could be flowers appearing through the year, if not titled My Sad Captains, of course.  - One by one they appear in /
the darkness, a few friends, and /a few with historical names. / How late they start to shine (Thom Gunn)   Gentians photo Murdo Macdonald


we've got something for you
Hear me sing!

Bee video clips

the start of a new collection of fascinating bee data

BROKEN HOLMES is on again at Leicester Comedy Festival


The decade's turn was marked by prolonged white-out, see Lake of Menteith above, and see the Curling episode on *start here blog.*  Other things that happened a long time ago, in 2009, see below

*Viewing Tower, Flanders Moss: two great pictures to start the new diehard poetry news page

*Welsh, Gaelic and poetry in Snowdonia: SNAP to the Guardian (I blogged this 30 Nov, they blogged same pic with a poetry item 1 Dec.) see start here blog.

 

*Rachel and Star in Poland on this week page

*Gatehouse of Fleet & poem for Adrian Mitchell 
*Liverpool trip: this week page   *Deer ticks: garden page

 

*Bho Leabhar Latha Maria Malibran

*Callander Poetry Weekend 09 Gallery and account left menu

*Which science fiction writer made Loch Katrine disappear?
    *start here* blog

Poetry Scotland now at Issue   62      Link to Colin Will's  PS Website

Blaeberries

Let's go pick blaeberries,
strong, dark, sweet blaeberries

that lie in lairs
as though they know
the country's dangerous.

They hide dark wine-blue hue
among mild red-green leaves
on slopes that stalk the sun.

Let's stay an hour or so,
pretend we live like this
always, provisioning

this fruit we breakfast on,
freeze down, consume as pies,
juice thickened by heat,

sweetened with honey. High
on high braes in July,
blaeberries, earthy.

Let's go pick blaeberries
Let's go seek, let's go early.

Let's go pick blaeberries
Beth Junor took this pic of our favourite Trossachs dining room and stopping off point. Ben A'an behind. Has to be a favourite pic. It's not even so much the photography as the place feeling like part of our living space. The Blaeberries poem appeared in The Great North Road.

Callander Poetry Weekend 2009  -- now with its own page see left menu.

This was absolutely splendid folks, thanks to great participation by  everybody. The cruise was something to remember - normally  you wouldnt get a cruise in the mist as the boats do not sail if there are not enough passengers, and in much finer weather we would not have had the boat to ourselves. Itinerant Poetry Librarian's library was a great success, all the readings were great, and the Burns Mini Conference went off brilliantly. I am going away for a couple of days and will be writing it up after that, with a selection of Mike's fabulous photographs.

 

Itinerant Poetry Librarian.
Continuously since May 2006 The Itinerant Poetry Librarian has been travelling the world with a free public library, installing the library & librarian and archiving the sounds, poems and poetry of the cities, peoples and countries she meets.

We’ve now clocked up over 1000 hours of public library service, in 11 countries & 21 cities worldwide, in over 150 different locations.

We’re here to ...

    * Remind people of the importance of free public libraries
    * Subvert mainstream channels of distribution
    * Remind people that access to knowledge should be free and not dependent upon economic wealth hierarchies
    * Show people that poetry/art can provide answers to questions we ask of life
    * Experiment in existing outside of 'the market' – thereby, instead, investing in social capital, social innovation and community.

Incidental FAQs...

    * Yes we carry our entire life and the library with us as we go
    * Yes, it is quite heavy
    * No, we're not mad. As the former US Poet Laureate, Charles Simic, once said, 'But what if poets are not crazy?' That's the spirit boyo!
    * In the US we operated our entire life and library on a budget of 4 US dollars per day
    * In East Germany in 2009 we achieved our personal budgetary best record: operating life & library on a budget of one euro per day
    * We operate under official regulations, guidance policies and with core purposes, designated as the movement GYMENDECOLOGY, and also known within peripheral circles as The Zen of the Library.
    * Our Library ByeByeLaws are based on Norfolk County Council's Public Libraries ByeLaws, in turn regulated under the original UK 1964 Libraries & Museums Act. Have we adapted them for our own purposes? Yes we have. Do we mean funny business? Yes we do.
Poetry Site Links (1)  Byron's Bedroom


                          (2)  Virtual Tour of Shakespeare & Co

                          (3)  Hill Ornithological Collection

                          (4)   Recording of Yeats reading The Lake Isle of Innisfree

 

Broken Holmes and After  see my blog  

Ancient woodlands and trees

This Week page comes back to life with Doune Castle pictures

Portrait gallery: Women Makars of Scotland: Please scroll down


  Mid May:
      New book arrives: The Honey Seller
   See the new book page left:
an experiment with Search Inside
          (to get one contact Sally see foot of page)

 

First of May:  It was a good ball while we kicked it:  Sally blogs about facebook

April

Day in Edinburgh: more on the SPL event

Poem-a-day see left menu

Real bees arrive

Bees settle

Elephant painting: video on The Bees the Book page


New! March: Draft of a poem, with help  Poets fill space

Glasgow

Clock Tower and Eucryphia, Cambo house

Paul and Sandi pay a special visit to Callander: see blog page

New! January:  Aconites  Inversnaid

New! February: This page: 25 Things. Laureates.

Click for:  Sestinas  Gaarrye   Jokey Speech  Cambo   Steampunk
Goosanders
Kilmartin

New Topics Blog attached to site: (enables blog feeds to facebook.)
Women Makars and Laureates

-------Above, L-R Sheena Blackhall, Magi Gibson. Centre, Margaret Gillies Brown, all of whom by chance plan to be at Callander Poetry Weekend this year...

Hi Sally - couldnt resist a peek at Byron's bedroom, which inspired the following:

Fallen Lucifers

We love our fallen Lucifers..
Lord Byron, Errol Flynn
With their fires forever burning
And their morals in the bin

They're so like an Xmas pudding
With the sixpences stuffed in
They're rich and mad and bad for us,
There's nought so sweet as sin!

                             Sheena Blackhall , Boxing Day

Watch Nora the pussycat play the piano and these clever idiots jumping about on the floor piano


NEW:  "The apostrophe is disappearing and will disappear altogether by the end of the century," said Dr Treharne. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1055772.stm


desktopsallye is still entirely semi-colon free.You will also notice an absence of apostrophes in well known elided words, in cases where there is no ambiguity. I never had an its/it's problem, but if you still use its/it's, here is why youre a duffer if you cant do it:
a) his hers its. b) it's = it is every time, except when it's = it has.


Contact me: If you like it, hate it, want to make comments or suggestions, get hold of my books, enquire about the bookshop or just say hello, you can contact me as follows:

email: sally dot king4 at btinternet dot com

phone UK [0]1877 339449

sallyevanz on facebook, Twitter and Skype

Kings Bookshop, 91-93 Main Street, Callander Scotland FK17  8BQ

Blog comment facility on *start here* blog, left menu.