And in news just in...someone else has a map. (But tip-toe quietly as it’s night time over there.
…just something to get you guessing where I’m headed today. There may be photos…
mmm! who doesn’t love pizza!
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MADCAP MOMENTS IN MAP-MAKING…
…Or, not sure where you are, but writing down the adventures might be a good idea.
Right, then! First up, I thought that, since we are (that’s all of us, right? Not just one daft old bat who doesn’t know a sexton from something that sort-of sounds like one. C’mon, you slackers! Get your astrolabes out. No, Muriel. MURIEL!) doing maps this month I’d change my header.
And then, when I came to upload my map…I noticed that there does seem to be a similarity.
But, to save you having to click back to the previous post, I said that I might manage to retrieve the map that got so much use in my childhood. Of course, the original is long gone.But I have re-drawn the inky bits of an old copy for you.
Remember that spelling list? I don’t think “cannibal” was included! And the burn marks? I think we might have been lighting our camp fire…Or maybe the pirates fired at us! By the gods! They were a devilish crew! Blood-thirsty yells upsetting high-strung thoroughbreds and wilting Nan’s pansies.
But I remembered the fun of the game well enough to include similar maps in birthday and Christmas presents for a whole new generation of kids.
WE ALL NEED DIRECTION IN OUR LIVES…
…which is why we have maps. Yes! This is coming to you from the dark and danger-fraught depths of…where, exactly?
Well, a long time ago, in a cupboard under the stairs (accessible only from behind the big dining table when said table was moved for carpet-cleaning) a little girl ( for the purposes of this exercise we’ll call her “Dinah”) found an old chocolate box, stuffed full of what most adults would call “rubbish!”
Children and adults have vastly differing ideas of “rubbish.” The little girl carried her box of treasure (see? vastly differing.) out to the tack room at the stables and carefully laid out the contents.
3 chipped cats-eye marbles and one steelie. A circle of cardboard with split pin “hands” in the centre. Seven old, foreign postage stamps with strange writing the girl could not read. A tattered old notebook with lists of words. (Probably an aide de memoir for swatting before a spelling test.) A small green and gold satin rosette and a race card with the name of one horse heavily circled and underlined: scribble,scribble, something “ly” scribble, scribble”W” scribble,scribble “ood.”
And underneath the old notebook, a faded, torn and badly creased sheet of paper. A map!
Georgie-Pie came in for some harness and peered over her shoulder.”What’s all this?”
Dinah said it was all hidden in the cupboard behind the carpet sweeper. “Probably something one of the kids has forgotten about. Take it down to Nan and see if she knows.” He picked up the harness and, heading towards one of the stalls, called back to her.”Want to drive?”
Map and marbles forgotten in a trice, she raced after Georgie-Pie, eager for a ride in the sulky.
to be contd…
JULY MAP MONTH
Please bear with me…my keyboard has what people these days call “issues.’ Funny word to describe a keyboard clagged up with biscuits crumbs and whatever the word is for rubbed-out-bits of homework…
But you can pop across to Scarlet’s place here and read what she has writ.
I do hope you’ll pitch in. There is no prize, no generous cash donation. A bit like “funding” pledged for Notre Dame repairs! Nope. This is all about having a bit of a lark. Come up with a map of…something and leave a link to your blog in the comments, either here or at Scarlet’s place.
I shall be back when I’ve scrubbed this recalcitrant keyboard with carbolic. No, Muriel, it’s NOT car bollocks. Drink your Horlicks and No! It’s not that! go to sleep …
SOME WINT’RY SUNSHINE.
The summery new header is not only for me- I understand things have been “terribly English” in the land of my forebears.
Last week we had what the Met. Office calls a “cold snap.” I take that to mean snap as in the quick-freeze method of preserving vegetables. Damn’ near worked on me, I can tell you!
I went to the emporium of domestic appliances, looking to buy an electric blanket (yes, it was THAT cold!)…apparently everyone else in town had the same idea and I spent the morning burning up fossil fuel (probably now responsible for global warming single-handedly!) and finally managed to get an electric blanket.
The sun came out. The sky was blue. I shed three layers of clothing and turned on the fan…
But I’m not here to do a weather report. Oh no! Some of us who faff around in the cobwebbed corners of Blogland have been talking about maps. And someone (I think it might be the Inexplicable One) suggested a challenge, in which those bloggers who are so-inclined come up with a map of…well, we haven’t defined the thing yet!
But it involves drawing a map of somewhere, real or imagined, to be posted on your blog. We haven’t nailed down dates or anything sensible yet, but it might be a good thing to sharpen your pencils and wits…
Here’s a picture of a Macrozamia in our garden.Shame there aren’t any dinosaurs left to eat it…
NOT SURE WHETHER I’M ON A ROLL OR A SLIPPERY SLOPE…
Only a week (ish) since I was entertaining you and here I am again!
Not a lot is happening around here as the rain is still hanging around. That’s fine by me as my herbs are doing well.
But the major overhauls have had to be put on hold until things dry out a bit.
Remember last week I said I was hopeful of masses of crimson flowers on the Megaskepasma eryth…etc? Well…
Blimey!That was quick!
Erm…no. I scrambled up the back fence and took this shot of Bob the Builder’s bush. Hey! It’s not cheating if you tell the truth.
And this morning i discovered this…
Let’s see who can guess what it is. Try not to be too rude. MURIEL!
Our internet/phone change-over is all set now.It took a while and required someone to be here to answer the ‘phone and I have still to compose a non-dorky message. I favour something like: “If your call is important, leave a message and if I think it’s important I’ll call you back.” But The Man says I can’t do that. Wanna bet?
We were enjoying an afternoon glass of wine the other day when I spotted a moth between the window and the wire screen. It was a bit tricky, but I managed to flap a tea towel and drive it down to where I could reach it and release it. There was no time to get a camera (despite having at least two fully-charged!) so I let it go.What was it? Mr or Mrs Dysphania, parent of the Yellow Fellows. Here’s one from the internet
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)
And now it’s lunchtime !
I know the lovely Scarlet staged a Sunday Music coup last week and she can still host that (unless Mago wants it back!)
But I’d like to leave you with some “local” flavour. Just close your eyes and imagine you’re one of the first Europeans to hear this sound. Would it have given you the willies? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLu9GmV2vF0
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BLOGGING?
I suspect many of us are enticed away by the quick-fix of Instagram and suchlike.
And, of course, Facebook has ensnared many bloggers. Yes, I have a presence on that platform, but I have culled a great many contacts who were buying into the bitch-fests. I don’t like hateful comments, especially from people who can’t spell! And it does seem to be a magnet for Brexit and Trump and climate deny-ers and Flat-earthers…
But we’re not about blame here at the Idle Thoughts. Actually, we (and that’s “we” used in the Royal context!) don’t seem to be about very much of anything. Another two months gap in posting. Slacking, Dinah!
A quick update…it has not rained since last Friday. What this means is that I am back to watering some plants! With drinking water! Sacrilege!
I have a few photos to share…
…More Yellow Fellows. Dysphania numana cats.
Tithonia, aka Mexican sunflower or tree daisy. Tied back from the driveway and still flinging its gorgeous flowers about. A bit of a thug, but I do love it.
This is a Megaskepasma erythroclamys . And I Googled to see if there is a more pronouncable common name (and you all know how I feel about common names!) Apparently, it’s also known as Red Cloak. Over the years I’ve struggled to keep it alive and this is from a 6″/ 15cm cutting. The rain has been a boon so I’ve planted this and am hopeful of masses of crimson flowers …
And now, my faithful readers, I’d better press the button on this as things might get a bit tricky…we are changing providers and are only part-way through the process.I’d hate to have you cut off in your prime, as it were.
