October Lament

..." a gathering of shining starlings

sitting slanted on an earthen roof "...

* 

...hoping for a murmuration one day...

*

Ceramic Sales...David slays Goliath/ NHS slays coronavirus19

The year 2002 was quite a year for us at The Potters House Penketh.

Alan's dad..Sydney Snape died.

We bought an old guest house in Morecambe 5 minutes from the beach.

We went to Spain for the first time and stayed in the beautiful apartment owned by our niece and nephew... up the hill from Marbella.

Alan made this large bowl with his typical comic aproach to some of the Bible stories.

I loved it.

I didn't want it to go.

He often stashed it on the top of a storage cupboard in the back studio.

In that way ...it wasn't going to sell.

Until today.

The buyer asked about Gath...was it local?

So the potter told the story of the small David and the great big hulking giant Goliath.

She'd never heard it before.

I think Goliath is "coronavirus 19" and David is little NHS...that defeats it.....chops of it's head!!

This year...back to Morecambe one day soon I hope.

Next year back to Spain..I hope!

A Poem for Thursday

The Midsummer Knight's Dream

This morning at the Thursday morning writers group the prompt was  from Margaret K.

" Brush up your Shakespeare"

.

But some of us were grieving for another writer of both comedy and tragedy ....

Victoria Woods. 

Then on top of it being Shakespeare's birthday this week...a double whammy with The Queen's 90th. today. What a week! Now whether you are for or against the Monarchy...to celebrate a 90th birthday and be the longest reigning Queen ever, deserves at the very least a mention.

 But my thoughts were about Victoria...the Queen of Comedy since the 70s......and this one is for her...and for her beloved Morecambe...and in particular Lubin's...a place of inspiration. We were lucky enough to eat there  many times before it closed its doors for good. 

I have read that..." Is it on the trolley?"... maybe a quote from Lubin's !!!!!

Some artistic licence in this mad sonnet.

The Midsummer Knights Dream

We sat on the crimson red sofa,

The potter, the daughter and me.

We ordered a platter with cheeses

Some bread and a big pot of tea.

When who should come in through the doorway

With her children and husband in tow

Victoria and the Magician

In his best Sunday suit and his bow.

The sun caught the top of his bald pate,

She heaved up her boobs from below.

Her kids ordered meat pie at Lubin's

And icecream to have on the go.

But the dream was just Midsummer Madness

For she's gone, and we're left with our sadness.

Sunday's Short Story.

I know it's Monday...but we left the house on the Bay...Sunday evening, and scudded down the old M6 to catch The Durrell's on the box...so no time to post as we cope very nicely without WiFi in the Bay house.

(...an aside...
...the bay sunset, which is renowned anyway, was especially beautiful on Saturday because of the stormy weather....I just had to run out and catch the end of it before the sun went down.)

Prompt

The prompt from Pat F.on Thursday at The Writer's Workshop was a challenge. Not that it isn't always a challenge for me...but this one stumped me for a while. But the only thing to do in that situation is to go with the first idea that comes .. and run with it. We only have a bit over an hour to write before we read the results to each other....so here it is...

Albert was not yet ready to share his age with Ivy. She had been told that his birthday was coming up, But as his secretary she needed to be careful about broadcasting it around the office. After all Albert was the boss.The company had been good to her. Life was difficult enough since Syd died. She was still coming to terms with an empty house every evening.Ivy felt angry about it all although she knew that his family had a history of heart attacks. Nevertheless, being who she was, one who copes, it was just a few weeks after Syd's funeral that she determined to get herself a job, and get back into a daily routine.To have Albert as her boss was more that she had dared to hope for.She did have a lot of experience noted down on her c.v. But with so many people applying for so few positions, she realised that in this she had fallen on her feet.....or to be more precise...on the office chair!

Her office wall abutted Albert's office wall. And regularly she would either be in his room taking notes or receiving lists of jobs to be achieved, Or Albert would breeze into her office. No knock of course, just striding in and sitting on the edge of her desk with a file or USB to peruse But recently often it had often been with a mug of coffee at the start of the business day. That was quite a thing! In her last job she had always been expected to be both office worker and tea girl for the whole  floor. 

He was no Adonis, Albert P. Shingle. Sometimes when she thought about it she had a giggle over the name...Shingle! Was it an illness or a beach? She preferred to think it was a beach.And what did the P stand for if anything? Some people put a middle letter into their signature to make it more memorable. Of course it might just be Peter or Paul or maybe Phillip. But she liked to think it was exotic...maybe Peregrine to counteract the blandness of Albert.! Oh dear as the months had gone by that she was thinking more and more about his life outside of the office, And today she knew that he would celebrate his fiftieth. Surely it couldn't pass by unmentioned?

Someone elsewhere in the company must be planning a surprise. No word of this forthcoming...at least none that she had heard of. Her job was precious. She loved the work. She was good at it she discovered. Better than she ever imagined she would be She would let the day pass by.

Every day Ivy made sure that all she did and even what she wore was as professional and efficient as she could make it. She was taking much more thought over her appearance than she had done for many years. Was that her being professional, or did she feel at forty three she still had a lot of living ahead of her? With no children from her marriage to care for life was starting anew .So there would be no way she was going to throw a spanner in the works and step forward now to plan something for Albert's birthday.

But there were little things she could do without making an issue of it. She put a bunch of spring flowers in a pretty jug on the side of the desk - not too ostentatious just enough to sweeten the often stale office air. She bought a packet of triple chocolate biscuits to offer when he arrived  with her coffee. She wore a new blouse she had bought at the weekend. Still a crisp white cotton but with a little pie crust collar on it. And in these small ways she hoped her boss would know that she recognized both the day and also the position she held in the company.

At nine fifteen as usual Albert stepped into her office. Coffee in hand, he smiled. She offered him a cookie. He took one and hesitated. 

"It's my birthday Ivy. I was wondering if you would join me this evening for dinner? I've taken a chance that you might say yes and booked a table at a local restaurant...what do you say?"

The flowers bloomed and shared their perfume in the room, out through the door and into the rest of the building!

Oh dear...cheesy end...but what to do when Pat says.."Five more minutes and then we shall read!"

Well you bring it all to conclusion...and who doesn't love a happy ending anyway!!

By the way you could see more of my pics on my Instagram site...if you were of such a mind!!

geraldinesnape...documenting the mundane

Blogging, followers and friends!!

I've been posting blogs since March 2010...I can hardly believe that!

 But in all that time I've not personally met a single blogger friend. Well all that has changed! 

The timing was exact...the place was right ...the conversation started...and lo and behold...someone who actually had read my posts...finding them on the sidebar list of the wonderful Pen Wilcox. Stunned ..we both were.

I was standing by the Pithoi pots at The Beetham Garden Centre near Milnthorpe in Lancashire when as I was ringing the rims to make sure that the pot was whole..as.any little crack or flaw will not give a bell-like sound. (This I know from the potter himself!...he had rung one or two before going off to buy a pot for our Christmas present to one another.)

It's big!...some in the Tuesday evening ceramic group that he teaches wondered why he didn't make it himself...well...it's bigger than the kiln for a start! And pithoi from Crete are famous for their shapes and traditional decoration.

So now I'm a follower on "woolywanderer" on Instagram...I'm G Snape there.."Documenting the Mundane" by the way. And also a follower on multicolouredmadness.blogspot.com .

We hugged with laughter and tears and hugged again...two grown women who had never met but had so much in common! 

Well that's blogging for you. You wait five years and along comes a follower and then a friend. We shall plan to meet up again I'm sure of that as we both have homes around that glorious Bay I talk about so much.

Thankyou Blogspot...thankyou daughter amelieshouse.blogspot.co.uk for getting me started...thankyou senior grandgirl troase.blogspot.co.uk for encouraging and quietly showing me techie things!!

An 80th Celebration!

We were up at the Bay for most of the week...

...amazing weather...sandcastles galore!!

 

..the weekend culminated in the celebrations at the Midland Hotel on Sunday.

...80 Years built!...

 

So out came the vintage dresses...very Morecambe now anyway with more and more vintage and collectibles in the shops.

 

We went for the ice cream and afternoon tea.

...vanilla ices...

...and coffee actually with home made almond cakes from one of the stalls...

...I loved their aprons...want one!!

We sat for hours and people-watched!

...lots of people did...I like to think that maybe this glamorous woman remembered the days of the hotel's youth...she certainly was captivated with the music...

 
...we also listened to the jazz singer ...Harri Deane...singing those 1930 songs....sang along...couldn't help myself!

...then I did a bit of "cherry-picking" from the stalls which were laid out beneath Eric Gill's famous NW Coast line Relief.

...silk devoree jacket and some rabbit moulds for the southern grandgirls...they have just become the besotted owners of bunnies!!

 

.....outside patient donkeys were doing their duty with little children...

..though I suspect it was more of a photo opportunity for the parents!

 

...and Pimms with strawberries was drunk ...

 

... the hotel lounge hosted a Palm Court band ... gently lulling those folk in the armchairs to sleep....

...the chairs positioned over the rug designed by Marian Dorn in the 30s.

(I still remember "The Arcadia" in Portrush in the late 40s ...the palms ...the ice cream and the band....)

...you can just see the rug here.....

Stalls aplenty...

 

 traditional sweets...

 

..and .lots of 50s glitz...

 

...a sunset to drool over...

...dropping down behind the western lakes.

Lunch at The Palatine.

We sat in the big brown leather armchairs, looking out the window of the Palatine Bar at the sea and mountains, up in the Bay today...

...our first major outing since the potter came out of the jungle that is known as "The NHS"....not that we aren't thankful...we are...but it's still a place you don't want to get lost in!

...Watched the world ...or at least the people of the Bay, go past. 

Me drinking mulled cider and the potter loyally sticking to his fruity glass of pop...

...then just sat for a long while and enjoyed the luxury of the moment and scanned the newspaper for positive headlines...

...there's something timeless about a scene with people promenading in twos and threes along a sea front ...whether Spain in the sun or the Bay...with the wind caressing the beach flags, while the waters flood and in the distance, those old blue mountains edge the horizon...

...as they have done since the days when the ice melted!

Lunch was no disappointment either...the chef came out and mentioned that fresh turkey pie had just come out of the oven with crushed, buttered potatoes and buttered carrots on the side....well who could resist...?

... we didn't!!...

*

Time at the Bay.

We had a few days up at the house on the Bay this week.

The sky was a piercing blue and the water... still and quiet.

Lots of folk were out taking pics of the boats

... in the little harbour.

 

The hills in the distance matched the blue of the sky

and the primary colours of the fishing boats...with the reflections in the water...well...

...it couldn't have been more perfect.

Along the coast by the Red Bank farm...

...sea birds were gathering to fly off for the winter.

Then within 24 hours...

...all  changed...

 

The sky was grey and overcast and the sea competing with it for greyness.

A little egret searches for food on the rich sandy mud of the edge while it's partner has just flown off into the middle of the sands.

 

The autumn tide came right up to the edge of the  promenade 

...while the sky was threatening. 

But we snuggled up in the Palatine Pub with hot steak sandwiches and listened to the rain beating down ...outside the  windows!

Then ...back to the house ...running through the gusts of rain...

and feet up in the warmth of the old leather armchairs.

Sunday at Grange-over-Sands

It was Prom Art again on Sunday ...gosh it comes around so fast I can hardly get my breath.

Well... we love Grange and The Prom Art...but not the rain that stopped the people from promenading with their families and dogs!

So it was a matter of covering up the stall and in the heavy showers hauling in the paintings while the ceramics could look after themselves!

    

  The stall looked good..

...even in all the wetness!

.and Robert....chief organiser, if you don't count his gorgeous wife !...

was to be seen as usual, walking up and down the prom encouraging us.

 yellow hat glowing... so we would know that he was around.

We had some new tiles on the stall...         
               hares......!

 yes... I know you all realise I'm besotted with them at the moment...

                       but there you go!

...you must blame Derek Jarman's cottage for it all!













There's always a bonus at Grange.....
...the bay was glorious with massive rain clouds  hanging over the hills around Arnside...
I just had to take loads of pics...

Then just to be seen away in the distance at the oppposite side of the bay...

...leading his people like a modern day Moses across the treacherous sands....

the Queen's Guide, Cedric Robinson

I listened to two little girls discussing the sands...

..." If you fall in there the sand will swallow you up"...

...unbelieving look..."Really?"

Well it could have been a Dr. Who moment!

Beauty surrounds Health abounds.

You will know if you have read a few of my posts... that we love the coastal town of Morecambe...

...up  here in the north west of England.

My first visit to this little bit of seaside was when I was 15,

and came over on the Heysham ferry with a load of Belfast school children.

I loved it!

The amusements...now mostly long gone....the swimming pool...now long, long gone...

...ah well.

I have great memories of the freedom of those days.

We have a neighbour, young and creative... who has taken on the task of researching and finding many of the people of those 1950's days.

The following is her latest art film, backed by the Arts Council, dedicated to many of the entertainers...

... and joy of joys....

...the swimmers...

... who entranced me and my friends with their syncronized swimming in the Olympic sized  pool to the music of the organist who appeared out of nowhere to entertain us!

......."Give me sunshine".......

Salt Marching on The Bay.

That sounds like a cue for a song somehow! And of course Morecambe is famous for those.
However this is all about a glorious day spent wandering the salt marshes of The Bay with two of the five precious grandgirls.

Vast skies free the mind to extend the edges of our thinking.

We feel like the first explorers as we venture out into the flats of the bay.

Binoculars reveal the remains of a cocklers truck sunk half into those wobbly jelly-like sands.

Healthy fear keeps us waiting on the edge ....

....but we see the tide come roaring up the bay....

...and so we turn and respect this powerful element.

Pools have been formed and then reformed with each tide as it flows in and out.

Deep gullies appear and disappear with each month that we visit.

And the edges crumble away continually as the water takes it's toll on soft sandy clay.

Landward is this beautiful old farmhouse, and we wonder how many more years we will be able to visit before this too disappears into the quiet waters of the Bay.

Only the sea birds are undisturbed by any of this.
Oyster catchers wait together for the rising tide, before taking off on their magnificent circus flying acts over the shining Bay.

[By the way...anyone interested in the music history of Morecambe, can see a stunning film of that at Morecambe Library on the evening of Monday 17th October and Tuesday to be screened through out the day. Any more information can be had from Sonja Campbell of Happenstance Arts e-mail sonja@snapshotmuseum.com ]