ALVSMITH

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      • Dugi Otok
      • Hvar, Pelješac & Korčula
      • Goli Otok
      • Imotski
      • Istria
      • Iž
      • Jablanac
      • Krk
      • Krka Waterfalls
      • Lošinj
      • Mljet
      • Molat
      • Murter & Lake Vrana
      • Nin
      • Northern Dalmatia
      • Pag
      • Paklenica
      • Plitvice Lakes
      • Premuda
      • Rab
      • Rastoke
      • Šibenik Area
      • Split
      • Trogir & Vinišće
      • Zadar
    • Estonia >
      • Haapsalu
      • Kuressaare & Saaremaa
      • Pärnu
      • Tallinn
    • France >
      • Ardèche
      • Dordogne
      • Pas-de-Calais
      • Somme
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      • Lübeck & Wismar
    • Hungary
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      • County Mayo
      • Dublin
    • Latvia
    • Montenegro >
      • Bay of Kotor
      • Budva and Cetinje areas
    • Poland >
      • Gdansk & Sopot
      • Poznan
      • Wroclaw
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      • Goriška Brda & Štanjel
      • Julian Alps
      • Škocjan & Karst
      • Soča Valley
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Thursday Afternoons

27 April 2017

27/4/2017

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Rainy day, so an opportunity to start learning some bell-ringing methods. If otherwise flummoxed, turn it into a nonsense poem...
Plain Hunt Doubles
​

Run to me, for time ticks                       123456        
To stun your beehive chicks                 214356
You draw fun-size twee pics                 241536
Score due, I’ve done free kicks            425136    
Shore drive: blue sea spun slicks        452316
Strive more, be true, gun clicks           543216
Shrive, be pure, shun blue flicks         534126    
We thrive on floor glue fix                    351426
See swan dive through your sticks     315246
Son, me too, I've more tricks                132546
Run to me, for time ticks...                    123456


Picture
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20 April 2017

20/4/2017

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Picture
Blackbirds

We have watched them work through the final frosts
Colouring the branches with their shining calls,
Bright budburst notes wrapped tight and green as moss.

We never saw their eggs, stayed far away
Through the mother’s brooding. With one still eye
She watched us working, till the fourteenth day.

And as we mowed, they came with full-stuffed bills,
To perch, heads cocked, above the squirming nest.
Mouths reached out and wide like daffodils.

Now the nest is empty. The work is done.
And as we mow the lawn again, they sit
In branches, singing green songs in the sun.
0 Comments

13 April 2017

13/4/2017

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Picture
This garden sings out to the world in green,
Tremolo leaves punctuating the air.
New movements swell from the soil to declare:
“We are here, where we always have been.”

Each colour of sound that these flowers are giving -
The F sharps of yellow and B flats of blue -
They sing without pausing for breath, all on cue,
Almost exhausted from the joy of living.
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6 April 2017

6/4/2017

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Picture
Inspired by my first ever new pound coin...

Gardeners’ Question Time
“My leeks, my shamrock, my thistles and roses
Are no longer thriving,” our listener discloses.

“What can I do to ensure they’ll grow freely?
The answer should be inexpensive, ideally.”

“May I ask firstly what else you have growing?
And which way is the prevailing wind blowing?”

“I’ve walls on all sides, so no hint of a breeze
And to keep it all tidy, I’ve cut down the trees.

I’ve dug up all species that aren’t from these shores:
Tomatoes, potatoes and black hellebores

I just want my British plants richer and fuller
So I’ve driven out all of the non-native colour.”

“Well, there is your problem, I’m sorry to say.
You’re turning your soil into hard, sterile clay.

With only four species within your four walls
You’ll soon find your fragile fertility falls.

The answer is simple: to get a rich loam
You just have to make it a welcoming home.”

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    A Diary blog

    A photo, a piece of writing, a video... Anything creative done on a Thursday afternoon.

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    Buy my debut poetry collection here

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