What a Big Mouth You Have~

Pictures by Cindy Knoke of beautiful and powerful grizzlies in their Hudson Bay home

The better to growl at you,

besides it’s hot for a polar bear, and I pant and get grumpy when it’s hot.

I’ll growl at the dirt if I want to.

Whose gonna stop me?

Baby Bear, like a pint sized Narcissus, practices panting and growling at his reflection. Someday, he hopes to grow huge and growl as fiercely as Mama Bear, but for now, all he can do is practice.

What big teeth,

huge tongue,

and what fine bears you are!

Your sleepy cub is quite handsome,

and your home is lovely too!

Cheers to you from the awesome bears in their stunning Hudson Bay home~

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painted icons

Magnificent.

Paul Militaru

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Youtube Virgin No More

Jo does cover designs if you’re looking for one plus has a new YouTube project.

Jo Robinson

I’m edging back into weekly blogging again and I’m planning on weekly posts rather than daily posts, so here we go with the sticking of the toe into the water to begin with. It has been a very busy six months. After the previous three years of insanity it has been good to finally be able to just get on with working on what I love, breathe a little, and figure out what my new life will be. What I finally figured out is that you never know. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. This year has been filled with all sorts of fabulous projects from editing jobs to illustration and a couple of cover designs. I’ve had to move the publication date for my new non-fiction book, The Secret Life of People further towards the middle of September as work for my clients is always a priority, but…

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Culture clash

First, a description of conditions on some farms in relation to infections and the treatment of them for both the farmer and animals. Next, is an amusing book by Jim Webster included about the farming life and animals. There is a review from a pleased reader included.

Jim Webster

Amongst sheep farmers in this country you’ll find a medical condition called, ‘dipping flu.’ Basically it’s organophosphate poisoning from the chemicals in sheep dip.
So obviously farmers have stopped using them.
Except for the fact that the use was compulsory up until 1992, and that government knew that they were dangerous.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/20/revealed-government-knew-of-farm-poisoning-risk-but-failed-to-act

The reason farmers use them is to treat sheep scab. To quote from one website, “Sheep scab is an acute or chronic form of allergic dermatitis caused by the faeces of sheep scab mites (Psoroptes ovis). The mites are just about visible to the naked eye and can only remain viable off the host (sheep) for 15-17 days. The sheep is the only host where the mites can complete their lifecycle, though there is evidence that they can remain viable on cattle. The lifecycle takes 14 days and the population of mites can double every six days.”

The…

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To sleep, perchance to write

First, Tallis Steelyard tells us a humorous tale about a woman writer who tries her best to write down her nighttime dreams and ideas. Next, Jim Webster has an informative and entertaining book with suggestions on selling the written word. A review by a satisfied customer accompanies it.

Tallis Steelyard

I must confess that I rarely gain any benefit from the dreams I have that I remember upon waking. Some seem to have me in long and convoluted discussions with people who are dead or whom I am aware of but have never met. In some I seem to be travelling through strange places for entirely inadequately explained reasons. Then, like everybody else, I seem to have the occasional dream where I have somehow displaced all my clothes and thus must wander naked through embarrassing situations.

It is only very occasionally that I awake from a dream and think, “I can use that.” Indeed I have a piece of scrap paper I keep by my bed for just such instances. Embarrassingly, perusing it shows that it contains more notes about appointments I mustn’t forget than fragments of immortal verse.

But there are those who either dream more wisely than me…

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Robin Hood – Still the People’s Hero

Books about Robin Hood.

Walking the Old Ways

I wrote a while ago how often Robin Hood features as a place name in our landscape, from Robin Hood’s Well at Fountains Abbey to his numerous graves, from a hill in Cumbria to his various resting places. As an author of Robin Hood novels I have my own thoughts on the man himself:

Tradition labels Robin Hood not only as an outlaw but a rebel as well. In most of the tales, whether they be novels, films or television, Robin takes to the greenwood to fight for the poor and oppressed. And comes into immediate conflict with figures of authority, such as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Sir Guy of Gisborne, Prince (actually Count) John of Mortain, various corrupt abbots and nobles etc.

We can all picture the scenes where Robin takes from the rich and gives to the poor and….

Wait a moment, let’s wind back to the original…

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Walk to a Forgotten Graveyard

Walk to a forgotten graveyard and more.

Walking the Old Ways

We owe Wensleydale Cheese to the monks of Jervaulx Abbey, not to mention the training of racehorses that goes on in this part of the Yorkshire Dales as well.

I’ve featured Jervaulx Abbey on this blog before, so, although we started from there, we took a different route the other day. (We missed out the abbey, though not the splendid tea-room.)

And on our way we found a footpath contention, a hillside with superb views over Lower Wensleydale, and – most interesting of all – a forgotten graveyard. The footpath contention I’ll leave to the next blog, as it raises some interesting points for the country walker.

Above Hammer Farm (c) John Bainbridge 2019

The owners of Jervaulx Abbey kindly let ramblers use their car park, for the modest sum of £1. There was a small section of busy main road, before we turned into the quiet byways of Newstead…

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Diary of a lone litter picker: why do people throw litter?

All about littering.

Sophie Neville

Sophie Neville on a beach clean – photo copyright Daily Mail

Why litter? It is illegal. Why is rubbish chucked out of vehicles passing through an area like the Lake District, where jobs and businesses depend on the beauty of the surroundings?

Is littering an instinctive reaction? Early man must have dropped what he didn’t need without a second thought. Hunter-gatherers are active agents of seed dispersal, spitting out seeds and chucking vegetable matter away as they walk about. Do we, as humans, improve our chances of survival by discarding unwanted items that weigh us down?

My peers counter this. In answer to my question, they say:

• ‘I care for the environment. It angers me when people don’t do the same!’
• ‘Pure laziness, they think, ‘Oh well, the local authorities employ someone to clear up behind me and throw rubbish out of vehicles as they drive along while on their…

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Wednesday Story Day – We Must Remember

Let us never forget.

Fiction Favorites

AP Photo/Carmen Taylor

Usually, I would have an episode of my continuing story during this time, but this is not the day for a fictional story.

This is the day to remember an actual horror at the hands of those who hate America and the freedoms for which we stand. Today is the day to remember the innocent victims of this hate.

• We should remember the citizens of the world who were terminated for merely being on American soil.
• We should remember the American citizens who were going about their daily life, not knowing this would be their last.
• We should remember the first responders who heroically attempted to save their fellow human beings, even knowing their lives were in danger.
• We should remember the passengers innocently riding in what would become weapons of mass destruction and those who valiantly fought back against their kidnappers.
• We should remember those who…

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Left Behind

Photo Copyright: C.E. Ayr

Here we are again and this week we’re gathered near a desk in a living room. We’ve come together to discuss our original stories for the week. This is the Friday Fictioneer’s group. Our hostess for the gathering is the talented and gracious author and artist, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. The challenge for each of us this week and every week is to write a story with no more than 100 words, not counting the title. It’s supposed to have a beginning, middle, end, and be inspired by the picture prompt for the week. This week’s prompt was provided by C.E. Ayr. Thanks, C.E. To read the other stories by group members, just click on the link below, then on the smiling frog. Next, follow the given directions.

13 September 2019

Genre: Human Interest Fiction

Word Count: 100 Words

Left Behind by P.S. Joshi

My mother left us. She’d always been there to help, and I guess we thought she always would be. A sudden massive heart attack during a nap took her.

There were no hospital or nursing home bills left behind. She never wanted to cause trouble. I wonder if she prayed to go that way. It was something she’d do.

A heartbreaking memory was left behind. I cried when I found it.

On the desk was an open mystery book, with her glasses resting on top. I took a picture, made copies for other family members, and framed mine.

Bye, Mom.