Beautiful Spring Day -15C - Arnold

After a hazy start the day became quite beautiful. Spring sunshine and warm if you were in it but cool in the shade.

We decided on a surprise attack on Arnold Sainsburys, not that we needed much but we bought some barbequed chicken thighs to go with a salad. Wilcos was raided for a new breadbin and a nice stainless steel one appealed to us both.

Inevitably the charity shops and the book shop and W H Smiths came into our range of fire. Y bought 2 pairs of shoes in Clarkes and they are both her sort of shoe; one pair with slightly higher heels than she usually wears. Sainsburys was busy but most pleasant and I guess it does actually have the edge on Morrisons. I couldn't resist a slightly foxed edition of Palgrave's Golden Treasury for a nominal sum. My original copy went AWOL years ago. Although first published in 1907 this edition was re-issued in 2002 after the selection had been updated.

What I'm desperate to find is Wallace Steven's 'Collected Poems' which I outed in a daft clear out when I was sure I would never read poetry again. Fortunately Y was wiser and retrieved much of my collection, but not that. It contains that wonderful mystical poem -"The Man with the Blue Guitar" - which begins:-

"The man bent over his guitar,
A shearsman of sorts. The day was green.

They said, "You have a blue guitar,
You do not play things as they are."

The man replied, "Things as they are
Are changed upon the blue guitar."

And then the plot thickens...........

Picture 2 is a spooky rendering of one of Y's stargazer lilies, the smell of which is still dominating that part of the bungalow. It's an aroma which you either like or hate, like marmite, and most people don't seem to like it at all.

I've ordered Sky her little Practica 4mp Camera. She loves taking pictures and is quite good at it. As she is with most things. She's reached the local final of a chess tournament and if she gets through will eventually have to play at Manchester University. Brooke is still wading through books at an amazing rate. Helen says she can read ten a night and isn't likely to stop beforehand. So as a present for her, to match Sky's Camera I've ordered another book-chair.

I'm sorry there's a sparrow shortage in Anon 1's garden. There is an article in this morning's Telegraph about the changes in the garden-bird population. An explanation given is that with the mild winters of late and the early springs there has been plenty of food out in the country side. Hmmm! Could be I suppose but it sounds a bit glib to me.

Off for my tea now. Have a nice evening.