We were given some chocolates made by Mary See,
It is a famous, delicious American candy,
Brought by my lovely friend Genesse ,
And given with love and tenderness,
I predict I’ll become their next true devotee!

Our lives are bound by the choices we make,
But that is the chance that we willingly take,
Some bad and some good,
Some just misunderstood,
When we realise it’s love that’s at stake.

The film “Meet Joe Black” poses the question, what would happen if Death came to visit and Death fell in love? Death comes to earth because he happens to want to learn some lessons about the nature of life and of an honourable one from the really good and much-loved millionaire philanthropist, Bill Parrish, whose life he has been sent to take. But he inhabits the body of the last person to die, which just happens to be a young man who Bill’s daughter, Susan, met in a coffee shop and fell for in a ‘coup de foudre’ (moment of madness). Inevitably, Death falls in love with her too and so is intent on taking her with him, even though he hasn’t told her who he is. Bill appeals to his better nature and so do one or two others and then he is reminded by Susan herself that she first fell for him in the coffee shop. He has been too influenced by Bill’s goodness and so when he leaves, taking Bill’s life with him, at Bill’s 65th birthday party, he tells her he loves her and always will and that she will have what she found in the coffee shop. He then leaves, taking Bill with him, but returns the life of the young man in the coffee shop. This film is a great exploration of the nature of life and death and of good and evil. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to do so.

Who famously wrote of a daffodil?*
Or wandered subterranean caverns till**
Stopped by a thought fox, that fills the head,***
Or a city you could only dread,****
Or was consumed with the need to self-kill?*****

* William Wordsworth
** Samuel Taylor Coleridge
*** Ted Hughes
**** Sir John Betjeman
***** Sylvia Plath

The Yarny army was in town,
To watch sister, daughter, friend, come down,
On a tea tray, on sheet ice,
So only serious nerves suffice,
But Lizzy’s the golden girl, who took the crown.

Lizzy Yarnold, Olympic champion 2014 Women’s Skeleton Bob – she won by 97 seconds, unheard of in such a sport. In comparison, only 10 seconds separated 3rd, 4th and 5th.

In your eyes,
I am ten feet tall,
There’s nothing I can’t do at all.

In your eyes,
I’m a heroine,
A Stradivarius violin.

In your eyes,
I do no wrong,
I’m an Oscar-winning song.

In my eyes,
You see reflections of
A selfless, mindful, heart-felt love.

Your eyes are
Windows to your soul,
A stunning, wondrous, precious whole.

You attempt to do a New Year’s Diet,
To try and keep your other half quiet.
But the weight that you lose,
Isn’t with food that you’d choose,
So you have to force yourself to buy it!

I really do love a good radish,
They simply are truly delish!
You can buy a Red King, or a Cherry Belle,
A Plum Purple, an Easter Egg, a Champion as well!
And there are the Black ones, which are all Spanish!

I have a small confession,
I love a colloquial expression,
They sum up exactly what you want to say,
A kind of shorthand communique,
Collecting them’s an obsession!

* .. our friend, Cory Cook, an American, taught us this expression. It is Shorthand for “Happy as a clam at high tide!” Meaning to be as happy as it’s possible to be because a clam at high tide can escape from predators more easily!

This is my idea of a cool caravan,
It’s big enough for all my extended clan,
I’m learning to drive, so we can set out in style,
With a Percheron pulling us mile after mile,
This is part of my ten year plan!

Bed 24 on Oliver Ward,
Life in hospital’s no reward!
Without some credit or a dime,
There’s no way to pass the time!
I cannot text, I cannot ring,
I cannot do a ruddy thing,
So if I want to call my wife, let’s sayI can’t do so, there’s no way!
I’ve asked the nurse to, if she ‘s time,
But that’s a foolish paradigm.
I cannot even watch TV,
Because you need a darned CC*!
Or you go and buy a special card,
But when immobile, that’s quite hard!I own an Apple phone 5s,
And all I have to do is press,
My thumb firmly but quite gently down,
And the print’s accepted, with ne’er a frown.
So I tell you that it’s very tough,
When all your high tech Apple stuff,
Is thwarted by one Vodafone,
Because, in here, there is no tone,
It’s like strolling through the great unknown,
You feel so helpless and alone!
Today I can only hear Jeremy Vine,
In all other circs, I’d politely decline!
It’s free to get BBC Radio 2 or 4,
But you have to pay if you want more!So despite the risk of loss or theft,
Keep cash or credit, or you feel bereft!Don’t mean to lecture or to preach,
But your loved ones are out of reach…
So take some cash or take a card,
Or ward life will be somewhat hard!

*CC = credit card