The Sunday Posts 2013/Advice to a Son

Advice To A Son

Never trust a white man,
Never kill a Jew,
Never sign a contract,
Never rent a pew.
Don't enlist in armies;
Nor marry many wives;
Never write for magazines;
Never scratch your hives.
Always put paper on the seat,
Don't believe in wars,
Keep yourself both clean and neat,
Never marry whores.
Never pay a blackmailer,
Never go to law,
Never trust a publisher,
Or you'll sleep on straw.
All your friends will leave you
All your friends will die
So lead a clean and wholesome life
And join them in the sky.

Earnest Hemmingway
Photo by Alistair

The Sunday Posts 2013/Fetching Cows

The black one, last as usual, swings her head
And coils a black tongue round a grass tuft. I
Watch her soft weight come down, her split feet spread.

In front the others swing and slouch; they roll
Their great Greek eyes and breathe out milky gusts
From muzzles black and shiny as wet coal.

The collie trots, bored at my heels, then plops
Into the ditch. The sea makes a tired sound
That's always stopping though it never stops.

A haycart squats prickeared against the sky.
Hay breath and milk breath. Far out in the West
The wrecked sun flounders though its colours fly.

The collie's bored. There's nothing to control....
The black cow is two native carriers
Bringing its belly home, slung from a pole.

Norman MacCaig

When friends come to stay.

Edinburgh Tattoo 2013

Blogger Pal Indigo Roth is here with us again just now. He was here for a week in January and didn't seem put off by the weather so decided to come and have a look in some better temperatures. While it's nowhere near as warm as recent weeks and the wind has been more to the fore, we've had a few nice days.

 

 

It's nice to see familiar places through the eyes of someone seeing them for the first time. When we do have visitors we have a few places we always like to take them to see. At this time of the year it's Edinburgh in festival mode - we're leaving shortly to spend the rest of the day there - and this week we were lucky to get tickets for the preview night of The Edinburgh Tattoo. Our friend appeared to have a ball. At this rate he might be going home wearing a kilt!

 

Although I've had to work a couple of days I've also been able to spend time out and about with our friend. Luckily like me he enjoys photography and again, it's nice to see familiar places interpreted by someone else in their photos. Somehow it gives you a wider perspective when you realise they often see things you don't in your well known places.

Concentration.

It will be interesting to see how he views the crowds and places in Edinburgh today. I can hardly wait.

Lindisfarne.

The photos here are some taken over the last few days. Some of Indigo's can be seen here.

Shed made from boat, Lindisfarne.

 

 

Lindisfarne

 

 

Lindisfarne Castle

 

 

Fireworks Finale Tattoo.

 

Tantallon Castle.

 

 

Take care folks. See you soon.

Listening to:

The Sunday Posts 2013/Sink Song

This weeks offering is chosen by blogger pal Indigo Roth who's staying with us at the moment. {Strange that - I thought I'd managed to put him off  for life the last time he was here!}

I imagine he chose this because of all the lovely porage I make him - not the amount of porage-pot washery I've made him do, although you can tell what's made the biggest impression.

Scouring out the porridge pot
Round and round and round!

Out with all the scraith and scoopery,
Lift the eely ooly droopery,
Chase the glubbery slubbery gloopery
Round and round and round!

Out with all the doleful dithery,
Ladle out the slimy slithery,
Hunt and catch the hithery thithery,
Round and round and round!

Out with all the obbly gubbly,
On the stove it burns so bubbly,
Use the spoon and use it doubly,
Round and round and round.

Poem by J.A. Lindon

Photo of Indigo Roth by Indigo Roth {because the man loves a 'selfie'.}