Seasonal Splash (5): Deck the Halls . . .

Christmas preparations: mince pie-making, 2009

Sadly the scene above is one from last year!

I wonder if you have read 'A Child's Christmas in Wales' by Dylan Thomas. I love the illustrations by Edward Ardizzone in my copy. The descriptions are extraordinary: Dylan speaks of 'slap-dashing home' through the 'gravy smell of the dinners of others', with 'the pudding and the mince, coiling up' to his nostrils!

P.S. Steven of The Golden Fish posted a wonderful James Joyce description last year of the rich and regimented fare of Christmas Past: do take a look, and keep an eye open for the seasonal painting at the end of the post while you are there. Enjoy!

... Oh, and in case you are wondering why there is no holly here (after my title), please click this link! 

You might also like:

• Christmas decorations at The Lost Fort

Creature Feature (14): Hippo and Echo

A WALLOW IN THE REALMS

OF THE BLUE HIPPOPOTAMUS

Our local students baked hippo biscuits yesterday. This is the one that got away! My 'Echo on the Nile' poem about a faience hippo can now be read online on Professor Lewis Turco's site, 'The Book of Odd and Invented Forms'. If you follow the link, you will need to scroll down to the section on 'Echo Verse' (or do a 'Find' search on a word e.g. 'Nile'). You might like to take a look at my Echo blog here.

Egyptian blue-green faience hippos have long fascinated me. I have even got the T-shirt, as you will see if you click the link here (didn't we look young then?!).

I hope you will enjoy finding out more about these lovely creatures.

• Hippo Conservation
• Year of Biodiversity: Pygmy Hippo
  

Seasonal Spotlight (3): Mince Pies and Dylan Thomas

Yesterday,
A Mince Pie Afternoon

(Do please let us know if you bake special biscuits, cookies or cakes at this time of year!)

I wonder if you have read 'A Child's Christmas in Wales' by Dylan Thomas. I love the illustrations in my copy by Edward Ardizzone. The descriptions are wonderful: why not add a pinch of the following to your Christmas reading recipes:

'Then I would be slap-dashing home,
the gravy smell of the dinners of others,
... the pudding and mince, coiling up to my nostrils,
when out of a snow-clogged side lane
would come a boy the spit of myself...'

Dylan Thomas

P.S. Steven of The Golden Fish has posted a wonderful James Joyce description of the rich and regimented fare of Christmas Past: do take a look, and keep an eye open for the wonderful seasonal painting at the end of the post while you are there!

Just for Fun? (1): Cornish Pasty and Crisps?

The Zennor Mermaid
(as seen on Britain's Best Drives BBC4 last night)

You may like your pasty and chips, but have you tried the Cornish Pasty-flavoured crisps? Lusty Pirate crisp packets are adorned with literary legends such as King Arthur, the Giant of St Michael's Mount and the Zennor Mermaid!

On a serious note, you can read about the composer-poet, Ivor Gurney, and his travels around Zennor on Philip Lancaster's blog.

Surprise Subjects (2): Butter Poetry

One of my favourite childhood poems was The King's Breakfast by the creator of Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne. It tells the priceless story of a king who went into a sulk because the sleepy Alderney cow thought (or perhaps hoped) that his Majesty might prefer marmalade instead of butter on his bread. Leslie McGrath, 2004 Nimrod/Hardman Pablo Neruda Prizewinner for Poetry, has just won the unusual honour of having her poem, Butter Taps, printed on butter wrappers from Cabot Creamery on the East Coast of America.