SEAMUS HEANEY'S GREATEST HITS

 

I kinda missed my birthday earlier this month due to illness, so it was an extra special delight to  receive this book from my friends D and T last night.

This is by and large his family's selection - a greatest hits collection.

I have loved Heaney's work for years.  Some of it is crisp and clear and accessible.  Some poems are challenging and need slow reading and thoughtful analysis from the (this) reader.

I sent him a fan letter once, encouraged my by friend Tom McGarrity who is mentioned in Heaney's postcard note.

The greatest poet of our age, blurbed The Guardian.  Hard to disagree, methinks. 

Here's his postcard to me.

A POEM FOR BURNS NIGHT (SORTA) - 25 JANUARY 2023

 

'Twas the month after Christmas and all through the house
,

Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.

The cookies I'd nibbled, the chocolate I'd taste, 

All the festive parties had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales and saw my new weight
,

I began to regret the amounts on my plate.

I'd remember the marvellous meals we’d prepared,

The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,

The wine and the turkey, the bread and the cheese


And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."

So - away with the last of the sour cream dip,


Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip,

Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
,

'Til all the additional ounces have vanished.

I won't have the shortbread - not even a lick,

I'll want only to chew on a celery stick.

I won't have hot pancakes, potato bread, or pie,

I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore - 


But isn't that what January is for?

Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.

I say cheers to you all on your New Year diet.

 

But before all the calorie counting begins,

There is one last good meal to eat for our sins.

To have you all here is a joy and delight

As we celebrate Burns and eat haggis tonight.

 

COMPETITIONS - SOMETIMES A REWARDING HOBBY

LATEST WIN - JANUARY 2023 -  

The Times Atlas of the World (First prize in the Sunday Times Crossword) - value £50.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have an admission to make. 

I am a competitions junkie.  

If I see a prize worth going for, I enter.  In the past several years, I have won:

a Mini car (that's a real car, not a toy!)

a £4,500 holiday to Alberta, Canada
a £500 cosmetics/perfumes hamper

a £120 Cross ballpoint pen

a TV

an X Box

tickets to see The Three Tenors at Wembley

a bench top tool system/saw set

a weekend in Cornwall
a cookery school weekend in Aldeburgh

several National Lottery tenners

several Premium Bond £25s and a couple of £125s

an outdoor jacket

a laptop computer

a selection of computer accessories

a lot of books

a lot of DVDs

a lot of CDs

several gift cards

etc

etc
£1,000 cash in a radio competition
a hamper of ancient grains, flour, yeast and a bread recipe book

Entering competitions is fun and can be very cheap. I go for free entry comps or, if interested enough, I'll stretch to postcards and stamps. I never, ever enter by phone call 

or text. Those methods of entry are mugs' games, very expensive at rates that might hover around £2 or more a minute and they keep people hanging on for far longer than a minute.

If you are looking for a fun hobby, go on, have a go. If you're not in, you can't win.

21 JANUARY, 2023 - LET THE NEW YEAR BEGIN!!

 

Here I am on the 21st January, 2023, after more than two weeks of a health slog of hacking coughs, sore throat, disrupted sleep, limited appetite, and almost complete lack of energy.

In the midst of it, I had a birthday which came and went.

Thankfully, I am through it and feel pretty good today.

Cups of tea, glasses of water and regular slugs of Benylin seemed to have had some effect.  But, it was a ghastly fortnight.

The local pharmacist was very helpful although he could only suggest the aforementioned intake, saying: "There's a lot of it about."

But, being confined to bed and armchair, gave me time to think and I have a few ideas to kick-start the 2023 blog with, I hope, some interesting stuff.

So, a belated happy New Year to one and all, and in the immortal words of Norman Stanley Fletcher: "Don't let the bastards grind you down.

See y'all on Scribble Street!