Skip to main content

A SWISH, A GALLOP AND TWO LOOSE SCREWS (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 151)

A SWISH, A GALLOP AND TWO LOOSE SCREWS


   

PodBean Listening Link 

This morning I cannot detect a specific scent in the air, and alt text is not offering me any suggestions for the photograph associated with this blog! This seems to reflect the fact I was late getting up after a weekend away at a yarn show, and my gears are not yet fully oiled and cranking.

 

To describe this week’s photo I would say it is Kath in her pompom crown ready for day one at Yarndale. She is in a selfie with me, and I am ready to look after the stand so she can go and teach during the weekend. Also in the picture we have a beautiful alpaca who definitely seemed to be posing for a photo early one morning when I went to ask how its day had started.

 

I love the fact that a yarn show for me is a wonderful blend of work and curiosity and playfulness. When we were getting everything ready to take with us for the weekend I even referred to the patterns as “our patterns” which shows that I feel very invested in this creative world of yarn. I now know much more about knitting and yarn than I have ever done, and I have Kath’s patterns memorised in a Pokédex kind of way, so I am pretty helpful when it comes to looking after things for her. I still am not quite sure about what happens if you knit something in 4-ply instead of DK, and am therefore not confident offering an answer on any such question, but there are always plenty of experts around me at events who do know such things.

 

There were lots of lovely compliments for Kath’s work during conversations over the two days, and I always love hearing these. In fact it makes my heart sing.

 

For me there were lots of first this weekend... the early morning shepherding of some sheep back into their pen, Yarndale versions of #SwishOrWaft, some human galloping in the aisles, and some wonderfully relaxing colouring-in time, along with my first ever experience of not feeling cold at any point during the show. It’s good to experience new things alongside the bits that I am expecting.

 

I love making the little videos to find out whether there is a preference for swishing or wafting whilst wearing a large shawl and love the panache with which people will get involved. It’s good to play. In fact I thrive on play and humour, so I am very grateful for all these kinds of interactions during the show, especially when there is also time for a gallop and neigh in the aisles with a like-minded soul. This makes this non-knitter feel like they have found their own little place to be amongst all things woolly.

 

I also found time in the quiet of Sunday morning before the show day began to stand on my own in my assigned sheep/cattle pen and draft a poem. It feels rather lovely to come home with some words to work with, and when this poem finds its place in the world it will be fun to remember exactly where it began its shaping.

 

In honour of the fact that the Harvest Moon featured in the rear-view mirror on my journey home and was there waiting for me at the end of my road when I completed my journey, I offer this poem. It’s a found poem, which I found in the traditional hymn ‘We Plough the Fields and Scatter’ when I was writing poems for each full moon in 2022. And after it was found it was gifted its title.

 

Having just reread the title of this blog I realise I have not mentioned the two loose screws! I was entertained this weekend by finding a brass coloured, hollow screw in our stand on Saturday. And then on Sunday there was a black screw. I kept them both safe in case someone announced they had lost such things. When Kath asked me if they fitted together I discovered that they had become a fidget toy because they did indeed! They are now displayed in a jar alongside my two beach marbles.

 

Here's the Harvest Moon poem from my coffee table book Vortex Over Wave...

 

 

STOP EATING THE LOVE HEARTS

 

We scatter snow warmth,

swell soft gifts.

 

Thank you, thank you.

 

Near wayside evening birds, 

more bread.

 

Thank you.

 

Then all our food gifts –

love hearts.

 

 

Refrain.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MY YEAR IN REVIEW (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 114)

 MY YEAR IN REVIEW   Listening Link This morning it is raining and the almost unchilled air carries strong hints of green.   Alt text says this week’s photo is a collage of a group of people. It is indeed a collage and it is made from the photos that accompanied each blog post this year. I do like to take a look back before I look forward and I thought this would be one way of doing it for 2025.   When I was little I loved an annual. To me it was a book of delightful snippets collected together to be enjoyed in a period of time that involved a break from routine. I can picture myself reading in my pyjamas, the seemingly bottomless sweet tin, and the advent calendar that left its glitter on our fingers with all its doors open telling me that it was indeed Christmas Day. This week’s photo is like the cover of my 2025 annual.   This blog has been my way of building a good relationship with Mondays, and the fact there have been 114 episodes since Sept...
2 comments
Read more

LIFTED (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 108)

LIFTED Listening Link  This morning, the cool air brings the smell of hash browns as the traffic builds its familiar rush.   Alt text offers no suggestion for this week’s photo. I say it is my sister, me and my mum in the lift after coffee and before a little shopping spree. I love this moment in time from our lovely, shared day, and the fact I remembered to take a photo.   This week I learned that I am a competent pumpkin carver. Good company, a simple design idea, a whiteboard marker pen and a last-minute pumpkin purchase resulted in a Trick or Treat worthy exhibit which made me smile.   It has been like adopting a mini half-term this week... catching up with a good friend, time with family, carving that pumpkin, having a toffee apple, going to a big firework display, landing on the settee of lovely people and having a photograph taken... and perhaps there will always be echoes of school holidays even though I no longer have these as ...
Post a Comment
Read more

POET, COACH. COACH, POET. (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 107)

POET, COACH. COACH, POET.     Listening Link  This morning a swirling wind makes an incense of its own as it mixes the soft dry scent of wood smoke with the damper smell of fallen leaves.   Alt Text says this week’s photo is a picture of two women smiling. I say it is me having a post-gig photo with Wendy James, and feeling glad to have the opportunity to express my gratitude for the music which has been in my heart for a long time now.   This week while tuning in to POETs Day live with Kate Jenkinson (Fridays at 12:30 via LinkedIn) I found myself drawn to the Venn diagram image in the Poetry In Business Logo. It resonated with my recent thinking around how two of my favourite things (poetry and coaching) intersect. Whilst wondering about this I had also been toying with the thought that people might find it strange that my social media presence often flits between poetry and coaching. My answer to myself was that I am a poet and a ...
Post a Comment
Read more