Wednesday 25 May 2016

Poetry

I still have no absolute certainty of Broadband as BT have not yet been back to finish off the job.   The young lady is going to ring me back tomorrow morning as she thought the job was done.   So, while I have a connection - here is a short post.

Our Poetry day today with so many interesting poems.   One or two by Charles Causley - hadn't had any by him lately - and a really interesting selection.

The temperature outside is around ten Centigrade - in other words it is jolly cold.   Friends have their caravan on the site just below our farm - luckily their van has all mod cons, so they are not at all cold.

The other news is that next week is the Appleby Horse Fair and hundreds of Travelling families are on the move across the north of England.  Grass verges are covered with Gypsy Caravans, tethered horses and groups of men sitting around camp fires.   I personally love it all - it has been happening for a very long time so I like the history of the whole thing.   Some people get cross about the mess and the nuisance on the road (holding up the traffic) - but I suspect that just a few people get the whole lot a bad name.

Well - my Broadband has held out, so I shall go and read some of your posts now.

19 comments:

Terry and Linda said...

I would love it also! If you can try to take a photo for those of us who can never be there can see!

Love.
Linda

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Wonder if any of our travellers have headed North? Today has been like March, not May. Grey and chilly

Frances said...

Weaver, I'm glad that your broadband is getting stronger.

Over here, summer temperatures arrived today, just as predicted. We observe a Memorial Day holiday at the end of this month and it's usually the timing for the thermometer to suddenly heat up.

Like the early comment, I wonder if it would be possible for you to take some photographs of the horse fair.

(And in answer to your question in the prior post, I still do think of myself as a romantic.)

xo

donna baker said...

It does sound interesting. There are gypsies in the US too. Not in the old wagons though.

angryparsnip said...

It was hot here today.
The horse fair sounds like fun to me.
So for some people a few day you can't drive too fast on the country road.
Oh boo hoo hoo.
I with you on this one.

cheers, parsnip

Librarian said...

It's Horsemarket time in my hometown next weekend, but not that many travellers are here, I guess - this country has too many restrictions for their way of life to be feasible.
A cold start to the week we had, but today is beautiful, sunny and warm. I won't have much of it, though, as I am going to help my sister to take down her kitchen cabinets. She's having a new kitchen fitted from tomorrow onwards.

Heather said...

BT are the limit, aren't they. You just have to keep complaining till the job is done properly.
I love the sound of the Horsefair and the travellers' very different way of life, and anything that holds up the traffic for a short time is OK by me. It is a shame that some people can't appreciate that they are not all dishonest.
Hope the weather warms up again for you - it is much cooler here too and I am longing to get the garden furniture out of the shed but nervous of bringing down the wrath of the weather gods!

Derek Faulkner said...

I wonder who cleans up after the Horse Fair.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Be careful in case one of the raggle taggle gipsies whisks you off on his horse to Appleby and the setting sun beyond. The farmer would miss you.

Meanwhile, any ideas what BT stands for? Bloody Tortuous...Big Trouble...Blasted Tossers?

thelma said...

There is a horse fair in Somerset as well at Priddy in the Mendips, lots of racing around with buggies and high stepping horses. Hope you get some photos of the event...

The Weaver of Grass said...

We shall not go to the event in Appleby as it is quite a long way from here, but it is
fun to see them all pass through on their way. The RSPCA always attend the event but on the whole the horses which pass through here look in good condition.
I will try a take a photograph of some of the caravans if I get a chance.

And Yorkshire Pudding - off with the Raggle Taggle Gypsies Oh - chance would be a find thing.

Derek Faulkner said...

A rather romantic view that might get shattered Pat.

Barbara said...

It would be so very interesting to see Gypsy caravans!
Your weather sounds the exact opposite of ours. It was far too HOT for May today. Once again, we skipped the gentle Spring and went straight to the heat and humidity that is Virginia in the Summer.

Gerry Snape said...

The potter had a teaching practise long ago in Appleby...Long Marten...and I stayed in the caravan at the back of the farm...we saw the Appleby fair and the amazing caravans and all the horses....loved it Pat!

Midlife Roadtripper said...

I enjoy reading your posts and then looking at the villages around you on maps. Was reading down on some of your posts I have missed and just went to Ravenstonedale. Fascinating to me and I enjoy the trips each time. Hope you get your broadband figured out quickly. As to poetry, I am learning. Have taught how to read it, and didn't ever think much of it. Never seemed to get it. But now, at almost 60, I finally realize it is like fiction or non-fiction or essays or whatever else we read. There is some prose and verse you like and some you don't. Always amazes me all the things I haven't discovered in this world. Much to do.

Robin Mac said...

I do hope you manage to get a photo of the caravans passing through - I think they look lovely.
Sorry you are having so much trouble with your broadband - we complain just as much about Telstra over here, expecially since we have been conned to the NBN!
We are still having summer here - 30 degrees celcius today about 10 degrees higher than normal. i wish some colder weather would arrive soon. Cheers

Gwil W said...

I'm amazed how far the horses walk to get there. Some cover hundreds of miles. And it's not all flat. I like to admire the artwork on their horse-drawn caravans.

Jennyff said...

Yes we've been tangled up in the horse fair traffic before, it is fascinating to see with the whole area around Appleby occupied by travellers. I've only been in the town a couple of times, not during the fair, its charming but I can imagine such a sleepy place being taken over for a week is stressful. I'd probably go away if I lived there, I know many of the shops and pubs close, but there is something about the tradition that appeals, from a distance.

Derek Faulkner said...

I think you got it dead right Jenny. Probably most go back to their mobile homes on their gated sites and forget about "travelling" for another 50 weeks of the year.