Wednesday 28 January 2009

We Set Sail!

So we're off! The sky is blue, the sun is shining, there is more than a hint of Spring in the air here today. Our boat is loaded to the gunwales and the world is our oyster (if only). We have Elizabeth as an extra passenger - she read our book list and added Bartlett's Familiar Quotations to it and couldn't resist the temptation of coming along. What are we taking?
As we have a Cameloepardalian(Raph's ramblings) going with us (must remember he needs lots of headroom in the cabin) we need not bother about ladders - he can pick the coconuts and the bananas. We shall have two radios - a wind-up one for the main area of the cave and one of those big old Russian radios that get every station in the world so that our radio operator (Poet in Residence) can listen out for ships and planes. (shall we want to be rescued, I ask). We shall have enough miracle joint salve to ease all our joints for years to come; an unlimited supply of coffee; a laptop and masses of batteries to last a lifetime (but will the laptop?) We shall need solar cells to power the radio; Pen is bringing her nautical duffle bag, which contains everything we should ever need (maybe it will be bottomless and continue to supply us for years); we shall have water colours and brushes and if we can't barter paper from Denise then we shall have to make do with painting on palm leaves, rocks and dried seaweed. There will be yarns of wool, silk, cotton - in various colours - a wonderful array with lots of different needles and hooks so that we can all have a go at knitting. I can see the men all ending up wearing multi coloured jumpers (yes - you will have to wear them even if it is tropical, we women like to have our craft work appreciated - it has always been thus) - we shall have to draw lots to see who knits the long-necked version for Raph. There will also be unlimited chocolate. What shall I bring as my luxury. Well I have two really - yes I know that is cheating but it is my blog and I shall cheat if I want to, so there. First I shall bring six Black Rock hens and a cockerel - for the eggs, the meat and for generations of chicks to come and I shall bring six hardy moorland sheep and two rams (that way I can split the flock into two, with different dads for the lambs, which should keep us going a bit longer). We can shear them (there will be a tool in Pen's nautical duffle bag) and spin and dye (boil the leaves for a muddy green) so that eventually the men end up all wearing muddy green jumpers once the brightly coloured wool runs out. But my real reason for bringing the sheep is that there are two foods I cannot possibly live without. One is bananas and there will be plenty on the island; the other is cheese and with that little flock we might be able to create a cheese to rival roquefort - yum, yum.
Thanks so much to you all for taking part in this bit of fun. I hope you have all enjoyed it as much as I have. Part of me (only a very tiny part) wishes we really were setting off tonight for that mysterious tropical paradise - the weather forecast is not bad and the sea should be calm. As we set sail Raph looks through his telescope and sees a runner approaching. At the last minute two books are flung on deck - the complete poems of Edward Thomas and the complete John Buchan. Any more and we shall sink - so
Bon Voyage to you all.

21 comments:

Elizabeth said...

This sounds so very wonderful and almost Edward Lear-ish.
(So I cannot imagine why the word verification is :
PAINE.)
That aside, I think you should expand this into a real short story.
What thrills me about blogging is that one can have fun with like minded people of goodwill from all over the place.
It would be rather a wonderful adventure, wouldn't it?!

Country Girl said...

You know, you had me going there for awhile! This sounds like quite a lot of fun. Keep us posted on your journey.

Crafty Green Poet said...

luxuries, hmm? Just a couple of questions - are we going to share the luxuries (because otherwise I'd take pens and paper for myself!) and are binoculars a luxury or an essential on a desert island? Exciting stuff!

Caroline Gill said...

What a tour de force! This is far better than Consequences or Chinese Whispers. I now want to re-read The Tempest, Robinson Crusoe and Dr Doolittle (I love Gub Gub the pig - who might befriend your animal companions!).

Caroline Gill said...

Sorry, an extra 'o' blew in by mistake, in my fit of enthusiasm!

Heather said...

Don't go without me! Sorry if I'm late. Can I bring my laptop so I can keep in touch with all the other bloggy friends who won't be joining us? I might need a bicycle too, in order to create power for the laptop - it might help me keep fit into the bargain. I do hope the seas are calm, I'm not sure how good a sailor I am. Thankyou for packing the Cadfaels.

Heather said...

Don't go without me! Sorry if I'm late. Can I bring my laptop so I can keep in touch with all the other bloggy friends who won't be joining us? I might need a bicycle too, in order to create power for the laptop - it might help me keep fit into the bargain. I do hope the seas are calm, I'm not sure how good a sailor I am. Thankyou for packing the Cadfaels.

Ngaio said...

What a fantastic reading list, I would be set for life in a desert island.Luxuries, well there are afew but I will try and get it down to two.I could not live without a decent loo, one of those portable ones will do ( sorry to be basic, but someone has to think of these things !)and acouple of spare sets of glasses cause I couldn`t read all those books !

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Oh, do please stop by and visit Edward and me! Our island has a gloriously violet coloured dock and plenty of pomegranates. There are green birds in the trees and the grass is thick and gold. As Edward and I are the only ones who live here, you shall have as much privacy as you desire and I shall bake you a cake.

Ngaio said...

I forgot, something else that would be really important to have on the boat and when we land, is a guitar or 2 amd maybe a fold-up piano so we can sing and laugh all the way there - `Rule Britania`, `Pokarekare Ana`, and a popular tune from the other countries would ring out through the fog !

Sal said...

The Marmite..did anyone pack the Marmite?!!;-)

Grizz………… said...

When you reach the Gulf of Mexico, sail up the Mississippi; turn right (oops, sorry, starboard) into the Ohio; left (oops, again, I meant port) at the Great Miami; and port again when you get to my river; follow upstream past the guy under the bridge nursing a bottle, past the barking dog, beyond the old cars dumped decades ago at the bend…and keep on a'comin' until the houses give way to fields and trees, the air doesn't make you cough, there are birds in the trees, herons in the riffle, ducks paddling, geese flying, kingfishers diving—on past, on past, until you see this backwoodsy looking sort of fellow standing on the bank near a stone cottage with a little dog at his heel. That'd be me. Pull up the boat and take the stones steps…I have your dinner waiting.

HelenMWalters said...

It sounds blissful!

BT said...

Definitely a short story there weaver. Have a wonderful time, won't you. I shall miss you and what about the animals?

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Oh what fun! Bananas and home made cheese - delicious! I'll be quite happy to wear muddy green jumpers.

Gwil W said...

Leaving Vienna and sailing gently down the River Danube in the direction of the Black Sea, to go through the Bosphorous, quick stop for a kebab at Istanbul, and then on to the Mediterranean, quick stop for a final beer and a newspaper at Malta, we will leave behind the thickly falling snow I can see this morning out of my cabin window...

The Weaver of Grass said...

A life on the ocean wave for us all. Imagination can work wonders. I think I like Poet in Residence's idea of Black Sea, Bosphorus - although going down the Ohio river to visit Incorrigible Scribe also holds some excitement. As it is, we all sit at home and blog -- and dream...........!

Crafty Green Poet said...

I like the idea of the Danube too but can we start further upstream in Germany and go through the jewels of Wurzburg, Regensberg etc?

Or the Norwegian fjords....

Woman in a Window said...

Does sound wonderful! Would be fun. I'm laughing to myself at all the things that will be there, loads of arts and crafts and books. And radio. Thank god for the radio, or whoever it was that through them in! And I'm laughing at what another group of bloggers might alot for the island. I bet regardless the demographic, someone would bring the coffee, though.

Caroline Gill said...

... and a bar of chocolate to go with it.

Teresa said...

Well, I missed the boat (was ailing in the sick bay most of this last week) but I shall think of all of you on the island with your yummy books and luxuries!

Still, you made me give thought to my reading material and I've decided that I may re-read some of these favorites even though I find myself a confined landlubber!

Books:
- The Springs of Joy by Tasha Tudor
- The Desiderata of Happiness by Max Ehrmann
- Essays of E.B. White
- One new, and as yet, unread book (oh the delightful anticipation!)
- The Bible... New Living Translation

My luxury? Hmmmm.... after debating between chocolate, cell phone, computer and art supplies, I decided on art supplies and computer (hey, I need both!)

Thanks for the fun!