https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/overview
Paying Ready Attention – Photo Gallery https://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com/
Spring Flowers
Weekend Mini-Challenge, in April: Three Spring Shorts
imaginary garden with real toads http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/
Plush velvety red
A bounty of blooms galore
Such beauty they bring
———————————-
Lemon scent prevails
Soon to be followed by fruit
Juicy tart flavor
———————————–
Tiny wee petals
Purple amongst pine needles
Spring is here again!
Wordle 400 –
Wordle 400 for The Sunday Whirl
I used eight out of twelve prompt words (those in italics)
Stella crept up slowly to the shack
Wings of her bird flapping wildly.
Hush Bird, you’ll give us away
With your flapping and crap!
Up the stairs she went with bird
Upon her back.
She tiptoed to the window and
peered into the glass,
There sitting on the stool with
His arm around her ass
Was her two-timing BF and BFF.
Gawd!
Stunned and shocked she watched
Them pop their shots, down their
Drinks and lick their salt.
Just then bird pecks on the windowpane,
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Gives a couple of caws and flies into a tree.
BF and BFF look up just in time to see
Bird fly off.
Uh oh, me thinks we’ve reached our limit!
And at that Stella turned and ran as fast
As she could till she reached the spring
Jumped into her car and headed westward
To the mountain ridge of glory.
L. Grimley
Easter Morn
Easter Haiku
Dewy morning light
Smell of ham wafting in air
Pitter-patter feet
Sunrise peers through clouds
Blessings to God for His Son
On this Easter Day.
Alphabet Poem
Alright, let’s go,
Before your
Cockamamie idea – which is
Dated,
Even though you think such
Figures of speech seem new, they were
Gestated many moons ago.
However, with new
Intrigue you may
Just create a
Koan which is both
Lousy and ludicrous
Making no sense nor reason
Nor even rhyming, but
Only showing
Preposterous poppycock and posturing
Quixotic viewpoints which when
Reviewed will be laughed and
Scoffed for such
Trivialities and trifle with not an
Utter sense or signal of
Verity to any point of view nor
Words of wisdom, and completely
Xerotic in nature,
Yielding complete and utter
Zeugmatic syntax!
©Lessandra Grimley
Shared with NaPoWriMo http://www.napowrimo.net/participants-sites/
The Mind and I
The Mind and I
Like a trap wrapped around a fuzzy piece of yarn,
It engulfs me, holds me tight.
I try to speak but it softly lulls me back into its trap,
Silently holding my tongue ‘til my words disappear
Into a labyrinth of sleep.
©Lessandra Grimley
http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2019/04/poems-in-april-somewhere-in-midst-of.html
NEW POETRY BOOK
POETRY
It’s hard to believe, but I finally did it! Here is my first published book of poetry – available on Amazon.com . This book is forty years in the making. But, in the meantime I kept writing poems and sharing them with different internet poetry websites and here on my own blog, which are also included in the book. If you are interested in reading it I have a free promotion from tomorrow until Friday (April 17-19). When just getting started as an author it is difficult to get established without any reviews or prior public exposure so all reviews would be greatly appreciated! Oh, you can also get either an ebook or a paperback!
Here is the only villanelle in my book which I’d like to share with dVerse <a href=”https://brudberg.me/category/dverse/
I Really Believe You Were Meant For Me
-a villanelle-
I really believe you were meant for me.
When two hearts meet and join as one
There is no denying our unity.
Together, the sun shines eternally
As our fingers touch in unison,
I really believe you were meant for me.
The moon is aglow shining on the sea
And dancing with you, Oh what fun!
There is no denying our unity.
Our souls came together the day that we
Climbed the mountain and declared it won.
I really believe you were meant for me.
Remember the day that we laughed in glee
As we called each other honey bun?
There is no denying our unity
Together we be for eternity
As God’s gift for a job well done.
I really believe you were meant for me,
There is no denying our unity.
Jesus Blessed Me
I wrote this hymn a few years ago – even wrote some music to it, but not being a musician never could get it right. It anyone would like to write some music to it, feel free. I only ask that my name always be attached to it, as it is a personal account of the three times Jesus actually came to my aid and 1) soothed my soul; 2)actually saved me from great bodily harm, if not death; and 3)healed me, body and soul, in church.
Jesus Blessed Me
I was hurting, pain was great, my soul longed for comfort,
All anguish, grief and despair, haunted my rapport,
Then Jesus passed to me peace beyond measure,
Peace beyond understanding, He gave his love to me.
Threatened darkly, beaten down, menacing terror strong,
I called out with all my might, reaching to my Lord,
Then Jesus came to me, Jesus came to me,
Jesus came and saved me, He saved me from all sin.
Body racked with so much pain, barely able to stand,
My soul cried out to Jesus for his touch to me.
Then Jesus came to me, yes Jesus healed me,
Jesus came and healed me, He healed me of all pain.
With God’s help Jesus came and healed my wounds and heart
With his everlasting love he changed my whole life.
He saved me, He healed me and gave me His peace.
Yes, He saved me, healed me and blessed me with His love.
Lessandra Grimley 2017
Modern Architecture in Great Britain
“Architecture is the scientific art of making structure express ideas. Architecture is the triumph of human imagination over materials, methods, and men to put man into possession of his own earth. Architecture is man’s great sense of himself embodied in a world of his own making. It may rise as high in quality only as its source because great art is great life.”—Frank Lloyd Wright, from the Architectural Forum, May 1930
As I toured Liverpool, London, and Glasgow, besides the beautiful, majestic historical ancient castles, palaces, and cathedrals, I was very taken with the amazing modern structures I viewed. And that is what this blog is all about – the modern architecture I was awed by! Many of them were taken as the tour bus passed and the guide rambled off what we were seeing so fast there was no way I could take a photo and write down the names of the buildings he was pointing out – and some of them I found interesting even though there was no mention of them.
My Trip to Wales – the Powis Castle
While visiting England I was fortunate enough to go to Wales three times. The first time was rather dismal, as it rained the whole time! Being a one-day bus tour it wasn’t a trip I could cancel – and besides, being an optimist I thought for sure the sun would come out at least once! Nope, drizzle dreary all day.
But thankfully my friend took me twice more, both on beautiful days – and, I had the pleasure of visiting two castles! The photos here are of the Powis Castle, or in Welsh, the Powys Castle. This was the most impressive and beautiful castle of all the ones I visited. The grounds were magnificent!
j
This Is The Day……
I was going to write another blog about my travels to Great Britain, but after waking up to the news of yet another terrible tragedy – this one in Las Vegas, I feel a need to share with others my thoughts on what is going on in the world right now and how we can center ourselves and help those around us.
The end days are here. What and how should we react to this news? Pray.
Before any new beginning there comes an end to that which was. Pray and meditate.
People are made up of the old and the new – old cells, new cells, old thoughts and new thoughts. As the new prepares to come in we shed the old.
Right now, the earth and all Life on it are going through a great, massive cosmic change. The energies which make up our minds, bodies, emotions and spirit are changing. Humans cannot detect these changes, but they are as definite as the visible changes that go on in a baby as it grows, young adolescents as they (visibly) grow taller and fill out, their minds become more mature and so on.
People never stop growing and changing, both within and without. Right now, the energies of change are very potent, very radical, especially if one hasn’t been doing their inner work. How can one take care of their inner work, or in another way of putting it – work on becoming a better person with more positive traits and letting go of any negative energies, like anger, distrust, hate, controlling, manipulating, and the list goes on. Pray and meditate
Pray to whom? To your God, Creator, Yahweh, Allah, Divine Intelligence – whatever name you want to give to the Power that created you. There is something somewhere bigger than you or me. There is the ALL. All of us together unite as One- and there is no power greater than this. ALL can’t come together for the force of good unless we let go of the negative energies that keep us from connecting.
And negative energies/dark energies can take hold of anyone at any time in these days of increased cosmic energies UNLESS a person protects her/him self with light. If nothing else, imagine a cocoon of light coming up from your feet to the top of your head, and imagine the top of your head being open to Divine light (prana, chi, or whatever name you want to call this Universal energy). Do this each day and every day. And, of course, there are the angels that are there and can be called on at anytime!
As we all know and can feel, the moods of negativity hit us almost daily, especially if connected to TV or social media. People are becoming more intuned to one another, more sensitive to one another, and what one person feels transfers over to a group of people. You’ve seen how it works: a person posts on social media a criticism or angry message and many people read it, and become angered and critical about what was written. Respond to negative remarks with positive comments or thoughts – no anger, no criticism of what the person has said and no agreement or disagreement to his criticism. It is very hard to help another person to overcome negativity when we ourselves have negative feelings, emotions, thoughts, and beliefs. What can we do about it? Pray and meditate. We are here to learn to understand others, forgive others, love others, tolerance, to help others grow in maturity. But first, we must work on ourselves and as we learn about ourselves, and learn to forgive ourselves, then we automatically help others because our positive energies/vibrations go out to others in the same way as the example I gave earlier of the baby or young person growing – you can’t see these energies making change, but they most certainly are! But, once again, protect yourself with Light, particularly in these times of great change and darkness. Peace and love to all.
My Trip to England – Whitby – Part 7
Whitby is a seaside town in Yorkshire, northern England, split by the River Esk. On the East Cliff, overlooking the North Sea, the ruined Gothic Whitby Abbey was Bram Stoker’s inspiration for “Dracula”. Nearby is the Church of St. Mary, reached by 199 steps. The Captain Cook Memorial Museum, in the house where Cook once lived, displays paintings and maps. West of town is West Cliff Beach, lined with beach huts. Wikipedia.
To me, the crowning glory of Whitby are the ruins of the Whitby Abbey.
To reach St. Mary’s Church and the Whitby abbey one must climb 199 steps to the top of the East Cliff above Whitby.
At the top of the hill there is a magnificent view of Whitby. St. Mary’s cemetery sits at the top of the cliff overlooking the town.
After visiting St. Mary’s Church, we venture on to the ancient Whitby abbey ruins behind the church. Both the church cemetery and the abbey ruins were the backdrops for Bram Stocker’s horror story of “Dracula”. Here is a link to the story of “how Dracula came to Whitby”.
Back in town, Whitby is a tourist’s delight for cafes and restaurants, as well as book stores, souvenir shops, and art galleries.
Mr. Seagull was eager to pose for me. He was very patient and unafraid as I came closer and closer to take his picture.
My Trip to England – Southport
Taking the train from the Wirral to Southport is slightly more than an hours ride, transferring once in Liverpool. The train station is conveniently located in the heart of Southport and just a few blocks from the Southport Pier.
Lord Street, Southport, England 
When we reached Lord Street we browsed through a few shops and had a cup of coffee in one of the many little cafes on this attractive main thoroughfare. Then we headed on down to the Southport Pier – show me the water! Coming from a city that is nowhere near a large body of water the sea breeze and salty air seems to attract me more than anything else.
As we get ready to head down the half-mile pier you can see Marine Drive under the bridge, which follows the seashore. There is a large shopping complex not far from the pier.
A tram runs back and forth on the pier so if you get weary from walking one can hop aboard the tram (for a fee).
The tide is way out with lots of beachcombers down there! And the ice cream truck is ready and waiting for kids and parents to come buy some ice cream.
Marine Way Bridge
At the end of the pier there is a building with a fully loaded arcade, food, and restrooms with plenty of tables to sit, eat and rest before heading back. On one side of the pier you can see the wildfowl reserve – Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve.
Swans in the man-made Marine Lake.
As we head back there is music in the air as a musician entertains in the pavilion next to the pier-bridge. People are sitting outside eating as they listen to the one-man band. Then the roaring sound of a boat fills the air; a tour boat is just about to take off.
My Trip to England – Bidston
My friend and I started off for an invigorating walk in the neighborhood of Birkenhead, which is located on the Wirral Peninsula across the Mersey River from Liverpool.
Clock tower flanking two chapels.
About a quarter of mile into our walk we came upon the Flaybrick Memorial Gardens, a fairly old cemetery, dating back to 1864. It was originally named Birkenhead Cemetery and had three chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, a Non-conformists chapel and the Church of England chapel, all of which are either torn down or no longer used.
In 1990 it was designated a conservation area by Wirral Borough Council, who own the site and renamed the Flaybrick Memorial Gardens. There are many fine specimen trees throughout the cemetery, including the cut leaf beech, monkey puzzle tree, silver lime tree, and the London plane tree.
After walking around the perimeter of the closed cemetery taking photos we crossed the street to the entrance of the Tam O’Shanter Farm. This is a delight for little children who have never seen farm animals up close and personal and to get an education in farm life and the many varieties of farm animals.
Treking up the path parelleling the farm, we headed up the hill towards the Bidston Hill windmill. We looked at the map in the carpark but were totally bamboozled as to where the path was leading to the windmill! After a few false starts we finally made our way in the right direction.
This was really beginning to look like a forest, dark, dank, and dangerous with very uneven paths, but nonetheless awesome and beautiful! According to the Bidston Hill Heritage Trail this was a 2.5 mile trail.
We slowly made our way up the rough uneven terrain, eventually coming to a partial clearing. Making our way around a curve in the woods we could see the windmill!
The windmill has been here since 1596. For the history of this impressive windmill
click here.
After resting a bit, we headed further up the trail to view the observatory, which was not open to the public at the time. And, a further bummer, later I discovered there was a stone carving we missed seeing, called “the sun goddess”, which
Wikipedia states: “There is a 4 1⁄2-foot-long (1.4 m) carving of a Sun Goddess, carved into the flat rock north-east of the Observatory, supposedly facing in the direction of the rising sun on midsummers day, and thought to have been carved by the Norse-Irish around 1000 AD. An ancient carving of a horse is located on bare rock to the north of the Observatory.[
Heading down the hill and round the bend into more thick terrain we came upon a clearing with a magnificent vista of the city of Liverpool!
And this ended our scenic hike through the Bidston Hill Heritage Trail – at least the scenic part. All that remained was finding our way out, as the paths had become rather overgrown, indicating most hikers headed back in the other direction! For a most interesting pictorial and written history of “Bidston – the Hill” click here.
My Trip to England – Chester
Chester is a walled city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales. It is well known for its Roman city wall, the oldest and longest defensive wall system in Britain; and the Chester Cathedral Wikipedia
Chester, England
Chester Cathedral, Chester, England
Click here for the history of the Chester Cathedral, its many modifications from as far back as 1093, and its fascinating architecture which includes all the major styles of English medieval architecture.
The Water of Life, statue by Stephen Broadbent can be seen in the cloister of the Chester Cathedral.
The city is encircled by almost two miles of city walls. Fascinating to walk around the city from the top of a Roman wall that has been there almost 2,000 years! The Chester walls make up the most complete Roman and medieval defensive town wall system in Britain.
One of the statues in the ARK exhibit at the Chester Cathedral.
Here is a print I bought while in Chester by local artist, John Donnelly. This is a view of a portion of the city wall with the clock tower in the background. John has been stationed on the wall painting his views of the city for the past twenty years.
My Trip to England – On the Wirral – Part Four
Now I’m going to include all the little towns and villages I left out of the first two sections on the Wirral – or is it – In the Wirral? There is a debate as which is the correct way to say it. I’ll let the folks in or on the Wirral duke it out!
Meols, Wirral, England
Meols, Wirral, England
Prenton, Wirral, England
St. Andrews Church, Hoylake, Wirral, England
St. James Church, Birkenhead, Wirral, England
Christ Church, Birkenhead, Wirral, England
In the Wirral, England On the Wirral, England
