There were no dogs anywhere in sight on the beach this morning,
but I know they’d been there;
more than one of them, too.
Maybe they were hiding in the dunes, scared I’d crash their doggy party
Thoughts on Riding My Bike
Back from an early morning bike ride, I have these observations:
1. People out walking or riding at 6am seem, on the whole, much happier and friendlier than people out later in the morning. Or maybe they’re gritting their teeth, and it just looks like they’re smiling. Or maybe they’re laughing at me and my struggle to get bike-fit.
2. If you have barely ridden a bike in your adult years, it takes some time to build up some bike-fitness. Also, you start to understand why people have bike shorts and/or padded bike seats.
3. Baby blue bikes with baskets are very cool. All those people on speedy looking racing bikes have nowhere to put their baguettes or their bunches of flowers, should they choose to stop in the village and purchase some. If there was a village.
4. If you ride at 6am you have the whole day to recover, which is good, because you may need it.
New in Paperback
I’m really pleased that Meet Mary MacKillop has been released in paperback format today. This means it’s now available in a choice of three formats: hardcover, ebook or, of course, paperback. It’s nice to think of it reaching more new readers.
It’s been almost a year since its first release, but I still absolutely adore the cover, showcasing the illustrative genius of Sonia Martinez.
And, of course, the internal illustrations are similarly wonderful.
Meet Mary MacKillop is the story of how Mary set up her first school, in Penola. She was an amazing woman who believed that every child should have the chance to be educated regardless of social status, gender, or religion.
You can find out more about the book here. It’s available in good bookstores. If they haven’t got it, ask them to get it in for you. Alternatively, it is also available online.
A Poem: Flowers
The topic for for this week’s 52-week Illustration Challenge is Flowers. As always, my ‘illustration’ is a poem, though I did find a photo to add a little visual appeal. Enjoy.
If you want to say I love you
Then a rose will do just fine;
It can say I am besotted
And I’m really glad you’re mine.
If you want to say I’m happy
Then a gerbera will do.
It’s great to have an orange face
Smiling back at you.
A lily or a lilium
Might say I’m sad to hear
That you’re suffering the loss
Of someone you held dear.
A garden full of flowers
Can say all these things and more.
Take a walk along the garden path
And feel your spirits soar.
Poem: Sarah’s Cat
Most cats are black, or white,
or ginger,
maybe tortoiseshell or tabby,
but my friend Sarah
has a cat
that’s a marvellous purply-blue.
She says it’s from Russia
but I think
it’s straight from heaven.
Sally Murphy, 2014
Poem: Selfie
The topic for for this week’s 52-week Illustration Challenge is ‘Selfies’. All the clever illustratory folks doing the challenge are posting wonderful self-portraits in all sorts of formats. As you may know, if you follow this blog, I joined the challenge on the proviso that I could write a poem each week rather than draw/paint/sketch, as my artistic skills are really non-existent. I figure that I can try to paint a picture in words, by inspiring mental images.
However, as I said, this week’s topic is ‘selfies’, and I was really stumped as to how I would do this using just words, though many of my poems are, at some level, about me. Then, as I cleaned my desk today I moved my magnet words and whiteboard and remembered writing a poem about myself with them last year. Rather than reuse that poem, I put my thinking cap on – and came up with something both visual and word-based. Hope you like it.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- …
- 104
- Next Page »