The Poetry Channel

I always enjoy poems when I hear them being read, they become so much more real - more moving, more meaningful, more full of impact, in summary - alive!

The Poetry Channel is a website where you can hear and see poets reading their poems, there's a great variety of poets, growing all the time, and some wonderful poems.

Signs of Spring

Photo of catkins next to Grasmere last Sunday. Another cold but bright and sunny day today. Victoria Baths comes out of hibernation on Sunday for its first open day of the year. Is the winter over at last?

p.s. nearly forgot - hung out washing today for first time this year - yet another indicator?

Pseud's Corner

The sun has come out and it has gone to my head! Maybe Spring is here at last!

Whenever I walk our dog on days like today, I find myself thinking of two poems by Goethe which I had to learn by heart for my A Level German in 1977! Here they are:

Auf dem See

Und frische Nahrung, neues Blut

Saug ich aus freier Welt;

Wie ist Natur so hold und gut,

Die mich am Busen haelt!

Die Welle wieget unsern Kahn

Im Rudertakt hinauf,

Und Berge, wolkig himmelan,

Begegnen unserm Lauf.

Wanderers Nachtlied II

Ueber allen Gipfeln

Ist Ruh,

In allen Wipfeln

Spuerest du

Kaum einen Hauch:

Die Voegelein schweigen im Walde.

Warte nur! Balde

Ruhest du auch.

Illustration of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) is by Andy Warhol (1982).  Fantastic isn't it?!  

World Book Day

On the way to my poetry class last night I called in at Manchester's Central Reference Library - another of my favourite places. Realise I don't mention whole books too often on my blog, so I decided to introduce an occasional spot (when I remember) of books I am reading. Not necessarily books I read from cover to cover as I dip into lots of poetry books, but maybe an intermittent record of the reading material that rings my bell (or not, as the case may be!) 

There must have been something zeitgeisty going on, because although I didn't realise it at the time, today is World Book Day! I was listening to Lauren Laverne on Six Music and she discussed WBD - that struck me as serendipity!

Here is my inaugural list:

1. Ghost Train by Sue Hubbard 
2. Walking the Animals by Carola Luther
3. Hard Water by Jean Sprackland
4. Tyrannosaurus Rex versus The Corduroy Kid by Simon Armitage
5. Book of Matches by Simon Armitage
6. The Dead Sea Poems by Simon Armitage
7. Point No Point by Sujata Bhatt
8. Collected Poems by Gillian Clarke

I can wholly recommend the top three collections. Not far enough into the others yet to comment, may do so at a later point.

Free Swims

Schweppes have extended their free Monday swim offer!  

For the price of 5 bottles of water ( 42p per bottle in Asda) you can now swim from Monday to Friday in your local pool. Just remember to keep the caps!

Home from the Hill

Before bidding a fond farewell to the Lake District for this visit, we had a wander round Grasmere - the village, then Grasmere - the frozen lake.

Wandering Lonely as Clouds

Helm Crag - The Lion and The Lamb

Jean Sprackland's poetry workshop today in Grasmere was wonderful. I find classes like this more than a wee bit scary, but as she is such an inspiring and encouraging tutor, I felt challenged yet safe enough to come away with some very satisfying work - considerably more than the foundations for at least three poems, and some good ideas for sustaining and encouraging the creative process - thank you Jean! 

This evening we had a pre-booked cinema deal at Zeffirellis in Ambleside - a two course meal in the very classy restaurant, followed by a film in a charming retro cinema - all for £17.95 each. The film we watched was An Education - back at Zeffirellis by popular demand - a great end to an exciting day.

Grasmere (Lake) continues to be iced over, there are some ice-free patches in Rydal Water, but hey! Spring is round the corner (I've spotted several lambs in the fields) and we'll just have to come back for another weekend that is dedicated to swimming rather than poetry!

Off the Hook

Isn't technology great?!! (to paraphrase The Fast Show). I am in Grasmere, with my laptop, posting as if I was tucked up at home! 

Tomorrow I am going to a poetry workshop with the poet Jean Sprackland. We are making a weekend of it and having a couple of nights in one of our favourite parts of the world. Our cosy little B&B is in the shadow of the Lion and the Lamb, currently dusted with snow and occasionally obscured by strands of mist.

For the past two weeks I have been wrestling with the idea of whether we should/shouldn't have a dip in Rydal Water or Grasmere while we are here. Brrr...it has been so cold of late!! This morning I said - let's not take the wetsuits. There was no protest whatsoever!

Windermere looked as beautiful and tranquil as ever as we drove past. (Photo above is from last October). Rydalwater and Grasmere were both covered in a layer of ice. So I don't need to feel guilty about not being brave enough to take the plunge.....on this occasion. Phew!! 

Life.....Swimming.....Goggles

Well, what a day to remember! 
Today we've been babysitting our nephew because this morning his mum - my sister - was giving birth to his baby sister - born at 12.15. Welcome to the world, darling little girl! 
The phone message that the birth process was underway at 10.40 went unheeded because we'd gone for a later Saturday swim than usual. When the mobile rang in the locker room we were in the pool clocking up a mile! When we got out, it was action stations, taking our nephew to our house and waiting for the news - which arrived in record time!! We had a trip down memory lane this afternoon entertaining a tiny tot - lucky we've still got lots of our children's toddler toys to play with!


And as for the goggles...
the Barracudas are great - comfortable, no leaks, no fogging, minimal marks on eye sockets, so a great choice as far as I'm concerned.
(I'm also keeping the Aquasphere mask as an alternative option, and our son wants the Aquasphere goggles, so none will be going back to Swimming Without Stress - satisfied customers all round!)

Goggles

It's half term and we decided to go crazy and swim every day! So we've been up with the larks, for an early morning fix. 

My goggles have been getting on my nerves, the seal on the left eye has been letting in water and I've had to stop every few lengths to bale out. They also leave me with red rings which take ages to calm down, so I decided this week that enough was enough! The time has come to invest in some new ones. 

But where to get them, what to choose? The options are mind boggling. On my trawls around the internet, I came across this excellent website, whose very name seems like a declaration of intent! 

I phoned to get advice and a helpful, knowledgeable sales person suggested three models which come highly recommended. She suggested I order all three, try them by wearing them around the house and then keep the ones which are most comfortable.

So these are the contenders:

Aquasphere Kaiman - £11.99

Aquasphere Vista - £18.99

Barracuda Ultimate - £14.99

After a dry run of each model, I am leaning towards the Barracuda. I'll make my final decision later today in preparation for tomorrow morning's dip!  

Virtual Pool

Speaking of armchair swimming - come for a tour of one of my favourite places - Manchester's Water Palace - the Victoria Baths. It's eerily atmospheric, n'est ce pas?!

(And I like Richard E. Grant's comment about what you could do at the baths if they were restored!!)

The Freestylin' Aquamarina

One of my Christmas presents was an analysis of my swimming at TriCentral in Manchester. I'm currently preparing myself for this treat - psychologically and physically!

I'm swimming about three or four times a week and my freestyle is improving. This time last year I could swim breaststroke powerfully over long(ish) distances but I certainly didn't have the stamina for freestyle which I've built up over the last nine months.

I like this teaching gadget for focusing on the different components of the stroke. I find watching it quite hypnotic and restful - ideal for armchair swimmers!

Bathed in Moonlight

Puzzled by Sunday's large moon, I've been doing some investigating. I'm pursuing this topic on the blog because poets like howling at the moon, I'm pleased to say.

Apparently, the huge moon phenomenon is an optical/psychological illusion: the moon is the same size as usual, but that's not how we perceive it. This accounts for why my camera just kept taking pictures which didn't record what I seemed to be seeing.

Now for the interesting bit. To prove the theory, stand with your back to the outsized moon, with your legs apart. Lean forward and down, and look through the gap between your legs at the moon. What you see should be a normal-sized moon. If you aren't as agile as you used to be, you might also be seeing stars at this point. Go inside, sit down and enjoy a well-earned cup of tea. 

I haven't tried this experiment yet, but I will report back in due course. Please feel free to let me know how you get on!

Mr Moon, Mr Moon

You're out too soon

The sun is in the sky.

Go back to your bed

and cover up your head

and wait till the day goes by.

Pip pip!

Moonstruck

Last night the rising moon was wonderful, hanging in the sky like a huge golden ball. How does it do that?! This morning at 7.40 it was still fantastic - a morning moon against a chilly blue sky as people emerged into the quiet streets. 

I found this image of the moon on a website about the planets, sadly, my camera wasn't up to the task of photographing it. I was tracking its progress on our way back from swimming. Another kilometer, in addition to  one we clocked up on Friday. 

Getting up at 6am was a struggle as usual, but going out into the world was surprisingly easy, despite the darkness and the layer of frost on the car. The UK is bitterly cold again after a milder week. Snow at the weekend, though not as much as last time. And today's swimming was very satisfying - 20 x 50m flashed by without any effort. How come? The longer distance seemed to give me the space to think, without all the constant turning. And sometimes 40 x 25m fits the bill just fine as well, so there you go.

January has been a productive month - I've written one essay, one short story and one poem, a great start to the year!

Hello February! I can hardly believe you're here already!