Picture(s) of the day....

[mickthemaverick]

I'm on nursing and caring duties so not much to photograph but since you asked:

Own work

[myglaren]

Anyone got some new content for POTD today.

Vulcan Washington

Wife and kids about to take the Vulcan out for a spin.
1984

[CitroJim]

It seems somewhat ironic that these 35-year-old electric locomotives are being brought on their funeral run by a 60-year-old diesel.



Neil

The Class 37 'Tractor' is an incredible survivor Mainly down to being a very well designed locomotive from the start and having an RA value (Route Availability) which allows it on to almost all of the rail network.

Like Thomas of Tank Engine fame, they're a very useful little locomotive. Another great survivor is the Class 20 'Chopper'...

And they didn't suffer as badly as some classes from rust...

Most are very much 'Trigger's Brooms' after 60 years though...

The scrapping of the 91s, as I understand it, is due more to them having no work to do on the railway as it is these days. A lot of their coaching stock is now scrapped as it does not comply with current legislation and, I believe, they're not really a good freight locomotive.

I'm on nursing and caring duties so not much to photograph but since you asked:

Well done Nurse Mick! Good work

[myglaren]

A bit on the chilly side today!

Not really. Thermomeasurything has gone loopy. It is actually 14.2°C currently.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Long-tailed Fieldmouse in the Spring Sunshine March 21st 2023

To a Mouse

Take a moment POTD Poetry Corner...

You may have heard of Robert Burns, and may even be familiar with the first few lines of one of his most famous poems. You may think the Poem is called "To a Mouse" but no give it its full title.

"To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough, November, 1785 "

Its quite remarkable how the words live on from a chance event 237 years ago. It is a tremendous piece of observation, writing, and the bit at the end very true.

"the best laid plans of mice and men gan aft aglee, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!"


and the telling contrast he observes between the mouse living in the present, while he casts his eye back on "prospects drear" and forward though he cannot see, by "guess and fear".

Spoilerised for brevity but its all here...

Spoiler: show

Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a pannic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry man's dominion,
Has broken nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen icker in a thrave
'S a sma' request;
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!

Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,
An' weary winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell-
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.

Thy wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!

But, Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me
The present only toucheth thee:
But, Och! I backward cast my e'e.
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!

Neil

[CitroJim]

A bit on the chilly side today!

It's grim up north!

Quite warm down here today but windy...

Neil, all about mice and poetry... love it

[myglaren]

It's grim up north!

It was only very recently that I saw that we (Newcastle) are on the same latitude as Moscow.

[CitroJim]

It's grim up north!

It was only very recently that I saw that we (Newcastle) are on the same latitude as Moscow.

Gosh! We are, as a country, quite far north and only saved from really horrible weather by the gulf stream... If anything happens to significantly change it our climate will be very different.... And -50 could well be a possibility in the depths of winter... Brrrrr

[mickthemaverick]

I have to say at this time of year
There is one poem that brings me cheer
And so for all of your delight
I give you Wordsworth's tale so bright:

The daffodils at Ullswater

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
n/a

[bobins]

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
And that's because I bunked off work
I told them I was ill.

[CitroJim]

Loving your daffodils picture Mick

This was the best I could do with daffodils yesterday...

[NewcastleFalcon]

Another joyous blooming flower...Coltsfoot top quality name None of this garden centre compost palaver needed for the humble coltsfoot to shine just a tiny bit of soil amongst the gravel bit of sunlight and rain and it puts on a display as fine as any.

Neil

[CitroJim]

That's a proper flower Neil!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Did you even know that there was a bush rose called Kronenbourg

At 2 for £6 had to buy it, definite bit of familiarity phenomenon, yes to be added as a link to the existing series of unlikely Kronenbourg coincidences....

viewtopic.php?p=749259#p749259

2 for £6 and an offer I coundn't refuse when I saw the name!
Falcon Original 22/03/2023

Neil

[myglaren]

Loving your daffodils picture Mick

This was the best I could do with daffodils yesterday...

Just been to Birtley (next little town) and there were scads of daffodils in full flower all the way.
Driving so photoless.