♥ The blog of BaggieAggie, designer of bags, gadget cases and other fabulous accessories handmade in Wales. Sprinkled with recipes, gardening chat, the odd piece of short fiction, and anything else that inspires (or annoys!) me. So pull up a comfy chair and stay a while. ♥


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Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

Saturday, 22 September 2012

A Magazine Feature... and an Ode to Autumn...

Yellow ladies' fabric Kindle case, handmade in Wales UK.
It's autumn! And my yellow Kindle sleeve, Trees, is featured in the October 2012 issue of Sewing World magazine. They contacted me some time ago, asking if they could include it in the Handmade For You section, which showcases handmade items that fit a particular theme - in this instance, autumn, a season so perfectly described by Keats in his famous poem (see below) and one I particularly love.

I haven't had a chance to buy the magazine yet (out yesterday, 21st September) but I was emailed a sneak peek on Thursday of what appears to be the second page of a 2-page spread.  I'm already salivating over some of the other featured items (cushions to die for!) so I can't wait to see the other gorgeous makes.

Trees is available from my website, and made to order for all Kindle models (including the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD, both of which will be launched in the UK next month and can be reserved on Amazon now).  Also available for the Kobo Touch, the Nexus 7, and the Galaxy Tab.  

However, if you own a keyboardless Kindle 4 (the smallest model which measures 166 x 114 x 8.7 mm) or a Kobo Touch and need an eReader sleeve urgently, you'll find Trees ready-made and ready to ship in one working day from my Etsy store. 

ODE TO AUTUMN - John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
        Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
    Conspiring with him how to load and bless
        With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
    To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
        And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
          To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
        With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
    And still more, later flowers for the bees,
  Until they think warm days will never cease,
          For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
      Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
  Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
      Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
  Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
      Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
          Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
  And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
      Steady thy laden head across a brook;
      Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
          Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

 Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
      Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
  While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
      And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
  Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
      Among the river sallows, borne aloft
          Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
  And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
      Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
      The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
          And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Westonbirt Arboretum, November 2011, copyright BaggieAggie.

Monday, 12 July 2010

Water Is Fattening

WATER IS FATTENING

Mum says water is fattening –
she heard it on daytime TV.
I’m sure she must have misunderstood
so I tell her I disagree.
But she gives a loud disdainful sniff
and says she knows she’s right –
eight glasses of water a day
are making her hips look a fright.

I mention her love of Dundee cake
and her passion for full-fat cheese,
then remind her how much she adores clotted cream
but she protests, “Now, darling, please.
They’re little treats I have now and then
and I’m sure they can’t possibly matter.
It’s water I ought to cut down on now
because that’s what’s making me fatter.”

I go to her fridge for milk (full fat)
as Mum brews up the tea,
and there upon the second shelf down
I see Stilton, Cheddar and Brie.
Not tiny portions for one, of course –
they would feed her street for weeks.
And when I spot the fresh-cream eclairs
a blush spreads over her cheeks.
“I normally only buy one box
but three-for-the-price-of-two
was Tesco’s generous offer today
so what else could I do...?”

“But the ‘Use by’ date is today, Mum –
are the neighbours invited to tea?”
“Good God, no! Eclairs are my favourites –
I’m saving them all for me.
Don’t worry, I’ve worked out a clever plan
so I can eat them all at once:
If I give up water completely today,
I know I won’t put on an ounce.”

© Rosie Rose

Sunday, 11 July 2010

For Sale: One Silver Cat



 FOR SALE: ONE SILVER CAT

For Sale: One silver cat
adorable and not too fat
but she scratches the hell out of sofas
I’ll make no bones about that.

She’s lost a few of her lives
because she brings me out in hives
when she claws holes in the carpets
and eats all my chives.
The basils have all turned black
(she pees on them behind my back)
and last night she poo’d in the parsley pot –
I hope it’s survived the attack.

I can’t visit the bathroom at night
without switching on all the lights
in case she’s sicked up a fur-ball.
(I’ve stepped in a few, all right!)

But this morning was the last straw
when I woke up at half-past four
to find a dead rat on my pillow.
I just can’t take anymore!

If you can put up with all that,
you can have my silver cat
but I may come round to reclaim her

because I’ll miss her – despite all that. :-)

© Rosie Rose