My Goldfish by John R. Crossland. from Diddily dee dot's dreamland

MY GOLDFISH.

All day long he swims around
His little home of glass;
He never smiles, he never frowns,
I watch him pass and pass.

Round the globe and round again;
Makes me dizzy watching;
Open mouthed, then shut again;
Wander what he's catching?

Shining like a piece of gold,
Glistening like a star;
Never winking, never blinking, --
Round and round the jar.

Round the globe and round again;
Tails and fins a - quivering,
Living in the water cold:
Wonder if he's shivering?

He's a faithful little friend,
I always know I'll find him
Swimming gravely round and round
With his tail behind him.

Round the globe and round again,
Round eyes never blinking;
Looking very, very wise:
Wonder what he's thinking?

This little poem was written by John R Crossland

Just what you can find, with the help of Google.

Wed, 03 Jun 2009

The Dog and the Sparrow by Ivan Tourgenieff, and a bit more I found on line.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818 - 1883) The Russian Writer Ivan Turgenev. A massive Russian resource on Turgenev with a section in English. Includes Turgenev's biography, translations and photographs. Before I write this little tale, I wondered who the gentleman who wrote it was, and I only had this information in my old books. "The Dog and the Sparrow," by Ivan Tourgenieff. But look at what I found out, he was a bit of a hero in the written word of Russia. Though the powers that were didn't think so at the time. Thursday, June 4, 2009 From the Archives of November 18th 1878, Wednesday. SENILIA: PROSE POEMS BY IVAN TURGENIEFF.; 1878.--IN THE VILLAGE. THE OLD WOMAN. MY DOG. THE BEGGAR. A SELF-SATISFIED MAN. A RULE OF LIFE. THE END OF THE WORLD. MASCHA. THE BLOCKHEAD. AN EASTERN LEGEND. THE TWO QUATRAINS. THE SPARROW. THE SKULLS. It is the last day of July; a thousand versts wide around is Russia--home. The whole heaven is a shadowless azure; only one solitary, tiny cloud floats therein, and melts away. Perfect calm, heat. An atmosphere like lukewarm milk.... Here is the little tale:- "The Dog and the Sparrow," by Ivan Sergeevich Tourgenieff." I was on my way home from hunting, and was walking up the garden avenue. My dog was running on in front of me. Suddenly he slackened his pace, and began to steal forward as though he had scented game ahead. I looked along the avenue; and I saw on the ground a young sparrow, its beak edged with yellow, and its head covered with soft down. It had fallen from the nest, due to a strong wind blowing and shaking the birch trees in the avenue; and there it sat and never stirred, except to stretch out its half grown wings in a helpless flutter. My dog was slowly approaching it, when suddenly, darting from the tree overhead, an old black-throated sparrow dropt like a stone right before his nose, and all rumpled and flustered, with a plaintiff desperate cry flung itself once, twice, at the open jaws with their great teeth. It would save its young one; it screened it with its own body; the tiny frame quivered with terror; the little cries grew wild and hoarse; it sank and died. It had sacrificed itself. What a huge monster the dog must have seemed to it! and yet it could not stay up there on its safe bough, A power stronger than its own will tore it away. My dog had stood still, and slunk back, away from the screeching bird. He too had felt that same power. He came to me; and a feeling of pure reverence came over me as I passed on by. No, don't laugh, It really was reverence I felt before the heroic bird and the passionate outburst of its love. Such a feeling of extreme honor and respect for something or someone. Love, I thought, is verily stronger than death and the terror of death. By love, only by love, is life sustained and moved. "Oh my children such a sad little tale, but I think the little chick would have lived for the other parent sparrow would have fed it. This is why you must never move a young bird if you find one, for so long as the parents can hear the birds squawks, they will continue to feed it. Here is also an archive from the same newspaper, noting Ivan Tourgenieff's death "IVAN TURGENIEFF DEAD"; NOTABLE CAREER OF RUSSIA'S GREATEST NOVELIST. DYING IN FRANCE AFTER A LONG ILLNESS --THE PURPOSE OF HIS WORKS--A LIFELONG ENEMY OF DESPOTISM. September 5, 1883, Wednesday Ivan Turgenieff, the Russian novelist, died at Bongival, France, on Monday, after a long illness. The saying that Russia cannot produce more than one great man at a time in any department is not altogether just; but to many superficial observers.... Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818-1883) This came from a Russian news-report

Were you ever in Cardiff Bay, or Cape Horn, and were you "Riding on a Donkey."

Donkey Riding

Were you ever in Quebec
Stowin' timber on the deck?
where ye'd break yer aching neck
Riding on a donkey!

chorus: Way O and away we go
Donkey riding, donkey riding
Way O and away we go
Riding on a donkey.


Were you ever off Cape Horn
Where it's always fine and warm?
Where's there's a lion and a unicorn
Riding on a donkey.

chorus: Way O and away we go


Were you ever in Cardiff Bay
Where the folks all shout, "Hooray!"?
"Here comes Johnny with his six months pay
Riding on a donkey."

chorus: Way O and away we go



Were you ever in Timbucktoo
Where the gals are black and blue?
And they wriggle their arses, too
Riding on a donkey.

chorus: Way O and away we go




Were you ever in Vallipo
Where the gals put on a show?
Wriggle their arse with a roll and go
Riding on a donkey.

chorus: Way O and away we go


Wuz ye ever down Mobile Bay
Screwin' cotton all the day?,
A dollar a day is a white man's pay.
Ridin' on a donkey.

chorus: Way O and away we go


Wuz ye ever in Canton
Where the men wear pigtails long,
And the gals play hong-ki-kong?
Ridin' on a donkey.

chorus: Way O and away we go


Wuz ye ever in Mirramashee

Where ye tie up to a tree,

An' the skeeters do bite we?

Ridin' on a donkey

chorus: Way O and away we go



Wuz ye ever on the Broomielaw

Where the Yanks are all the go,

An' the boys dance heel an' toe?

Ridin' on a donkey.

chorus: Way O and away we go

I used to love singing this song.

Donkey Riding

Thanks to, http://sniff.numachi.com/ For providing me with the tune
(Who Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital
Tradition!)

A PHENOMINAL WEB PAGE FOR MUSIC AND WORDS FROM A -Z

Digital Tradition Mirror

Going on an Errand ~ A beautiful Rhyme from the pen of Whoever? Thankyou very much, Seligor

"A Pound of tea at one and three,
And a pot of raspberry jam,
Two new laid eggs, a dozen pegs,
And a pound of rashers of ham."

I'll say it over all the way,
And then I'm sure not to forget,
For if I chance to bring things wrong,
My mother gets in such a pet.

"A pound of tea at one and three,
And a pot of raspberry jam,
Two new laid eggs, a dozen pegs,
And a pound of rashers of ham."

There in the hay the children play -
They're having such jolly fun;
I'll go there, too, that's what I'll do,
As soon as my errands are done.

"A pound of tea at one and three,
A pot of - er - new laid jam!
Two raspberry eggs, with a dozen pegs,
And a pound of rashers of ham."

Now here's the shop, outside I'll stop,
And run through my orders again;
I haven't forgot - no, ne'er a jot -
It shows I'm pretty cute, that's plain.

"A pound of three at one and tea,
A dozen of raspberry ham
A pot of eggs, with a dozen pegs,
And a rasher of new laid jam."

Excellent, I wonder how many of us did that when we were little?....

The next chapter of There was an Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe. At Hey diddle diddle.

THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE

Chapter Two

The Old Woman looked up. "Good evening to you, I'm sure, and it's very good of you to help me," she said, "but where are you?" For she saw nobody but her children, and she was sure that it wasn't one of them.
"Where are you looking?" said the voice again. "I'm not far away from your feet."
When the Old Woman heard that she looked down at the stream, and there half in and half out of it, she saw a big green frog with golden eyes staring at her.
"Now you want a new house I suppose," said the frog.
"I do want it sadly," said the Old Woman, for we have nowhere to live, and I haven't got a penny to pay for the building of it."
"Fiddle-de-dee!" said the frog. "What should I do with money? But I have seen how you work so hard and I don't like to think of you without a home. Besides, it would be sad for your husband to come home and find his house burnt down. Now take off your shoe."
The Old Woman took off one of her shoes, wondering how this would help. But she didn't have to wonder long, he splashed some water over it, and as the water touched it the shoe creaked and squeaked, turned and stretched itself into a house! And a beautiful house it was too.
The Old Woman could hardly believe her eyes, she shut them , blinked and opened them again and the house was still there.
"Well go along indoors," said the frog. "There's the house, but I must give you this warning. You may use the water from the stream to water the garden as much as you like, but, you must never use it for washing, cooking, drinking, scrubbing or anything like that. That water MUST be drawn from the well. Goodbye! I hope you'll be happy in your new house." And before the Old Woman had time to thank him, he had turned round, jumped into the deep water and puff he was gone.
To look at it from the outside it just looked like a larger version of her shoe, but once inside, well as you can see in the picture it was a home, that indeed was big enough for the Old Woman and her twenty three children, and something realy special. by the side of her bed was another shoe, just like the one she had given to the frog. Which was a good job really for the Old Woman only had the one pair.
The Old Woman looked through out the house, and with a contented smile on her face she went outside and took the harness off the donkey and began unloading the cart of her shopping and empty crates.
The children, very upset for what they had done, helped their mother to unload the cart and they did help the following day, and the day after that, and the old woman was pleased that the children had at last began to behave themselves. But sad to say it didn't last long and by the time the next market day arrived it was almost the same as before.
The next market morning the Old Woman was up and gave the children their porridge and went out to harness the donkey, she had packed the cart as usual and Zed had filled the basket with fresh eggs and he put these next to the vegetables to be sold.
Returning to the kitchen, she gathered up all the children and bade them sit down and listen: "Now my dears I must be off to the market. Be good while I am away. Take the goats and geese to the pasture, and there are a lot of weeds in the carrot patch, I want them removing before they choke the young carrots. And as it is a wash day, I want all the washing put in the wash tub to soak. BUT remember you must draw the water from the well. DON'T take any from the stream. Oh yes and there's some bread

The Poor Princess had no "Soft Water" to wash her face in, Poor thing.

SOFT WATER.

By Elizabeth Fleming.

The good King's daughter
Had no soft water,
Had no soft water to wash her face,
And forth went pages
To look for water in every place.

The crawled up mountains,
They crept down tunnels,
They felt the waterfalls everywhere;
They spied on houses
With water-barrels,
But no soft water was hidden there.

The Princess wept
When they came to tell her
Of fruitless searchings and labours vain.
"How can I wash
If I've no soft water?
And what shall I do if it doesn't rain?"

The youngest page-boy
Awake quite early,
And went out walking at break of day,
And high on a hill
He found a dewpond
A little round dewpond tucked away.

He went on his knees
And peeped in the dewpond;
Mist lay over it white as milk;
He dipped his hands
And the ice-cold water
Ran through his fingers soft as silk!

He filled his goblet
And sought the Princess;
The poor little Princess wept with joy,
And told the King,
And the King said , "Splendid!"
And made him the Prince's whipping-boy.

Hm,m, I'm not sure becoming the
"Prince's Whipping boy!"
Don't you think the young Prince should have the whipping himself ?

******The Circus*****by Eleanor Farjeon.****

* * * * * * * * THE CIRCUS BY ELEANOR FARJEON * * * * * * * *

The Circus By Eleanor Farjeon The brass band blares, The flashing flares, The sawdust smells, Showmen ring bells, And O! right into the circus ring Comes such a lovely, lovely thing, A milk white pony with flying tress, And a beautiful lady, A beautiful lady in a pink dress! The red and white clown For joy tumbles down. Like a pink rose Round she goes On her tiptoes With the pony under - And then, O wonder! The pony his milk white tresses droops And the beautiful lady The beautiful lady, Flies like a bird through the paper hoops! The red and white clown for joy falls dead, on his head, Then he waggles his feet and stands And the little boys on the twopenny seats Scream with laughter and suck their sweets.HTTP://DIDDILYDEEDOTSDREAMLAND.ZOOMSHARE.COM

IN THE LAND OF GILYKEHA, LIVED MISTI A YOUNG ELFIN PRINCESS.

This is a story of a young Elfin Princess
who was very lonely. Would she ever meet a young Prince and get married? Why not read on and find out.

ELVES AND ICICLES

G

ELVES AND ICICLES

In the land of Gily-keha not many miles away, there lived an Elfin Woodland Princess. Her name was Misti and her home was the Silvan Palace; high in the Silver mountains where she lived with her parents King Silvan and Queen Sereni.The Princess was a happy young elf but also a very lonely one for she didn’t have any brothers or sisters to play with.
It wasn’t so bad when she was young for she would spend hours playing with all the creatures that lived in and around the palace, but as she had grown older she found herself wishing for a friend; someone to share her secrets with and just have fun with I guess.What made it worse was this winter had been long and cold, it felt like it would never end,
already the snow had been falling for more weeks than normal. Misti sighed, "Whenwould the cold blanket lift and make way for the spring flowers, in a few months I'll be thirteen, what then?" she reached down and stroked her pet cat Petals
"I should be getting engaged soon, where on earth are Mummy and Daddy going to find me a husband, Petals?"
The cat purred softly under her warm hand and began to wash her face.
"He would have to be a prince; and of course come from a good Elfin family and where was he to come from?
Misti didn't really know any other elfin families in the mountains.
She did meet the village elves when the summer was upon them and she had been going to school, but none of these were princes.
"Maybe I shall never marry Petals, you and I will just have each other forever" Misti smiled at the cat and kissed it's little pink nose.
Yes it was beginning to look like she was doomed to live alone forever.
Misti walked over to the bedroom window and sat down on the ledge, she was immediately aware that there was something different in the woods. Was she imagining it or were there huge icicles hanging from the branches of some of the trees, they were glistening in the pale sunlight that had just appeared from behind the clouds.
She jumped off the ledge without another thought, ran out of the room, down the bannisters and in a flash she was all ready to go out into the snow.
She grabbed her mitts and scarf off the hat stand and was out the front door, through the gates and running down towards the woods.

A new take on the Alphabet, A litle quiz involved for the under 8's I think

Can you match some of the pictures with the Alphabet or Names

AN ALPHABET OF NAMES.

• A  is for Alan, who Angled in Ayr.
• B is for Bobby, who had Buns for a Bear.
• C is for Clara, who Came with her Chum.
• D is for Donald, who Danced to a Drum.
• E is for Eva, who Encountered an Eel.
• F is for Francis, who Fashioned a Frill.
• G is for George, who had Gone to the Glen.
• H is for Harry who Had a red Hat.
• I is for Irene who Intends to use Ink.
• J is for Joseph, who Jumped a high Jink.
• K is for Kenneth, who Kept a large Kite.
• L is for Lawrence, who Laughed much to Late.
• M is for Mervyn who Marched to the Mine.
• N is for Norman, he caught Newts all of Nine.
• O is for Ossie, whom an Owl did Observe.
• P is for Peggy, with a Pot of Preserve.http://diddilydeedotsdreamland.com/