Organisation -Is it a state of mind?

This guy was zipping past me the other day in Beijing.

It never ceases to amaze me 

that loads in China

are ALWAYS neat.

It doesn't matter if it is a migrant worker

with recycled cardboard piled high on his bike

Or a huge truck with steel cables

There is always order to the stack.

And this is in a country 
where no one thinks anything about spitting, 
tossing away litter and dumping black garbage sacks everywhere.

~~~~~

Me?

Well I never drop litter (knowingly) or spit

But my creative work room is often

a complete mess 

And I can leave clothes on the floor 
and unwashed cups on the table

and papers everywhere.

~~~~~

Seems like organisation is a state of mind 

and different states 

see it differently.

I love China's organised stacking

and wish it came naturally to me!

Foxgloves by my door

In celebration of the beautiful foxgloves that have been 

blooming so magnificently by my front door. 

The White Foxglove

   

Reynard, the fox, was asked to a party.
"Come", they said, in your Sunday best,
For we like good form, tho' the fun be hearty;
So all who dance must be formally dressed:
Black tail-coat and a shirt-front gleaming.
Brushed and burnished each dancing shoe,
Pantaloons with a silk braid seaming,
Clean white gloves of the snowiest hue.
This most especially -
Very especially -
Snow-white gloves of a spotless hue.

Reynard, the fox, as he dressed (says the fable)
Dreamed of the dance and his lady love,
Then he searched and he hunted in dresser and table,
But all he discovered was - one old glove!
A horrible glove, with a broad black stitching
Sorriest match for his stiff white shirt.
Could lover go wooing a maid so bewitching,
Wearing but one glove, grubby with dirt?
Oh, most disgustedly -
Very disgustedly -
Creased and crumpled and yellow with dirt.

Said Reynard, the fox, to the King of the Fairies,
"King, I come to you craving a dower.
Gloves! All as white as the lamb that was Mary's.
Pray you, fashion a pair from a magic flower.
From a summer cloud, from the web of a spider.
Skin of a toadstool, a snowberry rind,
Down from the breast of a fledgling eider."
And the King said "Sure", for the King was kind.
Ever so graciously -
Gaily and graciously -
"Oke", said the Monarch, for he was kind.

Then Reynard, the fox, beheld a wonder:
A wave of his wand by the Fairy King -
And there, with the green leaves spreading under,
Sprang forth a sceptre, a magic thing
With garlands of gloves in a gleaming cluster,
White as the fleeces of new-shorn flocks
That fairy shepherds in Arcady muster.
And a pair they presented to Reynard, the fox.
They fitted him perfectly.
Said the King, "perfectly"
"Your Majesty.' Thank you!" said Reynard, the fox.

Reynard, the fox, made haste to the revel;
Beau of the ball, as they had to confess.
And the ladies sighed, "What a handsome devil?"
As for his lady - of course it was, "Yes".
Then they danced and they fasted with merry laughter.
While Reynard weaved dreams in the clouds above.
And they called that blossom, from then ever after -
Men, foxes and fairies - the white Fox-glove.
Tall and so slenderly
Graceful and tenderly,
Swaying its sceptre - the White Fox-Glove. 
C Micheal James Dennis (1876-1938)

Sunday morning

May 2nd - Sunday morning, originally uploaded by rufusandco.

Starting Sunday the right way, with coffee in my favourite mug - double insulated so the coffee stays hot but the outside is cool. Danish design of course!
I have the house to myself so indulging in my time to read some inspiring blogs  and get on with my own writing.
Best stop blogging and get back to it!!
Hope Sunday starts well for you too.

Multicoloured Bird Houses

Spring is finally in the air here in Beijing and I just find myself drawn to the few birds I see flying in our neighbourhood- thinking about what spring would be like back home in the UK.
For a while I have been collecting images together in a gallery on Flickr because there are some amazing constructions out there for birds, if only the birds know where to look!
Hope you enjoy looking at a few of them:

When I have my own back garden again I want to make a multicoloured bird community and attract some colourful feathered friends.

Bird Houses / 20071230.10D.46705 / SML, originally uploaded by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML.




Or maybe we should go for an all red colour scheme

Red Bird Houses, originally uploaded by Todd Klassy.


How about this one to hedge your bets about the size of bird who might be interested in setting up home! This is taken by my friend Marji in Seattle, though not in her own garden.

March 22 - Is Anybody Home?, originally uploaded by Rain City Girl.


Anthropologie even have a white bird house made from Balinese basket and weather coated in resin if you want to offer your friends a classy abode.

Finally I want to show you the amazing bird house built by my relative, Kaare, who lives in Denmark. Is this not the most awe inspiring bird house ever? Reaching over 20 feet into the air. 

photo by Ingrid

One day I hope to have a high rise like this in my garden - a bird totem pole almost.

Hope you enjoy these lines from the Turkish writer, Mehmet Zaman Saclioglu’s poem:

Bird Houses

The outer walls of houses should be bird houses
That take wing when children laugh.
Even if it’s winter outside,
The summer sun should rise inside the walls
And happiness will also warm the birds.