Oh, they're queueing up...

Everybody wants to get on to the blog today.  Never mind me, I just staggered along in an April storm to go to a poetry group, what have I got to tell...

APPLE
Ooh, I know, it were raining 'orizontal, when we have storms on the island we get proper storms, real stormy storms, not winter in springtime like this.  I said to Mistress Stories, I said you come in and get your paws dry by the fire, you need a drop of cordial, but no, she was already on the coffee by then.  Won't do 'er any good.

FINGAL
What's wrong with rain?  You should be an otter!  You could stand facing the current with your mouth open and let the trout swim in!

MUCH

You'd wait a long time for a decent trout in that river.  There 'ave been sightings, mind, but you'd 'ave to get in before the 'eron.  Blooming birds.  If this rain doesn't stop me snail's going to grow fins.  I'll grow finds meself, come to that.   'Er's just 'ad a ee-mail from such chap in America who says it's sunny, 'er's dead jealous now.

And there's a blackbird on me 'ead.

I was going to say, I was invited to join a select group of ladies who meet about once a month and share poems - mostly not their own - on a given subject.  Today we talked about death, which sounds morbid, but wasn't.  It was valuable, especially to the newly bereaved, and brought things out into the open.  And we laughed.  I like the Irish benediction,

'May you be up and off to heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're gone.'

Finally, I thoroughly and humbly apologise for keeping you ignorant of The Archers for so long.  So much has happened, I hardly know where to begin.

Brian is not having it all his way about the Dairy Unit and everybody still hates him.  Linda's wet step-daughter Leonie and Lilian's wet son James have parted, or maybe they just drifted away from each other. Tom's quad bike was stolen amongst a spate of farm thefts, and David Archer is getting a bit vigilante about it.  Tom and Helen have met Richard, and all the family know about him now.   And there's a new cricket coach, and all the village girls are in love with him and turning up for nets.