Beavers

An English beaver

Hey, England has beavers once again! Our native beavers were hunted to extinction in the sixteenth  century but in the last ten years  some Eurasian beavers have been "reintroduced" and they appear to be thriving. A lot has been said about the useful contributions that beavers might  make to flood prevention.

When I was sixteen I switched secondary schools - moving to Beverley Grammar School in the East Yorkshire market town of the same name - Beverley. There I studied Art, English and Geography at A level but that is beside the point just now. What I mostly wanted to share with you is  Beverley's coat of arms:-

Can you see the beaver? That is because in medieval times Beverley, or Beaverlec, was well-known for its beavers. They frolicked in The River Hull and other small waterways and were effectively farmed for their pelts. Beaver fur was highly prized and the townsfolk of Beverley were rightfully proud of their beavers until they disappeared.

Of course Britain is an island and I imagine that our native beavers were different from the Eurasian beavers now being "reintroduced" in small numbers. Is it even a reintroduction? Perhaps we should refer to what is happening as an introduction though I have not been able to confirm my suspicions about beavers of the past compared with these new beavers.

I wonder what someone who likes to study beavers is called? Perhaps a beaverologist? Anyway,  I am sure that there are worse things that one might study. God Save The Beaver!

Beverley Grammar School badge on a plaque

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Best Supporting Actors

 

I’ve just found out that the veteran actress Lynn Cohen died this year

Lynn was never a leading actress, but was, what was known as a jobbing actress. 

Always busy, always in the background of a drama or a story

I always loved her as Miranda’s mother figure Magna in Sex and The City.

and when she finally kissed Cynthia Nixon on the forehead with the affirmation of “ You Love” 

I was in buckets.

Many of us have these supporting actor types in our lives. 

They aren’t best friends or next of kin’s.

We don’t have to see them all of the time , but they are often beavering  away in the background, becoming characters we all can take for granted.

And ones we only mourn when they finally disappear from view.

I consider Albert as an animal member of this group. He walks around the cottage in the background like a shadow, with wide shocked looking eyes and a faint limp which allows the eye to focus on him. But with a succession of various tap dancing bulldogs taking centre stage, he remains to be content with a full food bowl and a quiet corner in which to sleep.

Weaver of Grass ( http://weaverofgrass.blogspot.com/)  is another low key constant but a blog one. Never showy , never boastful she has been a quiet queen of blogs for a decade and a half, chatting quietly of country life in North Yorkshire with a pace that is both comforting and consistent. 

Mrs Trellis, Gorgeous Dave, Wendy I’ve been to the ballet once with, Sitges Jon, 

Leo and his texts.....Mick and Meggie and a whole bucketful of names from Sheffield.....the list is long and one I realise so beautifully long as I write my Christmas cards with my gliding ink pen 

On reflection I can think of two dozen such characters, perhaps more who provide a backdrop to my life.

Like Magna they are vital and so important  to ones existence, but like Magna, they always worked away in the background , mostly unsung, but as necessary to us , as air is to breathing 

from Going Gently https://ift.tt/36ohsYs

Sun

 Sun 

Peeking through 

The puffy clouds

Has me giddy

Like a little girl

Twirling 

In a pink tutu

Simplicity 

Has its joy

On this 

Last day

Of November 

from R's rue https://ift.tt/36oWrNs

Allow

 This morning

Everywhere I look

I see God 

telling me

To slow down

I've always

been told slow 

is not ideal

but slow

I must go

My limitations

don't define me

But my body

doesn't do fast

When it does

I pay

and now

When the physical

is to expensive

Mentally

I suffer

and I'm 

worth more

Here's to slow

Relish it

you're allowed

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Hargreaves

Roger Hargreaves

I just checked this blog's visitor stats. Regarding the English speaking world, 37% of visitors come from Great Britain, 33% from the USA, 7% from Canada, 4% from Australia and around 1% each from Ireland, New Zealand and the Isle of Man.

It occurred to me that some of you - especially in North America - may not have heard of one of England's finest writers - Roger Hargreaves (1935-88). Hargreaves was a Yorkshireman  He became the creative director of a small advertising agency in London. It was while he was in that employment that his oldest son Giles, then aged six, asked: "Daddy? What does a tickle look like?"

Hargreaves drew a simple orange figure with long arms and called him "Mr Tickle" and it was at that moment in 1971 that his famous "Mr Men" books were conceived. A few years later Hargreaves introduced the complementary "Little Miss" series of books.

Following Roger's fatal stroke in 1981, his son Adam filled his father's shoes and more Mr Men and Little Miss books were produced. Here's a list of all of the Mr Men characters:-

Mr. Bounce
Mr. Brave
Mr. Bump
Mr. Busy
Mr. Chatterbox
Mr. Cheerful
Mr. Clever
Mr. Clumsy
Mr. Daydream
Mr. Dizzy
Mr. Forgetful
Mr. Funny
Mr. Fussy
Mr. Greedy
Mr. Grumble
Mr. Grumpy
Mr. Happy
Mr. Impossible
Mr. Jelly
Mr. Lazy
Mr. Mean
Mr. Messy
Mr. Mischief
Mr. Muddle
Mr. Nervous
Mr. Nonsense
Mr. Noisy
Mr. Nosey
Mr. Perfect
Mr. Pernickety
Mr. Quiet
Mr. Right
Mr. Rush
Mr. Silly
Mr. Skinny
Mr. Slow
Mr. Small
Mr. Sneeze
Mr. Snow
Mr. Strong
Mr. Stubborn
Mr. Tall
Mr. Tickle
Mr. Topsy-Turvy
Mr. Uppity
Mr. Worry
Mr. Wrong

"Mr Tickle" was the first Mr Men book

And here are the "Little Miss" characters:-

Little Miss Awesome
Little Miss Bad
Little Miss Bossy
Little Miss Brainy
Little Miss Busy
Little Miss Chatterbox
Little Miss Calamity
Little Miss Contrary
Little Miss Curious
Little Miss Dotty
Little Miss Fickle
Little Miss Fun
Little Miss Giggles
Little Miss Greedy
Little Miss Helpful
Little Miss Late
Little Miss Lucky
Little Miss Magic
Little Miss Naughty
Little Miss Neat
Little Miss Quick
Little Miss Scary
Little Miss Scatterbrain
Little Miss Shy
Little Miss Somersault
Little Miss Splendid
Little Miss Star
Little Miss Stubborn
Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Tidy
Little Miss Tiny
Little Miss Trouble
Little Miss Twins
Little Miss Whoops
Little Miss Wise

And now we reach the interactive part of this blogpost. Which Mr Men or Little Miss character are you most like? Maybe you are a mixture of two or three. For myself I would say I am something of a cross between Mr Clever, Mr Daydream and Mr Grumpy with a soupcon of Mr Silly too!

from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/2HPYIYj