Mrs Turnbull's Indian Rope Trick

MRS. TURNBULL'S INDIAN ROPE TRICK

Well, I nearly shot my bolt this time. Not just a pickle but real trouble. There I was quietly sitting in the warm sunshine in the boatyard while he who rules the universe worked on his boat when I saw a snake. All twisted round it was and just within tongue licking distance. It was deliciously salty but it took some swallowing I can tell you. It was longer than it looked. The following day I didn’t feel too good. I had to keep leaning my head against the wall. They who rule the universe put me in the car and took me to the vet where they said funny words like “obstruction” and “gut” and “x-ray”. I woke up two days later with tubes sticking out all over me and a terrible headache. They who rule the universe were there saying “Silly dog, ropes aren’t for eating.” Rope! I was sure it was a snake. You must admit it is an easy mistake to make. Now I have a zip fastener effect down the middle of my belly and I will never wear a bikini again. Hey-ho there’s life in the old dog yet. Love from Mrs. Turnbull.

Wow! Fantastic news. My book Adelina Patti Queen of Song is now available in paperback. For more information or to place an order e-mail jmahammond@btinternet.com. It is a great read.

I am up to my ears with the Tenby Arts Festival at the moment so of you are thinking of coming along don't forget the book fair at 11am on Saturday 20th. I will be there with three of my books on sale along with many other authors. On Tuesday I will be giving a talk at 3pm about the sculptress Camille Claudel who had a passionate and ultimately tragic affair with Rodin. Come to the Fourcroft Hotel  and enjoy a cup of tea afterwards.
And look out for Swansea City Opera on Friday 26th at the De Valence 7.30pm; they will present Mozartissimo a light hearted and musical look at the life of the great composer. Tickets are available from all Pembrokeshire TIC's and from the box office 07815 571589. All information can be found on www.tenbyartsfest.co.uk and enquiries can be made by e-mail to tenbyartsfestival@yahoo.co.uk

I hope to see you there.

Mrs Turnbull in the poo

Mud, mud glorious mud,
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood.

Well, I got myself into a right pickle this time. She who rules the universe took me for a walk and I found this lovely muddy pool full of cow poo. I had a lovely time snorting and snuffling and digging in it making glorious odorous bubbles of gloop but you should have heard her shriek. Then we had a tug of war, she wanted to pull me out and I wanted to stay in. It’s not my fault that her shoe fell off when it got stuck in the mud. So here I am waiting and I can see her coming towards me with the hose pipe. Oh horror!

Love from Mrs Turnbull

This is what happens when I take time out from writing.

Tetractys

Tetractys

Tetractys from Greek refers to the number series 1,2,3,4 which Euclid, famous for his geometrical theory, believed to have mystical significance since the numbers all add up to 10. It was important as a Pythagorean Symbol.

The first four numbers symbolize the harmony of the spheres and the Cosmos as:

(1)   Unity, (2) Dyad - Power - Limit/Unlimit, (3) Harmony (4) Kosmos.

The four rows add up to ten, which was unity of a higher order (The Dekad).

  

The Tetractys symbolizes the four elements —  fire, earth, air, water.

The Tetractys also represented the organization of space:

1. the first row represented zero- dimensions (a point)
2. the second row represented one-dimension (a line of two points)
3. the third row represented two dimensions (a plane defined by a triangle of three points)
4. the fourth row represented three dimensions (a tetrahedron defined by four points)

The tetractys (τετρακτύς), or tetrad, is a triangular figure consisting of ten points arranged in four rows: one, two, three, and four points in each row, which is the geometrical representation of the fourth triangular number. As a mystical symbol, it was very important to the secret worship of the Pythagoreans.

As a new verse form introduced by writer Ray Stebbing, it takes the form of five lines. Line 1 has one syllable, Line 2 has two, line 3 has three, line 4 has four and the fifth line has ten. You can also do it the other way up, starting with the ten syllable line and reducing. You can write a series of them as verses in a longer poem and if you write a two verse poem with one verse starting with one syllable and finishing with ten followed by an upside down one starting with ten and going down to one, you end up with a diamond shape rather like the shape poems of surrealist poet Guillaume Apollinaire (1880 – 1918) which he called calligrammes,  where the shape

 and spacing of the words is as important as the content.

Ray Stebbing said – Its challenge is to express a complete thought, profound or comic, witty or wise, within the narrow compass of twenty syllables."

it

may rhyme

or it may

alliterate

but it doesn't have to, free verse is fine 

don't 

forget 

you can too 

give your poem

a title, lending more meaning to its theme.

Here are some I made earlier:

Lucky for Some

Flood

Water

Creeps up banks

Swirling round trees

Turning into muddy lakes our green fields.

Swans, ducks, geese, moorhens and coots swim along

Merrily all the

Livelong day

Hear their

Song

24 Hour Broadcasts

News

Non stop

Bad, good, sad.

Information

Overload creates confusion, baffles brains.

Longing

Oh

To be

Butterfly

So delicate,

Lovely and carefree on gossamer wing

Dementia

Slip

Sliding

In my mind

Memories lost

Amid drifting cobwebs of fleeting dreams.

Time and Tide

Jill

Arrives late

Freed from tide

That sweeps and slides

Follows the moon in its course, ebbs and flows.

February Blues

February seeps in, chill and grey.
Sloe-eyed, black-eyed night
Follows abject day.
Iron leaches into the soul
As penitential lent holds sway.

A friend sent me this link about an amazing child singer. she could be the 21st century Adelina Patti who began her professional career as a soprano at the age of eight as described in my book "Adelina Patti, Queen of Song" available on Kindle. You should take a look at this You Tube link. The girl has an incredible voice.

http://www.flixxy.com/9-year-old-girl-sings-opera-on-hollands-got-talent.htm