The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime - 3 August 1914

Sir Edward Grey, the foreign secretary, had just returned from telling parliament that war was inevitable, and was talking in his office with his friend John Spender, the editor of the Westminster Gazette.
"The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime," Grey said.

In Flanders Fields

Flanders Poppy on the First World War battlefields.

by John McCrae, May 1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Die Slowly by Martha Medeiros

He who becomes the slave of habit,
who follows the same routes every day,
who never changes pace,
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience,
dies slowly.

He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones "it's" rather than a bundle of emotions, the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings,
dies slowly.

He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives,
die slowly.

He who does not travel, who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
she who does not find grace in herself,
dies slowly.

He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck, about the rain that never stops,
dies slowly.

He or she who abandon a project before starting it, who fail to ask questions on subjects he doesn't know,  he or she who don't reply when they are asked something they do know,
die slowly.

Let's try and avoid death in small doses,
reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort  far greater than the simple fact of breathing.

Only a burning patience will lead
to the attainment of a splendid happiness.

23 March - Chiltern Choir

Super concert - Beethoven Mass in B, and Haydn Te Deum.  For once I was caught (thanks to P the Photographer) looking at the conductor rather than having my head buried in my copy:

All good things come to end...

Well, shock horror, I got the job.  So I think its time to slow down on the "mafimuskala" blog as my attention will be taken up by other matters.  I'll post when something of major interest happens, but hearing about my trips to the gym or shops is not that interesting!

18 - 24 Feb

Mon:  Felt better in morning after the food dump last night, must have been the fish.  Hair cut, Body Pump, then walked to vill to fix a curtain rail at Thorpedale, post letter, bank cheques, bit of shopping.

Tue: Spin then MetaFit. Walked to vill for shopping (sea bass grilled with veggies tonight) and saw Nigel outside Thorpedale so stopped for a chat - he was very relaxed and using his glasses!
Choir in evening
Wed: Body Pump then Spin.  When shopping in vill, meet Nigel wandering around so we had a coffee at Rootz together.  He enjoyed his toasted tea cake!

Thu: Up to London for job interview.  Watford Palace in evening for Equally Divided
We thought it was well acted, and had lots of good insights into mother/daughter/sister stuff.
Fri: Usual Granny hair duty, then Spin.
Sat: Harlequin, lun ch at Rose & Crown.  Michael and Anna concert in evening with G&P.
Sun: Body Pump and usual sunday lunch

15 - 17 Feb: Norfolk

Fri:  Picked up M&A then off to Fakenham Races where I lost all my bets.  Patrick cooked dinner, enuff said.

Sat: Leisurely up for lovely cooked breakfast after M&A arrived from their Scottish dancing the evening before.  Out to Walsingham to see the snowdrops,

Wells for walk on the beach, back for lots of excellent drink and dinner.

Sun:  I ran to sea and back (3 miles), then we all walked there and along to twitchers hides.

Lunch at The George.  Depart Cley and back home 6ish in time to take Nigel back to Thorpedale.

Lovely weekend thanks to our hosts.