As yet unacquainted with Robert Frost, last night I read Paul Muldoon’s introduction to the Folio Society’s selection of his poems. I must admit I found it difficult, and hope I will get on better with the poetry. 
Whilst I have been unable to render much help in the garden, Jackie has continued with her sterling work. Among other tasks, she has created two more beds where the log pile once lay. Separated by a boundary formed from a tree root and bricks, the one at the rear is an as yet inchoate shrubbery, and that in the foreground, filled with flowers.
The clematis Montana, emanating from beneath the poorly-looking, bright yellow-leaved tree, has been trained, with the aid of a branch pruned from another, to form an arch between that and the dead trunk, down which it now cascades. The tub in the left foreground of the first picture is destined to be adorned with a pot of flowers. To its left is a retrained fuchsia, yet to bloom. The weak morning light, filtered by cloud cover, is kinder to the photographer of white petals, obviating burning out the detail. Yesterday’s prints are contained in my photograph album spanning the period from December 1994 to August 1995. Today, I scanned another batch, this time from January ’95, recording a rugby match between Magnus, Newark; and Kings, Grantham schools. 
Sam, the Magnus captain, to our left of the referee, faces his opponent at the kick-off.
Here, Sam’s great friend, Lewis Cove makes the ball available with scant regard for his own safety. Lewis was as recklessly rampant, putting his body on the line all over the field, as was his Leicester and England namesake, Lewis Moody. Five years later, our Lewis was coaching in South Africa, and Sam was captaining Wadham College, Oxford.
Sometimes it is best to shut your eyes and hope for the best.
The referee pulled a muscle;
a replacement pointed the finger; the game continued
under new direction, and Sam went foraging in a ruck.
With the ball on its way, forwards are poised for the line-out leap.
At half-time there was the usual tactical talk.
Kings Grantham’s scrum seems to have collapsed.
Someone has obviously screwed up here.
Finally, Sam is prepared for a leap, as I was in Jessica’s 1982 photo.
Elizabeth had this last print in a folder of my pictures that she ‘borrowed’ for an album she made for Mum’s 80th birthday. She has only kept it for 12 years. She brought the whole selection back this evening, so we had to feed her. That was fair and reasonable really.
The meal consisted of roast lamb, parsnips, potatoes, and vegetables; crisp cauliflower and cabbage; and onion and red wine gravy, followed by pineapple syrup sponge and custard. Elizabeth and I finished the rioja.
I must be getting rather blasé about this blogging lark. WordPress have sent me a happy anniversary notice, celebrating my third. I had forgotten.
That’s okay, I forgot my first and second anniversaries…… Congratulations on your third! The story of the football game is wonderful. It must be wonderful for your family and friends to have this pictorial diary of their lives! I realise I have been sadly remiss in this area. I love the first shot of the clematis and the tree. Jackie is creating a beautiful garden and you are recording it!
Thank you Pauline
What an enchanted garden is taking shape! I am not much of a sports fan….or a Paul Muldoon fan either…Considering both poets, I can’t imagine wanting to sit and listen to anything Muldoon has to say about Robert Frost…
Thank you Cynthia. That is reassuring – I thought it was just beyond me 🙂
Loved the ref pulling a muscle! The worst ref I ever had (when I coached) was the one that kept stopping the game so he could have a cigarette! The garden is coming on a treat. Frost is for reading, and not for reading about – I reckon!
I think I’ve learned that about Frost. Thanks Bruce
Never read the Introduction of a book unless it is written by the author. That is my motto. Sometimes I go back and read it if the book is extraordinary and I want to glean some nuggets about the author but am seldom satisfied. Most times it’s just waffle. The Best Introduction Prize goes to Peter Pan (but bear in mind that I’ve read very few) 🙂
Good to see the new bed happening. I can appreciate the amount of work in it.
The football sequence was entertaining; I usually blank out anything to do with sport 🙂
Oh dear. Muldoon. I can’t imagine what he would have to say about Frost. Or that he would say it plainly. From reading your blog, I think you will like Frost. My favorite poem of his is Birches, but I like many of them. I hope you enjoy them and forget about the intro!!! Jackie’s garden is a marvel. She’s creating a piece of art, I think, in the way Pauline paints. And as for rugby, I enjoyed those pictures immensely–all that energy and increasing muddiness. Your children have been lovingly observed, it appears, with great interest–and it’s nice to see the result as you go through the pictures.
Thank you Julie, for such an all-embracing response. If I’d had all the comments on Muldoon before I’d ploughed through the intro, I’d never have started it
I have a friend who just loves this guy’s work, so I’ve struggled through a number of recommended pieces…
Thank you LISA! I consider myself warned
Sometimes poetry is hard for me too.
I enjoyed the captions under the rugby match photos- entertaining 🙂
Congratulations on your 3rd year of blogging!
Thank you