An Easter poem for you.

Happy Easter! I'm a little late, but better that than never. I love this dialect poem by nineteeth century poet William Barnes! Try reading it aloud:-

 

Easter Zunday

 

'Last Easter Jim put on his blue
Frock cwoat, the vu'st time-vier new;
Wi' yollow buttons all o' brass,
That glitter'd in the zun lik' glass;
An' pok'd 'ithin the button-hole
A tutty he'd a-begg'd or stole.
A span-new wes-co't, too, he wore,
Wi' yellow stripes all down avore;
An' tied his breeches' lags below
The knee, wi' ribbon in a bow;
An' drow'd his kitty-boots azide,
An' put his laggens on, an' tied
His shoes wi' strings two vingers wide,
Because 'twer Easter Zunday.

An' after mornen church wer out
He come back hwome, an' stroll'd about
All down the vields, an' drough the leane,
Wi' sister Kit an' cousin Jeane,
A-turnen proudly to their view
His yollow breast an' back o' blue.
The lambs did play, the grounds wer green,
The trees did bud, the zun did sheen;
The lark did zing below the sky,
An' roads wer all a-blown so dry,
As if the zummer wer begun;
An' he had sich a bit o' fun!
He meade the maidens squeal an' run,
Because 'twer Easter Zunday.

 

 

Moving On

I promised to say a little about the novel that is in the pipeline -

 

 

 

 'Moving On'

 

 

 

 

This story is rather different from the last book. Whilst once again it is based on something that did really happen, I have allowed myself greater play with the story line than I did with 'Someday, Maybe.'  In 'Moving On', not only the characters and the settings are imaginary, but the storyline as it develops is imaginary too, whereas in 'Someday, Maybe', the characters and the settings popped out of my mind but the story and the outcome are true.

To give you a rough idea of what it is about:-

 

 

It’s moving day and a very exciting day, too, for Valerie Bryce! Fancy, not only moving in with their daughter Susie and her family – she’s been expecting that to happen sooner or later now that she and Andy are getting on a bit – but moving from the dilapidated northern seaside town in which they have lived for well over forty years into a wonderful, listed house with a swimming pool, set in extensive gardens in a delightfully pretty village in the rural south of England.  Well, it looks lovely in the brochure, they haven’t actually seen it yet, but still. . .

 

Andy? Well, Andy has his reservations about moving, and the decision to move took a bit of getting to and she is worrying a bit about that, too, but even so!

         All decisions are made with an objective in mind, and Valerie’s objective is a comfortable, peaceful and contented old age in the bosom of her family. Sometimes, though, things don’t turn out in the way anticipated...

 

 

I hope very much that you enjoyed 'Someday, Maybe' (and if you haven't yet read it, it is available now from Amazon and other online booksellers and on Kindle)

 

I'm not sure at the moment what date 'Moving On' is to be released, but I will let you know as soon as possible.

 

 

 



All about Jenny Piper

Well, for a start, here I am!

 

 

 

I live with my husband of more than fifty years in a little cottage in Hampshire. We have two lovely daughters and five grandchildren.

 

I have worn many hats in my life - teacher, actress, artist, lecturer, psychologist - but I have always  loved books and I love to write. Indeed, if events get in the way so that there is no time to for it, I feel quite out of sorts. As time has passed, I have accumulated an array of wobbly cardboard boxes on my shelf, each containing a screenplay or a novel, finished or unfinished as the case may be. Most of them reflect my attempts to explore human relationships and emotions in a small-scale, nitty gritty way. I am terrible at self-advertising and am no marketeer, being temperamentally very much out-of-kilter with this 'In your face!', Here I am!' modern world, so most of them remain there on my shelf.

 

I don't want you to think that each time I sit down at my desk I knock out two or three thousand words with a flourish. I don't. It's amazing how many things suddenly acquire importance when you are faced with a blank page: those clothes that just won't wash themselves, those roses desperate for a pruning, that letter that won't get itself to the post; a really urgent need for a cup of coffee. The children may have long gone,  but the husband, of course, needs company and attention. Time passes.

Oh - and it's cold in my study,  as I may have mentioned before. We called the little room that I use the 'Black Hole of Calcutta' when we first moved into our old cottage, because it was dark and cramped, but then I found out about the temperature, so now we call it 'The Cold Hole.' The cottage is almost 400 years old and the 'study' (far too grand a title for it) was once the old buttery. I thought (and told everyone) that a buttery was where you made and stored the butter and cream and so on, but apparently it's where they kept the home-made beer, in butts. Because they wanted to keep it very cool, they dug out the floor so that the level would be below that of the rest of the house and that necessitated a deep step to get iup and down into it. Have I tripped on that step? Oh yes. Many times.

Oh, yes.

 

 Now on to the novel which I mentioned it earlier in my blog.

 

 

 

 'Someday Maybe ' is based on a real-life event, though the setting and the characters are imaginary. Set against a background of English rural life, it tells the story of Jim Norris, a young countryman who is struggling to make a living for his wife, Mary, and their little daughter. When Mary suffers what it thought to be a minor domestic incident, the results are far-reaching, bringing him to the brink of a terrible dilemma. It is published by Sunpenny Publications and if you would like to read it, it is available from Amazon, The Book Depository et al and is also out on Kindle. I am currently working on a follow-up, as people seem to be very interested in one. 

 

                          

Jim and Mary's cottage

        

The passing of time is something that is an integral part of 'Someday, Maybe', and, indeed, in 'Moving On', the book that is to be published some time this year. I will tell you a little about that in my next.

Well, I'm at my first book signing and so I suppose 'Someday Maybe' is off the starting line, though so far no one has come near my table in the window.  The librarians have been extremely kind and have provided me with an excellent spot and a lovely cup of coffee, but there seem to be very few people in the library today. Half term, perhaps?  Most of those who are coming in are mums with small toddlers, looking for DVDs or going upstairs to hunt for picture books. Several passers by have stopped to study the poster in the window and the big 'A' Board advertising my event, but  then they have all - well, passed by - afterwards, up or down the street.

Oops! Look out! One of them is coming in. She looks like a nice lady and she is definitely coming over here. She has picked up a book. Quick. "Hello!"

 

 

 

Another woman is coming. We have lift-off! Hurray!

More rain and plenty of distraction going on today. Much of the village is now pretty well underwater, though our cottage is still ok so far. The Navy have now blocked the river as it flows into Winchester where it has broken its banks. Means an increased back-up in the surrounding villages is more likely. Good oh!

Well, we are still holding up floodwise, though some of the cottages in the village are pumping frantically and the roads and fields and gardens are awash.  Do hope to see you at my booksigning in Alresford Library on the morning of the 22nd if you are managing to keep dry too and you can make it!

Sorry that I am quiet at the moment, but I have my head down working on my latest book.  My second one is due to come out in the Spring and I am hoping to follow it with with a sequel to 'Someday, Maybe'.  At the moment, other characters have started breaking their way in and I like them, so we shall have to see!