Goodbye

Last blog

My dearest  Blogget family, I am afraid to say that this blog, will be my last for a while, if not for ever! I want to take some time off, some time to reflect on life. My darling Husband, Son and animals, are all together over  Easter, and  shall have time to live our lives, without any windows.

To my loyal friends and family, whom I regarded you all during our journey over the past eight  months or so, I hurt to say these words. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. One day, you may see my writing in books, then you will know that you are all the reason I  got there. I may return in some weeks, or may just come on here to write poetry, but happy poetry. Not poems in which people can translate what they want from them. Poems where by you, the reader, can get lost in a crazy fantasy.

I may write stories, but not for a while, and not about myself.

My only advice to you out there, is one, follow your head, don’t be ruled by your heart and  trust no one.

Look after your family, I wanted  to write to those who don’t have a family, and it hurts me, in fact breaks my heart as I dreamed about being there for you all. I really did. Who knows, I may be back, though no way in the same way.

Look after yourselves and whenever you are feeling low, know in my heart, I am  with you.

 

Fi Blogget x

CHOCOLATE IN THE AIR/THE CHOCOLATE WEDDING BY FIONA CUMMMINGS

Chocolate in the air

The chocolate wedding day

By Fiona Cummings

Passing by the factory

It’s the day when two elves will marry

Val and Jim will cut their cake

The best man for sure is Jake

Bubble gum balloons hang from the trees

Oh let them be happy forever please

I stood behind the bus shelter peeping

As it was early dawn everyone was sleeping

All except the chocolate people

Wow look at tiny Tixi getting out of the car

Her silver hair like a bright shining star

Nessie bus comes tooting along

Out jumps Melody singing a song

Alvin the cook carries a milk tray

Norman the Forman is wanting to play

Paddy warns him not today

Norm if you’re   going to be naughty   go away

Who is in the ice cream van

With a hat like a big marang

Oh yes I think she is called Pam

Hay look there is Marj. telling the guests where to go

By this point Ellie and  Carter are putting on a show

Oh they are so funny dancing about

Silly things need to behave or Marj will shout

A chocolate church with its  candy steeple

Under an archway of sugared roses

Where Noddy proudly  stands and poses

Nancy and Noddy steel a cherry kiss

Everyone is excited there is just one elf who is a miss

Oh look here she comes in a  white chocolate car

The windows rolo  down and I see a chocolate coin

 The groom looks like he is going to fall over, oh boing

 Poor strawberry haired Jim

Jake lends him his arm to steady him

Just then I couldn’t believe what I saw

A tall giraffe walked around as though   to explore

Looking up in the sky

I wondered why

Then the milky bar bird swooped down to the ground

A rag doll cat with a flying saucer hat

  Chased the sugared mouse in to the tiny house

How did I ever fit in there

I wish I could shrink again and this day I would share

Then a bang and a flair

Next thing I was there

Right in the middle

Where Jake was playing a violin or was it a fiddle

Val walked  down the honey coated isle

Wearing lace and a milk bottle smile

She carried the smallest bouquet I have ever seen

Oh look over there I’m sure that is the king and Queen

My elf friends are in so much trouble if I am seen

Let me hide behind this jelly bean

How on  earth  is it possible to get this small

And how does the giraffe  stay so tall

Looking around I’m like a crumb on the  ground

I guess there is no need to hide as I look like the others

Oh in walk the elf children all the sisters and brothers

Singing a song in words I didn’t understand

I just felt so happy in this chocolate land

Toffee trumpets played in a band

I caught Jims eye and he winked at me

Then to my left was the rosy faced lady

She beamed at me so full of warmth

Like a hot chocolate drink on a winters night

I smiled at her in pure delight

Then I witnessed the most beautiful sight

A chocolate fountain of dark and white

The children’s choir stood holding a large tea cup

Chocolate flowed filling it up

Then carefully they carried it to the bride and groom

As the King announced of the couples honeymoon

Drink this gift

In a basket you will sit

And be carried away by a balloon

To a faraway place

Where you have never been

Let this be a present from me and my queen

It was just then that I realised I had been seen

Oh no

The snow

What shall I do

I jumped in an enormous  chocolate shoe

Then the rosy lady said boo

Pulling me out

Putting her finger to her lips

She looked like a spout

On a round china tea pot

Oh silly me I got it wrong

As Jake came over to me when we were all to sing a song

He explained the king and queen would soon be on an aeroplane

Then I was free to enjoy the day again

He told me I had not been noticed and it was a tradition

 That the  chocolate royalty gave  a gift of loyalty

A present of  passion

Whatever holiday was in fashion

Balloons were a hit in the factory

And this is what the couple wanted you see

Few thank Goodness no one got in trouble

Then a collection was given and the dish was full of truffles

I had nothing to give as was not expecting this

So Jake told me just to make a wish

I did that very moment

And sealed it with such sentiment

Then floated through a cloud of chocolate dust

Grabbing buttons as they were a must

 Looking down to the ground

The bells were a beautiful sound

Chocolate handles ringing away

Melting candles burnt that day

I glided over a golden carriage

What a dream what an amazing marriage

A beautiful wedding day

I never wanted to come away 

 

 

 

LOUIS BRAILLE IS A MUST

  My Husband has just come back from France, visiting the birth place and house of Louis Braille, in Coupvray. The village of Coupvray is situated on the slopes of a grassy hill set between the Brie region of France and that of the Champagne province. In spite of the proximity of the Marne Valley, it retains even today . . . the character of a rural village. One may still see the small brown-tiled roofs, the farmyards, the farmhouses and a village green surrounded by trees where are clustered together St. Pierre Church (where Louis Braille was christened on January 8, 1809), the village hall, and the monument by tienne Leroux set up in 1887 and topped by a bust of the inventor of the alphabet for the blind. The body of Louis Braille rested in the village cemetery till 1952. On his tomb can be seen a casket in which the remains of his hands are preserved--those hands which were the first in the world to finger the raised dots of the Braille alphabet. All around is still open country. High above is the farm of the chƒteau. Here and there amid the gardens and orchards, small grassy paths meander across the hillside. And, on the lower slopes, is an old wash house with wooden posts and mossy tiles where the clear waters of the Fr‚minette flow swiftly by, gently murmuring.

 Louis Braille’s   large stone house on the edge of the town.  A  solid house, built in the last half of the 18^th century.

The Braille’s also owned some farm buildings which are no longer standing. And seven and a half acres of land and vineyards

Louis Braille was the inventor of the Braille alphabet. His braille code brought literacy to the world. He was born in 1809. His Father, was   Simon Ren Braille, a saddlers. Monique, was his Mother.  There were four children, Louis, being the youngest.      

Inside of the atmospheric house, you will find, THE LIVING ROOM

This room is really the heart of the house, both by reason of the memories it evokes and on account of the very well preserved Briar style architecture. On entering, you will  find yourselves in the warm, cosy atmosphere of the homes of yesteryear., SimonRen‚ Braille, the saddler, lived with his whole family: his wife Monique and their four childrenÄÄMonique-Catherine, Louis-Simon, Marie-C‚line, and their youngest, Louis. It is here that are gathered together all the essentials of daily living.
Under the mantelpiece:

• The fireplace with its fireback bearing the arms of France, dated 1659.
• The bread oven built of small tiles. Its arch fits under the winding staircase. It used to be heated by burning dry vine shoots. Then after the embers had been pushed back, pies and loaves were placed in the oven.
• The cheese recess. The warmth of the oven enabled the successful processing of the renowned Brie cheese to be carried out; this was later further "refined" in the cellar.
• The door into the loft [or upstairs]. This stands between the alcove and the bread oven. In the past the term "granary" was used--where the grain would be stored.
• The alcove is very typical of the Brie region--oak-framed, adorned with roundels and ears of corn; the latter are symbols of the Brie region.

To the left, as you enter:

• The sink. The Braids used to call it "the washer." It is a large flat stone, slightly concave, where the wooden pail was set down. [By means of a hole in the bottom], the water drained away through the wall straight into the yard.
• The stove-setter. This consisted of crossed wooden slats on which frying pans and sauce pans were hung. A recess above the sink provided storage space for jugs, pots, and other utensils.

Also of note in this room are: the oak beams on the ceiling; the doors of the 18th-century wardrobe; the "maie" or bread bin, in which the loaves were stored; the warming pan used to warm the bed; the oak table; the gun; the lantern; the cross; and, above the door leading to the [upstairs], the portrait of Louis Braille the only photograph of the celebrated inventor.

THE WORKSHOP OF SIMON-REN BRAILLE, SADDLER

For over a century the Braille family carried on the craft of saddler from father to son. Louis Braille's grandfather, Simon Braille, had settled in Coupvray early in the 18th century. He had taken over his father-in-law's business which was already established in the village in the 17th century.
Some of the equipment and furniture used by the Braille’s in their craft may be seen in this workshop:

• The wooden workbench, much worn from long use; the typical chair with its seat consisting of crossed leathern thongs.
• The horse collar block. This enabled the saddler to shape the collar to fit the horse's neck.
• The sewing clamp, which the saddler gripped tightly between his knees to hold the leather firm.
• The branding iron. Heated, the iron was used to brand the owner's initials on the horse's rump. “Not sure I like the thought of that? Poor beasts.
• The saddler's tools: paring knives, awls, tool for stuffing, moulds, etc.

On the walls of the room:

• A grape harvester's basket. Simon-Ren‚ Braille owned some vines in Coupvray.

The tragedy of Louis Braille’s cause of blindness, came when   In 1812, he was a three year old. who loved to come and watch his father handle those mysterious tools laid out on the work bench. Mysterious and attractive. One day, taking advantage of his parents' absence, he seizes a [tool] and tries to cut a piece of leather, but his small hands are clumsy. The leather is tough. Suddenly, the blade slips and penetrates the child's eye. Nothing can arrest the infection which sets in, and the other eye becomes infected. At the age of five, Louis Braille [becomes totally blind].

LOUIS BRAILLE'S ACHIEVEMENT

When we speak of Louis Braille's work, we should not forget two men who, in one way or another, were his forerunners. The first is Valentin Hay. In the 18th century this philanthropist had founded a school for the blind and invented an embossed alphabet for them. If Louis Braille was able to enter a special school in 1819, it was thanks to the pioneering work of Valentin Hay. The second is Charles Barbier de la Serre, a captain in the artillery [during the Napoleonic Wars]. He had found a way to communicate with his brother officers at night by means of a system of raised dots. The pupils at the . . . Royal Institution for the Young Blind . . . tried out this "Sonography," which took no account of spelling and, in addition, was most complicated. At the age of thirteen Louis Braille began his research with a view to designing an alphabet based on a cell of six raised dots. This system was enthusiastically acclaimed by the pupils but was rejected by the teachers (1826). Being sighted themselves, they refused to countenance a form of writing which they could not read. “But, I guess they thought, it was OK, and perfectly acceptable, for the sighted to be able to read what the blind can’t?
 It was not till 1844 that, at the inauguration of some new buildings in the Boulevard des Invalides, the governors at last recognized the undeniable value of the system. Since then Braille, adapted to many of the languages of the world, has become for the blind a universal written language.
In the room which is devoted to Louis Braille's work, various pieces of equipment and documents have been assembled, showing the birth of raised dot writing, its development and use.

My Husband, who visited the house/museum, to help to secure its future, told me how in France, all of the museums, are very encouraging for the blind to touch the artifacts. So he said the experience was incredibly moving.

 I must say, until  I had done some research on  this amazing man whom in my opinion, should beatified, I never gave Louis Braille, or indeed Braille, a second thought, other  than  the knowledge that blind people would be incredibly disadvantaged, without the dots, but now I have learned with you, I absolutely find the fact that a teenager, could find the strength to invent such an amazing form of communication.

What kind of person, of mind, does this sort of marvelous thing? What drove him to use his inventive brain in such a way?

So, now, where is Braille going today? I mean, in this day and  age, with all of the electronical equipment around, do we really want to carry about the huge, heavy books of Braille? Do we in fact, need Braille? I mean there is software which will inable our computers to talk/use speech. If we can touch type, we can write on our computers.

Yes indeed we need Braille. Why?

To be able to pick up a box of tablets and read what we are about to take, the household detergents can be labled. Shampoo and shower gels too can be labled and we can send Christmas messages and birthday wishes from a blind person to  another blind person, we can read our messages, our sighted kind sighted friends send us in Braille, as now you can buy Brailled cards and some of my sighted friends, can read and write Braille, because they have wanted to communicate with us.

You can buy a refreshable Braille display machine. The information from a computer, translates print into Braille, which raises pins to form the carictors, so the Braille user is able to read. They cost a fortune, because they are technically complicated, so they are made in small quantities.

But they are a fraction on the size of a Braille book and can fit into a small bag.

A little larger than a kindle.

My Husband, can’t take in poetry when he hears it  read to him by the softwear, on his computer, but if he touches the words, as you would read with your eyes, he can enjoy at his pace.

If Braille is to do or go anywhere in the future, please let it earn the respect that the great inventor Louis Braille, deserves?

Don’t  allow Braille to die? Don’t stop reading, I hope you are not like me, I so very much regret not being able to read  your words, your writing. Let us move on with technology, but not move away?

Notes

In Louis Braille’s museum,there are books from the UK, Germany and Italy, pre 1850

The first bible to be written in Braille, took three years to write and there are thirteen million dots and all were hand written, using a hand held dotter and a hand frame.

The wonderful museum  welcomes seven thousand visitors per year through their doors.

It is twenty minutes from Euro Disney        

After the death of Louis Braille and his direct heirs, the house became the property of the Maurice, Marniesse, and Braille familiesÄÄhis nieces and nephewÄÄwho administered the property jointly until 1878. At that time Mr. Toupet bought the house which overlooked the courtyard and in 1889 the Baudin family purchased the one facing onto the street. From 1898, the whole became the property of the Crapart family. The Braille home was sold on March 29, 1952, to the association "The Friends of Louis Braille," which was represented by Mr. Pierre Henri Monnet, the Mayor of Coupvray; it was then fitted up as a museum and opened to the public. With a view to acquiring for it the status of a municipal museum under government control, the association decided to donate all its assets to the Parish, recommending that the museum should be administered by an international organization (November 23, 1956). The Deed of Covenant setting out the agreement between the W.C.W.B. (World Council for the Welfare of the Blind) and Coupvray was signed on July 27, 1957.

Since that time the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind (now the World Blind Union) has proudly devoted itself to caring for this shrine which the blind of the whole world value as the birthplace of their benefactor.

.../

Waggatail hmm!

Good afternoon Bloggets, I hope you are well? I went to the shop today with Hub, he told me to give back Waggatail, as she was pretty appalling again, the only thing is, I would never, will never, have/own another guide dog. Not ever. This is two dogs I have had now, and both of them have been really close to failures in my opinion. I am considered a “Low user!” No, not a druggy, but I don’t use my guide dog every day, well  I wonder why?

I want to keep her though, I really do, there are days when I need to get out, and if Hub is away for a couple of weeks, and I need to go to the dentist or doctors, or just for milk, or just to breathe the air, other  than what is  in the house, I need Waggatail. OK, she may get me lost, or she may get me in danger, but if I don’t have her, if I don’t get out, what is the point of life?

It’s dull out there and going to snow here. I will write later about Hubs interesting an yet emotional time in Paris. xxxx    

MAGIC BEANS 1It’s all in a daydream

It’s all in a daydream

By Fiona Cummings

A magical coffee bean

Lifts me away

To another day

Where the grass is emerald green

And the sky is baby blue

The sun is smiling at the rainbow

Where all our dreams come true

I am on a tour  with the circus show

Who knows where we will go

On horses of gold guild handles

Music of the best sound

Sitting holding tight on our merry go round

By night we sit at the campfire with candles

By day running on the beach in our sandals

The late afternoon

We swing on the moon

The pink elephants spray their water through their trunks

The clowns pull off some cranks

The bears do a dance

Whilst the monkeys take a chance

They jump onto the bears shoulders and clap their hands

The circus is huge so there is lots of scope

The acrobats flip

And girls walk the tightrope

The audience applaud

A  lion roared

A clown played football and scored

We have a Poodle

His name is Noodle

His job is to ride the camel

It is so funny

He won’t do it without his toy bunny

Then the clowns do tricks

On the tall stilts like sticks

One pretends to brake his leg

And tells the others he needs to be fixed

 They take no notice so he starts to beg

Then through the air fly’s a helicopter

Who jumps out of it but the Doctor

With the biggest syringe and needle

And runs around all of the people

The children in the crowd scream

And they get squirted with cream

Then a magical jellybean

Carries me away

To  another brand new day

 

A WONDERFUL FEELING

 

Good evening  my Blogget family, great to see Mexico back, Sweden and Russia, as well as Canada and our UK and US family members, all today, you have done me proud. I am in a very positive mood today,  this is rare. The sun is out and what a huge difference that makes to me, I really didn’t realise how much I need the sun. I am sure I have never done as much as I have this year?

I am so excited today, after talking with my BF yesterday and together we have come to a very important conclusion. He has helped me to be free of something that has been hanging over me for thirteen years and if it works out, I shall tell you and be so grateful to have been able to get rid of that cloud at last.

I feel strong today stronger than I have felt in months and just as life was giving me a lovely feeling, Hub announced he has taken some days off work. Oh how much better can it get?

I just wish I could bottle this positive feeling and drink it when I need it?

Oh you should smell the house, I’m not sure how I feel about it? It smells like a restaurant, I have been cooking with garlic and ginger, I cooked chicken in a green pesto sauce. With my new  garlic presser.

Is that such a word? Presser? I should have knocked the er off, ha.

Oh you should have seen me, it was so funny, I did the garlic, with blooming disposable rubber gloves on. Like heck I  am getting garlic on my  hands again? Oh this press, really squeezes the living daylights out of the clove and you just cannot get it off your hands? Four days I had it on my hands last time? I washed them about seven thousand and sixty two times in that few days. Well, OK, forty. I   used the strongest soap and lotions and potions. Nothing got rid of the smell.

Not this time, oh no, I felt a bit like a surgeon though.

Standing at my cooker, rubber gloved and the sharpest knife we own. Oh yes, I was cooking on gas.

Well, not really, electric. But you get the idea?

I am looking forward to the next few days. Hub said if it was not snowing, and it is predicted to do so, we tomorrow, shall go to the next village? You know, the one  I have been learning? Oh boy, God help us?

Where will we end up?

We have never been there the two of us and I have only   been there once on the bus with Nicola and once in the car. We have to get two busses. Scared, with a capital S?

But so incredibly excited too. Oh I  like living on the edge?

That is the trouble, I find myself on the blooming edge. Edge of the kerb.

A cosy night in front of the telly tonight. We have time to catch up with our drama’s. Teen been very nice thank God, so no bad feelings there. Not yet, but I guess the night is young?  He is now on the phone to Bunches. Oh he has been in  a happy mood, well, as happy as my boy gets, all afternoon since school ended, so I hope when he comes to have telly time, he will still have that calm expression on his handsome chops?

Right, going to have a cup of tea and a slice of homemade coconut cake?

Ha, Bloggets, naughty? You know me too well? Well it looks homemade, as when I got it out  of the cupboard, I dropped the blooming thing. Good job it was in a box?

Reminds me when Teen was at nursery school, I dreaded the days when Mummy’s and Daddy’s were to bring in homemade cakes to raise money for the school? God, I used to take a rolling pin and gently encourage the cake to look homemade, you know, that kind of not perfect look?

I was fine, until one do gooder wanted the recipe, for her church fair?

Oh God, that was a red moment?

Looking forward to Saturday night at our church. It is quiz night. My friend Flexi, is baking cakes with her pretty daughter. Our  funny Welsh friend, is asking the questions. Oh he will be great, he is so so funny. The best thing is, he doesn’t know it he doesn’t realise when he is being funny. I can’t wait I just hope to God, literally, I don’t embarrass myself?

Ha. Or should I?

Oh I hope for a short while, I can pass on some of my happiness? If not, know this, a week ago, I was so low, so flat, and I have had months of deep dark depression. Today, I am on top of the world. Now I know I will not be like this for long, I never am. But, today I am and was yesterday too. So for your horrid days, there will be bright days too? Trust your Fi? Please? And if you want a hug, I have my arms open for you.  xxxxx

Chocolate love in the air

Chocolate love in the air

By Fiona Cummings

 

Oh the smell from the factory

Brings back a  memory

Of my Mums baking days

Where the kitchen was in a haze

Of chocolate cakes

With the wooden spoon

On the table in the corner of the room

in the dish looking so yummy

just begging to find its way to my tummy

so today I put on my shoes

and took a walk to see

a tiny elf waving at me

Hay who are you

I bent down beside him

He said HI, I’m Jim

and pleased to meet with you

 I told him I was Fee

He winked at me

His funny little face

With his turned up nose

His pink little hands

Holding a beautiful rose

This is for you

As he jumped on my shoe

Stretched right up

He was the height of a buttercup

As I kept kneeling down

On the cold stone ground

Looking around

Seeing nothing but clouds of brown

I couldn’t believe it

The rose smelt of chocolate

I took it in my fingertips

He told me to hold it to my lips

It was edible

I asked him was it a vegetable

He looked in shock

And said it was carved from a chocolate block

He was a funny little fella

Told me he had a girlfriend but I was not to tell her

Why ever not I said with a beam

Oh, he told me, she had eyes so green

Jealous? I asked him

Oh yes indeed

Did she work at the factory

Yes he said to me

And today is a special day

I’m asking her to marry me

Oh was that who the rose was for

He said yes but he had more

He had the cutest dimples

And strawberry curls

His trousers were  patterns of spots and swirls

His shoes were pointy and heels so high

He wore a yellow dickey bow tie

He asked me if I had ever met his best pal

 Who was the brother of his girlfriend Val

I said oh no

And told him he was the very first elf I had ever met

He then took out a walking stick the size of a candy cigarette

And started to head to the back of the factory

Come on he beckoned

Follow me

Oh was this going to be the end of the chocolate mystery

There was a tiny house

With a garden made from cornflakes

Sat on a toadstool

Was an elf called Jake

There  he is that is my mate

Then I was handed a white chocolate plate

Come on, sit down

Well, the mushroom was so flat to the ground

I just knelt beside the two little creatures

I looked at Jake with his buttoned features

He had cherry lips and cheeks like peaches

He shouted towards the house

Just then running across the path was a sugared mouse

The little door opened

A round cheerful face started speaking

I have not got a clue what she said but I think a nice greeting

Then there was an almighty fuss

Just then the horn went on the Nessie bus

Quick get inside the house

What? I thought,

It was the size for a mouse

 Then the most amazing thing happened

As I approached the door

I felt myself being drawn to the floor

I became the height I was when I was four

But it didn’t scare me

As I was welcomed into the chocolate family

Jim told me

Not to  be  seen

Or he will be given the treatment

Of the evil queen

Oh my word what is that

She dips you in a bowl of cream

Then feeds you to the factory cat

You see, he continued

We are not allowed to mix with folks like you

Then I asked “why did you?

He said you are not like your people

You are like us

You won’t hurt us lot

Or chase us away

Then I  listened  to what he had to say

Our factory is ran by the king and queen

We do our work and keep it clean

We are given our houses on   this village green

On one condition we are never seen

Those who have been

Are taken away

Never to return

Not yet to this day

Where do they go? I asked feeling low

A place so cold where there is forever snow

This is what we are told anyway

Then the round rosy lady

Came to me

Put on my plate

Beautiful shells you  would ever see

She then muttered some words to me

Jim explained what she had said to me

As it was a language I had never heard

He said the shells were collected by the milky seabird

How absurd

What on earth was that

Oh we have a pet family of a giraffe, bird and a cat

At that point I began to laugh

Why a giraffe

We are so small

And he is so tall

This can be handy

To our chocolate family

Then the door opened and in walked a tired looking young thing

Oh he was so excited my new friend  Jim

He knelt on one knee and produced a ring

Please darling Val, will you marry me

As she smiled teeth so white

And  hair so wild

 She said yes I will

Oh what a thrill

To witness such love

Then chocolate cups were filled with champagne

This was amazing

 Totally insane

Then Jake took out an old looking violin

And started to play a tune

For Val and Jim

Round rosy lady took my hand

Muttered some words that I could understand

She wanted me to dance with her

I did on a rug of pretend fur

 Bubble gum balloons were flying around

The most wonderful music

A beautiful sound

What a day

I didn’t want to come away

But then my alarm went off and I had to wake for the day

Was it a dream

Absolutely no way

Oh I can’t wait to go back one day