Weep You No More, Sad Fountains

Weep you no more, sad fountains;
What need you flow so fast?
Look how the snowy mountains
Heaven's sun doth gently waste.
But my sun's heavenly eyes
View not your weeping,
That now lies sleeping
Softly, now softly lies
Sleeping.

Sleep is a reconciling,
A rest that peace begets.
Doth not the sun rise smiling
When fair at ev'n he sets?
Rest you then, rest, sad eyes,
Melt not in weeping,
While she lies sleeping
Softly, now softly lies
Sleeping.

Anonymous

Well, looks like the cold weather has settled in to stay for a while. The sunny days are lovely and sunset last night was gorgeous. Not impressed by the minus temperatures but you can't have everything. LOL

Whoso List to Hunt

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, helas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written her fair neck round about:
"Noli me tangere for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold though I seem tame."

Sir Thomas Wyatt, 1503 - 1542

We're having more of those crisp, clear, chilly winter days. MUCH preferable to snow but people are complaining about having to scrap their car windows and de-icing doors. Cold temperatures and living on the coast are not always compatable.

Come Sleep! O Sleep, the Certain Knot of Peace

Come, Sleep, O Sleep, the certain knot of peace,
The baiting-place of wit, the balm of woe,
The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release,
The indifferent judge between the high and low:
With shield of proof shield me from out the press
Of those fierce darts Despair at me doth throw:
O make in me those civil wars to cease;
I will good tribute pay, if thou do so.
Take thou of me smooth pillows, sweetest bed,
A chamber deaf to noise and blind to light.
A rosy garland and a weary head;
And if these things, as being thine by right,
Move not thy heavy grace, thou shalt in me,
Livelier than elsewhere, Stella's image see.

Sonnet XXXIX
Sir Philip Sidney 1554 - 1586

His Golden Locks Time Hath to Silver Turned

His golden locks time hath to silver turned;
O time too swift, O swiftness never ceasing!
His youth 'gainst time and age hath ever spurned,
But spurned in vain; youth waneth by increasing.
Beauty, strength, youth are flowers but fading seen;
Duty, faith, love are roots, and ever green.

His helmet now shall make a hive for bees,
And, lovers' sonnets turned to holy psalms,
A man-at-arms must now serve upon his knees,
And feed on prayers, which are age his alms:
But though from court to cottage he depart,
His saint is sure of his unspotted heart.

And when he saddest sits in homely cell,
He'll teach his swains this carol for a song --
"Blest be the hearts that wish my sovereign well,
Curst be the souls that think her any wrong."
Goddess, allow this aged man his right,
To be your beadsman now that was your knight.

George Peele

Happy New Year!

I know, it's January 5th already, but this is my first post of the year. Had a very quiet New Year's Eve, but I did manage to stay awake until midnight and see 2011 come in. And that doesn't always happen.

Did not get a lot of stitching done but there is some progress on mouse pad #4. Now to buckle down and get it and #5 done and sent away. It's a good thing these aren't Christmas gifts.

I got a new computer for Christmas! I'm so excited. This Notebook has been a life saver but I can't download my digital camera to it so that's why there have been so few pictures. The new one has a card reader so it will be so much easier. I just need to back up my old hard drive and then I can set up the new system.

It was weigh day yesterday and I am so discouraged - I went up 10.5 pounds. Yes, it was the holidays but I truly didn't think I had overindulged that much. I felt so defeated as I got off the scale. However, new resolve has come with a new morning and I start again.

When the Rye Reach to the Chin

When the rye reach to the chin,
And chopcherry, chopcherry ripe within,
Strawberries swimming in the cream,
And school-boys playing in the stream;
Then O, then O, then O my true love said,
Till that time come again,
She could not live a maid.

George Peele, c.1558 - c.1597

We've been snowed on! Not a lot by most places winter standards, but a lot for us. Driving is bad, walking is worse and it's cold! LOL But looking out my front window at, and across the harbour, it's gorgeous.

Shakespeare again - and not the most cheerful of poems.

Come Away, Come Away, Death

Come away, come away, death,
And in sad cypress let me be laid.
Fly away, fly away, breath;
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,
O! prepare it.
My part of death, no one so true
Did share it.

Not a flower, not a flower sweet,
On my black coffin let there be strown;
Not a friend, not a friend greet
My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown.
A thousand thousand sighs to save,
Lay me, O! where
Sad true lover never find my grave,
To weep there.

from Twelth Night

What a lovely Christmas it's been. Christmas eve I went with Denise and had supper with her and her sister's family and it was a wonderful evening. They are all incredible cooks, so the meal was scrumptious and the company excellent. She has a greatniece and nephew who are 9 and 7 respectively and they were SO excited about Santa coming. Grandpa found the website that tracks Santa's movements and that notched everything up a little more.

Christmas Day was quiet and I got spoiled by my friends, including a box of homemade goodies - apple sauce, squash soup, green tomato mincemeat, peach freezer jam and mincemeat tarts made with the green tomato mincemeat plus a section of fruitcake (not the kind that makes for bad Christmas jokes - the moist, rich, fruity kind that you can't wait to eat!). Heavenly! And Denise is so careful - she uses only the bare minimum of sugar when she makes things for me so I get to have treats and they never send my blood sugars through the roof. It's very special. And then I got invited back to her sister's home for a 'leftovers' supper. I'm not sure which is better - turkey dinner the day it's cooked or the next day.

Today I'll be going to my craft partner's home for supper which is a tradition of about 20 years. Cynthia is another terrific cook so I always look forward to this. And then we spend the evening crafting. It doesn't get any better.

Shakespeare again.

Come unto These Yellow Sands

Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands:
Court'sied when you have, and kissed,
The wild waves whist,--
Foot it featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.
Hark, hark!
Bow, wow,
The watch-dogs bark:
Bow, wow.
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow!

from The Tempest