Scribblers Soapbox

Am at work now and boiling hot,I could do with going home

I could be in the garden, tanning by the gnome!

For a good excuse to leave here, I am at a loss

It’ll have to be good one coz my husband is the boss!!

Linda

I sat upon the grassy moundWith a quill between my fingers.The quill began to quiver,As the blood flowed through my veins.
As I felt the pumping,I realised something new.It doesn’t matter who I am,As I am loved by you.

Zoe

Our world cup hopes are still in the, whose to blame stage, so we have removed the flags from windows, cars, bikes, scooters etc. England tee shirts and tops are relegated to the bottom of the drawer in shame until the next time.

Now all our hopes are pinned on Murray winning Wimbledon, but i won’t hold my breath, although Fedderer is out, so who knows????

Personally i cant wait until all my normal programmes on tv are returned to their usual slots, because not only are we subjected to the football game, but the endless drivel from the so call football experts on the panel. So ninety minutes often turns into three hours of idiots with their own bias going over and over a goaless draw! ahhhhhhhh

Also my husband insists on watching them and can’t understand why i turn the tv over when he falls asleep!!zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

By for now, may even watch some tennis on the box!

from a grumpy old woman,

Marisha.

Marisha.

Thanks to all who attended the meeting  this week at my place.

I will see you on my return from France after a much needed week of rest relaxation.

Linda

In the absence of anything good on TV this World Cup season (oh yeah, I’m not a football fan – deal with it!) I’m currently watching a re-run of Bullseye on Challenge +1

It’s one of those gameshows that you look back on and wonder quite what the attraction was. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Bullseye as a kid, and I’d be regularly sat down on a Sunday evening for a bit of Bully with my Uncle Jim. But nowadays it all seems very tame.

And I think part of it is probably the prizes. Tonight’s ep has the following on offer:

In 1 – A washing Machine
In 2 - A bronze darts player
In 3 – A slow cooker
In 4- A multi-coloured Vacuum cleaner
In 5 – An electric hamper
In 6 – A Portable TV
In 7 – A mountain bike
In 8 – A 25 piece Dinner service
And Bully’s Special Prize – A Midi Hi-fi and CD

Then of course you get the option to gamble it for the star prize a two door blue Ford Fiesta.

But seriously…..if in this age of a Million Pounds on that Chris Tarrant show, or a Quarter of A Million for defeating the Deal or No Deal Banker, does a multi-coloured vacuum cleaner really feel like a must have?

Actually…..it can do. In my day job we are constantly getting requests from children who are dying to take part in Jungle Run. Yes, the gameshow where kids run around a jungle, crystal maze style-ee, before tackling the big challenge to win top prizes is still a big hit, some five or six years on from some of the earlier series we show.

So what do today’s kids think they can win? The top prize is a Mini Disc player. Mini Discs were going to be the new CDs before MP3’s came along and gazumped them.  You struggle to find blank Mini-discs these days let alone mini discs with stuff on already. And yet still kids want to take part in a gameshow that appears to be offering this?

Perhaps it’s what your mother always told you as you were growing up. It’s not the winning or losing – it’s the taking part that counts. And when the top prize is a two door blue Ford Fiesta, I reckon mother had a point!

Matt – webmaster

Six of us went on a day’s trip to Oxford last week.  We were lucky it was a brilliantly sunny day, and not much on the M25, M4 and A40, perhaps because we set off from SWF early.  We left the people carrier at the park and drive and took the bus into the city. 

We were due to join our ‘Morse Tour’ after lunch so had a quick coffee before looking around the covered market and shopping area.  Whilst we were looking at the variety of small shops in the market, the men sussed out likely pubs, of which there are many, for lunch.  Then we met up and had excellent food in The Chequers, a very old pub tucked away and quite difficult to find, off the High Street.

Then we joined our Blue Badge Guide on the pre-booked tour.  It would take two hours, and we set out 18 of us in line with quite a pace around the streets of Oxford and the past trail left by Endeavour Morse.  Our guide was extremely well informed on all Dexter’s books, as well as the TV films. Also a good knowledge of the history of Oxford and its many interesting buildings, and of course the University colleges. 

We learnt many well known names that had also read here, including a few Prime Ministers, and went into Oreal College where, we sat in the dining hall and saw Kevin Whately’s famous ancestor’s name in the stained glass window.  Kevin playing the part of Morse’s side kick Lewis, who now has his own series after the demise of his boss.

We saw the Students’ Union Debate Chamber where countless famous people have held the imagination of hundreds, including Mandelo, but sadly could not go in.

At the end of the trip we were gasping  for a cuppa and found a small cafe for tea and carrot cake before wandering back to pick up the bus and return to the car park.

It was a great way to learn about somewhere new to us, and we will certainly go back  for another day to visit the museum, libraries and much more of this fascinating place, and of course we will watch all those Morse films once more now able to recognise all those buildings.

Jo Robson

Been out and done some gardening, although I hate it so,

Pulled some weeds and chopped a bit, then gave the grass a mow.

I hated every minute of it, an ache went through my back,

There’s definitely a love of gardening, that I surely lack!

My parents they both love it and my big brother too,

But I’d rather have a pen and pad, and write something  for you!

Linda

Hello fellow bloggers, this is a first for me

I have never printed something for everyone to see.

I’ve read the others on here and thought I’d go ahead

And print a little something before I go to bed.

Thanks for coming over and meeting up at mine

I hope you all enjoyed it and were glad you spared the time,

I hope the parking in the street wasnt too much of a pain

And that very soon you all come back and meet at mine again.

Linda.

Well it seems that this is going to be my first post so here goes. I struggled to think of something to write as my first piece so I have chosen something that I wrote about 2 years ago while in my 2nd year of university. I have tweaked it a bit but I hope you like it.

30^th July 1940

After our moment that cool evening, we were tense for a couple of days. In fact we did not know how to act around each other, whether to be the same as before or find some new common ground. It was as though we were scared of what could happen. The sun shone brilliantly as I sat outside in the garden reading another letter from my brother Luke when Mark came and sat silently beside me. As he sat, it seemed all the world was waiting for one of us to speak so that everyone could carry on with their  day to day business. I felt his hand rest softly on mine, as though his words were been said by his simple actions.  I responded carefully not wanting to spoil the moment. I smiled to myself as I rested my head on his shoulders. The sound of birds fighting over a piece of bread broke our silence together as I remembered that mother could be watching and instantly moved my head away a little surprised at my emotions.

“It is okay to be feeling what we are?” He whispered.

“Is it? Really is it? Because I am so scared that I am falling for you, that I feel  something bad is going to happen to ruin it, or to put our lives in jeopardy. What if it doesn’t work? Where does that leave me?” I asked trying to hide my fear with plain curiosity.

“Be honest with me, put all your fears, all what scares you about us aside. Do you like me?” He asked bluntly.

“Yes, yes I think I do. Very much so. What about you?”

“I like you a lot, more than I originally thought. I believe I have fallen for you. Since the moment I set foot in this house, you are what gets me through the day. You are intelligent, beautiful, proud, you see things in people that others don’t, and most of all you see me for myself. Believe me when I say this for it is the truth.” He looked deep within my soul as though he knew exactly what I was thinking, what was exactly going through my head. He had won my heart before he even knew that he had the key.
I broke the gaze unable to look at him. A single tear fell down my cheek. I felt his lips touch my cheek gently wiping the tear that slipped slowly down my reddened cheek.  His lips found there way to mine, and kissed them subtly. Shivers ran down my spine as I let myself go and kissed him back. The kiss was perfect, that I thought I would never feel such an amazing sense of happiness again as I did when he kissed me. As he pulled away I felt a sense of tranquility come over me that I had never felt before. It was a moment that I had been waiting all my life. We looked at each other and I saw the sincerity in his face.  I was speechless in his presence once again. No words could come out. All I could do was look. 

“I’ve never done anything like that before!” He said, a little unexpectedly.

“Your being serious? But then again, I’ve never kissed anyone like that before!” A pale shade of crimson appearing on my cheeks.

“When me and my wife got together, everything had to be done properly. I have never taken such a risk in this way. Meaning that I have never had the confidence to make a move on someone like you. I always thought that I was never good enough.” He said turning his head away. I guided his face back to mine, and I looked deep into his eyes.

“You have no reason to be nervous, I am glad you took that risk, because I was scared to take it myself. I have never felt this way before and I didn’t know what to do at all. Thank you for showing me that I can open my heart, that I can open my heart to you.” I said not regretting what had happened between us. The rest of the morning was spent talking, flirting, just simple getting to know each other as individuals and not by the definition of our nationality or status.  No one broke our interlude in the garden and I didn’t stop to think of the eyes that could be upon us. I knew dinner tonight would be tough, extremely tough but I had to go on as though everything was normal. Nothing was normal anymore, the war had changed that forever and I knew that it would never go back to the way it was. A small part of me did not want that normality ever again. Our relationship was between us, our secret. It was for us to know, until the war was over and we could create some unison between the two countries. I had to tread carefully for I knew my family would flip if they ever knew the truth. But I knew it was worth it. It was a risj that I was willing to take.  

Later that day I was staring out of the window in the hallway, just staring not wanting my day dreams to end. Completely oblivious to the outside world. Dinner was around the corner, I could smell the aroma of freshly cooked chicken and vegetables picked from the garden. It smelled delicious.

“Wake up princess! Time to fill that tummy of yours!” Father said with  humour in his voice. I rolled my eyes playfully as I followed him in. I sat down with ease and took a deep breathe. The smell of food made my stomach gurgle.  When the Baron entered I found it  difficult to  keep my attention away from him. It was evident he felt the same way and I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. Throughout dinner, when our eyes met I felt the shivers sliver down my spine. The connection was too strong. The room was tense this evening. My parents it seemed had an argument earlier which kept erupting over dinner. My parents had been arguing more of that and even though it was a bad thing and I felt selfish for thinking it it helped to detract from myself and the Baron.

After dinner, instead of seeing the Baron like I wanted to, June had paid a visit and she was staying the evening. As we ascended upstairs the Baron gave me a knowing look as though he knew something I did not. June responded with a stifled giggle. I held back my annoyance as we entered the seclusion of my room.

“What was that look for?” She asked as I put on some music.

“Nothing.” I said turning round to sort out the evenings entertainment.

“It definitely wasn’t nothing, I am your best friend you can tell me. Who am I going to tell?” She said and I knew she wouldn’t tell anyone.

“Well we spoke today and well we kissed!” I said hiding my head in my hands, for fear of a disapproval.

“I knew it, I knew it. I could sense it from the night at the club. Seriously Lucy, you’ve bagged a right one there haven’t you!” She remarked.

I peered through my fingers and laughed stupidly.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked through my fingers, the embarassment decreasing as her face relaxed.
“Well he is handsome, good natured, funny, you seem well suited.” She replied a kind smile across her face and I took away the hands.

“I thought you would hate me for him being German and all.” I admitted.

“Of course I don’t hate you. They are not all bad, you get English that are stupid pigs, its just that we are in a middle of a war. Any other time it would be acceptable.  However I can see the sparks fly between you and it is intense, so I say go for it. But play it cool. Don’t let it get in the way of your loyalty to your family and too us” She said with a cheeky smile. I gave her a look as if to say its not just a game. Then I broke into giggles. Too tell someone felt good, it felt amazing to know that I had someone to share it with.

For the rest of the evening we chatting behind the sound of music of issues that affected both of us, that we were often too fearful to admit to our parents.

I hope you enjoy, also I would like to say thank you for letting me become part of the group. I thoroughly enjoy meeting every week and listening to the different interpretations of the homework /challenges that have been set.

Zoe Merritt