Mother's Musings No. 3

Here is an other entry from Mother's Common Place Book:

"To plough is to pray.
To plant is to prophesy
And the harvest answers
And fulfills."

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-99)

"Our lives are not our own to dispose of as and when we think fit. Whether we know it or not, we are part of a divine and purposeful plan with a place to fill and a task to perform. And the punishment for...sliding out...is hell. What do you think hell is? Where do you think it is? Who can say? Hell has many names and aspects. Who can describe it? Perhaps you can. The ancient Jews called it Gehenna after a valley outside Jerusalem, a valley desolate and lost, the dumping ground of refuse consumed by perpetual fires - the ultimate end, a place without hope.

A place without hope. But it isn't Gehenna or the furnaces in the depths. It's the break-up where nothing stays good. It's your soul alone in space - trying to get up among the blue stars and being sucked down into the awful heaving sea where everything swirls away and falls apart. Death isn't sleep and darkness. It's the vibrating infinity that could be bright and beautiful if it didn't heel(?) over into hell - the place without hope."

The Man in the Mews, Joy Packer

Mother's Musings No. 2

Here is another entry from Mother's Common Place Book:

“If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world we find
Success being with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.”

― Walter D. Wintle

Here is a link to a bit more about the poem.

Mother's Musings No.1

Mum, or Margaret Elliott to those who know her, wrote in notebooks and collected little musings, newspaper cuttings and other such paraphernalia that was cut out and stuck in or copied out in her neat writing, so in a way to keep these musings and in order to help her deal with loss of sight, I have started to write the things out from her notebooks - she, like any others of her age and generation wrote a blog in notebooks or Common Place Books.

• Farm as though you are going to farm forever, but live as though you are going to die tomorrow. (John Marsden)
• You should plan as if you will live forever and work as if you will die tomorrow.
• A farmer is the steward of his land for his lifetime.
• In life you have the choice, to be a large fish in a small pond, or a little fish in the sea.
• Rather than be at the mercy of your boss, it is better to crow on your own dung hill.
• There is no better fertiliser for the land then the feel of the farmer's boot. (attributed to Hansard's Report on Small Farmers)
• To thine own self, be true (Polonius in Hamlet by Shakespeare Act 1, Scene 3, 78-82)

If you know where these might have originated from or you think I may have got something wrong, please feel free to comment...

Scotland dinnae start the fire

Scotland dinnae start the fire

(With apologies to Billy Joel)

North Sea Oil, Irn Bru, Smoked Salmon, Tartan true

Loch Rannock, Our Poor Wullie, Ewan McGregor

Robert Carlyle, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Cumming, Television

North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Beer Swilling Beggar

Trainspotting, Amy Pond, Rabbie Burns, Bracken Frond

SuperGran, Scrooge McDuck, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Conner MacLeod, Tam Lin, Scotland's beheaded queen

Dr. Finlay, Whiskey Galore, Golf Ball Double Bogey

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

We dinnae start the fire

No we dinnae right it

But we tried to fight it

Alex Salmond, Tony Blair, and Dame Evelyn Glennie

Vettriano, The Wasp Factory, Deep Fried Cross Bun

James Bond, Buckfast Tonic, Iannucci, Nevis

Inverlair Falls, Lindsay Davidson

Tunnoch’s Teacakes, Scotland’s curling winning team

Gerard Butler, Thirty Nine Steps, Craig Ferguson, Dis Nae Harm

Green Tweed, John Hannah, Gordon Jackson, Courage

Auburn Hair, Twins in Specs, Bowl of Salty Porridge

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

We dinnae start the fire

No we dinnae right it

But we tried to fight it

Muckle Roe, Oransay, Benbecula, Isle of May

Loch Ness, Dougray Scott, A Reproductive Cell

Deborah Kerr, West Lothian, Caledonian Scene

Edinburgh, Shotgun Shell, Alexander Graham Bell…

John Logie Baird, James Watt, Edinburgh Rock, St. Serf’s Inch

James Hutton, Hemming, Alexander Fleming

Orkney, Heart Disease, Bridge Over The River Forth

Berwickshire , Midge Ure, The Celts A Force Majeur

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

We dinnae start the fire

No we dinnae right it

But we tried to fight it

Gordon Brown, Rab C, Tam o’ Shanter in Bed

Wee Dram, Sporran, Sgian Dubh in a long sock

Friday Night Behaviour, Harry Pottermania

South Uist, Billy Boyd, Atheletes Battle Weirdly

Choose Life, Hibs and Hearts, Will The Vote Say No Or…

Scotland taken away, what else do I have to say

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

We dinnae start the fire

No we dinnae right it

But we tried to fight it

Holyrood, McDonald, Loch, Mountain, Firth and Fountain

David Hume, Great Scott , Andy Murray, Celt Rock

Zetland, Perthshire, Kinross-shire, Terror in the Valley

The Kilt Wearing Highlanders, The Wettish Fly Fisherman

Richard Wilson, Airplane, Bomb In The Hold, Lockerbie

Scottish debts, Homeless Pets, Books, Scots, Thistle Stem

Tourists On The Golden Mile, Glasgow holding sport aloft

Yes and No Votes Fighting Now, I can't take it anymore

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning

We dinnae start the fire

But when we are gone

It will still burn on and on and on and on

And on and on and on and on...

Scotland dinnae start the fire

The heather is always burning

Since the kilts have been turning