3186 - Lake Dischtricht

My good luck on this holiday has held
Berchtesgaden's an outdoor kind of place
The sun shone til 4:30, so we sailed
(Me and a guy called Jet) on this high lake
Called Konigsee (King's Lake) and saw the face
Of Mt Watzmann, the second highest peak
In Germany. At the far side, amazed
At the beauty of Obersee, and walked
Alongside it and beyond, trying to seek
A route up the steep hill to waterfall
Was successful. Next, because of footache
No more long walks, but cable-car technique
Took us up Mt Jenner, where we beheld
Great views of lake and Berchtesgaden. Ace!

Fri 8 May

2954 - Ioannina to Monodendri

Had breakfast at the Dioni Hotel
In Ioannina, north-west part of Greece
An area they call Zagori. All well
At first, wandered round, saw the lake, a nice
View, blue water and sky, and all at peace
Busy streets in town centre though, no sign
Of austerity. Frappe. Caught the bus
To Monodendri, but changed buses. In
The rush I left my bag on the first one
(With passport in it!) I thought 'Fucking hell!
How will I get that back?' Didn't need police
Spoke to the driver. He rang the first one
And it was agreed that next morning we'll
Meet and he'll return it. Hotel's GORGE-ous!

Wed 17 Sep

2951 - Scotland and Stockport

The day started with Salmond and Darling
Being interviewed on the Andrew Marr Show
About the Scottish vote that is taking
Place while me and John walk the gorge and go
To Albania. When will we get to know
The result? We'll be so far away then
Then I went to Stockport baths with li'l Jo
Managed to lift her, using all my strength
Up out of the water by her feet, and
Keep her there for a few seconds! Laughing
As usual, a bit late getting home though
And cold (no coat). Got back, let Louis in
He'd been locked out all day! He's suffering
With a cold. I'll make him toast and milk now

2879 - Hire and hire

A hot day, a rainy day, walked along
The canalside, which is very narrow
In places, scared that I might fall headlong
Into the canal, hope I don't swallow
The dirty water, full of germs, you know
Got quite a lot done in the office, and
Ate quite a lot too - walnuts, soup, coco-
nut flakes, which are really more-ish. I spent
All of three quid on the way home. Account
Is doing OK now, my credit's strong
Thanks to my Post Office loan that's gone through
I've saved a lot these two weeks, but weekend
Looks expensive, out a lot, I'm going
To hire a car Sunday, see Ma with Jo

2537 - Water, water, everywhere

It's late but it's gotta be done, so now
What can I say? Another boring day
At work, but my Mum texts, golly gee wow
Her hip op's been set for late February
And I'm down to help out, but we will see
When that may be, because things are hap'ning
Dates are going in this year's diary
And all of a sudden, seems like it's spring
Meanwhile, on the news, there's lots of flooding
Somerset, and Thames Valley, seems that now
The South East is affected, we'll all be
Drawn in, we'll have to pay, water seeping
Everywhere, Ancient Mariners somehow
Will have to, like ancestors, find a way

Wed 12 February

2505 - Underwater sports

Day out with Josie, swimming in Stockport
Because the baths in Wilmslow are boring
But from Wilmslow baths vending machine, bought
Some cool black goggles. Now when I'm swimming
My eyes don't hurt, specially when I'm crawling
We swam a few lengths, that was the best part
But also as usual did some sliding
Down the tubes, jacuzzi, messing about
But swimming is really good for the heart
And lungs and arm strength. Was pleased how I hauled
Myself out of the pool with such a spring
My arms are strong, that's exercise's art
And all that walking too. Saturday night
Is now for relaxation and drinking!

2466 - Morning warning

Woke up at half-past four, like, oh my God!
It was so light and warm, thought it was six
Maybe, but when I saw the clock I had
A shock. Wide awake, a headful of thinks
Got up and went on Facebook in two ticks
Watched breakfast news, had to pass time until
The office was open at seven. Walks
Along the canal at that time are still
And quiet, no disturbance from cycle
Or jogger. My foot feels OK, all good
Except at work they rang, said I should fix
Some time to have it looked at in Eccles
Drop-in surgery, so I decided
A week's wait to get sore underfoot checked

2463 - Get your socks off!

Been limping today with my sore foot - ouch!
It's not that bad, it's a corn or bunyan
I think, but on the underneath. To touch
It, it's quite tender, and so to tread on
It with each step is not really much fun
Walking along the canalside, cobbles
And broken, cracked and irregular stone
Ain't easy with a sore foot, but troubles
Still seem to recede beside the bubbles
The birds and geese - that rower, he's no slouch!
This morning, though, I made an appointment
Tomorrow morning at the doc's, I'll pull
Socks off and show her my painful bump, much
To my relief if there's a prescription!

2458 - Upsetto over Netto

Just watched a boring game - England / Ireland
But at least all seemed happy, no trouble
New German-looking kit worn by England
New Irish kit too, kit sales free-for-all
Dull day, with a fair amount of rainfall
Walked by the old canal on the way in
But felt if I went home that way I'd fall
In, slipping on mud or wet grass. Climbing
Out of that canal would take some doing
And all my mp3 music lessened
To useless plastic mid muddy bubbles
Just rescued my bag from Sainsburys - leaving
It there in the basket was what happened
My Swedish Netto bag, you are my all...

2445 - Canal flannel

Not as drunk as last night, not drunk at all
A mixed day weatherwise, both rain and sun
Walked home along the grand old ship canal
Then, once home, realised I shouldn't have done
I needed food from Sainsburys, shoes back on
And back out again. Still, in the morning
I hope I'll remember to go on down
The waterside, the peaceful scenes calming
Away from noisy roads, lorries roaring
Past, cement mixers, motorbikes. Ducks call
Birds land looking for fish, and insects skim
The surface of the canal slow flowing
The Irwell on its way to Liverpool
Me on my way to work, having spring fun

2425 - When you say nothing at all

A nothing day, nothing to say, nothing
To play, no place to go away, nowhere
I'm not depressed, just keen to get going
With this daily sonnet, no time to spare
Need the toilet, not that my readers care
To know that, I dare say, that stuff's quite gross
But when you gotta go, you know you dare
Not not go for too long, and so I'll post
This blog, then hasten to the bog, a dose
Of my waste product odiously dropping
Into the toilet bowl's rancid water
About the weather, it's not warm as toast
The sun's out but there's a cold wind blowing
Like the wind out my ass that's soon coming

2407 - Lucky strike

Well I woke up this morning real early
'Bout a half-past five, to be quite precise
Not too sure why, a vivid dream, maybe
Then as I lay there, mouth dry, not anxious
Got up for water, back down, realised
It was okay to have got drunk last night
See, today was a day off work - why? 'Cause
HMRC's on strike, cos of the plight
Of the poor civil servants you all hate
I would too if I wasn't one, hee hee
Just heard - at last  - yes - Maggie Thatcher dies
She left the UK in a right old state
Tonight, though, it's the Manchester derby
Unlike last year, City's a hopeless cause

2324 - Salford Crescent Moon

Halfway through January, and the light
Is slowly coming back each day as I
Walk home from the office, a welcome sight
It's easier to see broken glass, pass by
It and dog shit, as in rude health I fly
Along the pavements of eastern Salford
A crescent moon observes through slitty eye
As I happily make my way homeward
This time of year we always look forward
To an improvement on the season's blight
We should remember though it won't be dry
Or sunny this summer - a time of flood
Is more likely, it seems there's no respite
And other countries, they're tinderbox dry!

2313 - Ports of thoughts

Bad cold, like I told you just yesterday
Today I stayed off work, philanthropist
That I am, keeping germs safely away
From workmates, though still an empty office
Post-Christmas, not many to give the kiss
Of death to, or discomfort, more like, that
Creates teeming streams of snot that all rush
Down to a green sea of literary snot
This wouldn't mix well with the rain we've had
And we'd all drown in words going astray
Diluted, distributed and dismissed
From memory, though not all of it is bad
In fact, momentary thoughts make every day
Different and exciting, to be cherished

2271 - Wet wet wet wet

Worked really hard today, got some stuff done
The trick was ignoring all the emails
I had no choice really, I didn't want
To leave those two big jobs til Monday, snail-
Like, and Monday there's more noise, and you fail
To do much for the first hour or two, you
Just chat or get distracted by chat all
Around. Anyway, the long-lasting news
This week, this year it seems, are floods produced
By endless rain or sudden showers on
The plains or in the hills, where water trails
Become raging torrents down streets, those views
On the TV of brown rivers among
The quaint cottages of Devon and Wales

2249 - Evening chill

I hear the the cool sound of Zero Seven
Nice backing to sonnet-writing, I think
It doesn't invade your mind and prevent
Concentration on small tasks like writing
A sonnet, or painting a wall. Chilling
Out music for small tasks, busy people
Unwinding after a day's back-stabbing
Plotting as they lie in the bath's bubble
Possessing sufficient strategic skill
To hold the unsuspecting victim down
Until they drown in that fine frothy drink
Happy thoughts make the evening tolerable
It could be worse, time might not be my own
But I'm alone, so I'm just relaxing

2214 - Cool cool water

It's gloomy and dark again - it seems like
The only good weather we had was when
The Olympics was on. Those racing bikes
Usain bolting down the track - gold again
Not surprisingly, with all this damned rain
Rivers have burst their banks, towns are deluged
York and Morpeth, Northwich, as water drains
Down from higher ground. Towns with no refuge
But sandbags stoically waiting for huge
Torrents that tonight may or may not strike
Their homes and businesses. People swept in
The raging waters, found lying in sludge
They'd tried to save their dog. But there's a hike
This Saturday in temperature and sun!

2212 - England calling

News roundup - Andrew Mitchell, the Tory
Minister, and Chief Whip, called the police
'Fucking plebs' when one of them said that he
Couldn't ride his bike through the main gate. These
Insults came the same week as two police-
Women had been killed, causing great sadness
Doesn't this just prove that ruling Tories
Are privileged and arrogant? What else?
A maths schoolteacher's eloped to France, he's
On the run with a young school pupil. He
Faces jail. On the net, he sings a nice
Little song about their romance. Distress
In the North East, floods devastating the
Poor folk up there. Nature's not always nice

2209 - We'll keep a welcome by the seaside

Another day out in Wales - Llandudno
By train - a two hour ride from Manchester
A bit crazy, didn't get there til four
But after all, there's still some good weather
Poor little Jo's not seen the sea this year
So she paddled in the freezing cold brine
Me, needless to say, I didn't bother
Then onto the pier, ending in that kind
Of penny arcade from long ago times
The change machine rattles good luck, you go
Lose money but enjoy it, but better
Than Vegas - a small loss like this is fine!
Quick meal in Barnacles, eggs, chips, you know
The deal, then late train home, good chat to her...

2208 - Hair of the clog

It's nice to have short hair again sometimes

Like in the shower when I'm washing my hair

The plughole's no longer clogged with fine lines

Of dark hair, causing a rise in water

Levels, so that my feet splash as if they were

Paddling in the sea. When I come to dry

It afterwards, ah bliss, so much quicker

But other times I miss it's length. So why

Does everyone say I look younger? I

Don't know, but they all do. Friday lunchtime

I'm typing this while no-one else is here

Sandwiches eaten, banana and tea

Still here by me. Feeling lazy. It's time

I got on with work, but really, who cares?