Counting out rhymes

Dip, dip, dip,

My blue ship,

Sailing on the water

Like a cup and saucer.

Dip, dip, dip,

You are IT!

(An alternative last line is - 

You are not IT! - this depends on the counter and the person he wants in or out.)

'Eeny, meeny, miny moe' was another counting out rhyme but I will stop there as the version I did in the playground would be frowned upon today. There are more up to date versions recited.

One potato, two potato, three potato, four,

Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more.

(Everyone held out their fists to be counted in this rhyme. The fist where the counter landed on the word 'more' was then put behind the child's back and the rhyme started again and repeated until the last fist was left. That person was 'on'.)

I can't remember any more so I'll make one up a couple of my own to be chanted rhythmically.

Four, three, two,

One's enough.

If I land on you - 

Clear off!

I'm looking for the one 

Who starts the game.

I might land on you or 

What's his name.

If I pass by you

Then in you stay.

If I stop on you

Then

GO AWAY!

Didn't mean it.    :)

Whistle's gone, playtime over.

xx

Still playing

Yes, we did play elastics but didn't have any songs to go with it. I still remember the moves. If you look up 'elastics skipping' on Ytube there's plenty to see. 'Launch pad elastics' even have some songs to sing to the skipping.

England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, inside, outside, puppy dog tails.

 Single rope skipping with a group had quite a few songs.

House to let,
Apply within,
When I go out,
Mrs. ____ comes in.

Then there was a reciting of the alphabet and when your initial was called you jumped into the rope.

Do you remember -

All in together girls,
Jolly fine weather girls,
When it's your birthday please jump in.

All the months were then chanted.

All in together girls,
Jolly fine weather girls,
When it's your birthday please jump out.

All the months were chanted again.

Salt was ordinary skipping with a little jump between skips and pepper was fast skipping with a jump on each turn of the rope.

We even did what we called 'French Skipping' where 2 ropes were turned.


Hand clapping rhymes were good.

I am a pretty little Dutch girl,
As pretty as can be, be, be,
And all the boys in my backyard
Go crazy over me, me, me.
My boyfriend's name is Fatty.
He comes from Cinuratti, (??????)
With 10 black toes and a pimple on his nose
And this is what he said to me,
"I L-O-V-E love you,
I K-I- double S kiss you,
In the D-A-R. in the D-A-R
In the D-A-R K-K.

I'll finish with a 'rude' poem my dad taught me.

Chin, Chin, Chinaman bought a penny doll.
He washed it and dressed it and called it Pretty Poll.
He sent for the doctor but the doctor didn't come
Because it had a pimple on its bum, bum, bum.

xx

PS - A very big thank you to Angela and Rachel for explaining some of the games in the last post.

Playground games

Here are 2 circle game songs we used to play when I was at junior school - age 7 - 11years. I can find in and out the dusty bluebells on Ytube but not 'We are 3 Jolly Fishermen'.

In and out the dusty bluebells,

In and out the dusty bluebells,

In and out the dusty bluebells,

Who shall be my partner.

Tipperty, tapperty on my shoulder,

Tipperty, tapperty on my shoulder,

Tipperty, tapperty on my shoulder

You shall be my partner.

We are 3 jolly fishermen,

We are 3 jolly fishermen,

We are 3 jolly fishermen

Just come home from sea.

We cast our nets in twosies,

We cast our nets in twosies,

We cast our nets in twosies,

Jolly old fish are we.

Oh, the big ship sails through the Alley, alley, oh,

The Alley, alley, oh,

The Alley, alley, oh.

Oh, the big ship sails through the Alley, alley, oh

On the last day of September.

Chorus

Alley, alley, oh,

Alley, alley, oh

The big ship sails away.

Oh, the big ship sails through the Alley, alley, oh

On the last day of September.

The Captain said it will never, never do,

Never, never do,

Never, never do.

Oh the Captain said it will never, never do

On the last day of September.

Chorus

The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea etc.

Chorus

We all dip our heads in the bright blue sea etc.

We also had rhymes for juggling with 2 balls either in the air or against a wall.

Nebuchadnezzar, the King of the Jews

Bought his wife a pair of shoes.

When the shoes began to wear

Nebuchadnezzar, began to swear.

When the swear began to stop

Nebuchadnezzar, bought a shop.

When the shop began to sell

Nebuchadnezzar, bought a bell.

When the bell began to ring

Nebuchadnezzar, began to sing -

Doh, re, mi, fah, soh, la, tee, doh!

What a lot of songs we used to sing for our games. I've yet to start on the skipping and clapping ones!

Thinking out loud

I would definitely have more space in my cupboards if I didn't have multiples of the same thing ...

eg magazines

wool

books

tins

baskets

bowls

vases

types of clothing

material

craft items

shampoo

aftershave

toilet rolls

crocheted blankets

duvets

duvet covers

pillow cases

... to name but a few!

As part of my de-cluttering I am ridding myself of books and some of the first to go are those of Charles Dickens. We saved a full set on one of our forays to the tip (DH knows how to treat a girl!) and they have decorated shelves ever since. I have read a few and intended to read every single one. Now we have decorated it is time to cull and I can read the stories I haven't read yet online - and the print would be a lot larger.

So, off to the CS go the books and I've already made a start reading CD's books in order online. Now there's more space made.

The trouble is - I want to fill it!

A bus jolly

After a brisk walk to Liddle-iddle this morning to spend £20 and claim a free olive oil, I decided to have a bus jolly this afternoon. The sun was shining but there was a cold wind but I was sitting on the top deck with the bright sun making it warm and cosy. I took some pics of the varied scenery on the journey - some places interesting, some run down. 

Heading south along the Golden Mile the Big Wheel can be seen in the distance. Some Illuminations are up all year spanning the road.

Most of the smaller tourist attractions are closed over the winter.

Madame Tussaud's remains open.

We turned off the promenade and headed inland a little. The shops here are quite rundown and many empty and in need of repair.

Back up to the prom now and here is one of our 3 piers.

In the distance now the Big One at the Pleasure Beach can clearly be seen. The sun was in my eyes most of the way.

There's the Mirror Ball.

Past the archway and straight ahead is St. Anne's. The new tram sheds are on the right and I'm sure I took a picture of a tram but it doesn't seem to be here.

The built up promenade now gives way to sand dunes and today sand has blown all over the road.

Heading into the town the area becomes more built up.

Past the park and ...

I alighted on the main street. Here the buildings are more well kept and the architecture is more attractive to the eye.

Still bright sunshine and still a biting wind.

After a quick walk up and down the main street I caught a bus back home. Exercise done for the day and time to get a roast on for tea.

xx

Cupboard love

Thank goodness for cupboards that store and hide. What fun pulling out 'stuff', sorting out, deciding what goes and what stays and finding long, lost items.

The cupboard was a large one just off a bedroom and the stuff was mainly - 

music paraphernalia,

suitcases,

coats,

folding tables,

files,

photographs,

hats,

material,

quilting items,

briefcase,

flower press,

bags

and, of course - 

cuddly toys.

It all came out and everything, bar the cuddly toys and 2 bags for the CS, was put back neatly. I even made a list as to what went where. 

That's my job done for the day. More sorting tomorrow.

xx

F, F and F

We woke up to a white second Christmas on the 30th December while on holiday with family. The snow didn't stay long but it added to the festive occasion.

The New Year was also celebrated with festive fireworks. What loud bangs and crashes we heard for about half an hour. The whole sight was magical.

Walks and fun were the order of the day and I enjoyed every minute.

Can you tell!

There were 3 'occasions' that had to be celebrated - Chrismas, New Year and my birthday and what better present than this - a wooden box full of wool plus the added bonus of a crochet hook.

My hands were busy for the rest of the holiday.

Family, friends and fun - a winning combination.

xx

Good, bad, good, bad

I do wish,

(It's very sad)

That when I walk

I don't see 'bad'.

Rubbish, weeds,

and smelly poo,

Empty cans,

Graffiti too.

I do wish,

I know I'm right,

To see the clean,

The fresh, the bright.

Any weather,

Cloud, rain, sun,

Seeing 'good'

Is much more fun.

xx

Working through ...

... the recipe binder where I stick recipes collected from magazines and friends. Last week it was a Thai curry which I waded through 3 days on the trot because DH doesn't like Thai cuisine. It was OK but I don't think I'll make it again. I just wanted to use up the coconut milk in the tin cupboard. This week I tried the Berry Chocolate Traybake, which when looked at closely is just a basic cake recipe with added raspberries and chocolate. Do I really need to keep this in my binder? I think not, even though I'll make it again - I don't really need to look at the recipe.

The Madeira cake recipe is a favourite from a friend which probably needs writing out again as it is stained and tatty.

Look, I've even included contents pages.

There's civilised for you. 

Here's the cake cut into pieces, some of which are not shown because we've eaten them!

xx

Normal Routine

I'm back into normal routine mode after an extended festive time which included 2 Christmases, the second of which was a White Christmas on the 29th December. No need to dream anymore until next year then. 

Normal routine for me is to sort all my everlasting cards and match them up with envelopes. Cards which are full of greetings are 'retired' and new cards made. Funny how just making small cards takes up such a large space. All done now and everything is packed away until November when I sign and address the cards again.

Just type 'everlasting cards' in the search box for more explanations of my Christmas greetings for friends and family.

Normal for me is 'work' in the mornings and 'play' in the afternoons so today was cleaning tiles in the newly decorated bathroom and washing and ironing plus card making and walking. It was a busy and productive day.

xx