Poetry Saturday, Spring Carol . . .

When loud by landside streamlets gush,
And clear in the greenwood quires the thrush,
With sun on the meadows
And songs in the shadows
Comes again to me
The gift of the tongues of the lea,
The gift of the tongues of meadows.



Straightway my olden heart returns
And dances with the dancing burns;
It sings with the sparrows;
To the rain and the (grimy) barrows
Sings my heart aloud -
To the silver-bellied cloud,
To the silver rainy arrows.



It bears the song of the skylark down,
And it hears the singing of the town;
And youth on the highways
And lovers in byways
Follows and sees:
And hearkens the song of the leas
And sings the songs of the highways.



So when the earth is alive with gods,
And the lusty ploughman breaks the sod,
And the grass sings in the meadows,
And the flowers smile in the shadows,
Sits my heart at ease,
Hearing the song of the leas,
Singing the songs of the meadows.
~Robert Louis Stevenson



Oh, I do love Spring over here in the UK. It's like all of a sudden . . . all the browns and greys of winter are replaced with a flush of green . . . like a tender haze that coats the branch and trunk of every tree . . . the grass becomes a deeper green and the air is filled with the song of nesting birds . . . the landscape dotted with the yellow of daffodils and purple crocus . . . hyacinths. The tender pinks of early blossom and the deep yellow blooms of forsythia. It is a lovely time and the heart cannot help but dance to nature's tune!

Did anyone watch red nose day last night? We watched the first couple of hours. My heart broke a million times as I watched the suffering of children in this world. Although we are what might be considered living at the poverty line here in the UK, we have things a million times better than those poor souls, and you cannot help but to dig into your pocket and give what you can. What is amazing is that during a time that the people here in the UK are going through what has been the worst financial times in recent history, with record job losses, bankruptcies and government cutbacks, increasing petrol costs and dastardly increases in the costs of food and other essentials, we still managed to dig deeply into our pockets to the tune of £74.3 million, which is the highest figure ever reached in the history of the show!! Makes me proud to be British! You can read more about it here.

Here's a tasty chicken salad that makes good use of leftovers! I could eat this every day and never get tired of it. It's quite healthy as well, chock full of lovely raw veg, with a delicious peanutty dressing that I quite enjoy!



*Shredded Thai Chicken Salad*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Chicken salad that's actually quite healthy and good for you, containing plenty of raw veg and a fairly healthy dressing!


For the salad:
2 cups of shredded cooked chicken
1 cup of julienne raw carrot
1 cup of julienne raw broccoli (Use the stems, and leafy tops)
1/4 cup of julienne raw red cabbage
1 large spring onion, chopped

For the dressing:
2 TBS creamy peanut butter
1 TBS rice vinegar
1 TBS vegetable oil
1 TBS liquid honey
4 tsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp of red pepper sauce

Coriander leaves to garnish if desired (cilantro)

Toss together all the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over top. Toss together to coat. Garnish with a few coriander leaves, if using, and serve.



Over in The English Kitchen today, some delicious Hot Cross Muffins!