Michael Rosen Interview, BBC Radio 4, Today Programme, 29 June, 2020

Michael Rosen on the NHS, seven weeks on a ventilator, and his gradual recovery from Covid-19

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000kgnm

From the 1 hour 50 minute point

“They handed me a piece of paper and said you’ve got a 50/50 chance.  I said ‘Well are you telling me that’s better than the chance I’ve got now? Are you telling me I might not wake up?’ and they said ‘Yes’, then I signed something.”

The Friendly Seal, Weymouth

A misty morning, a great swim and and a heartwarming encounter!

The seal sidled up to make friends with the woman, not the other way round

Short video


The bad news (Dorset Echo):

Dog tries to bite the seal

Swimming with a Seal, Weymouth

Overcombe Bay, Weymouth, this morning.

What to do if you encounter a seal:

https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/sea-swimming/

but see BBC News (August 2016):

Tourists warned about swimming with seals:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-37009200

John Mackie, Castle Cary and Somerset Dialect Poems, 1925

Four recent tweets:

https://twitter.com/DorsetWriter/status/1275817344816873476

https://twitter.com/DorsetWriter/status/1275818745454264320

https://twitter.com/DorsetWriter/status/1275465723322785793

https://twitter.com/DorsetWriter/status/1275466582857256960


There's a call from Castle Cary:

https://corfublues.blogspot.com/2010/03/theres-call-from-castle-cary-john.html


About John Mackie:


https://corfublues.blogspot.com/2012/03/john-mackie-castle-cary-somerset.html


Sheep-shearen: William Barnes and John Mackie:


https://corfublues.blogspot.com/2020/04/william-barnes-shepherd-o-farm.html

Greek Embroidery at the Ashmolean Museum: Mediterranean Threads, Online, Interactive Exhibition

I really wanted to see this exhibition, The Ashmolean has put it online as an interactive exhibition:

Mediterranean Threads, 18th- and 19th- Century Greek Embroideries.

https://www.ashmolean.org/event/mediterranean-threads

Hopefully the museum will re-open in July.

From my own collection of Greek art:

Watching the seal at Weymouth

Photo of the seal at Overcombe Bay, near the Oasis Cafe, Weymouth, 18th June, by Idris Martin (Facebook, copyright).

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=153583236292716&set=pcb.1640481146120256&type=3&theater

We watched the seal a little later, when it was swimming not far from the shore. 

I decided not to go for a swim.