Topic: Where is Everybody ?

[tarascon]

I'm here. Just got back from Detroit.

[6pairsofshoes]

The Jumblies
BY EDWARD LEAR
I
 
They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
   In a Sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter’s morn, on a stormy day,
   In a Sieve they went to sea!
And when the Sieve turned round and round,
And every one cried, ‘You’ll all be drowned!’
They called aloud, ‘Our Sieve ain’t big,
But we don’t care a button! we don’t care a fig!
   In a Sieve we’ll go to sea!’
      Far and few, far and few,
         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
         And they went to sea in a Sieve.
 
 
II
 
They sailed away in a Sieve, they did,
   In a Sieve they sailed so fast,
With only a beautiful pea-green veil
Tied with a riband by way of a sail,
   To a small tobacco-pipe mast;
And every one said, who saw them go,
‘O won’t they be soon upset, you know!
For the sky is dark, and the voyage is long,
And happen what may, it’s extremely wrong
   In a Sieve to sail so fast!’
      Far and few, far and few,
         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
         And they went to sea in a Sieve.
 
 
III
 
The water it soon came in, it did,
   The water it soon came in;
So to keep them dry, they wrapped their feet
In a pinky paper all folded neat,
   And they fastened it down with a pin.
And they passed the night in a crockery-jar,
And each of them said, ‘How wise we are!
Though the sky be dark, and the voyage be long,
Yet we never can think we were rash or wrong,
   While round in our Sieve we spin!’
      Far and few, far and few,
         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
         And they went to sea in a Sieve.
 
 
IV
 
And all night long they sailed away;
   And when the sun went down,
They whistled and warbled a moony song
To the echoing sound of a coppery gong,
   In the shade of the mountains brown.
‘O Timballo! How happy we are,
When we live in a sieve and a crockery-jar,
And all night long in the moonlight pale,
We sail away with a pea-green sail,
   In the shade of the mountains brown!’
      Far and few, far and few,
         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
     Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
         And they went to sea in a Sieve.
 
 
V
 
They sailed to the Western Sea, they did,
   To a land all covered with trees,
And they bought an Owl, and a useful Cart,
And a pound of Rice, and a Cranberry Tart,
   And a hive of silvery Bees.
And they bought a Pig, and some green Jack-daws,
And a lovely Monkey with lollipop paws,
And forty bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree,
   And no end of Stilton Cheese.
      Far and few, far and few,
         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
         And they went to sea in a Sieve.
 
 
VI
 
And in twenty years they all came back,
   In twenty years or more,
And every one said, ‘How tall they’ve grown!’
For they’ve been to the Lakes, and the Torrible Zone,
   And the hills of the Chankly Bore;
And they drank their health, and gave them a feast
Of dumplings made of beautiful yeast;
And everyone said, ‘If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,—
   To the hills of the Chankly Bore!’
      Far and few, far and few,
         Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
      Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
         And they went to sea in a Sieve.
 
 

[xtopave]

They don't sell Ring-Bo-Ree on e-bay, tsk, tsk.

[smokester]

I've hardly seen mish this year. I hope she's okay.

Does she frequent the other place?

[xtopave]

I've hardly seen mish this year. I hope she's okay.

She played the forum games during the holidays but all of a sudden she disappeared.

[smokester]

Perhaps she prioritised her academic work for a while. Life does have a habit of taking over from time to time.

[dweez]

Life does have a habit of taking over from time to time.

Understatement of the decade.

[smokester]

Understatement of the decade.

Ohcheap hasn't been seen since the same day as mish.  Was there something significant about the 4th of Jan?  I was still on the Xmas booze so I wouldn't have noticed.

[dweez]

Nothing official really but the 4th was the Sunday before the end of the New Year break.

[smokester]

Nothing official really but the 4th was the Sunday before the end of the New Year break.

Hmmm, yes, I see now.  It's been a while since I had a regular job so one day, be it weekend or weekday, tends to blend into the next unnoticed.

[goldshirt*9]

walking pooches, in grip less trainers and on black ice 
a tad slippy

[smokester]

walking pooches, in grip less trainers and on black ice 
a tad slippy

My niece who is up in York, slipped and banged her head while out for a run.

These whippersnappers with their running and other nonsense..

[goldshirt*9]

just goes to show, keeping fit is no fun

[smokester]

Wow! The forum must have chikungunya. It seems totally immobilised.

Personally, with a day to go before my trip I've been working twice as hard to get ahead, and shopping for vacation items in any time left over.

I'll have plenty of time to relax from Sunday onwards.

[Nobby]

Well I have a Cold (My Second in 3 week)
and this one is hangin' in  there