[John Whitworth]

The Tattooist's Tales were, I thought, very good. Chris O'Carroll, as so often, bore the banner for the Sphere, showing yet again that you don't have to be Brit to win.

The new competition looks a goodie. At least two ways to go.

Competition Number 131
We've planted the bulbs for next Spring. Meanwhile te EU or someone is banning incandescent bulbs in fa\vour of those low-energy things. A poem called 'Bulbs' please. Maximum 16 lines

email comp@theoldie.co.uk by 19 November

Don't forget to include your postal address.

Some of you wanted to know what the tea and cake set comprises, though Bazza already told you. However, I will tell you again

80 tea-bags Taylor's Yorkshire Tea
Two china mugs (rather nice)
Two cakes one ginger and one not ginger.
One large Yorkshire Tea Towel (it would be)

The cake is nice. Haven't tried the tea yet. Yorkshire is the Texas of the UK. Yorkshiremen shoot first and ask questions afterwards. Yorkshire women have biceps of steel. And they drink lots of tea.

I have found a poem I entered unsuccessfully for a Speccie Comp. At least I think it was a Speccie comp. Please tell me if it was an Oldie.

Bulbs

Friend, do not count my counsel vain:
Switch off the current at the main
Lest excess voltage should thee slay;
Timor mortis conturbat me.

And if thou would’st employ a chair,
Take care the chair legs stand foursquare,
Neither to topple nor to sway;
Timor mortis conturbat me.

Unscrew thy bulb with twist too free;
Bulb breaks and bursts an artery.
Thy life’s blood then will gush and spray;
Timor mortis conturbat me.

Follow the wisest course. Perhaps
‘Tis meet to hire a pair of chaps
Who come a week on Saturday;
Timor mortis conturbat me.

[Jayne Osborn]

Yes, John, you entered this one for The Speccie 'House-keeping' comp; better luck with Tessa!

[John Whitworth]

Thank you, Jayne. I thought it was one of my better efforts and worth a second outing. Meanwhile Fergus Pickering will consider plant bulbs. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick as far as they are concerned. Mice eat bulbs. Garlic and onions are my favourite bulbs. A sonnet in praise of garlic!

[Gail White]

John confirms my belief that Yorkshire is the county portrayed in the Britcom "Last of the Summer Wine", in which practically all the men were terrified of all the women.

[John Whitworth]

It turned out not to be a sonnet:

Bulbs

Garlic! Concoction of the French!
It makes us Anglo-Saxons blench,
Vile vegetable running wild,
The blessed onion’s bastard child,
A night companion of the owl,
It turns your breath and morals foul,
Base bulb odiferous, obscene –
What can those foreign fellows mean?

'Banish your potions and your pills.
One clove of garlic cures all ills.
Take one, take two, take three a day
And keep the Evil One at bay.
Garlic refreshes and renews.
Put garlic in your soups and stews.
Put garlic in your casseroles
And save your shrivelled English souls.'

[basil ransome-davies]

When Brussels banned, with solemn hype,
Bulbs of the incandescent type,
The citizens of Euroland
Were firmly led to understand
That eco-friendly light bulbs would
Be unequivocally good.
Yet many opted to dispute
The value of the substitute.
'This bulb,' they'd howl, 'is not worth shit!
It shatters if you look at it,
It costs the earth, and what is more
Our house is darker than before.
Add five percent of mercury.
A green device? I disagree.'
Such critics, whose complaints were not
Acceptable, were quickly shot.

[John Whitworth]

Bazza, I love it. A taste of Belloc, particularly in that last line.

[Petra Norr]

Way to go, Bazza.
Here's a shorty:

Since eco-friendly bulbs moved in
my once bright home is dingy-tinged:
the lamps are bested in their glows
by hubby’s shiny, bulbous nose.
.

[Catherine Tufariello]

Bazza, that's wonderful.

[basil ransome-davies]

Thank you, Catherine. Chris has tipped me to check out your verse online, which I will duly do.