Now in March as the saying goes, it comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.

March

in like a lion and out like a lamb.

So when March comes in it is still winter, and by the end of the March spring has begun.

So many winds in March will blow,

 And ominous clouds will form.

So many showers in April fields

The daffodils always bloom.

A Pinch of May dust, and a flurry of cups

Makes the scene a golden sun.

The dandelions take over the daffs

And out like a lamb they roam. 

Poem by Karen Emma Hall KerinEmmaHall on Twitter

Is there any truth in the saying "in like a lion and out like a lamb". Well from experience the lion bit is always correct. The weather is as colourful as our imagination. And there is no shortage of poetic imagination from the bygone days.

A lot of sayings are based on observations, passed down to us from generations before us. Some are merely to amuse us and come from nursery rhymes. As a young child the catchy song of the nursery rhyme was always popular to sing along to, from the cradle to school and nursery. Little did they know that most of them come from old age Britain when the great fires and great plagues were abundant. Anyway, back to those lions. If March comes in like a lion, there is a good chance of it going out like a lamb. But like the weather that will be changeable. 

More Spring ditties

 : A dry March and a wet May, fill barns with corn and hay.

As it rains in March so it rains in June. 

March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers.

whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot, weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether you like it or not!

'not'...

                                                          Beast from the East

Back in in the year 2018 the Beast from the East roared March in with snow blizzards and continued to do so on the way out. There were no little lambs marching us into April that year.

The weather forecast you may have noticed is often wrong. In fact it is only right half the time.

 We have as much chance of getting the forecast correct as those in the know with their satellite systems. If you check on your weather app you will notice how wrong they are. 

You could stick your hand out of the window and get a quicker reading than the forecasters.

It's true. 

Your arthritis is better at forecasting bad weather than they are.

Remember that March it rained every day? (2007) As soon as that tune got to number one in the music charts it never stopped raining, in fact it poured from the heavens day and night. Some tune about 'brella ella's'. I'm not going to name that tune. Well.. just in case. 

Saying that, we did get a full week of glorious sunshine at some point that same Summer. And that never happens these days. So I will try not to be too English and complain about the weather too much. I shall complain about the time instead. Yes, those sleep robbing gits! They do us out of an hour's sleep in March.

That's a vital hour for most people.

They have hinted at stopping this clock changing malarkey. So will changing clocks soon be a thing of the past? In the houses of parliament it was discussed and even though there are several good reasons for ending BST (British Summer Time), for example there could be more accidents avoided when the darker evenings commence. It also takes many of us the majority of 6 months to adjust to the hour change. But for the time being time remains unchanged. 

So we still gain an hour's sleep in Autumn and lose a full hour in Summer. And who doesn't like an hour's extra luxury? It is the only small pleasure to be had as the evenings become dark earlier.

An easy way to remember how the changes work is that in Autumn/Fall the clocks 'fall back' (gaining an hour) and in Spring they 'spring forward' (losing an hour).

My question to you is, what will you do with that extra hour ?

The possibilities include bungee jumping in Honolulu? Scuba diving in the Maldives, or climbing up Mt Kilimanjaro? Actually that all sounds wonderful if you are fit and full of energy but how it would really might be something like this :

A longer lazy morning in bed will start the day as the sun's rays peak through the window welcoming the day in. The blissful thought of knowing I'm not going anywhere in a hurry or doing anything in particular sounds like perfection to me. Just taking the time for myself to have a mosey around the garden, speak to the cats/kids when I bump into them and the only thoughts would be about which nature walk to go on that day. Or finishing off that book I was meaning to read. Later on that day looking forward to watching the sun go down and watching the flames of your chiminea until bedtime. 

In fact I can't understand people who say they are bored. Try something new. Teach yourself through tutorials on youtuber for example. What interests you? What has interested you in the past? An art, a craft like how to make a flower bed or a bee house. How to crochet. How to finish off that project you've had put away for years. Teach yourself a new language. Swahili, Mandarin Chinese, or knocking out Mandarin Caprioska for breakfast Mary Berry style.

Time

Time can feel like it goes by quicker and quicker these days. We should all grab every moment and each opportunity. Learn new things. Re-discover old ones. Take a moment. 

Take everything in, where once we just rushed past it. 

Look forward to the lighter nights and the wonders of nature. Look forward to the birds and insects, the flora and the fauna. 

Turn off the phone, internet and TV as much as possible.

It does wonders for your mental health. It's bliss to be ignorant to MSM.

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I have a cat. I have a cat that is an owl.

I have a cat.
I have a cat that is an owl.

I have a cat. He is a famous cat. He is extra special. Not least because he can open doors with his shoulders! He has muscles like he-man. I can't even open some of the doors he can manage. And not least because he can go to sleep on top of a flat screen tv, and especially not because he begs like a dog for cat treats and even his plain old cat food, then will cuddle you in after eating.
No he is special because he is one of the stars of my book, in my chidren's series of stories.

With a difference. Sooty (Lord Snoots) is a cat. Sooty (Lord Snoots) in my book is an owl!
We gave him the nikname Lord Snoots due to the way he sits and looks at us waiting to be served very regally.
Did you know there was such a thing as a Sooty Owl?
No I didn't either.
Until I did some research on owls (I thought I knew everything there was to know about owls as I love them so much)
He was going to be Lord Snoots the snowy owl, now it has changed to Lord Snoots the sooty owl!
Quite a transformation from white to black, but very apt for my sooty cat, and I certainly enjoyed creating this character and bringing him to life.
Sooty agree's. I couldn't have done it without him.
Sooty should have been a fluffy soft teddy bear, due to the way he loves cuddling in.
Cats are meant to be strangers in your own home, unlovable, selfish creatures, or so I've heard. Not ask for cuddles like a puppy!
I do have photo evidence of course. I also have another cat called Tipsy. That's another story.




Obviously Sooty has his very own book underway, and he is a cat in that one, but I must get this series of magic owls out first, before starting another project.
The books have been written and edited and are waiting patiently for me to put the final touches to the illustrations and format it all to e-book form. About the illustrations, that was the easy part! The hard part was after. I love art and drawing. I used to make my own cards and scrapbooks, so I thought it would all be so exciting to do.
But I didn't realise how much time and effort goes into it all. Deciding on what pictures to use. How would I colour the backgrounds? would they be left pencil sketches?  Maybe the odd one, but mainly coloured with water paints or pencils, what about brilliant art pens? So a combination then? I couldn't decide at the time, then when I did I would change my mind, then change it back!
 How would I get it onto the computer and adapt it to the size and again colour I was after?
So many decisions and I didn't want to spoil it by rushing. Sometimes I left it for days and with a clean head went back to it, as you do when you write a book or a chapter. When you read it again you see it with new eyes.
I did love the time when the children drew owls in the baltic museum in Newcastle and then pinned then up on the board, that was great fun. So plenty of photo's taken that day.
Then I became aware the place had gone mad with owls. These crazy owls, you will see them everywhere you go now. I got a text to say -'What have you done? the world has gone owl mad!'
'Don't be silly' I said until I came across the newest range in wilkinsons and every other shop I go into!  Not real ones I might add,no,the stuffed variety.Not the real stuffed variety, the plush stuffed! Well you know what I mean.
It is true though, when you are focused on a subject you see it everywhere you go! If it was elephants, then that is what you would find in the isles at asda. If it was pigs, well you get the picture :)

So I am at the stage now where I am being asked when is the book ready to go out?
November I say!
I am still fiddling with my errors.
Today the printer broke, on the same week the boiler died on us, and the stair carpet man didn't come on the day he said he was going to. (The only day I had off work)  instead he came knocking at the door today just as I was in a mad rush out the door going to work.
I need more time! But I have wrote a blog about that, so will just leave time alone. I wish It would do the same for me, from time to time anyway.

Enjoy My cat pictures.