The Sebright Club
  • Welcome
    • Our Committee
    • Site Map
  • In The News
  • Fact
    • A Potted History
    • More about Sir John Sebright
    • Breed Standard
    • Breeders Directory
    • Show Dates & Results >
      • 2023 Results
      • 2020 Results
      • 2019 results
      • 2018 results
      • 2017 Results
      • 2016 Results
      • 2015 Results
      • 2014 Results
      • 2013 Results
      • 2012 Results
      • 2011 Results
      • 2010 Results
    • Reading Matter
    • News Articles
    • Sebrights At Home
    • Artist's Corner
  • Photos
    • Photos 2018
    • Photos 2017
    • Photos 2016
    • Photos 2015
    • Photos 2014
    • Photos 2013
    • Photos 2012
    • Photos 2011
    • The Federation 2011
    • The National 2011
    • The National & Federation 2010
  • Fiction
    • Gordon & Sylvia's Diary
    • The Red Fluffy Earmuffs
    • A Seasonal Tale
  • Store
  • Contact Us
    • Membership Form

The Double Rainbow

15/9/2015

 
Mother Nature treated us to the most beautiful double rainbow over the Wattlebury maize yesterday afternoon. Little Josie tilted her head sideways and gave us a fine rendering of her loudest Call Duck call. Roughly translated it went something like this:
Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream,
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
High above the chimney tops,
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?
Picture
Gavin rather unkindly reminded her that she was a duck and not a bluebird. Quite unnecessary. Young Donna got out her colouring pens and notebook and starting drawing rainbows, whilst Sylvia sang the Rainbow song to her.
I can sing a rainbow
Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow too
Listen with your eyes, listen with your ears
And sing everything you see
I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow
Sing along with me


"But that's not right Uncle Gordon!" piped up Norman. "We were taught at school that Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain!"
A bright one, that one. I explained that Sylvia's song had all the right colours - perhaps not their technically accurate names - but in the wrong order - because if you had purple on the end of the line, it is a devilishly tricky word to rhyme with.
"You know Norman - because that is a double rainbow the colours are back to front on the outer arc." I added. Seeing that Norman wasn't going to be satisfied with this, I scratched my head and continued:
"In the first or lower rainbow, the arc shows red on the outer part and violet on the inner side. This rainbow is caused by light being refracted when entering a droplet of water, then reflected inside on the back of the droplet and refracted again when leaving it. In the double rainbow that we are seeing, a second arc is seen outside the first arc, and has the order of its colours reversed, with red on the inner side of the arc."
And with that Donna put her colouring pens away with an annoyed huff and muttered " First I get told the wrong colours and then I get told they are round the wrong way. I blame Richard of York!"
Gordon and Sylvia xxx

Dear Prudence

14/9/2015

 
We have some friends at our farm who are much bigger than us. Very much bigger in fact. But not quite as big as Bruce the Brahma was. There is Gavin who gallops around. Bob who bobs around and quite a few others, including Prudence.
Prudence is extremely beautiful and ladylike. Nothing flusters her and she is very kind and gentle. Dad took Prudence in her special basket to a show on Saturday. And she won Show Champion! We all clapped our claws in delight when we welcomed her home.
Picture
Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play?
Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day
The sun is up, the sky is blue
It's beautiful and so are you
Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play?

(The Beatles 1968)

Swap Hooks, Squatelings and a Knuckerhole

12/9/2015

 
It had been a rather chilly start to the month. We have had heavy dews in the mornings and the warmest temperature that we have struggled to in the daytime has been a mere 19 degrees Celsius. The September sun has been bright and you can still feel the warmth under a direct beam, but the north-east wind - although light - seemed to keep the temperatures firmly under control. We feel a little sad now that autumn is definitely upon us. The days are much shorter - less time for grubbing - and we do like the warm sunshine of summer on our backs.
Today however is a bit different - the clouds are scudding from the west and it is warmer, but drizzly. Hey-ho. The plan for today is cleaning out a big stable. Now that Jeremy (formerly Jemima) has left for a new home, things are a lot calmer. With just Lucy and Josie to throw water around in the Big Chicken's quarters, it isn't quite so soggy. Time therefore to clean and freshen!
We all help of course. There is the muck heap to play on. Worms to dig for. It will be a day of great fun!
Mum cut the nettles down from the manure heap last week with her swap hook. We have a well-worn plank with a 1:4 gradient on the approach and had to hold our breath as Mum teetered and tottered up it with her hook in one hand and tall, dense nettles all around - looking a little like the Grim Reaper in a paddy. Will she have to put her free hand down to steady herself, we wondered? It would have been painful. But joy! She made it to the top unscathed and triumphant and set to lopping with a vengeance.
"Where does the name Swap Hook come from, Uncle Gordon?" asked my little nephew, Norman. An inquisitive one, that one. 
I explained that it was probably a Sussex name for a reaping hook or sickle and that a swap cuts shrubs and when your swap won't cut anymore, you get out your rubber and sharpen it.
"They have been around for donkey's years, Norman. The development of the sickle in Mesopotamia can be traced back to times that pre-date the Neolithic Era. Large quantities of sickle blades have been excavated in sites surrounding Israel that have been dated to the Epipaleolithic era. That's 18000-8000 BC."
Norman was not phased by this. Unfortunately.
"What other Sussex words do you know, Uncle Gordon?"
Oh dear.
"Well. The footpath on the way to school that runs between the tall hedges is known as a Twitten. Windog are the white clouds blown across the sky by the wind - like today - and Squatelings are female conversation. Oh and a Knuckerhole is a spring that rises in the flat lands of the South Downs."
With that Norman bounced off to join in the Squatelings that his sisters and mother were having. What a relief! Gordon xxx

    About Us

    Hello! My name is Gordon and I am a Gold Sebright and my best friend is Sylvia. She is a Silver Sebright. We live with our foster parents on a small farm in the country.  We thought that we would put our take on life and what we get up to through the year into a diary for you. All the characters are real and the events are a true record,  interpreted with a modicum of poetic licence. We hope you enjoy it. Love Gordon and Sylvia

    You can also follow us on Facebook -
    Gordon Sebright
    or on Twitter (X.com)
    @GordonSebright
     


    Archives

    December 2018
    April 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    November 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

Website by Gordon Sebright