Sitting early morning in the chair
Counting the flowers that have been, no longer there:
Surprised by snowdrop
Atoned through aconite
Joy abundant daffodil
Loud the Bluebell
Whispered a cowslip
And now yon backwash of greens
Other colour hardly seen
I wait the rose, of course
Japanese anemone promising
Mallow soon be showing pink
Wallflower round the garden sink
And I shall rise the same,
From this auld chair
A moving to the window,
Stand and stare.🙏

The dying embers of a setting sun

Takes its place,

The disappearing voice

Of bairns ending fun

Stored until another day

When the rising orb declares the time,

Is yours, and maybe even mine,

If I’ve got my timing right

When day cometh out of night.

Where’s yon orb A spoke aboot?

Covered oer wie tufts o fluff

A had pit oot my shorts and polo

Ach, A’ve aboot had enough

It’s nae surprise

Ma spirits rise

The minute A see its face,

But it never takes oer long

Fir muckle clouds tae take its place

Heatwaves forecast, then nowt,

Eclipes Ellispsis is about.

Till May is oot

At 28 degrees A cast, withoot a doot.

Yesterday wis hotter

Than that teaser Maggie Potter

A tried tae keep things cool

By dampening a toowel

And pitting it oer ma heid

An only lifted it aince at lunch

Tae hae a drink an feed.

Sae dinnae listen

When yon orb does glisten,

Cast yon cloot, an throw it oot

Summer’s here, withoot a doot.

I noticed as I strolled across the park,

It wisne raining, it wisnae dark,

And folk were sitting all around,

On blankets, benches and on the ground.

It cannae be May, I said tae myself

As I put the woolies on yon shelf,

And donned the shorts, (a wee bit tighter)

I put that down tae that all-nighter.

Think I’ll put them on the day,

Tae wander through the darling buds o May.

After a hectic year caused by one thing or another, JP Associates has made the decision to step into the breach once more dear friends.

THE GOOD PRESBYTERIAN

or not as the case may be should be in your area by Easter 2026.🙏

Is out now on Amazon Bookstore. LL is a very personal journey taken by Annie and myself over recent years.

Apologies that it is not on Kindle but as a booklet there’s not enough pages for LL to qualify for Kindle.

We do hope you enjoy learning of the journey we have taken.

Author’s note. Before reading switch on your imagination.

Alan.

Dear Readers it’s been a wee while since COIN hit the high streets and low streets and I am working hard on the next JP Associates adventure.

In the meantime, Annie and myself have been working on a wee booklet that might interest those who wish to make changes in their lives or indeed see how we went about making some changes ourselves.

The hardback copy of Learning Love is for sale on Lulu.Com and will be available on Amazon in the near future. Paperback booklets will be available from me soon at cost price. Just contact alanfpaddison@gmail.com or on WhatsApp.

Thank you! Alan

And some folk say, it will never last, but only until that blast from their past.