It shouldn’t be a problem…

Interview someone — a friend, another blogger, your mother, the mailman — and write a post based on their responses.

They say to do an interview.

‘’With me?’

There’s no one else.

‘It shouldn’t be a problem.’

It is!

I write in verse!

‘I guess that is a problem

For you though not for me.’

I guess you’re right.

We’ll have to try.

Let’s get on and see.

So can you just remind me

How did we two meet?

‘I can not really answer

You just came up with me.

You looked for an imaginary friend

And landed on your feet.

You haven’t been around too long?

‘Too true. We’ve barely met.’

‘So what is it you want from me?’

I’ve not decided yet.

What can we do together?

What’s your idea of fun?

‘Just knock off this silly prompt

And then I think we’re done.’

You mean you’re breaking up with me?

You mean our friendships through?

‘It feels like you’re just using me.’

But what else can I do?

‘You’re straining a relationship

That’s hardly yet begun.

I’m sorry it’s just difficult.

And hard for everyone.

It’s just that I’m a poet

It has to be in verse.

‘You make it sound

Like my own fault.

I didn’t get a choice!

Now I feel you’re blaming me

And that just makes it worse.’

So what do you find most difficult

As my imaginary friend?

‘You ask all the questions

And it’s all on your own terms.’

Well if that’s your attitude

We better end it there.

I just did what they asked me to

It isn’t very fair!

Feeling just like….

How are you feeling right now?

I’m feeling just like fine ok

Wonder why you ask?

Nothing to report just yet

So far all is fine.

Been out for the morning run

Gentle one today.

Showered and had my breakfast

On the coffee now.

Sun’s out so I’m happy

Should be a good day.

Have to get some shopping

But a trip planned later on.

River up at Cliveden

Trip in a canoe

Belonged to Lady Astor

That should be good fun.

Lady Astor’s Electric Canoe, Cliveden

Hoping for a good day

So that’s a happy me.

Retirement kind of suits me

That’s the way days go.

I try to strike a balance between exercise and rest

What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?

I try to strike a balance

Between exercise and rest.

They’re equally important

To get you at your best.

I lead an active lifestyle

So make sure that I rest

Short breaks in the daytime

And an early night a must.

You will not get the benefit

From exercise alone

It’s actually the recovery

That helps to make you strong.

I try to get a good nights sleep

Eight hours if I can

I’m usually up out early

To take my morning run.

But I balance long with shorter runs

And faster runs with slow

And make sure that there are rest days

When I don’t run at all.

Recovery will take longer

When you are getting old

I rest less than I ought to

If the truth were to be told.

But chief among my habits

It’s to get a good nights rest.

I’m off to bed quite early

To rest my weary head.

If I get ads for dustbins…..

What was the last thing you searched for online? Why were you looking for it?

The last thing that I looked for

Was of course this Jetpack prompt

It helps to get me writing

Prolongs my daily streak.

Though if you’re talking searches

And not just clicking apps

It’d be the bin collection

But no one will read that!

Have they changed the day this week

For this Bank Holiday?

Is it black or green today?

Garden waste or trash?

As far as I remember

As exciting as it gets.

But Google has my history

And knows much better than me.

If I get ads for dustbins

I’ll know this was a trick

Checking out my interests

So you can sell me stuff.

Google knows my habits

Can tell you where I’ve been

Knows the stuff I’ll need to see

Before I’ve chance to think.

Brand new Doctor Who

What TV shows did you watch as a kid?

We didn’t have a telly

Till I was round bout ten.

We’d mostly lived abroad till then

And didn’t have a set.

Not that there was much to miss

They only had one channel

And children just had Children’s Hour

And maybe Watch with Mother.

Bill and Ben, the Woodentops

Andy with Looby Lou

Rag, Tag and Bobtail too.

These were shows for younger kids

But I would watch them too.

For older kids the thing to watch

Was brand new Doctor Who

I remember that very first show

And who played Doctor Who.

They hadn’t found the Daleks yet

That was yet to come.

They’d landed in a junkyard

Where Tardis fitted in.

It always played on Saturdays

Just after the results

First you’d get the football scores

And then they’d play the tune.

The sets were kind of shakey

They’d run down corridors

But we’d seen nothing like it

So it really was a hit.

You’d hide behind the sofa

Many an episode

But I still feel nostalgia

For proper Doctor Who.

I have no ‘favorite’ anything – the word comes with a ‘u’!

What’s your favorite time of day?

I have no ‘favorite’ anything!

The word comes with a ‘u’!

What’s with you in the USA

You can’t respect our ‘U’??

Y’all took the ‘u’ out of ‘humour’

You took it out of ‘honour’ too.

What’s so wrong with the letter ‘u’

That it fell out of ‘favour’ with you?

You’d think that a country

called U S of A

would honour the letter ‘U’

But you just refuse to use it

and don’t spell like we do.

Yer should respect r langwige

If yer going to ewes it yer know

Somehow English is never the same

If you don’t respect that ‘u’.

I love the early morning

When I go for my run

Yes it’s my favourite time of day

But must come with our ‘u’.

How to cook Basque Chicken

What’s your favourite recipe?

My wife makes great Basque Chicken

A truly scrumptious dish.

I asked her how to make it.

It goes a bit like this.

She likes to use a recipe

She took from Delia Smith

Chicken thighs and olives

Pepper, baked with rice.

Plus chorizo sausage

And paprika to spice.

First you take your chicken joints

My wife prefers the thighs.

Sprinkle salt and pepper

To season them all well.

Now prepare the peppers

Slice them into strips

Carefully remove the seeds

And put them to one side.

Now you take some olive oil

And gently fry the chicken

Just to brown them overall

And get them nicely golden.

Now put the chicken to one side

Add peppers and some onion

Chuck the whole lot in the pan

And fry it all five minutes.

Chorizo now goes in the pan

And then sun dried tomatoes

Now you put the chicken back

Add rice to other ingredients

Stir it up and coat the rice

Suck up all the goodness.

Now add other ingredients

Tomato paste, paprika

and a little thyme.

Then you have to add some stock

Just a little wine.

Special edit at this point

Forgot to add the chicken!!!

Bring it to a boiling point

Then let it simmer down

Cook on low heat for an hour

Then it will be done.

Though we prefer

It oven cooked

And use a casserole.

A really sumptuous tasty dish

And great for dinner parties

Easier than I made it sound

Reading Delia smarter!

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/spanish/chicken-basque

Kelly’s Gold

Tell us about the last thing you got excited about.

Asked about excitement

My mind turns first to sport.

I’m thinking Paris Olympics

And Kelly Hodgkinson’s Gold.

The women’s 800 metres

Where Kelly was favoured to win

Though disappointed twice before

On her our hopes were pinned.

She took it out right from the first

Our Kelly took the lead

But maybe she’d gone out too quick?

Would such a plan succeed?

Twice round the track

Ahead of the pack

But they’re still on her heels.

The tape was in sight

And we all had a fright

It looked like they might catch her up.

But Kelly was bold

She pushed from the front

Kelly held on to win.

The joy on her face

A thing to behold

She brought it home!

The Gold!

Cities have to happen

How would you design the city of the future?

Cities have to happen

They cannot be just planned

They need a bit of history

A patina of age

Yet buzz with life and energy

Embracing every change.

So cities of the future should

first respect their past

but have the flexibility

to be right up to date.

Within them there’d be ‘villages’

Reflecting different moods.

Twixt work and entertainment

You’d easily commute

Blessed with public transport

And tree lined pleasant routes.

There’d be a retail centre

With space to leisure shop

A place where you could try things on

Support the online shop.

Cinemas, Theatres

an entertainment zone

With galleries and studios

A real creative buzz.

Replace old, derelict areas

With great, green urban parks

And plenty fresh green corridors

Where we can walk or bike.

Modern, airy housing

We’d build on edge of town

With excellent insulation

Good facilities round.

Well planned public transport

An easy route to town.

There’d be great places to mingle

With great big open squares

Ideally be a river and

Water running through.

It’d be well kept and tidy

Awash with trees and flowers

And really excellent wi fi

To keep us all plugged in.

There’d have to be employment

A chance for folk to work

So enterprise and commerce

And businesses diverse.

So that’s my kind of city

The one I’d like to see

But frankly it won’t happen

If you leave it up to me!

You might assume we‘re English

Where did your name come from?

My name is not unusual

You’ll hear it quite a lot

You might assume we‘re English

But in fact my family‘s Scots.

My grandad came from Scotland

North West of Aberdeen

The stretch along the Moray Firth

Is where you’d find our Greens.

There’s plenty in the census

A common local name

Back at least two centuries

You’ll find us Scottish Greens.

But Scots or English meaning

It’s pretty much the same

Most likely lived near greenery

Not much more to the name.

My other name is Andrew

For Scotland‘s patron Saint

And middle’s Alexander

Which was my Grandad‘s name.

So Andrew Alexander

Two quite Scottish names

An Englishman of Scots descent

A very common name.

Less common up in Scotland

But still a common name

Lots of other Andrew Greens

But we‘re not all the same.