The Swing

Winter in Western Australia can bring some beautiful clear sunny blue sky days, and so it was on Sunday afternoon when we took our grandsons down to the playground along Koombana Bay in Bunbury. This playground opened in early 2018 and since then has been very popular with families and a great place for picnics along the sheltered shores of this family friendly safe beach. 


While we were there a girl was swinging on one of the swings, and it brought to mind a song I used to sing as a child when I was swinging on our back yard swing. My Dad had built us the swing attached to the side of his shed. And I used to try and swing so high that my feet would be level with the roof of the shed. A bit like what this girl in the photo below appeared to be doing. Watching her took me back to those years.

How do you like to go up in a swing,

   Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

   Ever a child can do! 

Up in the air and over the wall,

   Till I can see so wide,

Rivers and trees and cattle and all

   Over the countryside—

Till I look down on the garden green,

   Down on the roof so brown—

Up in the air I go flying again,

   Up in the air and down!

The swing tree

 

After I came home I searched on the net for the words to the poem (though I knew it as a song) and discovered that the poem was written by Robert Louis Stevenson. I only knew of his works Treasure Island (which we had studied as a novel in first year high-school), and Kidnapped. I don't know if I really enjoyed reading about the adventures of Jim with the pirate Long John SIlver, but study it I did, and I still have my copy of this book. 

I didn't know until yesterday that Robert Louis Stevenson had also written children's verse. First editions can still be purchased.

" First published in 1885, the first printing of A Child's Garden of Verses ran 1000 copies by Longhaus, Green and Co in London. This book was not illustrated until the 1896 edition, published 2 years after Stevenson's death. The collection contains about 65 poems, and many of the poems, including “The Land of Counterpane,” take a positive perspective on Stevenson's own childhood which was plagued by sickness. He dedicated the work to his nurse Alison Cunningham. 

Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, musician and travel writer. (13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) Although he died at just forty four years old and suffered from ill health the majority of his life he managed to travel and write extensively in that short period. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Kidnapped, and A Child's Garden of Verses."
 biblio.com.au

Since then the book has been illustrated many times. One of the earliest illustrated editions was in 1905, published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, it had a coloured illustrated title page and 12 full page colour plates, plus line drawings throughout.

How glorious are these illustrations!  I cannot confirm if the line drawing below is by Jessie Willcox Smith, but the colour illustration are.

Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith

Clicking on the link will take you to a selection of the poems.  A Child's Garden of Verse

And to finish a quote from the man himself - 

I couldn't find on You Tube the version of the "song" that I knew, but I rather like this version - with music by Linda Trillhaase

Thank you so much for stopping by. Did you know that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote poetry? Did you enjoy swinging as a child? Do you still swing? I think I need to ask my son to erect a granny style swing under the trees at his new place - no swinging my legs up high for me now though!

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

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ThroughMy Lens 

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Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
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The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit and 50 Shades of Age
Little Things Thursday

Life in Reflection

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Puzzle this! - Amaze'n, Margaret River, Western Australia

It's been school holidays here the last couple of weeks, and we have had a few sleep-overs and day stays with our grandsons - aged nearly 9 and nearly 11. Last week we took them to Amaze'n, which is just south of Margaret River in the south west of Western Australia. Amaze'n is a great place to spend the day with children and is great for adults too! There are several mazes, as well as a 18 hole mini-golf course, and other games to play, such as a giant chess game, and indoor puzzles. And beautiful gardens to stroll around. You can bring your lunch, cook your BBQ, and sit at the picnic tables in the shady gardens, or buy lunch at the Cafe. And so everyone can be included, all paths are pusher and wheelchair friendly.

The centre piece is the 3 metre high giant hedge Maze which was planted in 1994, spread over half a hectare and with 1.5 kilometres of paths. We let our grandsons take the lead. I had no idea where I was, so I am glad they were leading the way.

Light the Night

On Wednesday we joined my son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons as part of Jen's team for Light the Night in Bunbury, which is an initive of the The Leukaemia Foundation to raise awareness of Leukaemia and raise funds for the wonderful work they do supporting families. We went along to support Jen and to remember Jen's mother, Dora, who died on 26 February 2008, suddenly and unexpectedly from acute promyelocytic leukaemia. 

As part of the night, the people attending walk with coloured balloons, remembering those they have lost, celebrating those that have survived, and thanking supporters. 

I didn't take many photos, but two that I did take I share with you here, of my grandson's Jamie and Owen - Jamie who only knew his grandmother for 2 years and Owen who never knew her. I know she watches over them. They are such a special part of my life.

These photos were taken in low light, and I didn't want to use the flash, so I used a high ISO to get this shot. I know it has a bit of blur, but I rather like the effect - and these snapshots of a slice of time in their young lives. 

This is the greatest love of all  xxx

You can see a poem and photos about Dora and our grandchildren here -  
For Dora - our beautiful boys