Amber is fortunate to have a wonderful book which records the opinions of her great great grandmother and grandfather and here you can read the fascinating opinions of her great great grandmother.
I decided to have a go at answering the same questions. Some of the questions are quite hard and I would possibly change some answers but this is how I have answered them today -

The noblest aim in life
to live true to one’s convictions

The Greatest wonders of the world
the terracotta warriors, the internet

The characters you most admire in real life
adventurers / mountaineers

Who do you consider the greatest living politician?
Mandela

What political questions are you chiefly interested in?
what is the best form of government

The greatest artists and musicians
Picasso, Van Gogh, Jim Morrison, Simon & Garfunkel

Your favourite characters in fiction.
Sherlock Holmes

The time of year you like best
autumn

The authors you admire most
Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky

A Brief Definition of love
enduring passion

The scenery you admire most
cliffs and the sea

Your idea of happiness
playing with my son, travelling the world, writing a good poem

Your favourite motto or proverb
know thyself

The wrongs you would redress
rights of asylum seekers

Reforms you would advocate
lowering the voting age

Your favourite recreation or hobby
reading / writing poetry

The true place of woman in society
whatever they want to be

Your favourite topic of study
philosophy

Your chief ambition
to live without regrets

The Christian name you like be
if only I knew then we wouldn’t still be arguing over baby names!

Your ideas on the subject of marriage
The cornerstone of society

The qualities you respect most in men and women?
honesty, determination and passion

Your favourite flowers, birds and beasts
tulips, herons, otters

Nothing to do with poetry but I really love this website. It's a kind of fashion blog with daily photographs of ordinary Berliners. The blog says:

"We try to document the urban, cosmopolitan and multicultural spirit of the city, we live in. Fashion can describe what a city is, so we take photos of outfits that stand out and capture that spirit within them."

I love the many crazy outfits and the wee snippets of the city but most of all I love just seeing ordinary folk so expressive in their clothing, reminds me of the personality and range of fashion in Glasgow's West End.

Came across the site via Sarah-Jane's very amusing blog (she also writes great poetry!).

I'm now officially devoid of imagination / inspiration and don't particularly want to spent the rest of the month posting old poems that are just going to be rubbish no matter how much I rework them.

I'm not saying I won't be writing any more poems this month, but right now it seems that if I can manage even one more it'll be a miracle. Thanks to those who have persevered reading through my attempts at a poem a day. I feel I've got some good stuff to work on, the poems seemed to come easy the first two weeks, I guess I've got to work out how to hold onto the pattern of just writing each day.

In a bid to catch up I've cheated slightly and reworked some of my old discarded poems to see if I can get anything worth keeping out of them.

NaPoWriMo 15

Cappadocia

Your homes are carved

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NaPoWriMO 16

Chance Meeting

I dreamt we would meet
by the Danube at night.

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NaPoWriMo 14

That winter she birthed a seal.
The pup slid, blind,

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Events are conspiring against me so I'm still behind on my poem-a-day.

NaPoWriMo 13

The cherry blossoms bud bronze.

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I'm a bit behind in my poem-a-day due to general life getting in the way and a few bad headaches which made looking at the computer screen impossible. Anyhow I hope to catch up!

NaPoWriMo 11

Blonde sand surrounds me
in minor billows.

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NaPoWriMo 12

Wind chimes

Wind chimes sing from the eaves,

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A not very good sonnet today!

NaPoWriMo 10

Poppy Fields (Monet)

She walks in lush green fields. The poppies rise

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NaPoWriMo 9

I woke early
to a world misted,

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NaPoWriMo 8

Among the graves
they photograph

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NaPoWriMo 7

Aquarium

Under lilac lighting
they flow.

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NaPoWriMo 6

Rock Pool

Rock pools are mirrors,
sun reflectors,

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NaPoWriMo 5

The curve of beach wall
is the curve of a mother

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NaPoWriMo 4

At night I listen
to their black hearts pumping,

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NaPoWriMo 3

She rises from the beach

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It's been a rough week - the boy's got a bad cough which means he's not sleeping much which means I'm not sleeping much, and we've got mice though I'm hoping not any more as all methods are currently in place to get rid of the pesky creatures!

I've just realised it's National Poetry Writing Month. I attempted last year to write a poem a day for the month of April and gave up half way through. So I'm giving it a go this year too. I probably won't have a poem for every day and I'll be away for a few days here and there but for fun and a good excuse to churn out drivel that might awaken a few ideas for poems down the line here's my first two efforts -

NaPoWriMo 2

On barnacled sandstone I lie,

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NaPoWriMo 1

The stained-glass town,

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