Good-bye 2011 …

2011 by Anneliese Emmans Dean, www.theBigBuzz.biz

I wonder what 2012 will bring …

Happy New Year to one and all!

For more of my Rhymes of the Times, click here

And here

Anneliese Emmans Dean – theBigBuzz

Rhymes of the Times 2011

It’s happened once before. Last July I was performing on a barge and was upstaged by … the resident parrot:

Yesterday I was performing in Poppleton, and was upstaged by … a musical tie! Yes, ’tis the season to be jolly, and so Mr Chris Spencer decided to get into the festive spirit by sporting his best novelty Christmas tie to my Rhymes of the Times show. Only he accidentally nudged said tie into action during my show – much to the hilarity (once we’d tracked down the source of the ‘music’) of the rest of us! Take a listen …

Mr Spencer and his musical tie. Poppleton, December 2011

I performed two Rhymes of the Times shows this week, in which I ran through the events of the past year in satirical poems.  The surprise hit of both shows was one of my February poems, entitled ‘Sports Thoughts’, which you can hear here:

Thank you to everyone who welcomed me so warmly at King’s Manor (where I’d performed my Rhymes of the Times in 2009) and Poppleton Arts (where I’d previously performed my Buzzing! show).

Feedback from both this week’s shows was great:

‘Brilliant!’

‘Made me forget all my aches and pains!’

‘Really, really lovely!’

‘I enjoyed it immensely!’

‘Utterly enjoyable’

‘Wonderful’

Me (Anneliese) with John Craven and Alwyn Taylor after my Poppleton Arts Rhymes of the Times show, December 2011

For an entertaining Rhymes of the Times show where you are, contact me, Anneliese: info@theBigBuzz.biz

Meanwhile, you can catch up on all last year’s events in my Rhymes of the Times 2010 Kindle ebook, available from Amazon

Rhymes of the Times 2010, available now for Kindle

Anneliese Emmans Dean – theBigBuzz

Ledbury Poetry Festival: Schools

Ledbury is a beautiful historic town in Herefordshire that plays host to a fabulous poetry festival each year (where I myself have performed).

Across the rooftops of historic Ledbury

But the Ledbury Poetry Festival is far from being a once-a-year flash in the pan.  It works throughout the year to promote poetry amongst  people across the age range. And as part of this work, I had the great good fortune to be invited back to Ledbury last week to work in a couple of local schools.

I very much enjoyed my visits to Cradley Primary School and Bromesberrow Primary School, where I was welcomed warmly by the staff and pupils.

Bromesberrow Primary School in Herefordshire

What did I get up to in these schools? Well, I’ll let the Cradley News tell you:

‘Poet and photographer Anneliese Emmans Dean entertained us all with her brilliant ‘Buzzing!’ show – a selection of her wonderful poems and stunning photographs with musical interludes. We also learned quite a lot of science along the way! Anneliese worked with all the children throughout the day: Years 3 and 4 wrote beetle haiku poems; Years 5 and 6 wrote minibeast poems and Key Stage 1 became a giant millipede!’

There are some very talented budding poets down Cradley and Bromesberrow way, and I very much enjoyed working with them and watching them perform their poems at the end of the day.  I was also thrilled to read some of the poems that KS1 pupils had written in class after our Millipedes Galore workshop. Take a look at this wonderfully imaginative piece from Owen, for example:

Owen's poem

There are also some talented naturalists. When I got to the ladybird section of my Buzzing! show, for instance, the pupils at Bromesberrow told me they had a whole crowd of ladybirds in the very room I was performing in.  So, I went to have a look, and lo and behold it was  a cluster of Harlequin ladybirds.

Harlequin ladybirds in Herefordshire

I had heard of Harlequin ladybirds massing like this, but I’d never actually seen them doing so. They provided a very useful springboard into our beetle poetry writing. But I’m not sure I’d like a whole host of them in my house!

I’m letting the Harlequin Ladybird Survey know about this sighting. If you see Harlequins where you are, do tell the survey.

I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone involved in my Herefordshire adventure, including the wonderful Fran Godfrey, who ferried me through beautiful countryside to the right schools at the right time, Victoria Patch and Chloe Garner of Ledbury Poetry Festival, and Alan who allowed us to stay in his beautiful house.

And if you’d like to be edu-tained with my ‘brilliant’ Buzzing! show at your school, just get in touch: info@theBigBuzz.biz

Anneliese Emmans Dean – theBigBuzz – Bringing Poetry to Life

Penultimate Buzzing! photo …

As I type this, the wonderful designers at Brambleby Books are busy designing my (soon-to-be-published) Buzzing! book. I have delivered around a hundred of my minibeast photos to them for inclusion in the book, but I have been missing two key photos – until yesterday!

Yesterday, John and Katy invited me to their bee hive here in York.  Katy opened the hive up specially so I could take photos of the honeybees and honeycombs.

Katy opening up her bee hive, York, 30.10.11

I hadn’t realised it would be such an adventure, involving both Katy and me donning protective suits. But what a fabulous adventure! The beauty and industry and precision of the bees was astounding.

Anneliese marvelling at the honeybees, York, 30 October 2011

I took lots and lots of photos (getting a fair bit of beeswax on my camera in the process!) so as to be sure to get a good one for my Buzzing! book. Now I just have to decide which photo to use! Will it be this one, I wonder …?

Katy's honeybees at work, York, 31.10.11

The photo is to illustrate my honeybee poem, ‘Floella’, which celebrates the geometrical virtuosity of honeybees. Having seen their honeycomb so close up for myself now, I’m even more impressed by them!

Thank you so much to Katy and John for taking the time to share their honeybees with me.

So, now I’m just left with one photo to find. Anyone in the York area got a wasps’ nest I could come and photograph? If so, do email me fast!

Anneliese Emmans Dean – theBigBuzz – Bringing Poetry to Life

The World’s Longest Apple Poem?

Not to be outdone by the ‘Longest Apple Peel’ competition happening just behind me, last Saturday at St Nick’s (aka St Nicholas Fields/York Environment Centre) I presided over the writing of  ‘The World’s Longest Apple Poem’.

Anneliese presiding over the creation of the World's Longest Apple Poem, St Nick's Apple Day, 2011

The poem was called ‘The Amazing Adventures of Pip the Apple Seed’, and as Apple Day wore on, more …

Adding to the World's Longest Apple Poem, St Nick's Apple Day 2011

and more …

Adding to the World's Longest Apple Poem, St Nick's Apple Day 2011

and more people came to add their couplet to the poem …

Adding to the World's Longest Apple Poem at St Nick's Apple Day 2011

The poem got longer …

Adding to the World's Longest Apple Poem, St Nick's Apple Day 2011

and longer …

Adding to the World's Longest Apple Poem, St Nick's Apple Day 2011

And Pip’s adventures became more …

Adding to the World's Longest Apple Poem, St Nick's Apple Day 2011

and more amazing …

Adding to the World's Longest Apple Poem, St Nick's Apple Day 2011

Until finally, the poem we created was this long:

The Amazing Adventures of Pip the Apple Seed - The World's Longest Apple Poem?

And if you’d like to read the poem, and find out what amazing adventures Pip the Apple Seed had, then click here.

Thank you to everyone who joined in creating such an amazing adventure for Pip the Apple Seed. And to all involved in putting on a wonderful Apple Day at St Nick’s. (Especially the person who booked such gorgeous sunny weather for the event.)

Apple Day at St Nick's 2011

At the end of the day, one little girl who’d helped write the poem handed me a note on which she’d written:

‘Thank you for organising apple day. This is the best day I ever had.’

I hadn’t anticipated ending Apple Day with tears in my eyes, but I did when I read that.

If you’d like some poetical fun injecting into your event, contact me

Anneliese Emmans Dean – theBigBuzz – Bringing Poetry to Life

Marks and Spencer and me!

Oooo – I’m on sale in M&S! Well, not me exactly, but one of my photos. In a 2012 calendar that M&S has designed to raise funds for the Woodland Trust. Mine is the January image  – a snowdrop that I photographed one cold winter’s morning, still covered in dew.

Anneliese with her snowdrop photo in the 2012 Marks and Spencer calendar

Beady-eyed readers may remember that this image was in the calendar I created myself some years back to raise funds for the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

This year, my photos are again being used in my popular BigBuzz Christmas cards, which are being sold to raise funds for the Mwabi Institute, founded by York nurse Wishart Malinga in his home village in Malawi.

Yuletide York - my unique BigBuzz Christmas cards, on sale at www.theBigBuzz.biz

Order your cards here

These deluxe cards are designed by me and printed here in York by eco-friendly waterless process on FSC certified card. They depict some of the most beautiful doors in historic York, decked out in their Yuletide splendour. Can you work out which door is in which street?

The cards are on sale in packs of 5 from various outlets in York as well as on my website, where they cost £3 per pack, or 2 packs for £5.

Order your cards here

Meanwhile, don’t forget I put on photography workshops for children, families and adults to help you take fabulous nature photographs with simple point-and-shoot cameras or camera phones. Find out more

Contact me for details

Anneliese Emmans Dean – www.theBigBuzz.biz – Bringing poetry to life

After-dinner entertainment is Buzzing!

Thank you to the ladies of Adel Ladies Luncheon Club in Leeds for making me so welcome last week. I greatly enjoyed meeting them, sampling their delicious food, and then entertaining them with a ‘Garden Heroes and Villains’ Buzzing! show.

I have had some lovely feedback from the ladies about the show, including from Margaret who wrote that it was:
‘Fantastic. The best talk ever!’

Speaker secretary Maureen wrote that it was:
‘Excellent. Bright and colourful and lively and very interesting.’

Meanwhile, it was also very enjoyable to meet the Senior Tours Canada party who were visiting my home town of York last month. I entertained them after their evening meal at the Dean Court Hotel with a ‘Bugs of York’ Buzzing! show. I introduced them to, at one end of the spectrum, our beautiful Tansy beetles (only found in York) and, at the other end, the Death watch beetles that are trying to eat their way through some of our historic buildings. And there were plenty of butterflies and bees inbetween.

Tansy beetles, unique to York. Photo copyright Anneliese Emmans Dean

The Senior Tours Canada Tour Leader, Jane McKay, wrote afterwards that the show was:
‘Really fun and interesting!’

It was very interesting for me too to hear from members of the party about the wildlife they have in their gardens in Canada, including Monarch butterflies and hummingbirds …

If you’d like your after-dinner entertainment to be Buzzing!, then contact me to discuss your requirements.

Anneliese Emmans Dean – theBigBuzz – Bringing Poetry to Life

‘Rhyme and Dine’ response!

What a lovely crowd came along to my York Food Festival ‘Rhyme and Dine’ evening at Bedern Hall yesterday. Thank you to one and all!

Rhyme and Dine at Bedern Hall on Tuesday 20 September

Especial thanks go to one Cap Fowles, who at the end of the evening came and performed this ditty for me:

Thank you very much Miss Poetry Bird
These were the best rhymes I ever heard

I came here at my wife’s suggestion
And your rhymes really helped my digestion

Feedback from other diners included ‘Delightful’ and ‘A brill performance!’

Roger Lee and his staff made us very welcome in the stunning surroundings of Bedern Hall, which I think is one of York’s hidden gems. They served us a delicious meal of local, seasonal produce, giving me the opportunity to perform entertaining poems on subjects ranging from Pommes dauphinoise to Apple Crumble!

Click here for full menu details

Roger Lee of Bedern Hall, who created a fabulous meal for our Rhyme and Dine evening

If you fancy trying out the ‘Rhyme and Dine’ experience, then contact me, Anneliese, to find out more!

Me (Anneliese) at the end of a very enjoyable Rhyme and Dine at Bedern Hall

Anneliese Emmans Dean – www.theBigBuzz.biz – Bringing Poetry to Life

‘Rhyme and Dine’ at Bedern Hall

York on a fork – with poems to tickle your taste buds!

To celebrate York Food Festival, I have joined up with Bedern Hall in the centre of York for an evening of sizzling poetry interspersed between the courses of a sumptuous meal.

This Rhyme and Dine event will take place on Tuesday 20 September, starting at 7pm.

Do come and join us! Book online here
or phone 01904 653698 or email Bedern Hall

We have created a Rhyme and Dine menu that showcases the best of local, seasonal produce, much of it from Bedern’s own gardens. And I have written humorous poems to complement each dish.

Rhyme and Dine at Bedern Hall on Tuesday 20 September

I’m really looking forward to performing in the stunning surroundings of Bedern Hall, which is the 14th-century dining hall of the Vicars Choral of York Minster.

My Rhyme and Dine evenings have been described as ‘sublime’ and ‘fabulous’: ‘Her words were as luscious as the food’. Find out more

The mouthwatering Bedern Hall Rhyme and Dine menu we’ve created consists of:

• Butternut squash soup with lemon
• Navarin of Lamb with ratatouille & pommes dauphinoise
• Spinach & fettle pancakes (vegetarian option)
• Apple crumble or cheeseboard
• Coffee & chocolates

Tickets are just £28, and include:

• Welcome drink
• 3 course local food menu plus coffee
• Entertainment throughout the evening

Book Your Tickets Now online!

or phone 01904 653698

or email Bedern Hall

Hope to see you there!

Anneliese Emmans Dean
www.theBigBuzz.biz – Bringing Poetry to Life

Moth Day magic

Well, our first ever Moth Day at St Nick’s went well. A packed venue and it even stopped raining long enough for us to be outdoors and go on a moth walk round the nature reserve!

Yorkshire Moth Man Dr Dave Chesmore’s morning session consisted of an introductory presentation about how to identify moths, followed by the opening up of the moth trap  set up the previous night at St Nick’s.

Dr Dave Chesmore opens the moth trap at the St Nick's Moth Day

Then we set about trying to identify these moths, using the skills Dave had taught us …

Identifying moths at St Nick's Moth Day

After a moth walk round the nature reserve, the day ended with a Buzzing! Moth Show from me – with more moth photos and poems than ever before.  One lady who came along said it was ‘her special treat to herself’!

You can listen to the last poem in the show by clicking below:

Thank you to Ivana for all her organisational work setting the day up, to Dave Chesmore, and to everyone who came along.

Happy Moth Hunting!

To put on a Moth Day where you are, email me

Anneliese Emmans Dean – www.theBigBuzz.biz