For any readers that haven't cottoned on yet, the reason for this blog's title is this book - Mrs Armitage on Wheels - written by the wonderful Sir Quentin Blake. In the book Mrs Armitage says quite frequently "What this bike needs.....". She thought it needed things like "somewhere to wash your hands" after getting them dirty doing something to her bike. And somewhere to put her dog. I used to love reading it to my children. Some time ago I penned this poem to the said knight and sent it to him, though sadly never received a reply (sob sob....). Today is a Bank Holiday here in the UK and I thought some light hearted reading, such as this, was called for. If you're not in the UK, well, I hope it brightens up your day anyway. If not, you clearly need a bike ride.
To
Sir Quentin Blake
Dear
Mr Blake, I don't know how,
You
ever can forgive me,
But
here I am, down on my knees,
Begging
you for mercy.
I'll
try to be brief, cut a long story short,
And
trust that you'll be kind,
And
let me off all copywrite fees,
(I've
no money to pay, you'll find).
Now
please Mr B., keep calm, carry on,
Whatever
you do please don't shout,
But
I've used her words - I'm sorry, I'm sorry!
There,
I've said it, it's out..........
And
now - “Whose words?” I hear you bellow,
“Mrs
A.'s, Mrs A.'s!” I reply,
She's
long been my hero, my bicycling hero,
But
still, I hear you ask - “Why?”
Well
you see Mr B., I'd decided to write
A
blog about cycling and sewing,
And
I needed a name that stood out from the crowd,
To
start my readership growing.
So
I thought long and hard and came up with a list,
Hours
and hours it took,
But
none had that, I don't know, je ne sais quoi,
Until
I remembered your book!
”What
this blog needs.....” I said to myself,
As
I twiddled with my necklace of beads
“.......is
Mrs A.'s words!” and there you have it -
Read
my blog – it's called “What This Bike Needs!”
Apologies
for not addressing you as Sir in the poem but Mister scans better.
And now I'm off on my bike!
