Helen Sjöholm

 


I sit at the kitchen table a lot. 
Here I read, write, explore the internet and think.
If the weather is fine and the yappy dogs silent in their nasty new build house beyond the garden wall, the back door is open to the sound of birdsong, the arguing of the sparrows and the caws from the rooks over the glebe to the East.
I’ve suffered the barking earlier, but it’s 11am now, and it’s peaceful 

I won’t talk to anyone today. 
Why would I ? It’s Easter Sunday, but I found this wonderful musical interlude, by the Swedish singer Helen Sjöholm and her support singers

I turned it up full blast and let their voices fill the cottage and Churchyard beyond my garden




56 comments:

  1. That was wonderful, an unexpected joy. Thank you. Jxx

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  2. I hope the yappy dogs enjoyed that too 🙂

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  3. Yapping dogs? Could you not ask their owner to get the culprits' voice boxes surgically removed?

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    1. The debarking doesn't cause a silent dog. They learn to huff through the sinus. One of ours was forced to be debarked due to a horrid neighbour (he sprayed the dog with water in the winter, would tease it until he barked). We were told to get rid or destroy the dog by the dog warden. No other neighbours complained and told me I had the misfortune to have bought the house next to the street arsehole. They even sent letters supporting our poor boy. He learnt to huff through his sinus. Lovely neighbour then reported him again. Dog warden appears as neighbours dog is howling and pitching a fit (it did make a lot of noise). Dogwarden said "poor boy" patted my dog, and went next door to have chat with the neighbour. Turns out nobody (us included) ever lived in the house for more than three years.

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  4. Anonymous11:21 am

    My little dog has separation anxiety and only yaps when I have to go out. My neighbour says she sometimes even howls. I can’t even take her with me in the car, because when I go into the store she barks and I am afraid someone would break my car windows and get her out. Most of the time it is either too hot or too cold to leave her in the car anyway. Dogs are not allowed in most stores here in Toronto. So I stay at home with her most of the time. She had my daughters old unneutered chihuahua chasing her around the house yesterday while we went out for a quick birthday meal for my 84th and it was very quiet when we returned. I only see this daughter about 3 or 4 times a year and the other one I saw once after seven years so I do miss being in their presence. Thank god for telephones and texting. I know it is hard to relax and do nothing when home alone but hope it helps your arm so you get back to Madrid soon. Gigi

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    1. These dogs just excite each other a bark like dingos

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  5. Anonymous11:24 am

    By the way I don’t leave her out in the yard if she barks and only leave her inside if I leave the house. Gigi

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  6. Sandra11:33 am

    Happy Easter from America. You are a comfort to me.

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  7. Now there's an idea, John. Get some friends round your kitchen table, fling the doors and windows open and belt out a few songs! xx

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  8. Enjoy a peace-filled day!

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  9. Happy Easter John! Hope you have a peaceful and enjoyable day.

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    1. Yes we all went down to the seaside at teatime

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  10. Happy Easter, John!

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  11. Anonymous1:42 pm

    Having to listen to somebody's music when you just want to be quiet is awful and yet you think the yappy dogs are a nuisance!

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  12. Barbara Anne1:44 pm

    Hope the yappy dogs enjoy the glorious music and remain silent.
    Your surroundings must feel so serene. Hope you enjoy a wonderful day and that your arm and shoulder are recovering their strength.

    Hugs!

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    1. No change in my arm. Movement I’m afraid

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    2. Oh, dear. Pls let your doctor know tomorrow.

      Hugs!

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  13. It is indeed a lovely song. Enjoy your peaceful day, John. Happy Easter!

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  14. John i can so comiserate with yappy dogs through the years...and not my dogs... at the moment no yappy dogs live close enough to me to bother me... I never understood how people with yappy dogs could stand their yappy dogs and not make them stop... they were so much closer to them than me... how do they take it? Maybe they have better blocking out skills? ... Hugs! deb

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    1. Yapping dogs are a product of over indulgence and poor training

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  15. Happy Easter, John! If you, a dog lover, find those dogs annoying I can only imagine how awful they must be.

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  16. I'm picturing the loud music setting off the yappy dogs, then the neighbor yelling---everyone howling along in the springtime air. LOL!

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    1. Their household is a loud one , Everyone shouting, no wonder the dogs are yappy

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    2. My usually silent pug has started barking at sundown, and there is nothing out there to bark at, just waves and wind...like human dementia ''sundowning'', agitated. Vet thinks pain or anxiety, w sudden painful hips. It's so quiet here, I know people will complain soon.

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  17. Anonymous5:48 pm

    John, you are a comfort to so many of us. That is such a gift. If I had your number I’d call you. Happy Easter! Carol in Atlanta

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    1. Thank you carol, we all went down to the. Beach , which blew the cobwebs away

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  18. I hope you enjoyed your peaceful day. Happy Easter!

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    1. I took the dogs down to the beach at teatime and we shared a small fish and chips and listened to the Archers

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  19. Anonymous6:04 pm

    That was quite, quite lovely

    Lee

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    1. The harmony is quite magical Lee

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    2. Anonymous8:33 pm

      Isn’t she the actress from that choir film you loved so much?

      Keith

      Xx

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    3. Yes a lovely Swedish movie

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  20. Happy Easter - enjoy the day with your little family.

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  21. Curious. Happy Yeaster, as the baker said to his crew.

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  22. kruzingwithk9s11:37 pm

    I would rather listen to yappy dogs than the 25 neighbors we have in the country shooting. It scares my dogs.

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  23. Thank you for the video. I would not have known of this otherwise.

    Will Jay

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  24. Retaliation with more noise doesn't work. We once lived next to a Down Syndrome boy who needed his TV on loud in order to hear it. When his parents went out, they left him with the TV to keep him occupied. We couldn't enjoy sitting outside. We should have discussed it with our neighbours, but found it too difficult as we had not walked in their shoes.

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  25. That was beautiful, it reminded me of my Madrigal Society days at school.

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  26. Hope you found peace in the day.

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  27. We had a lovely peaceful Easter Sunday too, even the motorway in the distance was quiet as sadly it was closed due to an accident. The clip was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. xx

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I love all comments Except abusive ones from arseholes