Friday 3 June 2011

Lenny Lee - Fest

Lenny Lee's World
Spreading Lenny Lee sunshine ... 



Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud – a Positive Letter to Lenny at Lenny's World all about that magical extra large critter ... the Hippopotamus ...

The Hippo-pot-amus :








A bold Hippopotamus was standing one day
On the banks of the cool Shalimar
He gazed at the bottom as it peacefully lay
By the light of the evening star.
Away on a hilltop, sat combing her hair
Was a fair Hippopotami maid
The Hippopotamus was no ignoramus
And sang her this sweet serenade:


South African sign in
English and Afrikaans
'Mud, Mud, glorious mud
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood!
So follow me, follow me
Down to the hollow
And there let us wallow
In glorious mud'


The fair Hippopotama he aimed to entice
From her seat on that hilltop above
As she had no-one to give her advice
Came tiptoeing down to her love.
Like thunder the forest re-echoed the sound
of the song that they sang when they met
His inamorata adjusted her garter
And lifted her voice in duet
(in Russian)


(in Russian, DS sings, MF translates --> See bottom of page)


Hippo from the Greek for 'river horse' 

'Mud, Mud, glorious mud
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood!
So follow me, follow
Down to the hollow
And there let us wallow
In glorious mud!'


(That should improve our cultural relations)


The bold Hippopotami began to convene
On the banks of that river so wide
I wonder, now, what am I to say of the scene
That ensued by the Shalimar side?
They dived all at once, with an ear-splitting splosh
Then rose to the surface again
A regular army
of Hippopotami

All singing this haunting refrain:


'Mud, Mud, glorious mud
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood
So follow me, follow
Down to the hollow
And there let us wallow

In glooooor-i-o-u-s mud'!



Recommendation for this Positive Letter to Lenny and his family (and all friends and commenters) to sing along to the YouTube video – and enjoy the wallowing in the gloooooor-i-o-u-s mud!


YouTube video of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann singing their song – enjoy ...


I’m sending you a few scented flowers as you’ll need them after your wallow ... ?!

To an inspirational little lad, LENNY LEE, whose blog with its smiling face I love – sent with a big hug – Hilary



Lenny's World - His blog

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

66 comments:

Judy Croome | @judy_croome said...

LOL, Hilary, I'll be singing mud, glor-i-o-us mud, the whole day now!!! :) Off to get a glimpse of Lenny Lee's smiling face...
Judy, South Africa

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Judy - it's fun isn't it .. I was up at Mum's Home yesterday and someone had put on a CD - when that song came on and the resident, with us and the staff, were all happily singing along .. coincidence..

I love Flanders and Swann songs .. and of course there's an African twist to it! Lovely seeing - great comment .. cheers Hilary

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Everyone - just in case Blogger is doing it's thing .. if you can un-embed your comment box - that seems to release 'things' and allows us to comment .. Blogger have recoded their template, which messes up commenting on embedded boxes.

If I haven't got your email and it's not on your profile .. then I can't let you know ..

Many thanks .. I have just had this problem .. and perhaps by commenting here - people will pick up the gauntlet and change their comment box - to un-embedded.

THANK YOU - Hilary

Jessica Bell said...

So gorgeous, Hilary!!!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Jessica .. many thanks .. I love these songs and I hope Lenny and his family will too.

Great seeing you here - cheers Hilary


PS my previous comment .. I see I got my its and it's .. itsyies all muddled up .. but you know what I mean I hope .. sorree .. Lenny wouldn't have done that!

Theresa Milstein said...

"Mud mud, glorious mud
nothing quite like it for cooling the blood".

That's going to be in my head all day! It will probably be in Lenny's too. What fun!

Robyn Campbell said...

Absolutely precious. Lenny will love it. I know I did! :-) (love the glorious mud.)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Theresa .. I know it's been in my mind since I decided that this was the best thing for me to post .. but it's fun! (for now?!)

@ Robyn .. great - thanks for the comment .. we'll all be wallowing I suspect!

Lovely to see you both .. Hilary

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Hilary, this is fantastic! Now I want to play in the mud! (Minus the hippo, of course...) Lenny will love this. The tune will be rattling around in my head all day.

Connie Arnold said...

How fun! That will bring a smile to anyone's face, and I'm sure Lenny will love it!

Anonymous said...

Well now, that was different. I do like hippopotamuses. They are fun to watch on TV. Dangerous too. They kill a hundreds of people each year by tipping over their boats and biting them to death. They can even kill huge crocodiles. So I won't be petting one any time soon. Only admiring them from a distance or on TV.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

I LOVED this, Hilary--loved it!! I'll be singing about mud all day now. I'm sure Lenny will enjoy it too. :-)

Talli Roland said...

What a wonderful letter for Lenny, Hilary!

Angela Ackerman said...

Great job with this--you captured Lenny so well with all the great colors and fun imagery!

Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

Matthew MacNish said...

This is so cool! Lenny is the very best.

Hi Lenny!

And for some reason I wasn't following your blog, but I am now.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Sheri .. smiles all round .. the dancing hippo mademoiselle would be fine! It's rattling around in my head ..

@ Connie - I sure hope the family enjoy it too .. I feel they will - critter lovers all ..

@ Stephen - yea .. it is different for a special little lad. You're right they're very dangerous and bad tempered .. though this chap seems to be love lorn!!

Wallowing in their waterholes is spectacular to see .. I've been priveleged there ...

@ Shannon - THANK YOU!! sure hope Lenny loves it as much as I did colouring it up .. !!

@ Talli .. thanks - just makes it fun for them I hope ..

@ Angela .. good to see you here - and thanks re the post .. it was fun, as you can imagine!

@ Matthew .. good to see you again .. I think I need to resubscribe too .. I'm sure I followed.

Lenny is the best - and boy has he gots lots of reading to do .. which will amuse him and the family for many a day I hope ..

Hi to Lenny from us all - and have a very happy wallow everyone this weekend .. cheers Hilary

Anonymous said...

Bravo! Excellent. Very cheering. fabulous letter for Lenny. :O)

Anonymous said...

Hi, Hilary. Great blog post!

I had no idea there was going to be a Lenny Lee Fest today.

Hi, Lenny! Have a GREAT day!

Wellington Artist said...

As you commented on my post giving is better than receiving and you always give us such inspirational posts. Thanks.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

LOL! Lenny will love your post, Hilary! I'm sure he'll be singing Mud Mud and driving everyone in his house crazy. :)

Hugs to Hilary and Lenny!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Madeleine .. thank you .. I gather Lenny is bowled over .. I was so pleased to hear - happy and shocked and sad ... but happy overall.

@ Susanne .. wonderful that you're saying 'Hello to Lenny here' - special lad .. it's a great Lenny Lee Fest ..

@ Sandy .. yes - it is so important isn't to think of others and not ourselves .. Lenny certainly deserves loads of love ..

@ Sharon .. thank you so much for helping me out and for organising this with Theresa ..

I gather 'a song' has been noted .. hope this is it! Oh dear .. Mud Mud glorious mud .. it's just a wonderful song though ..

Hugs back to everyone and have a wonderful wallow .. at the weekend .. cheers Hilary

Marinela said...

Absolutely beautiful post, funny and cheering!
Hi, Lenny! Have a lovely time!

Bossy Betty said...

Wonderful story! I love Lenny!

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

A regular army
of hippopotami


Awesome! And what a perfectly delightful poem/song for Lenny! Bravo!

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

How cute! I particularly liked the scented flowers you provided to sweeten the air. :)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Marinela .. thanks .. I love Flanders and Swann .. and I hope Lenny and his family will too ..

@ Bossy Betty - he's a great lad .. so this is an absolute pleasure for him ..

@Susan - good to meet you .. and yes .. their words and the rhythm Flanders and Swann attain is just gloooor-i-o-u-s ..

There are some wonderful phrases in the poem ..

Thanks so much Marinela, Bossy Betty and Susan .. have a wallowing weekend .. cheers Hilary

~Sia McKye~ said...

It's been awhile since I visited your blog, Hilary. I picked the right day. what a cute song and one, thank you very much, that will be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. lolol!

Have a great weekend!

Sia McKye's Thoughts...OVER COFFEE

Len Lambert said...

Awesome awesome post, Hilary! Love it!

Vered said...

Funny! I got it stuck in my head now... mud, mud, glorious mud! :-)

Dianne K. Salerni said...

Okay, now I've got that rousing refrain stuck in my head. Mud, mud, glorious mud!

nutschell said...

what a happy hippo. I feel like that sometimes--not like rolling the mud, but like a hippo. heehee. have a good weekend!
nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Karen Lange said...

What fun! Never heard anything quite like it. :) Thanks for sharing, Hilary, and thanks for the flowers!

Have a wonderful weekend,
Karen

Davina Haisell said...

How cute was this! :) Very catchy, Hilary. Just like the others, I've now got "mud, mud, glorious mud," singing in my head. You know... Vancouver sees a lot of glorious mud! :)

Susan Fields said...

What a fun post - this will be sure to give him a good giggle!

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

I'm off to work in the garden tomorrow, and guess what? I'll be singing this song. Wonderful, Hilary. Loved it.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Sia .. I was thinking of you yesterday & thought I must come over again - excellent to see you .. glad you enjoyed the song ..

@ Len - many thanks .. wonderful words

@ Vered .. sorreee!! but fun ?!

@ Dianne .. it certainly has a rousing refrain .. good to meet you ..

@ Nutscell .. yes two happy hippos .. more running up and down that hill I think will cure that feeling?!

@ Karen .. delighted I've introduced you to Flanders and Swann - brilliant songs and lyrics from the 50s and 60s ..

@ Davina .. thanks for coming by - ah well then - you've the right place to have a wallow or two?!

@ Susan .. good to meet you .. I do sure hope Lenny will have a good giggly time

@ Joylene .. happy working in the garden .. if there's some wallow around - at least the ground will be easy to work

Wonderful array of comments - thanks everyone for visiting .. have a wallowing lovely weekend .. cheers Hilary

Linda said...

Glorious - not a term I would have used to describe mud, but then I'm not a hippopotamus. To them I suppose it is quite refreshing. Tis a cute ditty.

Inger said...

Samson Says he would love to be one of these critters for sure! And his mommy left a comment in Ain't for City Girl's box to let her know that you were not able to and also that I myself changed to a popup window and that I like it. I really couldn't tell her what to do, of course.

I did remove your comment, but only once I saw it. I don't have approval for comments unless they are over a day old. I didn't quite understand what the problem was, if any. Something about weird followers? I do have some that I wondered about initially, but that was a long time ago and so far no problems.

ain't for city gals said...

Hi Hilary...Canyon Girl says you have been trying to leave a comment...I will try to follow your advise and un-embed my comment box but not sure how to do it...seems most people can comment and I am still having trouble leaving comments on some blogs...ugh!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Linda .. it just makes the whole glorious mud wallow rather delicious especially if you're an amorous Hippopotamus.

@ Inger .. thanks - Samson can sure come and join in the fun.

@ Inger and Sheryl .. as Inger has done ..

Go to dashboard, then Settings, then Comments tab within the Settings feature ....

3rd radio button choice down ... middle one says 'pop window' .. click that, NB remember to save settings at bottom ...

Cheers hope this helps - others have done it and it's released commenting!!

Thanks Linda, Inger and Sheryl .. good to see you - Lenny deserves lots of blog love - and big hugs across the airwaves ..

Have wonderful weekends .. Hilary

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Really fun, Hilary! Thank you!!!

Monti

Denise Covey said...

This is gorgeous Hilary and so is lenny!

Denise<3

MunirGhiasuddin said...

"Mud mud glorius mud" indeed.
I don't know about England, but when I was younger, in India some rich ladies actually used to go to a spa for getting a "mud mask" facial done. It was to get rid of wrinkles I guess. My parents told me that soap and water was good enough for me. Oh those younger days:) This is too funny !

Unknown said...

What a cool song. I'm sure Lenny loved it.

Sibyl said...

Great story Hilary ...singing in the mud :)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Monti .. glad you enjoyed it!

@ Denise .. I absolutely agree - Lenny and his family are very special

@ Munir .. Mud Masks are still around .. whether we have/had mud holes = I doubt! (too cold) We are a soap and water family too!

@ Clarissa .. I hope so .. I'll think of them singing it ..

@ Sibyl .. it is a wonderful story - just so full of joie de vivre for a couple of hippos ...

Thanks everyone .. have glooooor-i-o-u-s Sundays .. Hilary

Lola Sharp said...

LOVE this! (and Lenny, too, of course :)

Also, I'm not sure there is a cuter baby animal than a baby hippo.

Huggles,
Lola

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Lola .. thanks so much .. I can imagine the family have a really happy weekend reading the blogs, commenting and generally enjoying themselves - what pleasure has been given ..

Baby hippos - well I hate to be in the bed and one said roll-over .. slightly squashed me, I think?!

Cheers and huggles too - good word - thanks for following .. Hilary

Anonymous said...

Please stop by my blog to pick up the award I've nominated you for.

Glynis Peters said...

Wonderful! Love the uplifting spirit in the words.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Susanne .. many thanks for the irresistibly (now I can spell it!) sweet award - I just needed to add some cream .. delicious!

@ Glynis .. I expect you know Flanders and Swann quite well .. but I hadn't realised how incisive their songs are .. it was a fun post to draft - especially bearing in mind the special lad it was for .. Lenny!!

Cheers Susanne and Glynis - lovely seeing you here .. Hilary

TALON said...

Hilary, loved the video - I'll be singing that now and probably end up dreaming of mud tonight!

I never knew how really dangerous Hippos were until I watched a documentary. They are fascinating, though, and look so unassuming!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Talon .. great that you watched the video .. it was an example of simplicity .. letting the words and music tell the story.

As you say they are very dangerous .. and are huge! I'm not sure I'd call them unassuming!

Thanks for coming over and leaving such an interactive comment .. cheers Hilary

Barbara Swafford said...

Hi Hilary,

What a fun post. I'm off to check out the video and Lenny's blog.

That's very sweet of you to promote his work.

Love and ((hugs)) to you and Mum.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Barbara .. good to see you and thanks for helping me out: Blogging without a Blog is an excellent resource for us all.

Mud mud gloooor-i-o-u-s .. mud will be with you for a few days!! Lenny's blog is amazing .. and just so brilliant for an 11 year old ..

Thanks for the love and hugs to my Ma - as you know she loves them all! .. and we send them over to you .. Hilary

Rosalind Adam said...

I loved that song when I was a kid... still do. I'd never visited Lenny's blog before but now I have and he writes with great passion. His letter to him mom made me cry. Thank you for spreading the word.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Rosalind .. me too ... yes a visit to Lenny's blog is a tear up .. it's desperately loving in its giving .. and I am so grateful Theresa, Sharon and Shannon asked me to join in ...

Thanks so much for your visit and for linking over to Lenny's blog .. hope you're having a good week .. Hilary

MTeacress said...

I've seen a few friends on Facebook covered in mud and cannot figure out why. This hippo store reminded me of them. ;)
Have a good week!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Michelle .. I suspect, if they're British, they've been to a music festival and it's rained - boy should you see them .. I drove that way (not realising - lots of people!) a number of years ago & stopped to fill up with petrol, etc .. and the kids were covered in mud - head to foot .. then I reaffirmed why I wasn't in to those things!

So you're right the hippos wallowing around .. and if they were singing this song - it would be perfect!

You too .. have a good week .. cheers Hilary

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Hilary, How much fun you are! You are a delight. I will go now and see Lenny. thanks much.

Anonymous said...

Lol. mud mud glorious mud.
Brilliant

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Teresa .. thanks so much .. I can make things slightly pretty .. and as he loves his critters .. thought this would be a good one .. Lenny's very special.

@ Richard .. just seemed so right .. and

delighted it amuses you both and all others .. I'm off to wallow - Hilary

Liara Covert said...

Kinda inspires you to get into mud wrestling on a whole new level. It is not simply a spectator sport...

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Liara .. great thought .. I wonder if anyone else thought of that?! Fun idea - cheers Hilary

Karen Lange said...

Fun post! Hopping over to see Lenny. Haven't been over there for a little while. :)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Karen .. it is isn't it - I love the Flanders and Swann songs ..

Glad you're going to see Lenny - he is one amazing kid .. love a child that wants to learn .. cheers Hilary