Hello, dear friends! It's finally October, and I'm welcoming the crisp air of fall and the smell of warm pumpkin bread.

I have an exciting announcement for this newsletter - I am taking submissions of artwork, poetry, and essays for Quill + Chorus!

This month's musing is on adding in novelty into our lives. October is usually when my routine begins to feel tedious, and this year, I'm trying to plan for a few novel things a month - perhaps baking a new recipe or visiting a new place.

In light of this, this October edition has a theme of novelty and nonsense - perhaps we need just a hint of madness in our lives to prevent dull monotony.

This month's poem, Calico Pie, is a nonsense poem by Edward Lear. Our quote for the month is from Alice in Wonderland, a lovely, nonsensical book that is one of my favourites. The painting for this month is titled "The Painter at Tea Break" by Edouard John Menta, a French painter - it reminds me of the Mad Hatter's tea party in Alice in Wonderland.

Poetry

Calico Pie

By Edward Lear

Calico Pie,
The little Birds fly
Down to the calico tree,
Their wings were blue,
And they sang "Tilly-loo!"
Till away they flew,
And they never came back to me!
They never came back!
They never came back!
They never came back to me!
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Calico Jam,
The little Fish swam
Over the syllabub sea,
He took off his hat
To the Sole and the Sprat,
And the Willeby-wat,
But he never came back to me!
He never came back!
He never came back!
He never came back to me!
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Calico Ban,
The little Mice ran,
To be ready in time for tea,
Flippity-flup,
They drank it all up,
And danced in the cup,
But they never came back!
They never came back!
They never came back!
They never came back to me!
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Calico Drum,
The Grasshoppers come,
The Butterfly, Beetle, and Bee,
Over the ground,
Around and around,
With a hop and a bound -
But they never came back!
They never came back!
They never came back!
They never came back to me!

Musings

A Wonderland of Living Adding novelty to our lives Read article

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Artwork

Quotes

"Why, sometimes I've belived in as many as six impossible things before breakfast." - Alice in Wonderland

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Wishing you a delightful October!