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Happiness Calendar, Community Roots and St David’s Day

Today the allotment is no longer ours but our fellow allotmenteers from the last few years came to visit Community Roots to hear about no-dig and to learn all about the garden. It was a very damp and fascinating morning which was greatly enjoyed by everyone. Here are some of them after the tour and after having worked in the new orchard.

It’s St David’s Day and here are more daffodils to honour my Welsh heritage. My Mum’s father was Welsh. They really were nodding in the breeze and the rain as I took the video through the window.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on March 1, 2026 in allotment, community, Cornwall, environment, garden, Happiness, nature, Postaday 2026

Spaceman, Flowers and Cathedral

28 Feb

We loved the Spaceman in the Lemon Street Market in Truro today.

In one of the shops were these lovely felt flowers.

I love Truro Cathedral in all weathers but on a beautiful sunny Spring day like today, it’s even more lovely.

Today is our last official day with an allotment. From tomorrow it will be cared for by a lovely young family.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 28, 2026 in allotment, architecture, Cornwall, craft, paper, Postaday 2026, sculpture, Truro

Curtain, Garden and A Poem

27 Feb

Having finished the curtain for the back door, I had reason to go to my box of bits to make something else and re-discovered a piece of the Laura Ashley fabric I showed you the other day. There was enough to make a curtain so I have made another one for the back door in a fabric we love more.

This was the view from the dining room window as I was sewing this afternoon.

If you have seen the film, Hamnet, you may have wept over the twins. Having twins myself, when I read the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, I found the chapter heartbreaking. One of our twins was very ill as a tiny baby and when we visited him in hospital every day, I always put his twin sister in the cot beside him. I love this poem by Helen Farish.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 27, 2026 in family, garden, poetry, Postaday 2026, sewing, Uncategorized

Tags: Helen Farish, Maggie O'Farrell., twins

Porcelain, Dumbbells and A Word

26 Feb

I have two beautiful little porcelain boxes. They were given to my parents on their Ruby wedding anniversary by the man who was their Best Man and who became my Godfather, Maurice Oldfield. These little boxes became mine in due course and I love them.

In November last year I joined an online exercise class designed for women over 60 and I am loving it! Feeling stronger and fitter and far less arthritic pain. We have just graduated from using cans of beans as weights to little dumbbells weighing twice as much and mine arrived in the post today!

We have rain again today, a soft mizzle and I turned to my beautiful book , Ninety-Nine Words for Rain and this one describes today’s drizzly stuff. I just wish I knew how to say these lovely words.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 26, 2026 in antiques, ceramics, family history, Postaday 2026, Uncategorized

Tags: Limoges

Sewing, The AGM and Reading

25 Feb

I’ve been curtain making today using some wonderful vintage Laura Ashley fabric from 1983. It’s fabric which we used for kitchen curtains in our penultimate home before moving back to Cornwall so it is full of lovely memories of our children growing up, family dinners and birthday teas in that kitchen. I’ll show the curtain in place when it’s hung..

This evening was the AGM for Community Roots which was full of information of what we have all achieved and what we will be aiming for over the next year. One of our directors is leaving and we were all asked to give one word to describe her. As you can see, she is much loved and will be greatly missed. She is the essence of Roots.

I spent the afternoon reading the latest book from The ShelterBox book Club. It’s both harrowing and full of love and hope. I’ll tell you more when I’ve finished it.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 25, 2026 in Celebration, community, Cornwall, friendship, Postaday 2026, Uncategorized

Tags: Laura Ashely fabric, wordle

Raindrops, Primrose and Knitting – February 21st!

24 Feb

Just found in drafts! Whatever happened? Who knows, just forgot to press publish I guess.

February 21st
‘The rain it raineth every day’ as the Fool says to King Lear – and so it goes, but in a dry moment, I managed a photo of a primrose with raindrops.

I was looking at some photos of knitting that I’ve done and found this delightful balaclava I made for LiveWire no 3 ten years ago.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 24, 2026 in Postaday 2026, Uncategorized

Crocuses, Tomatoes and Ukraine

24 Feb

My Suffragette garden is coming into bloom, purple, white and green crocus plants.

You may remember that last week we sowed many trays of tomatoes of various sorts. Today they were up and ready for transplanting and I was so busy doing that I forgot to take any photos. The following photo of Gardeners’ Ecstasy is from the internet, not mine!

We send our love to our friends in Ukraine as the war reaches a 4th anniversary. We remember with great fondness the friends we made among the Hooligan Art Community. Here are some photos from 2023 when they were visiting.

Slava Ukraine!

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 24, 2026 in community, Cornwall, environment, friendship, garden, nature, Postaday 2026

Tags: Hooligan Art Community, Slava Ukraini

Amaryllis, Catkins and Daffodils

23 Feb

The last of the blooms on our Amaryllis is almost gone. The plant has been remarkable, two stems and nine blooms in total. I hope I can look after it properly so that it’ll do the same next year.

Spring is on the way, more rain and mizzle but also Catkins. The image is a bit blurry as it was windy and all five photos I took were out of focus!

I wish I could show you the daffodils lining the lanes all over the place. The yellow blurs by as I drive around to choir and it makes me smile. There were some in the car park too so here’s a taste of the loveliness.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 23, 2026 in Cornwall, environment, nature, Postaday 2026, Uncategorized

Sunshine, Armandii and A Poem

22 Feb

Today we woke to rain but in no time the sun had come out and it was warm so we were able to get into the garden.

Steps up tp the garden lined with Tête à Tête

The Armandii, planted last year, is flowering well..

I love the programme The Verb on BBC radio 4 on Sunday afternoons. Today Ian McMillan was talking to Katie Clarke, Director of Literature at The Reader organisation, about reading poetry with people who have dementia and the magic that can happen just as it does when my choir sings in care homes. One of the poems she described as touching a patient was a poem I had never heard before. I hope you enjoy it as I did.

Happiness by Raymond Carver,

So early it’s still almost dark out.
I’m near the window with coffee,
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought.

When I see the boy and his friend
walking up the road
to deliver the newspaper.

They wear caps and sweaters,
and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.
They are so happy
they aren’t saying anything, these boys.

I think if they could, they would take
each other’s arm.
It’s early in the morning,
and they are doing this thing together.

They come on, slowly.
The sky is taking on light,
though the moon still hangs pale over the water.

Such beauty that for a minute
death and ambition, even love,
doesn’t enter into this.

Happiness. It comes on
unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.

https://allpoetry.com/poem/8520185-Happiness-by-Raymond-Carver

Do go to BBC Sounds and listen to the programme. It was really moving.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 22, 2026 in environment, flowers, garden, Happiness, literature, nature, poetry, Postaday 2026

Tags: Ian McMillan, Katie Clarke, Raymond Carver

All About Primroses

20 Feb

I love primroses as I think I may have mentioned before, so when I saw a sensory herbalism course featuring the primrose, I knew where. I had to be this morning.

It was a delightful morning, gentle and life affirming to be in the company of like-minded others, to learn about the primrose, to draw, to find words, to really ‘see’ the flowers, leaves, structure and special qualities of the primrose, to discover its healing properties and to drink delicately delicious primrose tea. The sense of calm I left with has lasted all day.