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Porcelain, Dumbbells and A Word

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.

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.

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.

2 Comments

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.

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.

Beautiful plant card artwork by Fiona Owen

Thanks, F, a brilliant morning.

6 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 20, 2026 in community, environment, nature, Postaday 2026, senses, Uncategorized

Tags: community roots, The Big Shed

Singing, Reunion and A Beach

19 Feb

After a lovely sing this morning, I drove to Porth near Newquay to meet with a young colleague whom I haven’t seen for maybe 30 years! It was a delight to hear all about those years and even to feel a sense of pride in her success as a prize winning podcaster. Do have a listen to Weird in the Wade especially if you are interested in history and the slightly spooky. . N is on holiday here so it was lovely to catch up and have a very windy walk on the beach together. I enjoyed the evidence of youngsters playing in the sand.

Here we are singing. https://www.facebook.com/reel/25793568737001908

4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 19, 2026 in art, Celebration, Cornwall, environment, friendship, nature, Postaday 2026, Uncategorized

Tags: Nat Doig, Porth, Weird in the Wade

Buttercup, Tête à Tête and A Poem

18 Feb

Despite even more rain, there was a brave buttercup in the garden and the tête à tête in the front garden have suddenly brightened up.

Many years ago when her children were still little, mine rather more grown, my kid sister sent me the poem about not spending time dusting when life offers so many more opportunities especially when one’s children are young. I’ve always loved it but had forgotten about it until a dear friend at Roots reminded me of it. Thank you P.

Dust if You Must by Rose Milligan written in 1998.

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

I wondered if I had posted the poem before in the almost 15 years I have been writing this blog and so put the word ‘dust’ into my search bar. It was such a delight to read back over so many posts that I had forgotten.

4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 18, 2026 in environment, flowers, friendship, garden, nature, poetry, Postaday 2026

Potatoes, Primroses and Pancakes

17 Feb

There was a bitterly cold wind up at Roots today but the hardiest of the volunteers planted all the potatoes. A less hardy group of us planted tomato, aubergine, pepper, fennel and celery seeds. Others were transplanting the baby onion plants from seed trays into modules.

Amy among the rows of potatoes

There are more beautiful primroses in our front garden.

It’s Shrove Tuesday and this evening we’ve had savoury pancakes stuffed with ham and sweet corn followed by crêpes suzettes with the juice of ruby red blood oranges.