RSS

Monthly Archives: January 2021

Horse, Daffodils and Yarn

The horses on our walk were close to the fence today and seemed as interested in us as we were in them.

The Daffodils we see are now in full bloom.

I heard today the our local hospital are asking again for knitted items for the premature babies. I’m going to make the traffic light hats in red, orange and green.
These hats are destined for the maternity unit at Treliske Hospital. Wheal Fortune where  the post natal ward midwives use them to indicate the level of breast feeding help a mum and baby need.
Red       –  lots of help
Amber  –  some help
Green   –  occasional help but doing well.

 

 

Mittens, Storm and A Sticker

What a day! We watched the inauguration of Biden and Harris and found it very moving and full of hope for the future and we loved the poem, The Hill We Climb, by 22 year old Amanda Gorman, a ray of sunshine, from her words to her yellow coat, as my SIL said.  You can find out more about this remarkable young woman here. Another lovely thing was seeing Bernie Sanders in his wonderful hand knit mittens.

“To anyone watching the U.S. Inauguration events today, I’d just like to point out this iconic knitwear moment, and also say that this photo is the Berniest thing that ever Bernied. No understated classic black leather men’s gloves for our Bernie Sanders — he went for warmth and practicality, and I bet he has the most comfortable pair of hands of anyone there.
Bernie Sanders’ chevron and diamond patterned mittens were made by Jen Ellis, a teacher from Essex Junction, Vermont. She gave them to him over two years ago and he began wearing them on the campaign trail during his run for presidential nominee. They are made from repurposed wool sweaters and lined with fleece made from recycled plastic bottles.” Taken from a Facebook post by The Knitting Needle and the Damage Done.
Storm Christoph is far worse for our friends in the North, Here it is wet and windy but we have no flooding.Our Sailors’ Barometer has been overflowing to tell us that the storm has been overhead.
Our friend, who winter swims with her pals, The BlueTits, has this delightful sticker on her car as we saw on our walk today.
 

Tags: , , , ,

Sun, Marmalade and Reading

A friend sent me this and I love it! I so miss singing it with my choir. I miss my choir. I’m missing the sun too!

Storm Christoph has begun to batter us and is forecast to be around for the next couple of days. It has, therefore, been an inside day finishing off the marmalade this morning and this afternoon, reading by the fire. I’ve just finished “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens, a beautifully written novel celebrating nature, first love and incorporating a mystery that keeps the reader guessing to the last page. If you haven’t read it yet, you have a treat in store. 

 
5 Comments

Posted by on January 19, 2021 in friendship, music, Postaday2021, singing

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Bubbles, Boiling and Marmalade

I’ve spent the day making marmalade, two batches  made and one more batch tomorrow – 16 jars of varying sizes.

Bubbles on the Seville oranges

Beginning to boil

16 jars

 
6 Comments

Posted by on January 18, 2021 in Photography, Postaday2021

 

Tags: ,

Topophilia, Apricity and A Gift

I love finding new words. There is a word for love of a place: topophilia, popularised by the geographer Yi-Fu Tuan in 1974 as all of “the human being’s affective ties with the material environment.” In other words, it is the warm feelings you get from a place. It is a vivid, emotional, and personal experience, and it leads to unexplainable affections. This is the word to describe my love of Cornwall. I grew up in Cornwall and left to become a teacher when I was 18 only returning to visit family for the next 40 years but I always needed to come home. That we did 13 years ago.

St Ives where we had our honeymoon in 1967

Apricity is another lovely word meaning something I have described several times in recent posts without having the proper word – it is the warmth of the sun in winter. I felt it again today.

I was late to the allotment this afternoon and when I arrived the lovely Mr S told me that an allotment friend had been along and brought me a beautiful piece of glass. She had had to remove it from a doorway and had thought of me and my glasswork. It is really lovely and I will enjoy getting to work with it before too long. Thank you very much S. I’ll let you know what I make with it.

 

Tags: ,

Six on Saturday – 16th January 2021

It’s been a mixed week of rain, bitter winds and a sun that is beginning to feel warm! My six today are all pleasing  to see in our garden and seeds for hope for the future

  1.  The edible trough has herbs and lettuces still.

Lettuces in the edible garden, ready to eat

2.  The Alliums are shooting up.

Allium Drumstick/ Sphaerocephalon

3.   There are buds beginning on the Snowdrops.

Snowdrops

4.   Tiny Nigella seedlings have appeared, all self sown.

Love-in-a-mist  

 

5.   There are buds on the Lavender!

Lavender

6.   Seeds for the allotment arrived in the post today!

Sarah Raven seeds

The inspiration for Six on Saturday comes from The Propagator. Pop over to see his posts and to read sixes from lots of other gardeners to find out how gardens all over the world are faring.

 

Tags: ,

Dawn, Allotment and A Celebration

There were lots of beautiful colours in the dawn sky this morning.

A warm sun shone this afternoon and we spent a couple of hours at our allotment clearing ancient gooseberry bushes and weeds out of the fruit cage that we have inherited. We can now see where the currant bushes are and plan on pruning them quite hard soon.

We have been back in Cornwall for 13 years today so had a celebration meal of Chicken Pot Roasted in Milk, Bay and Nutmeg, the meal we made for Thanksgiving, very tasty indeed.

 

Baking, A Parcel and The Sea

My day got better today when LiveWire no2 called to ask if I could bake with him. Of course! Video call and ingredients all ready, we spent a happy couple of hours making Choc Chip and Raisin Cookies. Our lovely neighbour likes it when I bake with him too as we share out the results.

A late parcel arrived yesterday wrapped in this delightful brown wrapping paper.

We really needed a different place to walk today so drove a few miles to the North coast. Our walk was short in the bitterest of chill winds!

Sea at Porthtowan

 

Tags:

Lichen, Primroses and A Painted Window

As we walked along Lovers’ Lane, birds were dropping bits out of the tree above us, among them, this pretty bit of lichen.

There was a letter in The Guardian this morning saying that in Burton in Lonsdale, North Yorkshire, the first primroses have just been seen. Here in Cornwall, we’ve had them in flower since November both in our garden and in the hedgerows as here. 

Walking past the Nursery School this afternoon we noticed the painting of local landmarks on the windows.

And today, I remember my Dad whose birthday this is. He was my rock.

 

School Days, Bryon and Creative Reframes

A filthy weather day so a sorting day and among the treasures unearthed was this school photograph from 1957, first year at Truro County Grammar School. We all look delighted to be there and I do remember being very happy at that school.

1957

This from Lord Byron came my way so I thought I would share it.

I love Nature more…

and this……

 

 

Tags: ,