Summer arrived in Cornwall today as we celebrate the Summer Solstice. Happy Solstice to you all, Dear Readers.
A friend sent me a photo of a delightful post-box topper of Stone Henge, the perfect piece for today.
I follow the lovely poet, Lemn Sissay, and today he posted a delightful video of one of his poems, ” ‘How do you do it?’ said Night” being sung at Stone Henge. We sing this one too and sang it for the Solstice at this morning’s rehearsal.
We worked at Community Roots again this morning and, like all the volunteers, came home with a wonderful bouquet.
A friend who comes to Roots has also been sewing patches for the hustings next week. I love this one. 
I spent the afternoon at the allotment, tending the tomatoes, picking our first crop of Broad Beans and doing a bit of weeding. There is a lot more weeding to do!
I missed a crafitivism session last week so have made my piece today. The pieces made are to be presented at the hustings next week to all the candidates standing in our upcoming election to remind them of their obligations to the world.
It’s a green heart with a white daisy and a purple centre and small purple, white and green flashes as on my tattoo which represents the Holloway brooch, reminding all that they should vote!
I’ve spent a happy hour browsing through Being Alive, a fabulous poetry collection and thought you might like this one by Billy Collins. It makes me think of the way exams ask for what the poem means rather than how it makes you feel.
Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out, or walk inside the poem's room and feel the walls for a light switch. I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author's name on the shore. But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.
I have cut three of the beautiful golden roses we were given for our Golden wedding some years ago. They smell divine. 
This intriguing gate is in Montecatini Termé, Tuscany.
I like this new word.
And it’s Father’s Day so just a word to remember my lovely Dad.
What a fabulous day in our town as everyone came together to celebrate William Murdoch, inventor and mechanical engineer whose home in Redruth was the first in the country to be lit by gas light. The town was thronging for the parade. All the schools had a section with wonderful things they had made. The theme for this year’s parade was Engineering Heroes and the schools did it proud. Make A Mends also recognised many female inventors! I hope the gallery gives you a flavour of the day.
The Storycoat had another outing and this time, my patch had been added. I was so delighted to see Gracie Briney, embroidered by me, on the front of the beautiful coat worn by our young Town Crier.
Max, Redruth Town Crier, leading the parade, stopped to show me my patch!
Badges were being made of all the patches on the coat. We each made a story coat badge and, of course, a Gracie Briney badge.
My badges
Last night was a Georgian party to start off the weekend and our lovely neighbour called in afterwards to show us this year’s outfit.
For the last 30 years, since she died, I have been using my Mum’s handheld electric mixer to make all my cakes. Last week, it broke having been in use for at least 50 years! I now have a new one and it is both light and really quiet and beat up the mixture in a flash. Here’s to many more cakes!
Here’s the cake that I have made for tomorrow’s market on Murdoch Day in Redruth. Watch this space for the parade and more festival fun.
We’ve bought a new Agapanthus called Fireworks. It is gorgeous. I’ll show you again when it’s in full bloom. Behind it you can see the beautiful cream flowers of the Ginger Lily.
On our drive yesterday we passed many wind turbines. I find these very elegant and lovely. I tried many photos but most were blurred. Here’s one that worked. 
We drove up to Saltash yesterday so that we could take our car to the Refit people at 9am. I love the names of villages as one moves through Cornwall.
We spent the day at a marvellous museum/gallery, The Box, in Plymouth. Here are some of the lovely pieces on view. Click on any photo in the gallery for a bigger view.
There were several school groups in the gallery today and as one group of about 8 year olds went into the Ocean exhibition, I heard one boy exclaim, “These are really crazy hats!” I need to pass this on to our lovely neighbour, Sue, as she and her sister made several of the hats.
There was such a variety of exhibits and all so lovingly and beautifully displayed. If you are ever in Plymouth, make sure you visit. We also had coffee and delicious cake and a very tasty lunch.
The bus ride from Saltash to Plymouth and back, went over the Tamar Bridge and I managed to get a couple of photos through the bus windows.
I have just finished reading one of the most enjoyable and pleasing novels I’ve read in a long time. Someone on our Italian trip was reading it and recommended it. She was right.
“The Dictionary of Lost Words” is an imaginative and engrossing story about words, language, love and loss all tied up in the life of a growing-up narrator who is five years old at the start in 1886 and helping her “Da’ in the Scriptorium. The novel ends in the 1920s as the Oxford English Dictionary is published. 
The evening sun makes lovely shadows above the mantlepiece – here of a beautiful piece of Esther Smith’s work, an automaton of a Hare and a flower.
We have had a torrid three weeks with a medical problem hanging over me. Today, it has been resolved and all is well, much to our enormous relief.
Commentator Award
