Singing was particularly good today, uplifting on a grey day and afterwards just twelve singers in a brief rehearsal for a Humanist Wedding I am conducting on Monday. The small group sounded just wonderful and I think they will add something very special to the Ceremony. Singing together in harmony goes a long way to developing the heart……..
Develop the Heart by Dalai Lama
Paul, our friend who is walking for Peace from Rome to Jerusalem, has left for Rome today.
Paul at Gatwick with his sister
Here is another of the songs of Peace that we sang for him a couple of weeks ago. This one had me in tears! The words have never been so appropriate. If you read this Paul, we are all thinking of you and sending our love to you.
If you would like to know more about Paul’s Peace Walk please click the red link. He would love it if you could add a message of Peace for him to take along on his momentous walk.
At the end of July, our friend Paul Haines will be walking from Rome to Jerusalem with the focus on Peace and Reconciliation in the world. He will be wearing the peace dove symbol, carrying a book for people to sign, and asking for Messages of Peace that he can take with him as he walks, planning to be in Jerusalem sometime in December.
Peace dove from Postcards for Peace
Paul would like to engage with as many people as possible, before, during and after his walk, hoping to help raise the profile and awareness of peace and in some way, hopes his walk will have some effect.
He started long-distance walking five years ago. Last year he walked from London to Rome in aid of two charities that are involved with health, dementia and music. He talked to many people as he walked for three months, and tried to help raise the awareness of the issues connected with dementia and the benefits of music for health.
Paul is linking up with two charities, “Children of Peace” a UK based charity that offers a non-partisan approach to conflict resolution in the Middle East and “Postcards for Peace” a UK based charity that provided the dove symbol with the word Peace in so many languages. If you would like to, you can support Children of Peace with a contribution via Paul’s Just Giving page.
He asks that people follow him on his website, Peacewalk 2015 and leave messages of peace. If you have a look at the messages of peace he has already collected, you will see that these include messages from several Archbishops, the Queen, Tim Smit, Abbot Phra Rachabhavanavimol, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sachs, us and many more friends. I have visitors from 100 countries visiting my site. How wonderful it would be if Paul got messages from all over the world from my own Dear Readers…….
The choirs I sing with, The Ingleheart Singers and The Suitcase Singers, have both recorded songs of peace for Paul to take with him. Here is one and I will share the others in posts to come.
Feel free to Re-blog/re-tweet this post. Please help to spread the word.
After singing, we met my brother and his wife who are here from America and we had a lovely lunch and a good natter in the sunshine in Falmouth, overlooking the bay. The gardens at the Princess Pavilions were blooming lovely!
View from the gardens
Rose of Sharon
Daisy
Lily
Aquilegia
2 One of our lovely choir members, Jen, has knitted a tiny sweater for a baby in Tanzania. I have six now to send off to KniTZTanzania. Thank you so much, Jen.
Jen’s beautiful little sweater
3 One of my favourite shops for cards and presents and pretty things, Just Delights, now has its Summer mural on the wall. I showed you the Winter one here. I’m thinking it will be the same artist, Elizabeth Perry, but I cannot find the name.
1 A friend’s Mum has been knitting for the babies of Tanzania, having been inspired by my post about KnitZTanzania and the need for little sweaters and beanie hats to stop the babies dying of hypothermia. Here are what she describes as her ‘first’ batch! Thank you so much for joining me in this venture. If you, too, would like to join us in this project, the pattern can be found here. The address to send them to can be found in the comments on the same page.
Baby hats and sweaters from Hils’ Mum
2 I was reminded of a beautiful piece of music, Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata, 2nd Movement, this evening as it was part of BBC Radio 4’s programme Pick of the Week, this week’s items being chosen by Antonia Quirke. Just listen to Daniel Barenboim playing and feel the calm come over you……..
I heard recently of a project to knit Twiddle-muffs, sometimes known as Sensory bands, for people with Dementia and they sounded like a really good idea so I set about making one. My lovely gentle MIL, Madeleine, had Dementia and used to fiddle with bits of her clothing and I have made this one with love with her in mind and memory. I think she would have liked it. I have incorporated buttons and ribbons, inside and out ,and have added a little pocket as suggested by another knitter. There are lots of textures in the chosen yarns and the stitches used. Now I have to find a home for this one and the others in the making, maybe with Dementia UK for whom we held the concert in Trebah Gardens last week.
Twiddle-Muff
2 I baked 101 cookies this afternoon as we have some workmen coming to the house tomorrow for 3 or 4 days and I like to give them home-made cookies with their tea.
Oat Crunchie Cookies
3 Our first Poppy has emerged and is magnificent. There are eight more buds to be seen.
I mentioned a few days ago that The Suitcase Singers were to do a concert in aid of Dementia Uk in Trebah Gardens tonight. It has been fabulous! The weather was kind to us. The new amphitheatre was amazing with excellent acoustics and there was a brilliant appreciative audience of well over 100. Click on any photo in the gallery for detail and the caption. Happy days! Thanks to our lovely leader Claire.
1 We had the most amazing and magical session at Suitcase Singers this morning – a rehearsal for our concert next week in the very lovely Trebah Gardens in aid of Dementia UK.
Concert at Trebah Garden
2 Our Choir-babies are growing up!
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3 Grand-baby B had a lovely evening among the bluebells the other day and the photos came to us today.
The pattern on this little sweater, knitted for a new born in Tanzania, looks intricate. In fact, the wonderful pattern is created by the yarn as you knit making the garment look very complicated but in fact it is very easy.
Baby sweater
This is one of a collection being knitted by me and friends which will go KniTZ Tanzania, a charity that collects tiny knitted hats and sweaters for new born babies to prevent hypothermia. If you want to knit too, have a look at the very easy pattern here.
For other beautiful photos in this Challenge, click here.
1 I fed a tired and possibly cold, bee some sugar syrup this morning and we were very relieved to see it fly away later on. Look carefully and you can see it drinking from the spoon.
Bee sipping sugar solution
2 A fly settled on the tarpaulin I was working on this morning. I have never seen one like it with its orange patches on the wings and orange tipped feet. I have tried to look it up and would be delighted if someone could identify it for me.
Unidentified fly
Our lovely neighbour’s niece is expecting her first baby any day now and the first size Sally-boots are ready.
Sally-boots
I have mentioned Nepal in my last two posts. I just heard that our Cornish based charity, ShelterBox, is on the ground already and assessing how they can help. They had a deployment of boxes in the area so will be able to provide help quickly. They are a wonderful charity. Look them up here . I am so deeply moved by this tragedy having fallen in love with the place and its people on our visit in 2013. Here is the Durbar Square as we saw it and a photo from ShelterBox.
