On this day in 1909, my Great Grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Wiseman, Suffragette, aged 53, was arrested in London having thrown stones to break windows. Subsequently she was imprisoned in Holloway, went on hunger strike, was force fed and was awarded the Suffragette Portcullis Brooch in recognition of her courage.
I bought a new sun hat!
For some reason the following words came into my mind today and then I remembered that Pete Seeger gave the words some music.
from Ecclesiastes
Today after choir, we sang Harry Glasson’s Cornwall My Home in the courtyard to celebrate St Piran’s Day Here it is now, especially for my sister in Hawaii.
We have another Choir-Baby after many years of none and we are all delighted to have one year old S with us and clearly enjoying the singing.
After the courtyard singing
We had pasties for lunch to mark the day but I was enjoying it so much I forgot to take a photo until it was almost all gone.
It’s also World Book Day so happy days to all you readers and to all those who have dressed up for the day, especially LiveWire 3 who at almost 15 years old has gone to school as a very beautiful and tortured Lady Macbeth.
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.
I’ve been working on the new curtain today. It always pleases me to use my Mum’s patchwork pin cushion. Look carefully, you can see her tiny hand stitches.
This afternoon I made our favourite cheesecake and made it into individual servings. You may know the delicious puds you can buy in individual dishes…..I’ve been collecting the little glass pots and today made a dozen cheese cakes. We ate two to test them! .
I used this recipe.
And a song, a most important song, from Bruce Springsteen.
Still catching up about my birthday
1/1/2026
All catering for the whole week has been taken on by the family and tonight there was a wonderful buffet for my birthday celebration.
Yet another cake!
Delicious roulade
The games I had found turned out to be a real hit – excitement, learning of strategies, shrieks of delight and just the happiest of evenings.
Magnetic chess, strange name but compelling and great fun to play.
There was present giving too, gorgeous stationery, delicious chocolates, a subscription to National Theatre at Home and an “Adventure Fund!” Aren’t I the lucky one?! Now to dream up the adventure – what shall I do?
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We have had the most marvellous week having hired Hellfire Jack’s at Trengove Farm for the family to stay so we could celebrate my 80th birthday all together. There have been treats and delights every day and one of those was the set of four beautiful Christmas Jigsaw crackers I bought from Wentworth Puzzles, one for each family. These are tiny wooden jigsaws that each fit in a cracker and which are really quite hard to complete. The competition to finish first was fierce!
    Today we have started on of the three jigsaws we were given for Christmas. I have shared poems from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer from whom I get a poem every day in my inbox. She gave me permission some time ago to share whenever as long as you all know who the poet is. I love her work and would share even more but it seems greedy.
Thank you for all the comments while we have been ill. We are bettering but not yet better. I will reply to all comments in the next day or two. To enjoy the family visit we slept most of the day and joined ithem for the evening meal and fun every evening. |
Just home from the best birthday ever. Here are a couple of photos.
Our 3 generation birthday Brownie Mountain
Flowers left on the doorstep
Purple , white and green flowers from my wonderful daughters, son and their families
Cards
More tomorrow……
We are gradually getting our utility room, aka Sun Room with its wide new window, back in order and have put some of the things back on the walls. One of these is an old print tray that I have used for special treasures, every one of which has a story. 
Tomorrow, all the family will arrive for a five day celebration of my birthday! This morning I read the following poem which reminded me of a fascinating fact I learned many years ago. Baby girls are born with all the eggs they will ever have, meaning a female foetus develops these future eggs while still in her mother’s womb, creating a fascinating biological link where a grandmother carried her future granddaughter as an immature egg inside her yet-to-be-born daughter. So, tomorrow with two daughters arriving with their daughters, this poem reminds us of our very special connection.
Today Daughter no 2 and her daughter, LiveWire no 3 went to see The Nutcracker at The Royal Ballet and Opera House in London and this evening we have been to see the livestream of the same performance. It was wonderful and I love the idea that, despite being hundreds of miles apart, we have just shared the ballet experience together.
Today too, I remember my wonderful Dad who died on this day in 2004 after a very hard nine months and his final, even harder ,17 days in St John’s Hospice in Doncaster. where he, and I, were extremely well looked after with love and understanding.
We bought a delightful Advent calendar for one of our LiveWires, the Wild Advent Colouring Book – British Wildlife Edition, and she has been sending us the pictures as she colours them in. We love her precision and care.
Tomorrow’s cake for the volunteers is a lemon sponge in the shape of a Christmas tree.
I’m loving the effect of my trying to take Christmas lights from a moving car, being driven by my lovely Mr S.
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