I’ve cut lots of Aquilegea to bring into the house.
Our strawberries at the lottie are being to colour.
My dear friend Angie died at the end of last year and her dear daughters have sent me her silver elephant ring. Angie and I both loved elephants for their special qualities of never forgetting and for taking such good care of each other. Now I am wearing the ring with love in my heart for our very special friendship and for the lovely daughters she raised. You can read more about her and what she meant to me if you click on the red link..
Today I met a friend for lunch for the first time in three years! It was so lovely to spend time together again after so long. We went to a delightful cafe, tucked away down Cornish lanes where we could sit outside in the sunshine.
It rained really hard all afternoon.
I love this! I have so many fat books that are full of memories of the times when I read them, when a friend read them or when my Mum read them – and some that really are full of pressed flowers and leaves.
I spent the morning with a dear friend who is also a potter and we worked on making tiles, pressing flowers, leaves, grasses and ferns into the soft clay. These are mine now ready for firing.
Lily of the Valley
Fern, Grass and Plantain
My choir, The Ingleheart Singers, has been learning a beautiful song about welcoming refugees to our land,” Harbour”, written by Anna Tabbush. We are finding it very moving knowing how the people want to help but on all sides are being thwarted by our government.
Harbour – Anna Tabbus
When you’ve crossed the stormy waters Come walk ashore Bring your sons and bring your daughters Wander no more
Chorus:
For our door is always open And our hearth is always warm When you need a place to shelter We’re a harbour in the storm
There’ll be time for rest and sleeping Come walk ashore There’ll be space for peace and healing Wander no more… For our door etc
For in days of lesser fortune Come walk ashore We may need a door to open Wander no more… For our door etc
I have so much admiration for the bravery of those who protest directly. We’ve marched many times over the years but this protest about sending migrants to Rwanda took bravery. Well done, Holly and friends. I was first alerted to this protest by an article in The Guardian and later by by one of our singers whose niece is a friend of Holly, the second one to stand up to protest and the writer of the piece in the paper.
Last night we disrupted @pritipatel because her #Rwandaplan is cruel, morally bankrupt & it will cost lives.
We demand the Government drops this widely condemned policy & provides support for people seeking safety.
I had a busy baking day yesterday, making Coffee cake for today’s cake stall at Redruth Butter market (and a tiny one for us) and a cake for today. Friends whom we haven’t seen for years came for lunch in the garden today and we have talked for hours and hours and hours! I made Salad Nicoise served with some locally made sourdough followed by a truly delicious Lemon Polenta Cake with raspberries.
It’s May 1st and Fete de Muguet in France. My dear friend Kath, in whose memory I write my blog, loved France and had a house in Meyssac. She always gave me Lily of the Valley if we were together or sent a card if not. These are for her and since they send good luck to receivers of the little bouquet, for you too, dear readers.
The Action for Happiness calendar is here for May. If you would like a bigger version please click this link.
There were many interested in the steam train going through Cornwall yesterday and some friends went down to Penzance to see it. The driver invited them into the cab! Just look at that beautiful work.
Photos here with thanks to M and S.They also sent me a video but for some reason I can’t load it here.
A lovely time was had by all at the allotment this afternoon where we had a fascinating talk about pollinators followed by the planting of a small Crab Apple, just beginning to blossom, in memory of a dear allotmenteer, former secretary and organiser extraordinaire, whom we lost last year. In the background is our current chairperson, cracking open the bubbly to toast E.
Along the edge of the wall at the allotment are these lovely, almost white, primroses.
In my suffragette garden, the aquilegias are in flower, beautifully purple, white and green and very pleasing.
We made a birthday bouquet from our garden for a friend who shares her birthday with Shakespeare.
A week or so ago my choir recorded a beautiful piece to be played at a funeral of a Mum who had been one of our stalwarts in the audience. It is such a lovely piece I thought you might like to hear it here – The Shoshone Love Song. Please press play even thought it seems to show 00.00. It does play! This is for Helen.
Supper tonight was delicious – a new recipe for Cod and Chorizo Stew.
Before we knew that the lovely Mr S would be getting his new knee in February, we planted green manure in three of our beds at the lottie with the intention of digging it all in in the Spring. Today, lovely friends from the allotment community have helped us – one dug over the three plots and then sent us the photo and another helped with weeding the bed where we have now lifted the last of our leeks. Thank you to them both for their kindness and thoughtfulness.
Another friend lent me a book she thought I would enjoy – and I did. It is a beautiful story of unexpected friendships, dark secrets and the aftermath of grief, told with tenderness and humour. Thank you, H. .
When I visited friends recently, they picked some daffodils from their woodland for me to take home to the lovely Mr Smith and they are in front of the wood burner in the sitting room. We love how the outside petals are twisty.
This delightful chart came my way today and it made me smile – books and kittens? Can’t do much better!
Another poem for you today, again with the people of Ukraine in our hearts. .
