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Category Archives: friendship

Buttercup, Tête à Tête and A Poem

Despite even more rain, there was a brave buttercup in the garden and the tête à tête in the front garden have suddenly brightened up.

Many years ago when her children were still little, mine rather more grown, my kid sister sent me the poem about not spending time dusting when life offers so many more opportunities especially when one’s children are young. I’ve always loved it but had forgotten about it until a dear friend at Roots reminded me of it.  Thank you P.

Dust if You Must by Rose Milligan written in 1998.

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

I wondered if I had posted the poem before in the almost 15 years I have been writing this blog and so put the word ‘dust’ into my search bar.  It was such a delight to read back over so many posts that I had forgotten.

 

Primroses, Amaryllis and A Beautiful Book

Primroses in the garden and our five week old Amaryllis, first potted on January 12th.

 

I have been given the most beautiful book by a very dear friend who knows of my love of words of all kinds. It’s called “Ninety-Nine Words for Rain” and is by Manchán Magan with gorgeous illustrations by Megan Luddy. Expect to see lots of lovely Irish words over the next few months. As regular readers will know, Cornwall has had enormous amounts of rain and some vicious storms over the last couple of months and there are words here for every kind of rain. Here today, gleidearnach, which beautifully describes some of our recent rain.

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2026 in art, friendship, nature, Postaday 2026, Words

 

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Tree Planting, Singing, Community

What a wonderful day as two of my communities came together, The Roots gang to plant an orchard and the Ingleheart Singers to entertain the crowd and then to sing Wassail to welcome the trees to their new home! Enjoy the gallery. Click on any photo for a bigger version and the caption.

Reasons for Offering Bread/Toast:

  • Symbolic Offering: The toast represents a gift to the spirits inhabiting the orchard, specifically the “Apple Tree Man” or tree spirits, ensuring they are well-fed and inclined to bring a good harvest.
  • Attracting Guardians: The bread attracts robins, which were historically considered guardian spirits of the orchard.
  • Fertility Ritual: The act is part of a wider fertility ritual that includes pouring cider on the roots and making noise to wake the trees from hibernation.
  • Representing Abundance: The bread symbolizes the previous year’s harvest and acts as a pledge for a fruitful return in the following autumn.
The ceremony is rooted in ancient pagan customs to ensure the health of the trees (from the Old English “waes hael” meaning “be in good health”).
 

Baking, A Treat and Music

I spent the day baking for tonight and tomorrow. One cake was for this evening when we joined friends and others for an open mic evening with a pot luck supper. The other cake and the bread buns are for tomorrow when we have a Tree Planting event at Community Roots and will need to feed the volunteers and the choir.

There is always an interesting spread at a pot luck supper and tonight there was a special treat – utterly delicious ba bao fan, Eight Treasures Rice.

One of the ‘turns’ was a wonderful player of an accordion.

The evening was in aid of Children of Peace.

 

Singing in Solidarity, Sunshine and Fish

Today at our choir rehearsal, The Suitcase Singers sang in solidarity with the people of Minnesota. With our singing we send love from Penryn, Cornwall to you all. Thank you so much Heidi Wilson for writing such a brilliant song, to Katy Rose Bennet and Sarina Partridge for inspiring our leader, Claire Ingleheart  to teach it to us. Do click on the link and share the solidarity. The first video is us and the second one, the singing in Minneapolis.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17nRsPprFT/

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1C6dfJFRNF/

The sun was shining on the far side of the river lighting up the coloured houses.

After singing on Thursdays, I go to the local fish shop.The beautiful arrangement of the Red Mullet caught my eye.

 

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Happiness Calendar, Sea, Sun and Moon

Here is this month’s Happiness Calendar, all about being friendly.

Our eldest daughter came to visit for my lovely Mr S’s birthday so we went to the Blue Bar at Porthtowan for lunch and M walked down to the sea.

Our walk in the afternoon was nearer to home and I was caught by the sunbeams behind Carn Brea.

Tonight it’s the Snow moon and the clouds passing by have given us haloes around and beside the full moon.

 

Afternoon Tea, Birthday Cake and Viburnum

Along with the rest of the gang at Community Roots, we were invited to the 80th birthday party of one of our volunteers. It was a delightful occasion with a very delicious spread and the most amazing cake!

Eric’s wonderful cake showing all his interests especially his participation at Community Roots where his inventions are legendary. Look for the carrots and cabbages too. There is also a fabulous family tree.

Outside the venue were lots of Viburnum bushes.

 

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Flowers, A Card and Baking

In a shop doorway in Hayle yesterday were these brightly coloured Primulas. I didn’t buy any but I did get a pot of 3 hyacinths that will smell amazing when they open.

Inside the shop, which was an Aladdin’s cave, was this card which reminded me of my Dear Friend and colleague Angie with whom I spent many happy hours after work on Friday evenings sharing some wine before the weekend. We had such happy times together and I miss her.

I made a Chicken and Mushroom pie for dinner tonight and with the leftover pastry, I made some scrumptious cheese straws. They didn’t last long!

 
 

SallyBoots, Fun and Storm Warning

I haven’t made SallyBoots for quite a while but started knitting today having heard of a new arrival yesterday. Mutual friends will be visiting this weekend so I had to get busy and here they are.  I’ve made the second size this time as the last baby I knitted for grew out of the little ones so quickly!

Here is our lovely friend, the new Father,  in 2012 in the Blue Bar, Porthtowan, with LiveWire no 2 who is now 17, playing together with the froth on the top of a hot chocolate.  Photo taken from the blog of that day.

Yet another storm is coming and our sailor’s barometer is overflowing again and splashing the tiles.

 

Little Book, Tips and Earrings

I have a delightful little book for knitters that gives some really useful advice.   I need to share it with the young friend I am helping to learn the craft.

This page amuses me.

I recently rediscovered some lovely handmade earrings that I bought in South Africa many years ago.

 

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