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Category Archives: Kindness

Three Gifts – A Snowflake, Cookies and A Poem

A snowflake arrived in today’s post, beautifully crocheted and a gift from a follower. It has gone straight onto our tree.

Thank you very much Judith

Another gift came today, one we were instructed not to keep until Christmas but to consume soon. So this evening we have each had a delicious Raspberry and White Choc Chip Cookie for dessert.

Thank you S and E, absolutely gorgeous!

A fellow Humanist has written the following poem which touched me and she kindly gave me permission to share it with you.

‘

It’s Our Christmas Too’ by Mary Fletcher

Christmas comes just at the darkest time of year

flashing lights

a twinkling tree

some time for lovely food

for friends and family

for children to be given too much stuff

for those of us with no children

to realise what we lack.

We look forward to the New Year

warm sunshine and green shoots will come back.

Those of us that do not believe in god

and worship no one

but put our faith in hope,

In folk to do their best,

we do not go to church.

we do not believe we’ll live after we die,

But we can light a candle,

share in singing,

pass some treats around.

Its our Christmas too,

Our Solstice,

Our Midwinter,

Our humanist joy,

That celebrates and treasures

Every baby girl and boy.

Thank you, Mary.

8 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on December 19, 2025 in baking, Christmas, Christmas decorations, crochet, friendship, Happiness, Humanism, Kindness, poetry, Postaday2025

Party, Knitting and Supper

11 Dec

Today is the 90th birthday of my very good friend and singing mentor whom I met in 2008 when I first joined The Ingleheart Singers. She took me under her wing then and has kept me there ever since! Her Family arranged a secret party this afternoon and asked for the choir to turn up as a surprise and to sing for her ,so of course we did! It was a delightful afternoon.

Jean’s beautiful cake, wish I could credit the maker.

Another friend from choir spotted a knitted crib earlier this week and sent me the next photo, knowing how much I would like it. I love the smile on Mary’s face and have to wonder why one of the shepherds is up on the roof!

A simple meal was called for this evening, Macaroni Cheese, comfort food at its best.

7 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on December 11, 2025 in Celebration, community, friendship, Happiness, Kindness, knitting, Postaday2025, Uncategorized

Blue Sky and A Poem

18 Nov

We’ve had an unusually warm start to November, blue skies and bright sun, but tonight’s weather forecast for the next few days includes a warning for snow and ice even here in Cornwall.

This poem by Theodore Roethke seemed a good choice for tonight.

The Coming of The Cold – Theodore Roethke

The ribs of leaves lie in the dust,
The beak of frost has pecked the bough,
The briar bears its thorn, and drought
Has left its ravage on the field.
The season’s wreckage lies about,
Late autumn fruit is rotted now.
All shade is lean, the antic branch
Jerks skyward at the touch of wind,
Dense trees no longer hold the light,
The hedge and orchard grove are thinned.
The dank bark dries beneath the sun,
The last of harvesting is done.

All things are brought to barn and fold.
The oak leaves strain to be unbound,
The sky turns dark, the year grows old,
The buds draw in before the cold.

The small brook dies within its bed;
The stem that holds the bee is prone;
Old hedgerows keep the leaves; the phlox,
That late autumnal bloom, is dead.

All summer green is now undone:
The hills are grey, the trees are bare,
The mould upon the branch is dry,
The fields are harsh and bare, the rocks
Gleam sharply on the narrow sight.
The land is desolate, the sun
No longer gilds the scene at noon;
Winds gather in the north and blow
Bleak clouds across the heavy sky,
And frost is marrow-cold, and soon
Winds bring a fine and bitter snow.

No Roots for me today, still under par, but I did send along the lemon cake I made last week which has been in the freezer waiting. A lovely volunteer kindly came to collect the cake this morning on his way to Community Roots. Thanks, M.

6 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on November 18, 2025 in friendship, Kindness, poetry, Postaday2025

Tags: Theodore Roethke

Killigrew, Paper and Weaving Words

05 Nov

We visited Falmouth Art Gallery today where there were two exhibitions, one highlighting their collection and one called Out Of Paper showcasing so many paper creations.
I love the painting in the first exhibition by Unknown Artist of The Killigrew Monument which we had walked past earlier in the morning.

There were some beautiful cut paper sculptures. I love the fact that Secret Garden, when translated into French, ‘Jardin Secret’ refers to your inner soul.

The Paper Yarn piece really appealed to me and I added my words to be woven in next time the artist pops in.

If you, Dear Reader, are local or maybe visiting Falmouth before the end of January, this is a lovely place to spend a couple of hours.
Just to add, I am remembering my lovely Mum today, on her birthday. As a little girl she was always delighted to think that everyone was celebrating her birthday with a firework display.

2 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on November 5, 2025 in architecture, art, Cornwall, Falmouth, Kindness, painting, paper, Postaday2025

Tags: Falmouth Art Gallery, Jane Stephens, Pippa Dyrlaga

Brian Patten, Optimistic October and A Pie

01 Oct

I was saddened to hear of the death of Brian Patten whose poems I have shared many times on here. We were lucky enough to meet him many years ago and what a lovely man he was. If you put his name in my search, you’ll find lots of his beautiful writing. The following one is particularly apt right now and is the one I shared when our lovely neighbour Bill Mitchell died seven years ago

So Many Different Lengths Of Time – Poem by Brian Patten

It ‘s the start of the month and time for this month’s Happiness Calendar, Optimistic October.

In fact, the Chicken and Leek pie doesn’t look very beautiful but it tasted delicious!

Chicken and Leek Pot Pie

Purple Beans, Recipe and An Old Utensil

20 Sep

Yesterday, our lovely neighbour brought us some beans from her allotment. They were a beautiful purple colour but, we were warned, maybe a bit stringy. I decided to use my own recipe for Runner Bean Soup and made a wonderfully tasty lunch. It pleases me greatly that my recipe is so well used. If you google Runner Bean Soup, it comes up on the first page. Interestingly, my photo of my soup is used on the Jamie Oliver recipe!

Because of the stringiness, I put the soup though a sieve and used my Mum’s old wooden pestle to push it through very easily. The result was a lovely creamy soup though, sadly, not purple. Sorry, we ate it before I could take a photo!

2 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on September 20, 2025 in allotment, Food, friendship, Kindness, Postaday2025

Posy, Wall Hanging and Useful Words

14 Aug

I picked a little posy of marigolds and purple sweet peas today.

I love the wall hanging seen a couple of weeks ago in Truro Cathedral that says thank you to their volunteers.

The following very useful information came my way today and I thought you might appreciate it.

With thanks to Steve Bartlett

We’ve had a lovely time today as friends we made on holiday in Tuscany last year came to visit, brought us lunch and lifted our spirits enormously. As on holiday, we talked and talked, laughed and laughed and shared so much that matters.

4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on August 14, 2025 in Cornwall, craft, embroidery, friendship, garden, Kindness, nature, Postaday2025, sewing, Truro

Tags: Steve Bartlett

Bread, Cake and Sweet Peas

07 Aug

We have been given a delicious Carrot and Fennel loaf which we have enjoyed tonight with our caponata supper. The bread soaked up the juices from the Roots aubergine, tomatoes and onions beautifully. Daughter no 3 brought the loaf as a gift from LiveWire 4’s other Granny in Devon where she is staying for a few days so L can be here to help us.

Aubergine used tonight in the Caponata

Live Wire 4 has been baking with her other Granny this afternoon and has sent us a photo. It looks scrumptious!

Our Sweet peas continue to flower profusely and smell lovely, of course.

3 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on August 7, 2025 in baking, friendship, Kindness, Postaday2025, Uncategorized

Kindness Calendar, Coincidences and Sweetcorn

01 Aug

From Action for Happiness: “In a world that feels divided, kindness is a quiet but powerful act of hope. Whether you’re supporting a friend, helping a stranger, or simply listening with care, your actions matter. Every kind choice makes a difference.”

We went today to have the staples removed from my lovely Mr S’s new knee and had really interesting conversations with the two nurses who looked after him. They asked where we lived and when we said where, the older one said she’d been to St Euny Church just near us, to see a wonderful production in the churchyard in 2017. That was our Until the Day Break! She said she absolutely loved it and that now she views graveyards in a very different light and likes to think of the real stories behind each gravestone. If the production is new to you Dear Reader, check it out on the red links here.

The second coincidence was that when we were asked where we used to teach and said Doncaster, the younger Nurse said her father had been to Uni there at the old School for the Deaf as he is profoundly deaf. My Mum trained at that school in the 1930s but even more coincidental was the fact that when a youngster, her dad was taught at the special unit for deaf children at Roskear School in Camborne and it was my Mum who set up the unit and who would have taught him! Ellie, the nurse is going to ask him if he remembers Mrs Wiseman. One of her old pupils commented on my blog when I wrote about my Mum and her work here.

Our Sweetcorn is coming along well, flowers on almost every 5′ high plant and some tassels indicating a cob getting ready.

7 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on August 1, 2025 in environment, family, family history, garden, Kindness, Perthi Kov, Postaday2025, Uncategorized

Tags: action for happiness

Jam, A T-Shirt and A Song

23 Jun

The raspberry plants at the allotment are overflowing with fruit and I knew we hadn’t used all the raspberries from last summer/autumn that I had put in the freezer so I made Raspberry Jam, the perfect jam for inside a Victoria sponge cake. We also had a pile of fresh raspberries in a meringue case with some crème fraiche for dessert tonight!