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Category Archives: flowers

St Piran’s Day Celebrations in Redruth

It’s been a fun packed day in sunshine today, the parade, markets, daffodils, live music, flowers everywhere and so many happy, smiley people. Enjoy the gallery.

Outside the GrowBox

The parade

The Lamb

Steam punk

Our flag

Redruth School

Steam punk

Perran Moon, our MP, having a chat

On Bond Street

For those who wonder about the lamb:

Redruth Town Council uses The Lamb and Flag as its emblem building on a heritage of use in the town for hundreds of years though its origin remains widely debated. Historians believe the symbol first appeared in the wool trade during the Middle Ages. By the 19th century, people associated a lamb with purity due to its Christian connotations and used it in the mining trade to indicate the purity of the metal they were producing – the smelters stamped each ingot with the sign of the lamb and the St Piran flag was added to indicate its Cornish origin. Both copper and tin were very important in Cornwall, with various mines in the Redruth, Pool and Camborne area being the largest in the world for each of these minerals.

4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on March 7, 2026 in Celebration, community, Cornwall, craft, flowers, Happiness, Postaday 2026, Redruth

Tags: The Lamb and Flag

Sunshine, Armandii and A Poem

22 Feb

Today we woke to rain but in no time the sun had come out and it was warm so we were able to get into the garden.

Steps up tp the garden lined with Tête à Tête

The Armandii, planted last year, is flowering well..

I love the programme The Verb on BBC radio 4 on Sunday afternoons. Today Ian McMillan was talking to Katie Clarke, Director of Literature at The Reader organisation, about reading poetry with people who have dementia and the magic that can happen just as it does when my choir sings in care homes. One of the poems she described as touching a patient was a poem I had never heard before. I hope you enjoy it as I did.

Happiness by Raymond Carver,

So early it’s still almost dark out.
I’m near the window with coffee,
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought.

When I see the boy and his friend
walking up the road
to deliver the newspaper.

They wear caps and sweaters,
and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.
They are so happy
they aren’t saying anything, these boys.

I think if they could, they would take
each other’s arm.
It’s early in the morning,
and they are doing this thing together.

They come on, slowly.
The sky is taking on light,
though the moon still hangs pale over the water.

Such beauty that for a minute
death and ambition, even love,
doesn’t enter into this.

Happiness. It comes on
unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.

https://allpoetry.com/poem/8520185-Happiness-by-Raymond-Carver

Do go to BBC Sounds and listen to the programme. It was really moving.

Buttercup, Tête à Tête and A Poem

18 Feb

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.

4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 18, 2026 in environment, flowers, friendship, garden, nature, poetry, Postaday 2026

Scarlet, Yellow and Rain

16 Feb

The flowers on the first stem of the Amaryllis have finished and the second stem is so top heavy we’ve had to put it on the floor to lean against the arm of the chair! It is still remarkably lovely six weeks after planting. I’m hoping there’s at least another week of loveliness in it.

The Tête à Tête miniature daffodils are appearing all over the garden. I love the ones in the monkey planter.

Photo from 2018

I’ve been browsing again through an old paperback about life in Cornwall 100 years ago and was amused by the description of the wet weather in Cornwall – plus ça change!

From “Exploring Cornwall 100 Years Ago” Selected and Edited by Stuart D. Ludlum

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 16, 2026 in art, Cornwall, flowers, garden, nature, Postaday 2026, sculpture, Uncategorized

Tags: Exploring Cornwall 100 Years Ago, Stuart Ludlum

Bracelet, Buttons and A Word

14 Feb

When I was eight or nine, my Granny went to Austria and brought me a lovely wooden bracelt with paintings of flowers. It no longer had the elastic threaded through but I do still have the pretty wooden beads.

In the bag with the beads were a collection of buttons some of which also came from my granny.

The sun shone this morning! The beautiful book I was given last week had 99 words for rain and one for sun.Here it is.

Sending love to all my Dear Readers on this Valentine’s Day.

5 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 14, 2026 in art, Austria, Beauty, flowers, painting, Postaday 2026

Amaryllis, Chocolates and A Birthday Card

02 Feb

We can’t believe the growth and the beauty of our Amaryllis!

Equally, the beauty of these birthday present chocolates has amazed us. They look like little planets. The company’s strap-line is “A Collision of Art & Chocolate.”

And more, a remarkable birthday card which opens to be a drum kit!

4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on February 2, 2026 in Beauty, flowers, nature, Postaday 2026, Uncategorized

Tags: woodrow chocolates

Spring Flowers Appearing

25 Jan

It was so lovely today to take a walk around the garden between showers and wearing wellies and to spot some signs of Spring. Some flowers were quite rain damaged but here are some Snowdrops and two kinds of Crocus.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on January 25, 2026 in Cornwall, environment, flowers, garden, nature, Postaday 2026, Uncategorized

Photographs, A Good Read and A Poem

16 Jan

I have been given two beautiful little framed photographs of a Fritillary and Poppy. They are by a local artist, Paul Sanders who has a studio at Krowji..

Today i have finished a jolly good read, a thriller by Ann Cleeves that I have been lent by a fellow reader. It’s the latest in the series spreviously et in the Shetland Isles, but this time on Orkney and featuring the detective Jimmy Perez. So many twists and turns, the final outcome took me completely by surprise. I love the characters and the setting just comes alive.

Thanks H. xx

The poem for the day in one of my books made me think of my Suffragette Great Granny. It’s by Nikita Gill

2 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on January 16, 2026 in art, flowers, Postaday 2026, Uncategorized

Tags: Nikita Gill, Paul Sanders

A Very Big Birthday

31 Dec

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……

16 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on December 31, 2025 in baking, Celebration, family, flowers, friendship, Postaday2025

Posy, Thank-Yous and Advent Candle

02 Dec

I picked a little garden posy today for Sue-next-door to mark the birthday of her lovely Bill – rosemary for remembrance with the last of the blooms in our garden..

Bill Mitchell

At Community Roots today, I spent a while looking through a beautiful little book made by pupils from a local school who spent a day in our community garden recently.