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Category Archives: philosophy

Paper Roses, Musical Cloud, A Poem and Kath

I still have on the mantlepiece one of my birthday cards six weeks after the event. It is so lovely, I think it may be there all year!

Paper roses

Paper roses

I have at last found somewhere pleasing to hang my musical cloud, a delightful birthday present from last December – and it looks just lovely.

Musical cloud

Musical cloud

I have loved the poem, ‘When I am an old woman’ by Jenny Joseph since I first read it many, many years ago and I have been remembering it recently, thinking, when I am an old woman, I shall wear purple and lime green and pink and turquoise and yellow and orange – and all together!

Walking without crutches 7 weeks after my second hip replacement

Walking without crutches 7 weeks after my second hip replacement

When I am an old woman by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Today is the birthday of my beautiful friend Kath whose too-early death inspired this blog. She also was going to wear purple and we did both practise in good time. We enjoyed singing and laughing together, sharing recipes and good food together, being in France in their Meyssac home, and always supporting each other and she is much missed. She would have loved my blog.
 

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Baking, Happy Home and Winter Clouds

We were due to go for a tea party this afternoon so I spent a happy morning baking Brownies and then constructing a Brownie Mountain to take with us.

Brownie Mountain

Brownie Mountain

It was such a lovely afternoon in a cottage in the grounds of Heligan and on the wall was this sign – just perfect for that household!

For every home

For every home

On the way home the clouds were beautiful.

Clouds and the sea

Clouds and the sea

Pink and Grey

Pink and Grey

Clouds on the road home

Clouds on the road home

 

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Please Read Top to Bottom and then Bottom to Top!

Today was the absolute worst day ever

And don’t try to convince me that

There’s something good in every day

Because, when you take a closer look,

This world is a pretty evil place.

Even if

Some goodness does shine through once in awhile

Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.

And it’s not true that

It’s all in the mind and heart

Because

True happiness can be obtained

Only if one’s surroundings are good

It’s not true that good exists

I’m sure you can agree that

The reality

Creates

My attitude

it’s all beyond my control

And you’ll never in a million years hear me say that

Today was a good day.

Now please read from bottom to top.

Bit of bright rainbow

Bit of bright rainbow in a darkening sky

 

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Words to live by

Words from the Dalai Lama

It is Hip Op day. I am looking forward to tomorrow becoming today so that the next phase can begin…………….

 
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Posted by on August 19, 2015 in philosophy, Postaday 2015, quotations

 

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Goodbyes, July Flowers and A Poem

1    We saw our Best Beloveds off on the train this morning. As my lovely wise friend, Nicky, said, “Goodbyes aren’t always easy;  the gift for me is knowing that the feelings of sadness are a mirror to the love I feel.” That is exactly it.

2   Our garden continues to bloom.

3   This poem was on a blog I read recently and it encapsulates my philosophy of finding the beautiful in the everyday where “the world offers itself to your imagination.”   Thank you, Kath. The poet, Mary Oliver is new to me and I shall look for more of her work.

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
― Mary Oliver

 

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Sweet Peas, Horse and Life

Our Sweet peas are blooming lovely!

Today's Sweet peas

Today’s Sweet peas and first Cornflowers

2   There are often horses in the back field but they have been away for some time. Today there were seven, all looking beautiful in the sunshine.

The horses are back the field behind us.

The horses are back the field behind us.

3   This came my way today and the sense in it pleased me. Thanks, Kate.

In this house we do love

In this house……..

 

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Droplets, Lao Tzu and Greek Drama Masks

1   Before the sun came into that part of the garden, the pansies in my raised edible garden, just outside the kitchen window, were covered in misty dew drops. If you zoom in, there is an upside down image of me in the centre droplet.

Droplets on a pansy

Droplets on a pansy

 

2   I read this yesterday and thought it lovely:

‘Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage’ (attributed to Lao Tzu

Laozi was a philosopher and poet of ancient China. He is best known as the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of philosophical Taoism, but he is also revered as a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions. Wikipedia

3   We have a pair of stone comedy/tragedy drama masks in the garden against the trellis and today I noticed that the Clematis has grown in such a way as to tickle just under the nose of the happy one and wrapping the nose of the sad one. He really looks thoroughly fed up with the situation!

Drama masks

Drama masks

 

I have posted the recipe for the delicious and easy cake I made a few weeks ago. You can find it here  https://mybeautfulthings.com/food-recipes-and-photos/almond-cinnamon-and-sour-cream-cake/

 

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Live Quietly, Daffodils and An Artefact

1   Some good advice here – a philosophy that I heartily believe in. Thank you, Robert for the photo.

Live quietly in the moment

Live quietly in the moment

2   I love the delicacy of these very pale daffodils.

Pale daffodils in a Jane Hamlyn salt-glaze jug

Pale daffodils in a Jane Hamlyn salt-glaze jug

3  This artefact was dug up in our garden when I was a child but we have never known what it was. Any ideas? It is about 4″ high, made of metal and quite heavy for its size.

What do you think this could be?

What do you think this could be?

I have written a diary recounting my recovery from my Total Hip Replacement. You can read it here or go to the horizontal menu at the top of any page.

 

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Walk, Parcel and Today

1. I went out for a walk today! It was only for five minutes along the road and it started raining – but my goodness, it felt good!
2. A delightful parcel arrived today with a card made by one of our Choir babies, T, who moved away to Glasgow and some lovely multi-coloured wool for another project to keep me occupied while recovering. L, his Mum, knows me well! Thanks, L.

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3. I love the philosophy on this card.

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Some Words from Walt Whitman

This is what you shall do:

This is what you shall do:

The Earth and the Sun

The Earth and the Sun

 

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