For Angie, my friend, on her and my birthday with love.
While Eeyore frets….
Category Archives: philosophy
Cornish Daffodils, Zig Ziglar and Cornish Yarg
1 A very good friend brought me some beautiful Cornish grown daffodils today, very much appreciated. The gesture warmed my soul. Thank you.
Gift
2 This little plaque came my way via two other lovely friends, one here in Cornwall and her sister-in-law in Vermont. We all do our best! Thank you to you two too. Please share my bright and cheery bunch of flowers.
Always do the right thing
3 Those of you outside Cornwall may not know this delicious Cornish cheese, Yarg. It is a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese made from the milk of Friesian cows. Before being left to mature, this cheese is wrapped in nettle leaves to form an edible, though mouldy, rind. Hence the beautiful pattern on the outside.
Cornish Yarg
October 2011
We were in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art when we got the phone call to tell us that my dear, dear friend Kath, in whose name I started this blog, had died. She would have loved the philosophy in this piece of artwork. Kath was one of the world’s beautiful people – always kind, always cheerful, always loving and concerned for the welfare of others above herself. We laughed and cried and put the world to rights together and I miss her.
Oct 2011 in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Dieter Rams
Tomato Torte, Billy Collins and Daisies
1 A friend passed me this recipe that she had cut out of the paper, thinking I might like to try it and it is wonderful – it tastes as good as it looks! I’ll post up the recipe soon. It is vegetarian and could be gluten free very easily.
Tomato Torte
2 I first met the poetry of Billy Collins when he did a reading at a poetry event and I just loved what I heard. This poem comes from ‘The Art of Drowning’ and I give you just the first verse. It kind of sums up my philosophy – get the best out of every day – find the beauty that is all around you. Look up the rest of the poem here – it is a delight. The last stanza is especially pleasing.
Days
Each one is a gift, no doubt,
mysteriously placed in your waking hand
or set upon your forehead
moments before you open your eyes.
3 Our wall daisies are an enormous mound of pink and white.
Daisy clump
Defrosting, Cathedral Door and Shop Window
1 The defrosting breakfast blueberries developed a lovely frosty patina.
Frosty blueberries
2 We love visiting the Cathedral in Truro for its architecture and the sense of quietude and peace that one feels in such a beautifully simple building. Here is some detail of the front door.
The front door of Truro Cathedral
3 I love the simple philosophy of one of our favourite shops in Truro.
The Cornish Food Company
Marigolds, Cistus and Poem
1 In our bedroom at Bolanken Barn there was a beautiful green glass containing rich orange Marigolds .The colour combination was beautiful.
Marigolds
2 Coming home this morning, the Cistus in the front garden is suddenly in flower, covered all over with poached eggs.
Cistus
3 The final three lines of The Mower by Philip Larkin are an important reminder to us all.
The Mower
The mower stalled, twice; kneeling, I found
A hedgehog jammed up against the blades,
Killed. It had been in the long grass.I had seen it before, and even fed it, once.
Now I had mauled its unobtrusive world
Unmendably. Burial was no help:Next morning I got up and it did not.
The first day after a death, the new absence
Is always the same; we should be carefulOf each other, we should be kind
While there is still time.
PS I added the photos to last Saturday’s post.
Blossom, Earth Day and Easy-peasy Cheesecake
1 Our Malus Everest is coming into blossom. From beautiful red buds come the most delicate pinky flowers.
Beautiful blossom
2 Talking online with another blogger today, Louisa about Earth Day, 22nd April, I was reminded again of the philosophy of Native American. This from their code of ethics:
Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother. Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world. Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.
3 I have made a family favourite dessert for a shared supper tomorrow – Mum’s Easy-peasy Lemon Cheesecake. I saved a little of the mixture for our supper tonight. I’ll put the recipe up very soon.
Just the best and easiest Cheesecake
Little Cheesecakes to sample tonight
Tulips, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bird House
1 The cream and white tulips in my Suffragette garden are looking beautiful with raindrops decorating them.
Tulip with raindrops 4
Tulip with raindrops 3
Tulip with raindrops 2
Tulip with raindrops 1
2 A friend sent me a quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson today which I really liked. Here it is for you.
Having now looked him up, I find there are many, many of his thoughts that I appreciate. I think his words will feature here again.
3 The bird house that we put up last Spring has residents! It looks as if a Blue tit couple has approved it. We have seen them coming and going over the last few days and are very hopeful that they will make it their family home.
Lighthouse bird house
Tony Benn 3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014
Tony Benn, a much respected British politician, died in the early hours of this morning. He was a man I have admired for all my life. He was a man of deep integrity, deep humanity and always had the good of others at heart.
I have a beautiful little book, given to me by a very special friend, in which I collect quotations and I would like to share a couple from Tony Benn which I wrote in my book in 2007 while listening to him on BBC Radio 4’s ‘With Great Pleasure’.
When talking about losing his dear wife, Caroline, to whom he had been married for almost fifty one years, he said,” You cannot fill the gap left by a death like that, you can simply decorate it with good memories.” I loved that and know that the gap left by his death will indeed be decorated with good memories. He was a much loved man.
He told his audience that his Grandmother once said,”The great thing about your last journey is that you don’t have to pack!” and that thought appeals to me as a Humanist.
Another occasion when we were lucky enough to hear him speak in person, in Sheffield, he spoke about where his core beliefs had come from. His father had told him, ” Never wrestle with a chimney sweep,” when he was only eight years old, meaning if you fight dirty some of the dirt will rub off on you. He was an inspiring orator with deeply held convictions from which he never wavered.
On Question Time, 22 March 2007, he said, “I was born about a quarter of a mile from where we are sitting now and I was here in London during the Blitz. And every night I went down into the shelter. 500 people killed, my brother was killed, my friends were killed. And when the Charter of the UN was read to me, I was a pilot coming home in a troop ship: ‘We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.’ That was the pledge my generation gave to the younger generation and you tore it up. And it’s a war crime that’s been committed in Iraq, because there is no moral difference between a stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. Both kill innocent people for political reasons.” His sharp, analytical mind, his Socialist principles and his kindness to others will be much missed.
Tony Benn chose the poem, ‘Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep’ in the ‘With Great Pleasure’ programme. You can find it here where I posted the poem once before. It is one of my favourites, very beautiful and very apt for today.
GS, a pupil of mine many years ago, sent me this. What a brilliant thing for Tony Benn to do. Thanks, GS.
http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/gcsice/1966724_696067527123097_1238260180_n_zpscea1178a.jpg
