Every day is a day to be kind.
Be kind, you never know who needs it
2 I’m back in the kitchen and delighted by the prettiness of the sliced red onions.
Concentric loveliness
3 The carrot sticks are glistening in their coating of maple syrup, our favourite way of cooking them.
Carrot sticks
This morning we heard Verdi’s Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves on the radio and some lovely memories came flooding back. The Summer before my lovely Dad went blind, we took him to Venice, a city which he loved and where he loved using his Italian. One of the trips we took was to Verona to the Opera Festival in the arena where we were all entranced by Verdi’s Nabucco. The Chorus of the Slaves was so well received that it was repeated, much to the disgust of the opera buffs and the delight of the rest of the audience who by then had their candles lit in the darkness, just as in this recording. I hope you can imagine the three of us sitting there just loving this. It was the best thing we ever did for Dad though of course, we did not know then that he would go blind the following February, and he a writer and reader and inveterate ‘looker-upper.’
Our Clematis Elizabeth is having a second flush, just two pretty blossoms.
Elizabeth, Clematis Montana
Daughter No3 wanted some photos of our tiled hall floor for the restoration project on their house and I saw again how lovely the tiles are and how lucky that we are to have them here.
Victorian tiled hall floor
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
L.M Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
So am I!
We had a few Cornish Blackberries from last Autumn in the freezer and yesterday found some greatly reduced in the supermarket. I know that they are not a patch on the ones from the local hedgerows but picking has not been possible this year. Today I made a small amount of Blackberry and Apple Jam, much of it in tiny jars, just enough for two of us for a cream tea!
Blackberry and Apple Jam
I like the philosophy of this which came my way today. I am not a great one for dusting preferring all the other activities mentioned herein.
Dust if you must
Today is National Poetry Day in the UK and the BBC have been celebrating with poems throughout the day. One of the first poems I heard this morning on the BBC was this favourite, much loved by all those who have been 10 years old and by all those who recognise a 10 year old that they have known – a delightful evocation of that final year of primary school and the transition to being just a bit more grown up – and maybe learning things you weren’t really sure that you wanted to know. It reminded me so much, not only of my own top year in Primary School at Bosvigo in Truro but also of the six years I taught the top class, the 10-11 year olds, at Plover Primary School in Doncaster. Those were such happy days full of fond memories.
In Mrs Tilscher’s Class
You could travel up the Blue Nile
with your finger, tracing the route
while Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery.
Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswan.
That for an hour, then a skittle of milk
and the chalky Pyramids rubbed into dust.
A window opened with a long pole.
The laugh of a bell swung by a running child.This was better than home. Enthralling books.
The classroom glowed like a sweetshop.
Sugar paper. Coloured shapes. Brady and Hindley
faded, like the faint, uneasy smudge of a mistake.
Mrs Tilscher loved you. Some mornings, you found
she’d left a gold star by your name.
The scent of a pencil slowly, carefully, shaved.
A xylophone’s nonsense heard from another form.Over the Easter term the inky tadpoles changed
from commas into exclamation marks. Three frogs
hopped in the playground, freed by a dunce,
followed by a line of kids, jumping and croaking
away from the lunch queue. A rough boy
told you how you were born. You kicked him, but stared at your
parents, appalled, when you got back home.That feverish July, the air tasted of electricity.
A tangible alarm made you always untidy, hot,
fractious under the heavy, sexy sky. You asked her
how you were born and Mrs Tilscher smiled,
then turned away. Reports were handed out.
You ran through the gates, impatient to be grown,
as the sky split open into a thunderstorm.
Today was my first time back at singing with The Suitcase Singers and it was just wonderful. How one’s spirits can be lifted by singing in harmony with other voices! Our lovely Choir-babies were there being very busy and a new baby has arrived while I’ve been away. Welcome, little one.
Two of our Choir-babies
I asked the lovely Mr Smith for a poem for today that he would like me to include in today’s blog. Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas was one considered but he came to this one after lots of discussion and thought. We have had this postcard on our noticeboard in the kitchen for years.
First they came….
Yesterday I saw a recipe for Baked Apple Roses which caught my fancy so today I made some and they are truly delicious, especially served warm with a dollop of Cornish Ice-cream! They were made by TipHero but I cannot find a link to the video.
Baked Apple Rose
I love Julia Donaldson’s books (The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and many others) discovered when reading them aloud to our Grandchildren. I love her philosophy here too. How true – and I remember doing this as a child. In fact, I still do it. I can’t imagine how many books I have inside me!
Julia Donaldson I Opened a Book
Then this came my way today.
A child who reads ….
Both of these made me think about my reading as a child. I loved The Scarlet Pimpernel stories, Pippi Longstocking and my shelf-full of Puffin books which I only passed on to daughter No2 a few years ago. I wonder what your childhood favourites were?
Join us for a walk on the other side of Loe Pool (If you missed the first walk, it’s here). Click on any photo for the caption and the scroll through to enjoy our walk with us. I had my crutches with me and used them most but not all of the time!
The garden is drinking up the very welcome rain today and everything is glistening. My Suffragette garden has white and purple blooms and an Ivy leaf that has fallen has purple and green with a white pebble or two nearby. together.
The Hebe is full of fluffy purple flowers.
Hebe
Underplanting the Hebe are some tiny white Cyclamen and I noticed the flowers for the first time today.
Cyclamen
For new readers, my Suffragette garden is planted in honour of my Great Granny who was imprisoned in Holloway for her actions in trying to get the vote for women. She was force-fed while in prison and in another branch of the family we have the Holloway Brooch presented to all those who were so treated.
The Holloway Brooch
Another sunshiney day and another flat walk, this time from Helston towards Loe Bar all the time surrounded by beauty. Join us along the way. It is all National Trust land and is just glorious.
Other bloggers often ask, ‘What are you grateful for?’ Every day I am so grateful that we were able to come back to Cornwall, to enjoy the sea and the countryside. Today we went to Newlyn to the Art Gallery and for a walk along the front in bright Autumn sunshine. There was a bowl that I loved and a painting but almost the best thing was seeing the sky as we went up in the lift – magic!
As we walked along Mr S spotted a Heron in the sea.
Heron in the sea
From the path and the gardens we could see St Michael’s Mount in the distance.
View of St Michael’s Mount from Newlyn
Yesterday we went to Falmouth for my flat walk and found the tide at Gylly Beach the lowest we have ever seen – the Equinox tide apparently.
Low tide at Gylly
Wind surfers and swimmers enjoying the beautiful afternoon
Our glorious Indian Summer continues and there are lots of flowers still blooming in the garden, today October 1st.
Another lovely neighbour called in this afternoon for a chat and brought with her some fresh garden veggies and some homemade shortbread which was very lovely. We do have some very special neighbours and friends! Thank you all.
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