Rain again today and my beautifully restored Beetle soft top gathered the drops in globules that caught some colour from somewhere.
I spent a lovely afternoon with friends, sewing and chatting. I learned to needle felt and made another leaf, this one with some very special gold silk for the veins. 
I saw this the other day and loved it. 
Last night was The Ingleheart Singers’ Christmas dinner and we all took along a dish to share. I made the Vegetable Ring which looks good for a Christmas meal and is delicious! It was well received and every crumb went! You can find the recipe here.
I love beautiful shoes as regular readers will know. These two pairs were particularly covetable last night.
I am resolved, after the disaster of last week, to do all I can to mitigate the effects of our Tory government and to treat the world and all those in it with even more kindness. There is a new homeless person in our town this week. It was bitterly cold this morning so I bought him a pair of gloves. My gesture plus the carol singer further up the street made him weep though he then told me of the generosity of Redruth people as he had been bought a hot drink just before I went by and others had stopped by to see how they could help. 
Last Friday we visited Tate St Ives to see two exhibitions, one the Otobong Nkanga “From Where I Stand” and the other, Tate St Ives in Colour, a magical interactive piece to play with by Peter Hudson..
Otobong Nkanga’s beautiful and enormous tapestries focus on the relationships between people and the land through our consumption of the Earth’s natural resources. It is very hard to do justice to this moving and dramatic exhibition. If you are local, please try to get there before January 5th when it closes.
This was another day designed to drive away despondency so – sea views, art and music. There was to be earring shopping but we couldn’t find any with the wow needed in any of the galleries we visited. We visited a small and very beautiful gallery, Morvah Schoolhouse in the tiny village of Morvah in Penwith.
View from the cafe
The beautiful stained glass  back door in the cafe of the Schoolrooms, artist Debbie Martin
Morvah Church
Window in the church
From there we went into Penzance to browse the galleries starting at Penlee where in the garden is the charming piece by Kurt Jackson , Broccoli Juggler. Later, in the town, after lunch at Mr Billy’s, we happened upon Femmes de la Mer singing in the street – what delight!
Our treat in the Schoolhouse cafe was a piece of Hevva cake to share.
Many of us are reeling after our general election.  As one friend we serendipitously  met in St Ives today said, “We all need some time for convalescence.” Like us, J had gone to the sea to help with recovery. We also visited Tate St Ives to touch those bits of our souls and hearts that need extra care right now.
We have to hold on to hope.
It was such a wild day, gusts of wind of 60mph and driving rain – pathetic fallacy at its best.
Porthminster Beach after we got off the train
Porthmeor from The Tate
We love The Tate and I will show you tomorrow some of the wonderful Otobong Nkanga’s exhibition. For now, one of my favourite paintings.
About to drive away from the carpark after a meeting with the fabulous artists from Fannie and Fox, the moon appeared over the roof tops. It was a full moon yesterday and this was just beautiful to see.
December’s full moon
Truro was rather grey today but we always love being there whatever the weather. It was pleasing to see the winter plantings beginning to get colour. 
The Cathedral rises up out of the buildings and can be seen from every angle as you approach the city.This view, for those who know the city, is from Redannick.
On the way home we stopped at Chacewater Market where this display of cyclamen was very attractive at the entrance.
The light just caught the pretty green glass and threw lines onto the dresser.
I went to a talk this evening about the Greenham Common women. It was fascinating, illuminating and moving. There were several women in the audience who had been there and were able to add their own perspective to the discussion. If you want to read  more you can find some information here.
Rebecca Mordan has been researching the history of the women by collecting stories from those who were there and creating an archive of memorabilia and personal stories. It will be a treasure house of information.
One of the women present was wearing a beautiful pair of shoes which she was happy for me to photograph. When I asked where she had bought them, she told me that they had been hand made for her as a birthday present. Aren’t they beautiful?
My beloved Beetle has been away with Daughter No 1 for a couple of months being cherished and renovated and has come back today looking even better than when I bought her, two years old, eleven years ago. Absolute perfection! Â I Â am utterly delighted.
The roof hasn’t worked for many years – roll on Summer!
Just look at the wheels  and  the  finish  on  the  paintwork!
It is a joy to have my Beetle back and a joy to drive again. Â Thank you so much, M, for your fabulous work.
Dawn saw the horizon on fire this morning. 
Here is part of the Christmas window display at Fannie and Fox in Penryn, all  Advent  windows.
There has been a wonderful fund raising auction at The Redruth Drapery this evening and well over £3000 was raised for Bill’s Attic to be moved to Krowji.
We’ve had several sunny days and it has been glorious to feel warmth and see blue skies and blue seas. Trelissick gardens were lovely to walk around and to soak up sunshine. Enjoy the gallery.
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