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Category Archives: senses

Weekly Photo Challenge – Illumination – Daybreak, Midday and Evening

1    I’d been contemplating the Weekly Photo Challenge and then woke to the beautiful illumination of first the sky by the sun, then of the chimneys opposite and the cottage, and then of the painting in the study.

2   We had a walk in the bright chill along the low cliffs at Godrevy, the only sound that of the sea, and the midday sun continued its illuminations of everything around me. I just love how the sun beams through the empty snail shell.

3   The last photo is of our new fence lit up last June by the evening sun.

PS Would you believe I missed this spectacular sunset?    I’ve been given permission to show you this one by Paul Hoskin.

Sunset 13:1:13 by Paul Hoskin

Sunset 13:1:13 by Paul Hoskin

 

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Tangerine Bird Treats, More Raindrops and Elf Coats – and My Staircase of Books

1   Inspired by something I read on a blog this morning http://enjoyingcreating.wordpress.com/ I got some half-dead fruit out of the compost and made these bird food treats to hang on our Christmas tree – which will be ‘planted’ outside as soon as it stops raining! I also made a pastry bird-seed cake in the hope  of both nourishing the birds and luring them closer to my camera!

Fruity bird treats

Fruity bird treats

Pastry bird-cake

Pastry bird-cake

2    I do love macro raindrops on this tiny moss.

Raindrops on moss

Raindrops on moss

3    These Avalon Elf Coats are the most beautiful bits of clothing I’ve ever come across!

Beautiful Avalon Elf Coats

Beautiful Avalon Elf Coats

4    And, at last, I have my book list for the staircase of books (but as my big brother said, it could be a different list tomorrow!)  I agree with Valerie that really I need the staircase in a lighthouse!

‘Under Milk Wood’  Dylan Thomas

Poems of Pablo Neruda

‘Othello’ Shakespeare (How can I choose just one play? Perhaps I should have ‘The Complete Works’ )

‘The Book Thief’  Marcus Zusak

‘Far From The Madding Crowd’  Thomas Hardy

‘Jeremy Visick’  David Wiseman  (my Dad!)

‘Kes’  Barry Hines

‘Sophie’s Choice’  William Stryron

‘Winnie-the-Pooh’  A A Milne

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’  Harper Lee

‘Rebecca’  Daphne Du Maurier

Do let me know what your choices would be and thank you to those who already have.

And to all my Australian readers – I hope you and yours are safe as we hear the news of the terrible fires sweeping across your country.

 

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Day-Peep, Hyacinths and Bare Ivy Stems

1   Sunrise was particularly beautiful this morning. I love the straight line of the clouds and the sunbeams coming in from the left. The name in the title is what dawn used to be known as by farmers in the Eighteenth Century (as I have just learned from a brilliant book I’m reading called ‘The Horologican’ by Mark Forsyth about lost words of the English language)

Sunrise 7:1:13

Sunrise 7:1:13

2   These beautiful hyacinths were given to us for Christmas and are almost in full bloom and smell just lovely. The scent wafts all the way up the stairs. Aren’t they just the loveliest colour?

Hyacinths

Hyacinths

3    On a short walk down the lane this afternoon, energy levels being still rather low, I noticed this amazing leafless ivy in the shape of a tree all the way from the bottom to the top of the wall.

Ivy stems

Ivy stems

 

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Smiles, Snowdog and Sky After Stormy Shower

1 When I sorted out the children’s room I discovered that the toys on the windowsill had all been sitting in condensation. I put them on the bathroom radiator to dry and they’ve given us smiles each time we’ve been in.

Toys drying off on the bathroom radiator

Toys drying off on the bathroom radiator

2 I was told that there is a pattern for the Snowman’s Snowdog in Women’s Weekly magazine so off I went to buy it. There was enough blue sky to make a sailor a pair of pants as my Aunty used to say so I didn’t take an umbrella. Mistake! The heavens opened and I was drenched but I did get my magazine. Next knitting project now decided!

The Snowman's Snowdog

The Snowman’s Snowdog

3 As I arrived home, the stormy shower stopped as suddenly as it began and left us this beautiful sky.

Sky after the stormy shower

Sky after the stormy shower

 

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Natural Beauty, Snuggles and Hugs

1   Waiting outside the Dr’s for Mr S, I wandered around with my camera and found three beautiful things!

Lichen and moss on copper coloured bark

Lichen and moss on copper coloured bark

Weather-beaten buttercup

Weather-beaten buttercup

Cornish Snail

Cornish Snail

2    J sitting snuggled up on my knee watching The Snowman and The Snowdog while his Mum and Dad packed up the car to leave.

3    Big Goodbye hugs and tears.  All eight have left on the same day and the house is far too quiet………

 

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Pink Wellies Walking, Mysterious Gate and Eldest Daughter (DP Challenge)

1   Lovely walk in the rain this morning, all togged up and all cobwebs blown away.

Pink wellies in the rain

Pink wellies in the rain

2   We wondered where this beautiful gate might lead to.

Beautiful old gate

Beautiful old gate

3   Our eldest daughter, M, is with us today, for Christmas lunch no 2, silly games and easy tea of cheese and crackers, L’s homemade sausage rolls all followed by Christmas pud and brandy sauce.  D&A were on Skype again so we were ‘all together’ today.

 

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Hand-made Card, More Decorations and Hyacinths

1   A very quiet pottery kind of day putting up a few more cards. This delightful one which arrived today has been made by the young son of a very special friend.

Beautiful hand-made card

Beautiful hand-made card

2   I love these very colourful decorations that should be safe from toddler hands as the fireguard will be up. (No fire will be lit!)

Colourful cane decorations

Colourful cane decorations

3   Three of the hyacinths that I brought out of the dark on 3rd December are already in flower!  They smell so lovely. Click on the red link if you missed that post.

Hyacinths beginning to flower already

Hyacinths beginning to flower already

Happy Winter Solstice Day to you all. The days get longer from tomorrow; the sun is coming back!

 

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Jools Holland, Bird Watching and Walking in the Woods

Usually all my beautiful things are from the day on which I post but we’ve just had a wonderful weekend away so today’s post covers Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

1   We had a trip up to Plymouth to see the amazing Jools Holland who just raises the spirits of all who are near him! He is so talented, so generous and clearly enjoys making so many people happy. He smiles his way through the whole performance! It was just fabulous to be able to watch his hands on the big screen. To my delight K T Tunstall was his surprise guest. His drummer, Gilson Lavis was just brilliant!We spent the night in a hotel and next day …….

2   We met two of our lovely daughters, M and L, for lunch in a country pub and then went home with L to her new home where the bird life is just amazing. It was very hard to get photos as they were all so busy going back and forth. There were Nuthatches, Blue tits, Willow tits, Great tits, Coal tits, Robins, Siskin, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Pheasants and Jays.

3   A walk in the nearby woods this morning with L and T and T’s parents and their five Black Labradors was an utter delight.

 

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Goethe’s Words, A Poem and A Painting

1   “Every day one should at least hear one little song, read one good poem, see one fine painting and speak a few sensible words” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.

I’ve given you the song in Meme’s blog and here’s a poem that I love followed by a fine painting . Goethe’s own words are the sensible ones for today.

2   Don’t Go Far Off by Pablo Neruda

Don’t go far off, not even for a day, because —
because — I don’t know how to say it: a day is long
and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station
when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.

Don’t leave me, even for an hour, because
then the little drops of anguish will all run together,
the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift
into me, choking my lost heart.

Oh, may your silhouette never dissolve on the beach;
may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance.
Don’t leave me for a second, my dearest,

because in that moment you’ll have gone so far
I’ll wander mazily over all the earth, asking,
Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?

3    This beautiful water colour by Oliver Bedford LRIBA, BWS, SGA  1902 – 1977 is of Pill Creek which I posted photos of yesterday.

Pill Creek by Oliver Bedford

Pill Creek by Oliver Bedford

 

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Loe Beach, Pill Creek and A Blazing Sky

1   As a teenager, I used to cycle the 5 miles from Truro to Loe Beach to ‘hang out’ with friends. It is a very beautiful place full of lovely memories.

From Loe Beach

From Loe Beach

Father and son going out fising, taken into the sun

Father and son going out fishing, taken into the sun

Launch

Launch

Off they go

Off they go

Abandoned buoys

Abandoned buoys

Reflections

Reflections

Bladderwrack glowing in the sun

Bladderwrack glowing in the sun

2  We came to Cornwall from Birmingham when I was 6 years old. Pill Creek was my first real view of Cornwall as we were driven to our first home by an old family friend who had met us at the train station.  I’m sure you’ll understand why I fell in love with Cornwall!

Pill Creek - my first view of Cornwall when I was 6

Pill Creek – my first view of Cornwall when I was 6

Pill Creek from the house

Pill Creek from the house

3   The sky as we drove home became more and more golden and was this wonderful colour by the time  we arrived.

Tonight's sky, Carn Brea Castle, Carn Brea Monument, chimneys and telegraph wires

Tonight’s sky, Carn Brea Castle, Carn Brea Monument, chimneys and telegraph wires

 

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