1 I see this wonderful old motorbike most weeks on my way home from my piano lesson (Some progress being made there!) The owner was very happy for me to take its photo.
Very old BMW motorbike and sidecar
2 The owner of the dogs was happy too as I asked to take the photo of these two in their beautiful wooly jackets.
Rather lovely dogs in their equally lovely knitted jackets
3 On our walk around the back on The Great Flat Lode Mr S drew my attention to this very beautiful combination of greeny grey lichen and the seed heads of the montbretia.
Greenish grey with dark orange
Tags: BMW, lichen, motorbike with sidecar, Postaday, postaday2012
1 For a number of reasons, I was late to singing this morning and as soon as I approached the room and could hear the gorgeous harmonies of “Lo, the Eastern Sages Rise”, one of our glorious carols, my spirits were lifted. Then I joined in and of course, my spirits soared even more along with the music! Everyone should sing! I know some of my readers will say, “But I can’t!” Bear in mind this Zimbabwean proverb – ‘If you can walk, you can dance and if you can talk, you can sing.’
2 It has been a wild, wild day and these elegant swans were doing their best in the rough water but barely moving.
Swans on the Penryn River
3 I love the fading beauty of these anemones.
Beginning to fade
The veins in this one have become more prominent and the centres have gone blue
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my American readers!
Tags: anemones, faded beauty, Happy Thanksgiving, harmonies, Lo the Eastern Sages Rise, Postaday, postaday2012, singing, swans, Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean proverb
A bit different today! Two nights ago when we had the gas leak but hadn’t called the emergency number yet (Don’t ask me why!) I didn’t sleep but lay awake worrying and making lists in my head.
The first list was What Will I Save If I Have Only A Few Minutes Before The Place Goes Up and the second, less interesting, What Do I Need If We Are Evacuated While Things Get Sorted. I was thinking, as I lay there, of all the people in Cuba, in New York, in Jamaica, in Palestine, in Goma, everywhere where Sandy or some other destructive force, natural or man-made, has been and thinking that they have faced or are still facing all this for real.
As I lay in bed and ‘walked’ myself around our house, I began to realize that there were only a very few things that I would truly want to save, that were totally irreplaceable.
My first list:
- Mr S. We met about 46 years ago and have been together ever since.
- Photographs – and that means grabbing two small suitcases where all the early photos of our growing-up family are kept and the computer where all the digital photos are stored – memories of family, those still with us and those who have gone and friends, those still with us and those who have gone.
- The Family Bible where so much family history is stored ( have a look here if you missed that post)
- My locket, which has been passed through generations and worn by the Bride in so many family weddings. (Have a look here for that post)
- Two small pieces of clothing – the beautiful christening dress that my Granny was christened in, then my Mum, then me and my little sister… (That post is yet to come) and the little sweatshirt from the Killingbeck Cardio Thoracic Unit in Leeds that reminds us how lucky we are to have our son, D.
and that really is all. I found that to be such a liberating realisation. The stuff that surrounds us really doesn’t matter. There are pieces of furniture that are family heirlooms, there are pieces of art that I love, there are all my music things, there are many, many books but ………
I wonder what your few treasures might be if those were really all you could save?
D’s sweatshirt
Family christening dress
Tags: christening dress, emergency, Family Heirloom, gas leak, Killingbeck Cardio Thoracic Unit, Leeds, locket, Postaday, postaday2012, The Family Bible, wedding
1 A very heavy mist dropped diamonds on these furry sage leaves.
Diamond drops on sage
2 Beautiful Rhubarb with Ginger Fool as tonight’s dessert.
Rhubarb with Ginger Fools
3 Thought today’s Daily Prompt to be an interesting challenge so I have re-written much of this post so that it contains no three letter words. I have also chosen to change my third item today. I recognise that it is much easier to follow this challenge when one’s post is short! It still makes writers think hard about their choice of words. In Pokhara, Nepal, I bought a beautiful back-pack, embroidered in some of my favourite colours which I plan on using to carry stuff to do with my music lessons, choirs as well as piano then I shall be reminded of my holiday three times every week.
Back-pack from Nepal
Tags: back pack, challenge, daily prompt, diamonds, nepal, Nepalese, no three letter words, Pokhara, Postaday, postaday2012, Rhubarb with Ginger Fool, sage, writing prompts
1 Walking back from town this afternoon, this wet grass caught my eye. I love how the droplets just cling on to the ends of the grass and catch the light.
Water droplets on grass
2 The fallen leaves were glossy with the earlier rain and glowed in the evening sunlight.
Golden leaves
3 Singing with Claire and The Inglehearts tonight was brilliant! We are rehearsing our Christmas repertoire for Christmas gigs and for our first CD which we are recording soon. There are some very beautiful arrangements where we sound like peals of bells.
Tags: Autumn, Claire Ingleheart, Fall, golden leaves, Postaday, postaday2012, The Ingleheart Singers
1 A beautiful thing when I opened up the computer this morning – a rainbow for me from a good friend. Thank you, John.
Rainbow from John R
2 A message from another friend, Shelagh, in Vermont alerted me to a brilliant piece of work by The Graffiti Grannys – a Union Jack decorated with knitted and crocheted poppies put up on a fence outside the Parish Church in Camborne, 10 minutes away from us. We set off to find it but at 12.15 it had already been taken down even though the Remembrance Day parade was only just finishing. These photos then, sadly, are not mine. Thank you to the photographer.
Graffiti Grannys’ flag
3 This is a very beautiful poem from WW1 which I hope you will like too. It’s by Margaret Postgate Cole, a pacifist, a feminist, an atheist and a socialist (so a fair amount in common with me then! I wish I also had her facility with words.)
The Falling Leaves
Today, as I rode by,
I saw the brown leaves dropping from their tree
In a still afternoon,
When no wind whirled them whistling to the sky,
But thickly, silently,
They fell, like snowflakes wiping out the noon;
And wandered slowly thence
For thinking of a gallant multitude
Which now all withering lay,
Slain by no wind of age or pestilence,
But in their beauty strewed
Like snowflakes falling on the Flemish clay.
Sea, sky and sunshine on St Ives across the bay
4 After our walk in Camborne we went down to Hayle where the sea and sky together were very beautiful and all our cobwebs were blown away!
Tags: 11th November, atheist, Camborne, feminist, friend, Graffiti Grannys, Margaret Postgate Cole, pacifist, Parish Church, poem, Poem for Remembrance Day, Postaday, postaday2012, Remembrance Day Parade, sea, sky, socialist, sunshine, The Falling Leaves, Union Jack
1 There was sun and rain this morning and I hoped for a rainbow. No luck but this beautiful dramatic sky instead.
Dramatic sky
2 Looking in the yellow pages for a chimney sweep, I found this delightful advert with the chimney sweep offering to attend weddings. Tradition has it that 200 years ago, a Chimney Sweep saved the life of King George II by stopping his runaway horse and carriage. The King issued a Royal Decree that Chimney Sweeps are bringers of luck and should be treated with the greatest of respect. So started the tradition and because sweeps are lucky, couples sometimes arrange to meet the sweep at their Wedding!
Chimney-sweep advert
3 I love the colours on our town clock face. You might like this bit of history about our lovely clock: “Clock Tower Situated midway along Fore Street is the Town Clock which has stood on or very near this site for a long time, certainly since the 1700’s. In 1828 the former wood built tower was demolished and replaced by a stone tower. In 1841 the open arches at ground level were closed in for use as Police cells. With the increasing height of the surrounding commercial properties the Clock Tower was extended in 1904 so that the miners living at the top of the town could see the time, and also chimes were added.”
Redruth Clock Tower
The date is 10.11.12 That just pleases me!
Tags: chimney sweep, Clock Tower, good luck, Postaday, postaday2012, wedding
1 Sometime ago we gave away some brass wire through Free-cycle and today, one of the people who had some, sent me an email to tell me what she has done with it. She has made these very pretty Feeding Bugs! Please click on the symbol if the bugs aren’t showing.
feeding_bugs
2 We have Skyped with Daniel and Ami in Barcelona, so lovely to talk to them and see them again. We’ve missed them while we’ve been away.
3 I’ve been sorting our holiday photos and have put together a gallery of photos that we took at the Taj Mahal. You can click on any photo for an enlargement.
Taj Mahal from the front
Inlay detail
The beauty of the Taj Mahal
Relief detail at the Taj Mahal
Detail on gate
Taj Mahal text
Inlay detail at the Taj Mahal
From the tree lined side
Painting in Courtyard when leaving
Another Painting in Courtyard when leaving
Taj Mahal from the Fort
Tags: Free-cycle, holiday photos, Postaday, postaday2012, Skype, Taj Mahal, trip of a lifetime
1 Leaving Kathmandu for Delhi very early in the morning, as people are going to work and the sun is coming up through the trees.
Sun coming up in Kathmandu
People off to work very early
2 This beautiful young mother was waiting to fly with her tiny three week old son.
Another lovely person willing to talk to me and happy to have her photo taken
3 As we flew West for eight and a half hours we were flying into the sunset for such a long time. The colours were so intense and so beautiful.
Above the clouds
Sunset over Northern Europe, the colour being caught in our vapour trail
And a 4th today – being met by our beautiful daughter.
Tags: Delhi, Kathmandu, nepal, sunset
1 Up in the dark again today and it was worth every minute! A short drive and then a climb, all in the dark and finding our spot to watch the sunrise but first the full moon had to set behind the hill. The sun rising over this range of mountains was so incredibly beautiful. Just look at the photos.
The full moon setting over the hill
Sunrise beginning over the Annapurnas
The beauty of sunrise
Layers of foothills beginning to appear
Sunlight just reaching the peaks
Sunrise
2 We’ve been lucky enough to be in Nepal during a very special festival, Dashain, a festival of Prosperity, Happiness and Belongingness. I think that is so beautiful! We have been greeted many times with the tika, the red mark on the forehead and I was lucky enough to be given one of the special ones when we crossed the bridge the other day.Have a look here.
Another feature of the festival is the constrution of huge bamboo and coconut rope swings. We’ve seen them in every village that we’ve driven through in Nepal. It is considered good luck to get both feet off the ground during this festival. “There is a tradition to swing at least once in this festival. People say if you leave the ground swinging in Dashain, the swing will take away ill feelings and replace it with newness and rejuvenation inside oneself.” You can find out more here
Bamboo swing
3 Being rowed across Lake Phewa with the snow topped mountains towering above was yet another wonderful experience. I can’t quite believe we’ve been doing all this!
Lake Phewa
Some of our group on the lake
Nepali family enjoying a day out
The dragonfly is the same colour as our boat!
Tags: Annapurna range, Festival of Dashane, Lake Phewa, moon set, mountains, nepal, Postaday, postaday2012, sunrise, tika
