We are packing up D’s drums to send to him. This is a beautiful sounding Djembe made by D himself after learning how to do so when living in Senegal.
Driving to choir tonight, I just had to pull into a lay-by to take a photo of the sky on fire.
For the Christmas cabaret, the basses made a puppet of our leader, Claire, to everyone’s amusement. 
Our Suffragette garden is waking up – the White Primroses are looking beautiful.
We are just back from a special screening of the film 2040 in which award-winning director Damon Gameau embarks on journey to explore what the future would look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet and shifted them into the mainstream. It was, as a friend said, both galvanising and uplifting. Do see it if you can.
We are out for dinner with friends tonight and I have made a small glass gift to take, a sailing boat with a silver fish from a donated earring. 
I found our first Snowdrops in the garden this morning.
The white Cyclamen are doing well despite the rain and the wind.
I love this take on a well known prayer, giving thanks to Mother Nature. It’s from Rebecca Solnit, an American writer who has written on a variety of subjects, including feminism, the environment and politics.
Our mother who art underfoot,
hallowed be thy names,
thy seasons come, thy will be done,
within us as around us,
thank you for our daily bread, our water, our air, and our lives and so much beauty;
lead us not into selfish craving and the destructions that are the hungers of the glutted,
but deliver us from wanton consumption
of thy vast but finite bounty,
for thine is the only sphere of life we know,
and the power and the glory, forever and ever, amen
This lovely poem has come my way by various sources over the last few days and I thought you, Dear Readers, might like it too. Roger Robinson’s collection won the T.S. Eliot prize mentioned in this Guardian cutting as being shortlisted. What excellent advice there is in this poem. Do carry your paradise with you always – it can be a life-saver.
There are signs of Spring in our garden.
Our first Iris Reticulata
Our son came home over New Year and cleared out lots of his stuff from our attic. He left us this delightful gargoyle which was a present for him from my Mum and Dad many years ago. It’s too heavy to post to Barcelona! Now it is visible from our kitchen window reminding me of some of those people in my life whom I love.
D’s gargoyle
It seems appropriate that today, my Dear Dad’s birthday, I have spent much of the day making marmalade. Dad was the marmalade maker in our house and I used to help him when I was quite young. The smell of the oranges boiling is so evocative of lovely times.
I spent the rest of the day baking cookies for our decorators, ColourGirlz, who start tomorrow on the hall, stairs and landing. I have used an old family recipe but adapted it by adding cinnamon and dried cherries as a very dear friend does. She takes them on long car journeys and they are very much appreciated.
Cinnamon Oat Crunchies with Cherries
Photo and words by Kris Meadon, written yesterday, used here with permission.
“It’s 4.30pm as this evening’s full Wolf moon rises slowly through the mist and clouds behind the fairytale castle of St.Michael’s Mount. 🌝 January’s full moon was dubbed the Wolf Moon by early Native Americans due to villagers hearing packs of wolves howling in hunger around this time of the year!”
We couldn’t see the full moon at all last night as it was far too cloudy. I went out several times to find it…… I was delighted when Kris’ beautiful photo turned up and he said I could use it.
A friend alerted me to the fact that Seville Oranges (needed for making marmalade) are in the shops for their very short season so off we went this morning to our local greengrocer’s to pick up enough for 4 batches. These are enough for one batch. I shall freeze some to make later.
Seville Oranges
Tonight’s Turkey stir-fry featured Pak Choi from our vegetable patch at the back.
Pak Choi
Yesterday I received a message from Dear Friends, “Now the Xmas tree is gone, I have transferred our Angel to his/her permanent home. Amazingly, the way the light is catching the crystal head has given the figure hair and eyes!” I thought you might like to see the described effect.
Before I added the stock to the Spicy Parsnip Soup, the colours and shapes pleased me. The soup was tasty too!
On my drive to Penryn to sing this morning, I saw numerous Camellias in flower. Unable to stop to take a photo, here is one from last year, so lovely to see on these grey winter mornings. 
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