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Tag Archives: B4Peace

Knitting for Peace, Shire Horses YouTube and American Spiced Carrot Cake

1 I have a new project! I heard about Wool against Weapons yesterday and have spent much of the day knitting my first 100cm contribution to seven miles, yes, seven miles of knitting! As a supporter of peace and yarn bombing, this project immediately appealed to me so I sorted out all my pink wools (they don’t mind a bit of other colour) and started!

If you would like to join me, click on the link above and get knitting!

My pink wools

2 Yesterday, I made a video of the beautiful Shire horses ploughing in The Lost Gardens of Heligan and I’ve uploaded it to YouTube. It sounds a bit windy but you can see how it works and see the turfs being turned over. Here’s the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBTp1OiiNME&feature=youtu.be

3 I made some delicious American Spiced Carrot Cakes, some for us and some for my good friend whom I am to visit on Tuesday.

Carrot cakes ready to bake

5 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on March 16, 2014 in baking, Beauty, knitting, Peace, photography, Postaday 2014

Tags: B4Peace, CND, peace, Shire horses ploughing, Wool against weapons, Yarn Bombing

Pete Seeger, Hyacinth and Favourite Words

28 Jan

1 Sad to hear today that Pete Seeger has died but what a legacy of music he has left behind. I just love this one, probably not one you will have been hearing today. Do click on the link and listen to his interpretation of ‘Forever Young”, a Bob Dylan song, recorded just a couple of years ago for Amnesty International. He was such a campaigner for peace and this one, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” is an anthem that will live on and on…….
Under the second video there are these words:
“The song was stirred by a passage from Mikhail Sholokhov’s novel “And Quite Flows the Don”. Around the world the song traveled and in 1962 at a UNICEF concert in Germany, Marlene Dietrich, Academy Award-nominated German-born American actress, first performed the song in French, as “Qui peut dire ou vont les fleurs?” Shortly after she sang it in German. The song’s impact in Germany just after WWII was shattering. Its universal message, “let there be peace in the world” did not get lost in its translation. To the contrary, the combination of the language, the setting, and the great lyrics has had a profound effect on people all around the world. May it have the same effect today and bring renewed awareness to all who hear it.”

2 Our Hyacinths in the glasses are flowering just one at a time. In some ways that is lovely as they come in sequence and their gorgeous scent pervades the room – but I do miss the whole glorious display of flowers all at once as we had last year.

Hyacinth in blue glass 28.1.14

3 Friends and I have been discussing favourite words today. Lynne mentioned ‘nincompoop’, such a delightful onomatopoeic word, and I was reminded of a word one of my brothers found in the Oxford Shorter English Dictionary – ‘shittlewitted’. It’s not as rude as it sounds, meaning scatterbrained or flighty but it makes a splendid expletive! For those who don’t know, the Shorter Oxford Dictionary is no such thing. It comes in two enormous volumes and the writing is so tiny that the pair come with a magnifying glass! I’d love to hear of your favourite words.

19 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on January 28, 2014 in Beauty, music, nature, Peace, photography

Tags: "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, 'Forever Young", Amnesty International, B4Peace, Bob Dylan, let there be peace in the world, Marlene Dietrich, Oxford Shorter English Dictionary, Pete Seeger

Bird Table, Peace Poem and Embroidered Bees

23 Jan

1 We’ve been looking for a new bird table for some time and yesterday found one we both liked. It has already attracted a couple of small visitors.

New bird table

2 Amy Witting / Joan Levick wrote this evocative poem, Peace. I was delighted to learn that this Australian writer chose the surname ‘Witting’ because of a promise she made to herself to never be ‘unwitting’, to always remain conscious of everything in her life – which is what I try to do here in my blog. I can’t put the whole poem here because of copyright but here’s the link so that you can read all ten lovely lines.

Peace

At the ship’s bow. It was my eye that drew
the perfect circle of blue meeting blue.
……………
……………….Stillness all around.
Only the perfect circle and the mast.
That moment knew no future and no past.

3 L gave me this beautiful embroidered little container but neither of us could think how I might use it. Then I thought – a jam jar of water and a bunch of Cornish daffodils so here they are!

Flowers and bees

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on January 23, 2014 in Beauty, embroidery, literature, Peace, photography, poetry, Postaday 2014, Words

Tags: Amy Witting, Australian poet, B4Peace, Joan Levick, peace

Peace, Next Door’s Cat and Last Night

02 Jan

1 This morning the BBC news programme that we listen to every day, Today, had a very interesting Guest Editor, P J Harvey, and her programme was brilliant! You could listen to clips here if you wish. There were several poems included but this one stopped me in my tracks. What an oxymoronic thing to do – to fight for peace.

THEY FIGHT FOR PEACE

Peace they say.
Peace of mind?
Peace of earth?
Peace of what kind?

I see them talking arguing, fighting –
What kind of peace are they looking for?
Why do they kill? What are they planning?

Is it just talk? Why do they argue?
Is it so simple to kill? Is this their plan?

Yes, of course!
They talk, they argue, they kill –
They fight for peace.

Shaker Abdurraheem Aamer, Guantanamo detainee

Shaker Abdurraheem Aamer is on hunger strike in Guantamamo. He has been accused of nothing and we feel very angry that he is there at all.

2 We went next door for mince pies and met their new cats for the first time. What beautiful creatures. I am looking forward to sharing them!

Nooka

3 It’s D&A’s last night with us. They leave on the 10 o’clock train in the morning to fly home to Barcelona, the last of our family to leave. Terrific storms are forecast, just like the day they arrived, so we are half expecting the trains not to be running in which case we will drive them up to Bristol and have a couple of extra hours with them!

5 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on January 2, 2014 in Beauty, family, nature, Peace, photography, Postaday 2014, Words

Tags: B4Peace, BBC, fight for peace, Guantanamo detainee, P J Harvey, Shaker Abdurraheem Aamer, The Today Programme

Peace, Robert Frost Poem and Winter Solstice

21 Dec

1 This delightful card arrived this morning from my cousin, S. It was designed by a primary school child and spreads the message beautifully. I wish you all and all your loved ones a happy, peaceful and love-filled festive season and New Year.

Peace card designed by a child

2 One of my favourite poets, Robert Frost, wrote this poem, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’. Until today, I had always thought he must have written it on 21st December, the darkest day of the year. Here, you can hear the poet reading his own poem and hear the story of how he was inspired to write it one mid-summer day!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

3 Today we have celebrated the Winter Solstice. From tomorrow the days will start getting longer. I took a photo at dawn and another at sunset to mark the day and we went to our friends’ new woodland where they are creating a stone circle to start a new tradition. G had placed the first stone at sunrise and he and the lovely Mr S set the sunset stone in place and we all sang ‘May this stone be filled with love and harmony’, new words to this song with which we started our concert in Truro Cathedral last week. Click on any image for a bigger picture.

Taken at 8.18am 21st December sunrise here

Our hands on the Sunset Solstice Stone as we were singing

Taken at sunset on 21st December 2013

and just come in from a young friend, Natalie – “Tonight’s triple whammy! At the exact time as winter solstice, the #iss passes over the UK while the astronauts do a space walk!” Brilliant! Thanks, Natalie.