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Tag Archives: bereavement

Breakfast, Beach and Angie

Birthday breakfast of Bucks Fizz and home baked croissants followed by a visit to Chapel Porth where we walked up the cliffs to Wheal Coates enjoying the challenge, the ozone and the sounds of the sea – such a lovely birthday treat.

My Dear Friend of 30+ years died on 28th December and from now on my blog will be in her memory as well as Kath’s. Angie was my TA at school and we became the very best of friends. We also shared today as our birthday.

We spent hours together at school and even more hours together in the pub unwinding from the week. When I retired, knowing my love of words, Angie gave me a beautiful little book in which to collect quotations. The first quotation was one Angie chose herself and summed up our friendship perfectly. She was a very special individual and I shall always treasure the love and the laughter that we shared.

I have since discovered that the words are by Dinah Maria Craik (20 April 1826 – 12 October 1887) an English novelist and poet. Thanks for everything, Angie.

14 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on December 31, 2021 in Chapel Porth, Cornwall, environment, friendship, nature, Photography, Postaday2021, Tin mining history, Uncategorized

Tags: bereavement, Dinah Maria Craik

Rear Window Box, Frida Kahlo and Sophie Hannah

29 Jun

Walking through Penryn this afternoon, I happened upon a treat – two window boxes on the back of a car! I smiled all the rest of the way to get my hair cut.

Two window boxes

Here is another window from Studio 10 where the Frida Kahlo Exhibition opens on Sunday.

Frida Kahlo

It is always hard to leave a place you love but more than that, it is the leaving behind of the people that you love. Sophie Hannah says that she wrote this poem when she was leaving Manchester for Cambridge and wanted to reassure a friend that her decision to leave did not mean that she no longer cared for them. The poem has a lovely rhythm about it and is easy to read aloud, giving me the feeling that she is speaking directly and in person to the one she is leaving. The poem also makes me think of times when we are left by someone and it was not their intention at all……

Leaving and Leaving You

When I leave your postcode and your commuting station,
When I left undone all the things we planned to do
You may feel you have been left by association
But there is leaving and leaving you.

When I leave your town and the club that you belong to,
When I leave without much warning or much regret,
Remember, there’s doing wrong and there’s doing wrong to
You, which I’ll never do and I haven’t yet,

And when I have gone, remember that in weighing
Everything up, from love to a cheaper rent,
You were all the reasons I thought of staying,
And none of the reasons why I went

And although I leave your sight and I leave your setting,
And our separation is soon to be a fact,
Though you stand beside what I’m leaving and forgetting,
I’m not leaving you, not if motive makes the act.

Sophie Hannah

2 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on June 29, 2017 in art, Beauty, garden, Humour, Penryn, poetry, postaday2017

Tags: bereavement, Studio 10

The Ballad of Joe Hill, Singing and Limequats

25 Nov

1 I was reminded of these words of Shelley yesterday

“Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory- “

when I heard ‘The Ballad Of Joe Hill’ sung by Paul Robeson, one of my all time favourite voices singing one of my lovely Dad’s favourite songs, and one which we played at Dad’s Humanist funeral. It was chosen by Ed Milliband in Desert Island Discs on Sunday and has been in my head ever since. Some of you will know this – but it doesn’t matter how long ago you ‘lost’ a parent, they never actually leave you and music can suddenly bring them back into the kitchen as clearly as if they were still alive.

3 Singing with The Inglehearts tonight was especially good. There’s something very special about singing in harmony with friends. Here’s a public Thank you to Claire Ingleheart for her work, her friendship and her very special talent which she shares so freely.

3 The Crystallised Limequats look beautiful in their jar.

Crystallised Limequats

18 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on November 25, 2013 in Beauty, Humanist ceremony, music, photography, Postaday2013, quotations, singing

Tags: bereavement, Claire Ingleheart, Desert Island Discs, Ed Milliband, limequats, NaBloPoMo, Paul Robeson, The Ballad of Joe Hill, The Ingleheart Singers

White Clematis, White Iris and Baby Beauty

21 May

Today seems a day in particular need of beautiful things given the news from Oklahoma and the fact that two of my blogging friends have recently been bereaved. Hudson and Patty, this post is for you.

1 This Clematis is called Spring Sensation and although it is only in its second year, has given us quite a few beautiful flowers.

White Clematis

2 Among the purple irises brought by our good friends the other evening were white buds waiting to open and today they have done and they are utterly beautiful. The vase is now full of purple, white and green which just goes to show how well our friends know me and how well their gift was chosen.

White iris

3 Yesterday, when we visited our beautiful family, I took this photograph of a tiny baby ear – just perfect.

Perfection in a baby’s ear

19 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on May 21, 2013 in flowers, nature, photography, Postaday2013, Uncategorized

Tags: baby's ear, bereavement, condolence, friendship, love, perfection, Spring Sensation

Playground Sounds, Delicate Daffodil and Birthday Skype

12 Mar

1 Walking into town about lunchtime today, I was delighted to hear the sounds of the nearby primary school children at play – such happy squeals and shrieks and laughter, sounds that we have heard all our working lives and since, in our travels around the world. All children at play, wherever they are, make the same happy sounds and we heard it in Mapoch, South Africa where we went to build a classroom the year after we retired.

Children on the climbing frame in Mapoch

2 I love the yellowness of this time of year but I also find the delicacy of this pale daffodil very beautiful. The specialness of this daffodil is for two very good friends who have each lost a parent in the last couple of weeks. This is just to tell them they are loved.

Pale daffodil

3 We Skyped with T for her 2nd birthday today as she opened her presents. How lucky we are with current technology that allows us to share such events from hundreds of miles away.

For those who would like the Nutella Cookies recipe, I’ve put it on my Recipe pages today. Enjoy!