The International Day of Peace 2026 is observed on September 21, 2026, with the official United Nations theme “Invest in Peace – For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day”.
Fabulous bright red berries on the Cotoneaster Horizontalis
First enormous leek from the garden, used in the Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Pie, below
Pastry cooked while filling was being made halved the prep time – crisp and crunchy all round, not soggy where it had touched the filling!
The tomatoes are ripening well and the tiny ones are like eating sweets!
The raspberries are also doing well, just enough in a day to make a delicious dessert.
Meringue shell with vanilla creme fraiche and our raspberries
The following short poem came my way today and I found it very moving.
Let us all lay the extra place……..
Our very talented, local knitter has been busy again and made a wonderful topper for today.
We wear white poppies in remembrance of all victims of war – the wars happening now, the civilians and the refugees and as a commitment to peace. The white poppy is also worn to challenge militarism and any attempt to glorify or celebrate war. I was pleased to see a white poppy included in the topper.
I found a poem about Peace for today and first found this one attributed to Mary Oliver. Here it says that was wrong, it is a poem by Judyth Hill. Thank you for this.
Wage Peace
By Judyth Hill*
Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings
and flocks of redwing blackbirds.Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children
and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen
and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.Wage peace with your listening:
hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools:
flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.Make soup.
Play music, learn the word for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious.
have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Celebrate today.* Sometimes mistakenly attributed to Mary Oliver
The wonderful Lemn Sissay has given me permission to share his poem with you.
Let there be peace
Let tears evaporate to form clouds, cleanse themselves
And fall into reservoirs of drinking water.
Let harsh memories burst into fireworks that melt
In the dark pupils of a child’s eyes
And disappear like shoals of silver darting fish,
And let the waves reach the shore with a
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Listening to him on Radio 4 recently, I learned that one of the songs we sing at choir is one of his morning poems. I’ll try to get a recording soon.
What a joy! I went back to choir today and, of course it was wonderful to be singing in harmony with The Ingleheart Singers again. Here is Daisies White, a beautiful lullaby, recorded for you this afternoon. We are told that the song came to us ‘as taught by Suzannah Park who learned the song from her mother.’
While we were singing the rain was hammering down and a small dog came in to join us in the Eco Barn. I missed him while he seemed to be listening to Claire but he posed in the doorway just long enough for me.
Little visitor
I long for peace as do so many in this disturbed world.
by Lisa ?
At last I could make mince pies with the mincemeat I made over a week ago. They were delicious but the pastry was so short that they crumbled as they came out of the pan. Here they are raw.
In my clearing out I have found this little item which we can’t identify. It is only 2″ in length and has KLM impressed on the base. It’s copper on the top and brass underneath. The lovely Mr S had an uncle who worked for the airline so that might explain its provenance. Any thoughts?
I have been given a commission! I am to make three angels, hopefully incorporating the jewels given to me to use. I have made a start today and the first two are looking very promising. 
It’s almost Remembrance Day and today I passed some lovely knitted poppies in a local village so I stopped to get a photo. 
We wear white poppies that we get from The Peace Pledge Union which promotes peace. The white poppy commemorates people who died in conflict, soldiers and civilians, and focuses on achieving peace and challenging the way we look at war.
I am delighted with the wall of sweet peas we have grown to hide the shed and potting shelves. The mix of Sweet Peas, Verbena Bonariensis and Love-in-a-Mist has been delightful, both colourful and scented.
I love how the Crinodendron keeps producing flowers even though there are seeds aplenty all over.
My friend Kim Ridgeon has penned the following beautiful poem. Read it aloud to feel how the carefully crafted words slow you down so that the meaning of the poem is enhanced and peace settles all around you.
Nature’s Smile by Kim Ridgeon
The Nasturtiums that I planted at the allotment are now romping up the side of the fruit cage.
I came across this brilliant piece today and wish I’d known it when I was teaching.
I have an embroidery project about to start and am taking inspiration from this lovely piece. I don’t think mine will be 3d but I really like the effect here.
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