I wish all my Dear Readers a Happy New Year.
Happy New Year in Cornish
These words from Neil Gaiman sum up my wishes for each of you
Wishes for the coming year
Here is this month’s Happiness calendar. If you’d like to see more, follow this link.
There are some flowers in our garden as 2022 begins, all a bit wibbly because of the wind..
I’m marking two special days today, World Down Syndrome Day and International Poetry Day with a poem about the Human Family from a poet I admire greatly, Maya Angelou. You’ll find more of her poems here if you put her name in the search bar. This post and poem are for my friends, R,T and their wonderful little boy, A. You can read more about them here.
Human Family by Maya Angelou
I note the obvious differences
in the human family.
Some of us are serious,
some thrive on comedy.Some declare their lives are lived
as true profundity,
and others claim they really live
the real reality.The variety of our skin tones
can confuse, bemuse, delight,
brown and pink and beige and purple,
tan and blue and white.I’ve sailed upon the seven seas
and stopped in every land,
I’ve seen the wonders of the world
not yet one common man.I know ten thousand women
called Jane and Mary Jane,
but I’ve not seen any two
who really were the same.Mirror twins are different
although their features jibe,
and lovers think quite different thoughts
while lying side by side.We love and lose in China,
we weep on England’s moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.We seek success in Finland,
are born and die in Maine.
In minor ways we differ,
in major we’re the same.I note the obvious differences
between each sort and type,
but we are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.
There are Primroses everywhere in Cornwall in Spring and the Violets are just beginning to show. 
For my cousin, Wendy
Some years ago I learned of the Japanese art of kintsugi, the ancient art of mending broken pottery with gold, thus making the mended piece even more precious that it was when whole. Last year I broke a very precious green glass pot inherited from my Granny. It smells still of her powder as it contained powder and a puff which, as a little girl, I found quite fascinating. I was heartbroken and then found a kintsugi kit online! I mended the powder puff glass and an old serving dish that was broken some years ago. Today, needing a pot to plant up the rest of the Sweet Peas, we decided to mend an old terracotta pot inherited from my Mum which she had mended once but which had come apart at one of the joins. So, kintsugi into action again!
Lots of little plants arrived earlier than expected and needed to be potted up so I spent a happy couple of hours doing just that in 9cm pots donated by our lovely neighbour, looking forward to a summer of beauty. These will all be going into pots on the steps.
I picked a beautiful little posy this evening.
Our front garden is full of Primroses and some Periwinkles have called in from next door – they look lovely together.
Primroses and Periwinkles
The Fritillaria are beginning to bloom. Here are the first two. The chequered ones are quite remarkable.
Fritillaria
I made Leek and Potato Soup today for lunch and was delighted by the rainbow in the pan as I started. I don’t know what has caused our panbow!
Panbows
It has been a glorious sunny Spring day and I have spent much of it in the garden, tidying up and doing a bit of planting as the lovely Mr S continues to get the boat ready for launch next week. I have cleared out the veg trug and collected several old tiles from around the garden, all of which were my Mum’s and I have decorated the trug with the Minton tiles. I’ll show you the others another day.
I have planted some herbs and half a dozen lettuces. I buy ‘living lettuce’ plants from the super-market and plant them as we don’t have a greenhouse to raise our own baby plants from seed. They have been very successful in the past.
Lettuces
I picked a lovely little bunch of Spring flowers for Easter weekend.
My Easter flowers
A sad P.S. Our friend J was right in his thoughts that our little Bullfinch might be poorly. I checked on the RSPB website and discovered the problem. They advise removing all sources of food and water for three weeks so that the infection won’t be passed on and sterilising the feeders (which we do clean regularly). So, there won’t be any bird photos for a while. Thanks to J for pointing us in the right direction.
I love the colour in our Spring garden!
Click on any photo for the bigger picture.
1 I heard this on the radio this morning and really liked it.
To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) American Essayist & Poet
3 There was a most attractive plant in the Flowerpot carpark in town today. I think, after some research, that it is a Euphorbia characias ‘Black Pearl’
Euphorbia characias ‘Black Pearl’
1 The blossom on a local Cherry tree is just gorgeous in the sunlight.
2 Primroses on a Cornish hedge were lit by the sunshine too.
3 While we were away, our neighbours had one of a pair of beautiful trees taken down. This one is so far safe but I have the saddest feeling that it too will soon go so am saving it here for posterity. The next photo was taken when both trees were there.So much birdlife loves this tree and so do we.
P.S. I have posted the recipe for Chocolate Beetroot Cake today. It is one of the best cakes I have ever made, moist and chocolatey and very moreish!
1 While I’ve not been looking, the Snowdrops have suddenly appeared.
Snowdrops in our garden
2 The Primroses have been going all through this mild (but extremely wet) winter.
I love Primroses
3 The more I hear of what our short-sighted government considers the right way to look after our land, the more I want to make them think in the ways of the Native Americans.
When the blood in your veins
1 Walking up from town in a fierce but warm wind, I noticed some little Periwinkles flowering.
White Periwinkle 6.1.14
2 As we arrived home our neighbour called in with belated Birthday presents, one a beautiful miniature bouquet of flowers from her garden today. I have put them into a tiny painted glass jug that my Dad once dug up in the garden where we lived briefly in Birmingham. I was only 5 years old and fell in love with it so it became mine. It suits this delightful bunch of Daisies, Primroses, a Violet, a tiny Campanula and some leaves just perfectly.
Birthday bouquet from Sue next door
3 I have made a Healthy Banana Loaf this afternoon to wean us off the rich Christmassy food as we try to lose seasonal accumulated pounds! Recipe to follow soon.
Healthy Banana Loaf
To all my friends and family who are experiencing extremes of weather – stay safe, stay warm, stay happy.
Commentator Award
