I wrote a letter to The Guardian yesterday in answer to someone belonging to a book club but who couldn’t read each book in only four weeks. They published it today, and I discovered this evening that 15 people have joined the ShelterBox book club as a result of reading my letter! I am delighted. 
I needed some red thread to mend my red leather wallet so went to my Mum’s cotton collection and found one to match, of course! I have kept the drawers from the sewing cabinet my Grandpa made for her to her design when she was eighteen. That was in 1933 – I’ve never worked that out before. Almost every reel is wooden and one has the price on it, 23p.
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Tags: ShelterBox, ShelterBox book club, The Guardian
Well, that was quite an evening! We were just into Hark the Herald Angels’ when the fire alarm went off and we all, 100s of us, had to leave the Cathedral and move into the cobbled square in front. But – we had a great time in the cold outside! Claire, our choir leader, took the crowd in her hands and we sang for them and with them while the firemen went in and did their thing! We loved that bit better than the whole!
The blue lights are the fire engine while we were singing with the crowd
Tree in the Cathedral
Walking home through a very quiet Truro.
Lights in Boscawen Street, Truro
More tomorrow, it’s very late. 🙂
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Tags: excitement, ShelterBox, Truro Cathedral
The most delightful topper has been put on our local post box. I love the detail , especially the tiny shoelaces, and the humour in this one. I wish I knew the crafter.
At choir rehearsal this afternoon, we were told that last night’s concert raised an amazing £675 for our two charities – the wonderful ShelterBox that responds to disasters of all kinds around the world and our local charity, the Camborne, Pool and Redruth food bank which looks after local people, including nurses and teachers, who need help in these hard times to feed their families.
Thank you to our lovely generous audience.
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Tags: CPR Food Bank, generosity, Hallowe'en, ShelterBox, The Ingleheart Singers
What a fabulous event this was to be a part of!
Truro Cathedral Concert
Our wonderful audience raised £720 for our three charities. Here we are singing the wonderful last song, “We Shall Be Known” by Karisha Longaker of MaMuse.
Thank you to the lovely Mr S for the video.
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Tags: CPR Food Bank, MaMuse, Man Down, ShelterBox, We Shall Be Known by Karisha Longaker
Steady rain all day so these photos are from indoors and taken on a long zoom. The Nasturtiums have crept over the wall from next door and are a very welcome splash of colour in a dark corner.
I do love how drips collect on stems and flowers.
It will be our Annual Concert tomorrow evening with a visiting choir with whom we will do a workshop, then share a buffet supper before the doors are opened to our audience. My contribution to the buffet is a delicious dessert, Tunisian Almond and Orange Cake . You can find the recipe here
Tunisian Almond and Orange Cake
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Tags: Sandford Sings, ShelterBox, St Euny Church, The Ingleheart Singers, Troon School, Tunisian Almond and Orange cake
1 I fed a tired and possibly cold, bee some sugar syrup this morning and we were very relieved to see it fly away later on. Look carefully and you can see it drinking from the spoon.
Bee sipping sugar solution
2 A fly settled on the tarpaulin I was working on this morning. I have never seen one like it with its orange patches on the wings and orange tipped feet. I have tried to look it up and would be delighted if someone could identify it for me.
Unidentified fly
Our lovely neighbour’s niece is expecting her first baby any day now and the first size Sally-boots are ready.
Sally-boots
I have mentioned Nepal in my last two posts. I just heard that our Cornish based charity, ShelterBox, is on the ground already and assessing how they can help. They had a deployment of boxes in the area so will be able to provide help quickly. They are a wonderful charity. Look them up here . I am so deeply moved by this tragedy having fallen in love with the place and its people on our visit in 2013. Here is the Durbar Square as we saw it and a photo from ShelterBox.
Durbar Square 2013
Durbar Square after the quake
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Tags: Durbar Square, Kathmandu, Sally-boots, ShelterBox
I loved my whole teaching career and when I retired I never dreamed that I would be so lucky to have this job of conducting special and unique Ceremonies for happy people! Today saw the Wedding Ceremony of a young Swedish couple and it was just lovely. They have promised to send me some photos that I can put on here but I did just manage to snatch one as they walked up the aisle together afterwards. It was a new experience for me to have the vows repeated in Swedish. All fifty guests had come over from Sweden for the event.
After the Ceremony
2 As we were waiting for the Ceremony to begin, I noticed a biker on the cliffs, balancing his bike on a boulder and making an intriguing silhouette.
Biker on the Headland, Newquay
3 I saw a board outside a hotel in Falmouth the other day saying – “Did you know that stressed backwards is desserts?” I decided that a dessert was on the cards today as the lovely Mr S has been battling a nasty virus for a week and I am struggling to beat it off so I decided that we both needed some quality comfort food. Rhubarb Butterscotch certainly fits that bill! If the photos tempt you, the recipe can be found here. Click on any photo for the caption.
Fresh eggs, from our friends’ chickens, one with double yolk
3 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup soft brown sugar with 2 dstspns flour mixed with the 2 eggs
Batter poured over the rhubarb
Cooked and ready to eat!
My heart goes out to all the people affected by the terrible earthquake in Nepal, such a beautiful country with beautiful and generous people. We bought a Shelterbox recently and I would be pleased to discover that our box is going out to help the people of Kathmandu.
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Tags: nepal, Rhubarb Butterscotch Pie, ShelterBox, wedding ceremony
1 Today is World Kindness Day. Being kind to each other must be one of the most important attributes of the human.
World Kindness Day
2 I wrote a few weeks ago here of the Golden Rule, treat others as you wish to be treated. These words of Arthur Dunn ask an important question and one that is partly answered in the work of ShelterBox below. If only we all (including our governments) could live by this philosophy, the world would indeed be a kinder place.
Why should the Golden Rule be so difficult in business and foreign relations? The happily married treat each other as they wish to be treated. They treat their children better than they wish to be treated themselves. Unless we do unto a friend as we do unto ourselves, we lose a friend. In an emergency we rush to the aid of our neighbour. Is it so great a step to realise that all people everywhere are neighbours?
3 Today from ShelterBox: “PHILIPPINES UPDATE: 504 ShelterBox tents have now arrived in Manila, Philippines. Distribution of this aid will begin as soon as it has cleared customs. A further 224 ShelterBoxes and 576 ShelterBox tents are currently en route to Cebu, Philippines with airfreight courtesy of DFID. This shipment is hoped to arrive in the Philippines 13 November. Nine SRT members are carrying out assessments in Cebu, Bohol and Tacloban. Additional team members are also on their way.
An extra 200 ShelterBoxes destined for the Philippines were packed by warehouse volunteers at ShelterBox HQ in Cornwall yesterday. ShelterBox are looking to help up to 4,000 families in the Philippines in the immediate future, with potential for more help if it’s needed. We couldn’t do any of this without your support and donations.” We are lucky enough to be both safe and able to have donated for a Shelterbox. What a beautiful idea it was that Tom Henderson, the Founder of this charity had all those years ago. Find out all about the charity and the boxes here.
ShelterBox in action
NaBloPoMo
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Tags: Arthur Dunn, NaBloPoMo, PHILIPPINES UPDATE, ShelterBox, The Golden Rule, Tom Henderson, Typhoon Haiyan, World Kindness Day
1 Asked by whatshappeningatmyhouse, which charity would I give £1m if I had such a sum, I realised that ShelterBox is one of my beautiful things. Started by one man with a very big heart and a very special vision, here in Cornwall, this charity works worldwide to give shelter and dignity to those affected by disaster, be it natural (tsunami, earthquake etc) or man-made (war, civil strife etc). It was indeed, a beautiful thing Tom Henderson started. http://www.shelterbox.org/
ShelterBox has brought these Fijian families new homes allowing them to start to rebuild their lives again whilst living in comfort and dignity.
2 My good friend, Jean, gave us a rhubarb plant at choir on Monday – and because we cannot pick any until next year, gave me a bunch of rhubarb too. Today I’ve made a very special pudding that has been cooked in our family for three generations! It’s an Ambrose Heath recipe called Rhubarb Butterscotch Pie but we don’t put it in a pie case and we call it Different-Every-Time Pudding because it is! See my Food pages for the recipe and photos of the process and see shelikesherfood for KJ’s take on the pudding.
Different-Every-Time Rhubarb Pudding
3 Both our garden and next-door’s have some beautiful, delicate colour at the moment.
Camassia
Clematis Montana
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Tags: Ambrose Heath, azalea, butterscotch, camassia, charity, choir, civil strife, clematis, cornwall, earthquake, forget-me-nots, garden, KJ, montana, pie, pudding, Rhubarb, rhubarb plant, ShelterBox, Tom Henderson, tsunami, war
