We were urged by CALM CAROLSTERS last Saturday in our cosy sitting-room… another £150 towards Jackson’s £1000 objective to aid THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST LIVING MISERABLY..the educational alert & support group, around the issue of male suicide. So come all us faithful to the strong HOPE that the soul of humanity will raise beyond Aleppo. ALLONS. VIVA!!
We have an 100 year Cedar at the end of the garden. When I was 80, the tree was reduced to a mere 45 feet. Some form of rot had started at its base. 50 years ago when we first came here, cutting the grass, you had to bend low under its sweeping boughs. Two trunks were carved; a birthday present from friends. A third was laid on the ground. Centre gouged out. Severed limbs at arm and leg level. The carving was completed and named, on the day the British army vacated Helmund Province, Afghanistan.
I sit ( as it were) aloft the severed glory …..observing.
Next Saturday, Jackson’s idea to raise money for CALM ( inspired by Reading Bus Co.’s annual charity) will see a dozen or so around the piano. Good vibes ! Three eleven year olds carolling away. Piano accompaniment on my long departed father’s sixty year old Baby- Grand. This he bought after finally winning a court- case following his disabling car crash… and which he played for hours, to the point of exhaustion. ‘A Nightingale sang, in Berkeley Square’ genre.
So present in the room will be young boys’ enthusiasm, an older man’s courage, and the men whom CALM calls on us to hear.
www.thecalmzone.net www.reading-buses.co.uk
What has a DRAGON, DOUBLEDECKER BUS,
YURT and the OAK TREE have in common?
In Berkshire during the past 30 years, they
have popped up waving the INNOVATION banner.
Today’s encouraging-idea to myself.
Think of an open space near home. Totterable to…or no more than very short drive away. Line up self, or helpful other, to drive.
Pack a sandwich & cuppa in a thermos.
Buy small sketch book, on-line. Check graphite pencils.
Once there, be determined to walk to a SEAT.. Essential bit of the PLAN.
Picnic, to rally strength ! Draw. Get back home !! Return SOON to the drawing, and come-what- may, FINISH and colour wash my pix. First of the Christmas cards to send. It’ll be LOVED by all….
WE CAN WRAP OUR DAILY LIVES, IN BEAUTY
A picture celebration of family and friends’ imaginings: skilful play, with all forms of Creativity
SUE YARWOOD’S GALLERY
Sue Yarwood is an artist who creates beauty in every aspect of her life…in cooking, making curtains, working from her love of textiles, ceramics, painting, embroidery, crafting vessels with silks & fabrics, creating and nurturing gardens.
Sue writes:- I was born and grew up in the town of Macclesfield, known as the “silk town”. Manufacturers, weavers & dyers of silk. Generations of my family, back to my great grandmother…we’re all silk workers in one form or another. I have many memories of going to the mills to see various family members at work…listening to their stories. The noise and the smells are the root of my fascination with silk and its versatility. From fabrics, dyed or printed, handmade papers, threads, even the “throwsters waste” which helped to make the beautiful bowls… NOTHING IS WASTED.
Sue’s Workshop – here are photos of one of Sue’s workshops, starting off around the kitchen table. Viv, Sarah, Mary, Maureen and Anne enjoy learning how to make SILKEN BOWLS. The oven picture is of Sue heating the bases for the bowls – a firm base for the Silken Bowls requires heat.
As a gardener, Sue says -” I’m a plantaholic and lover of all beautiful flowers. I can go out in the garden from early morning until hunger calls me in. I’ve been known to be deadheading in my dressing gown, in the rain”. Sue has created five gardens, from scratch. She is inspired by love of pattern and colour and texture, as she plans these gardens; a passionate stream tumbles between the twin crafts.
Sue is our sister-in-law.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/42889.
Circulated post-Trump victory by Robin Richardson.
My name is Jackson. I am 11 years old and on Grade 5 piano. I enjoy playing Christmas Carols so I’m doing carols for CALM , a charity I heard of from Reading Bus Charity of the Year. I like trains & buses. I live in Ascot and have done so since Christmas 2009 when I moved from London. This event will be at ‘Constables’, Ascot. CALM is against male suicide.
Our singalong will consist of carols, interval with refreshments and performances which you can sing along with if you know the words. For the first section, words will be provided. For more info on CALM – please see: http://www.thecalmzone.net.gridhosted.co.uk/
We came to be Grand-parents, very late in our lives; two Grandchildren, Oscar 7 & Chloe 5; full of ENERGY. We have a small wood at the garden’s end and Duncan, my hands-on husband, has wonderful ideas. Recently, first thing I knew about an idea….while I was away from the house, he shinned up a tree and put a cross bar across two trees. Next thing, a tyre arrived on the doorstep. Next, a coil of very thick rope. Rope attached to cross bar with the tyre and we had a wonderful swing, to get on, jump through or just dangle. Next to the swing, a length of rope was knotted at intervals. Climbing! Then, a Scooter BMX course was forged all around the trees. Finally, a Pit so that engines could be looked at and wheels changed, Grandma: commentator. And such FUN for all concerned – by Maureen Rayner
Mahatma Gandhi said that there are…” 7 Plunders of the World that lead to violence :-
* Wealth without Work,
* Pleasure without Conscience,
* Knowledge without Character,
* Commerce without Morality,
* Worship without Sacrifice,
* Politics without Principle, ” – From GreenSpirit June 2016 Newsletter.